Chapter 75: All Gatherings Must Come to an End

How could Zuo Changyu possibly endure this? As the dark energy coursed through him, the hand approaching the fiery Tuo transformed into the razor-sharp tip of a Gu-carved wing, which he thrust mercilessly at the arrogant melee fire beast. And yet... the little fire Tuo dodged his attack with effortless ease.

But Zuo Changyu’s hand, hardened to a lethal point, failed to pull back in time and plunged straight into the nest floor. The nest, constructed from the same resilient material as the fire Tuos themselves, gripped a mass of Gu-carved feathers, trapping them firmly—though these two young fire Tuos were of only modest rank.

The real problem was that the nesting fire Tuo was of a much higher grade—higher than his, at any rate! By Zuo Changyu’s rough estimation, the nest’s materials were at least fourth rank or above.

His hand and foot, now stuck fast in the nest, could not be withdrawn for some time. With two failed attempts behind him, Zuo Changyu no longer dared to act recklessly. By the end, even the wounded ranged fire Tuo was emboldened enough to timidly toss miniature fire serpents at him.

The little fire serpents were thin and long, and when they struck Zuo Changyu’s body, they burst with a sharp “snap,” leaving only a scorched mark on his clothing—an insult more humiliating than harmful!

And, to his dismay, Yu Yan witnessed the whole ordeal, making Zuo Changyu feel all the more mortified.

“Look at you...” Yu Yan clicked her tongue, “You really don’t look like you’re about to win!”

Zuo Changyu: “...”

Some things are better left unsaid, thank you very much!

Teasing aside, Yu Yan soon “rescued” him from his predicament. She even tossed the two young fire Tuos out of the nest along with him, so that he could spar with them and become more familiar with his new body.

Without the nest in the way, Zuo Changyu still made a spectacle of himself, but at least no longer ended up with his limbs trapped in ridiculous positions.

In truth, after slaying the adult fire Tuo, Yu Yan could have taken Yun Duo’er and left the instance. But the nest and the anomaly of the two lightning Yongs piqued her curiosity. If it had been just a single pair of lightning Yongs, the impatient Yu Yan might not have cared—at worst, it was some rare world treasure that strengthened the monsters of the instance.

Her lotus-root space already held a stockpile of high-level spiritual materials and treasures; she was not particularly covetous. But when such incidents ceased to be isolated, Yu Yan was willing to spend a little time investigating.

She searched the nest meticulously and finally discovered something amiss—in a hidden corner, beneath layers of nest material, spiritual energy surged forth.

The aura was gentle and soothing.

Merely standing there, Yu Yan felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring—relaxed and comforted to her very bones.

Her eyes glimmered; even someone as accustomed to rare treasures as she was, could not help but feel her heart stir. She gripped a feather-tipped banyan leaf in each hand, letting her wind affinity power speed her movements, and soon dug a deep pit in the ground.

A small, crystal-clear spiritual stone came into view—utterly pure, without a trace of impurity.

At its edge, iridescent hues shimmered in concentric halos.

An exceptional spiritual stone—chaos stone!

A chaos stone stands apart from the eleven-elemental stones, transcending all known types of spiritual energy. It is said that chaos gives rise to myriad forms; a mere wisp of chaotic qi can birth countless ordinary energies.

In some sense, it is a paradox—or perhaps not even “spiritual energy” at all, but a higher form of energy.

A single first-rank chaos stone, by the energy it generates, could rival a fourth-rank, eleven-elemental blackstone of equivalent size! Most remarkable of all, regardless of your affinity or power, anyone can absorb and refine chaotic qi with no resistance.

The whole process is pleasurable and effortless—more so than refining even the purest stone of your own affinity.

In her previous life, even a fragment of chaos stone would have driven power-seekers to madness.

And now, before her eyes, from rankless to fourth rank, she found a tightly clustered pile of over fifty such pieces!

For such a treasure—something she’d only heard of in legends and never seen with her own eyes—what else was there to do? Yu Yan’s gaze blazed as she frantically wielded her ninth-rank feather-tipped banyan leaf, not sparing even a grain-sized fragment, packing each piece carefully away into her lotus-root space.

“Yan-jie, I did it!”

Zuo Changyu, panting and drenched in sweat, approached with a fire Tuo in each hand, eager to claim credit for finally subduing them. In that moment, had his brothers seen him, they would never have recognized their usually stoic, cold-blooded “Yu-ge” in this hopeful, expectant figure.

In just a few days, Yu Yan had become an unfathomable, towering presence in his mind. Unconsciously, he found himself naturally deferring to her.

“Not bad,” Yu Yan said, and as departure neared, a rare trace of warmth colored her voice.

“These two little fire Tuos are yours—enough to keep you fed for a few days. With your current strength... Well, this is an S-rank instance world; you’re still a bit lacking. We’ve shared this journey—if you died to some instance monster, it’d be a real embarrassment for me.”

She handed him more than twenty pieces of chaos stone, then, after a moment’s thought, gave him a seventh-rank feather-tipped banyan leaf.

“Y-Yan-jie?” For some reason, Zuo Changyu felt a flutter of panic.

Ever since he’d seen Yu Yan’s feather-tipped banyan leaf, he had coveted it. But now that one was in his hands, he felt no joy at all.

Yu Yan patted his shoulder. “Life is full of partings and reunions. Perhaps we’ll meet again soon—there’s no need to feel this way.”

Zuo Changyu: “...” What way am I feeling?

At that moment, Zuo Changyu didn’t realize that his manner with Yu Yan was no different than with his old brothers—used to being cared for, protected, and disciplined. Now, facing separation, it was only natural for him to feel uneasy.

“You have your brothers to find, and I have my own path. We won’t be traveling together any longer—it’s time to part ways. The chaos stones you may keep for yourself, or use to strengthen your brothers once you find them. As for the feather-tipped banyan leaf—every esper runs out of energy eventually.”

“You’re a skilled fighter—with this, you’ll be all the more formidable.”

With her words said, Yu Yan waved and, channeling wind energy, seemed scarcely to touch the ground. In no time, her figure was just a tiny black dot in Zuo Changyu’s eyes.

He stood rooted for a while, and as the ache of parting slowly faded, he looked down at what he held—of the twenty-odd chaos stones, twenty were rankless, the rest just five or six pieces no bigger than grains of rice or soybeans.

Not a single one was of proper size!

Zuo Changyu froze, nervously dropping the stones and snatching up the feather-tipped banyan leaf. Sure enough, in terms of energy, vein structure, and color, it differed subtly from the one Yu Yan herself used.

Zuo Changyu: “...” His handsome face twisted with frustration.

To think he’d been moved for so long, believing Yu Yan had changed, that she’d been incredibly generous and kind to him! Clearly, one should never place hope in that woman. Still, low-grade or not, the stones were better than nothing, and the feather-tipped banyan leaf, though not as fine as hers, appeared to be of decent quality.