The look of shock on the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's face lasted only a moment before it eased. The retreating steps came to a halt, but its expression remained grave.
"Bi Ji, why are you here? Did Di Tian and the others not come with you?" The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm asked, its gaze fixed on the distance with concern.
"Di Tian? They're still in the Star Dou Forest," the melodious voice of a woman floated over once more.
However, Zhao Ming still couldn't spot the source of the voice amidst the vast expanse of ice and snow. It seemed the speaker was some distance away, but their profound cultivation allowed their voice to carry so clearly.
But Bi Ji?
Could it be the spirit beast with over five hundred thousand years of cultivation from the Star Dou Forest?
What brings her here? Is she here to capture the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm?
That shouldn't be the case! Although Bi Ji is a powerful beast of five hundred thousand years, the Emerald Swan Clan is known for its healing abilities, and they are generally weak in combat. While they might not be as defenseless as the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, they are not a combat-oriented species. Furthermore, Bi Ji holds considerable prestige among the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Forest; Di Tian wouldn't send her here!
After all, there are other spirit beasts like Chi Wang and Xiong Jun in the Star Dou Forest, so there's no need to send Bi Ji on a dangerous mission.
Upon hearing Bi Ji's words, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm let out a sigh of relief. The tension in its demeanor lessened as it replied more relaxedly, "Bi Ji, without Di Tian and the others, you probably can't bring me back to the Star Dou Forest. After all, your Emerald Swan clan doesn't possess high combat power. While it's not as bad as my Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, it's at best equivalent to an ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit beast. If I want to escape, you won't be able to keep me here."
"Heh, I didn't expect you to come back to the Extreme North Land. I heard that you were being hunted by the Ice Emperor and fled to our Star Dou Forest. Aren't you afraid of being discovered by the Ice Emperor now that you're back?" Bi Ji chuckled lightly.
"Hmph, that woman can't do anything to me," the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm replied defiantly, though a hint of fear and helplessness flickered in its eyes.
"Forget it, I'm not here to catch you." Bi Ji dismissed the concern, her voice becoming clearer as she approached.
Accompanying her words was a figure dressed in green.
The woman was stunningly beautiful, and compared to other beauties Zhao Ming had seen, her skin was extraordinarily flawless.
However, what captivated Zhao Ming the most was her long, elegant neck, which could only be described as a fragrant jade neck.
Not only was her appearance exquisite, but her aura was exceptional as well—truly unique. She exuded both wildness and grace, with a hint of thoughtfulness in her gaze that conveyed intelligence. Her attire featured an abundance of translucent green feathers.
As a spirit beast, Bi Ji's beauty was in no way inferior to A Yin's. In Zhao Ming's view, they each had their own charms.
After observing for a moment, Zhao Ming hurriedly shifted his gaze away. Bi Ji was a spirit beast with over five hundred thousand years of cultivation, and he couldn't dare harbor any impure thoughts. If he did, and Bi Ji got angry, he wouldn't stand a chance.
However, while Zhao Ming averted his gaze, Bi Ji began to fixate on him. In the next instant, a green shadow flashed and appeared right in front of Zhao Ming.
A gentle breeze brushed past, filling the air with a captivating fragrance.
But this was not the time to admire beauty!
Seeing Bi Ji seem poised to act against him, Zhao Ming's expression changed, feeling flustered.
He hadn't expected Bi Ji to set her sights on him!
What could attract her to a mere child like him?
As Zhao Ming racked his brain for a countermeasure, the situation took another unexpected turn.
To his astonishment, Bi Ji not only did not attack him but instead stood respectfully before him.
She slightly bowed and said, "I am Bi Ji, the leader of the Emerald Swan Clan, greetings, my lord."
That respectful tone and posture left Zhao Ming momentarily stunned.
My lord? She called me "my lord"?
What the hell, do I have some hidden identity that hasn't been revealed?
"System, what's going on?" Zhao Ming quickly inquired, turning to the system for answers.
"How would I know? I'm just as baffled as you!" the system replied, taken aback.
But it quickly offered an explanation.
"Could it be because of your Ancient Immortal Phoenix martial soul? In ancient times, the Ancient Immortal Phoenix was one of the top existences in the spirit beast realm. The fact that she's so respectfully calling you 'my lord' might be due to that. If that's the case, then Bi Ji probably considers you an Ancient Immortal Phoenix, perhaps even mistaking you for a spirit beast reincarnated."
Ancient Immortal Phoenix martial soul? Zhao Ming was taken aback. This was indeed the only possible explanation.
Since she regarded him as an Ancient Immortal Phoenix, he definitely couldn't reveal his true identity.
"Emerald Swan? A cultivation of five hundred seventy thousand years is quite impressive," Zhao Ming said, maintaining a calm expression and speaking in a nonchalant tone.
Zhao Ming's words reached Bi Ji's ears and instantly caused a stir. To recognize her cultivation level at a glance was nothing short of terrifying.
Under the guidance of the Dragon Scale from Gu Yue Na, she had been searching for the whereabouts of the Ancient Immortal Phoenix. Only recently had she discovered its location because the Dragon Scale had been pointing at Zhao Ming.
Initially, she had been somewhat confused. With her cultivation, she could discern clearly whether Zhao Ming was a human or a spirit beast.
However, she soon became fully convinced that Zhao Ming was indeed the Ancient Immortal Phoenix.
Before leaving, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yue Na had told them the characteristics of the Ancient Immortal Phoenix.
1. Powerful Strength, Unmatched in the World: This indicated a talent that was exceptionally strong. This point was perfectly embodied in Zhao Ming. At seven years old, with level fifteen soul power, no ordinary human could possess such cultivation talent. Only the powerful spirit beasts could be this formidable.
2. Extremely Lustful: Zhao Ming completely fit this description. Over the past few days, in her observations, Zhao Ming had two martial souls. While the second one was the Ancient Immortal Phoenix, his first martial soul, the Puppet, consisted of various beauties. In Bi Ji's eyes, this had to be the Ancient Immortal Phoenix's former wives and concubines. Now, in his reincarnation, he had brought them back by his side. However, Bi Ji hadn't anticipated that the Ancient Immortal Phoenix would be even more lustful than described by the Silver Dragon King, having turned his former wives into puppets to accompany him.
3. Cunning Methods: Transforming his wives and concubines into puppets and using them as his soul abilities, along with that extraordinary method of reincarnation, was astounding. Had it not been for Gu Yue Na's Dragon Scale, even with her five hundred seventy thousand years of cultivation, she probably wouldn't have realized that Zhao Ming wasn't a human but a spirit beast.
4. Extreme Ambition: In her view, Zhao Ming, as a fire-type spirit beast, came to the Extreme North Land probably to devour the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm to use as his first spirit ring. To desire a million-year spirit ring as his first was no small feat. The Ancient Immortal Phoenix was indeed a remarkable spirit beast species, worthy of being revered as powerful among spirit beasts.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Earlier this morning, I was searching for a Chinese One Piece fan fiction to translate when I came across one that caught my interest. I decided to read it using machine translation, and it seemed quite promising—I had been engrossed for about five to six hours. However, at a certain chapter, the protagonist revealed that the reason he joined the Navy and became a 'dog' of the Celestial Dragons was that he equated the World Government with the Chinese government.
I mean, seriously, what does the World Government even have to do with the Chinese government? And to make matters worse, there was a scene where the protagonist encounters a Black man (described as African-American) face-to-face and, shockingly, uses the racial slur—the N-word with a hard R—toward him. As if that wasn't enough, the protagonist also refuses to take any woman into his harem unless she has distinctly Chinese facial features. The novel is filled with so many Chinese references, like naming all the seas after the (east/west/north/south) 'China' Sea. Besides blatant racism and nationalism, the story also exhibits xenophobia, sexism, and cultural chauvinism. Imposes Chinese cultural dominance, and even aligns the World Government with Chinese political propaganda. Reading this through machine translation, it was infuriating to stumble upon such novel. I feel like I wasted five to six hours of my time on this story; it honestly felt like I was torturing myself.
Good thing I tried the poison first before translating it; otherwise, so many casualties would have occurred.