All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 236: Heart

“What other surprises do you have that I don’t know about?” Zhanyue wanted to ask, but seeing Yunyao’s expression, he wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

“When I gave you the Thousand Affinity Feather and the ‘Sky-Covering Wings’ technique earlier, the truth is, these two things alone aren’t enough to master the Sky-Covering Wings divine ability. Many of its mysteries require my assistance. Without my guidance and the secrets passed down from the Feather Sky Emperor, mastering this technique would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. Out of selfishness, I didn’t tell you this. After all, I was also worried about your strength far surpassing mine. Am I very despicable? Very contemptible?” Yunyao’s eyes darted around, not daring to look at Zhanyue.

Zhanyue slapped his thigh, “My goodness, there’s an unexpected gain.” No wonder he had made no progress despite studying the ‘Sky-Covering Wings’ technique for so long. He had thought it was due to his poor aptitude, but now he realized he was missing part of the instruction manual, and that manual was Yunyao herself.

“I don’t blame you,” Zhanyue said, though he wanted to punch her to express his feelings, he held back. Seeing her current pitiful state, he really couldn’t bring himself to do it. “With the Thousand Affinity Feather, giving me the ‘Sky-Covering Wings’ was already extremely generous. You could have even concealed its existence, and I wouldn’t have known. But you still told me about it. Although the possibility of me mastering this divine ability on my own is low, it’s not absolutely impossible, right?”

“You… really don’t blame me?” Yunyao asked.

“I don’t blame you. You don’t need to feel guilty about this. There are plenty of villains in this world, but you’re definitely not one of them. Stop overthinking and rest for a while,” Zhanyue advised. He also needed to rest and recover, and think about what to do next.

Yunyao sat nearby, holding the divine artifact mirror, occasionally glancing at Zhanyue from the corner of her eye, lost in thought. Staring at the mirror, looking at herself, Yunyao suddenly remembered the incantation, “Clear mind, still heart. Mirror me, not me. True self enters mirror, mind clear, heart still.”

As she repeated this incantation over and over, Yunyao’s heart gradually calmed down. Only when truly calm, discarding all chaotic noise, can one truly understand one’s inner self. The antonym of inferiority isn’t arrogance; in a sense, inferiority and pride are the same thing – both are an inability to truly face oneself, to view one’s strengths and weaknesses objectively.

Yunyao was very intelligent. The curse-like power had changed her personality but hadn’t affected her wisdom. Soon, without Zhanyue knowing, she entered a mysterious state, an indescribable mental realm. As she closed her eyes, the divine artifact mirror in her hand began to show tiny cracks. In her mind, she stood naked by a lake, a lake of the heart that was exceptionally still, like a mirror reflecting her bare self. Every hair, every detail was clear, whether it was her exquisite face, her voluptuous yet graceful figure, or her pair of perfect jade feet, all clearly displayed before her.

Yunyao was confused. She gently stirred the lake’s surface with her hand. The ripples soon settled, continuing to reflect her. Then, her life experiences played back like a revolving lantern on this mirror-like lake. She witnessed her pride, her weakness, her helplessness, and her loneliness.

“He’s right. Although I’m of mixed blood, I’m not inferior to either humans or the Bird Clan. I have an origin, and I also have a destination,” Yunyao suddenly smiled. Then her eyes lit up with golden light – it was the Eye of Dominion activating. In an instant, the lake water became turbulent, then calm again.

In reality, Yunyao opened her eyes. They were a pair of golden eyes, lofty, viewing all beings as ants. Without Zhanyue knowing, Yunyao had quietly recovered.

She secretly glanced at Zhanyue, who was meditating beside her, her feelings complex. She hadn’t forgotten everything that had happened before – it was definitely her dark history. Should she take this opportunity to silence him permanently?

Of course, Yunyao wouldn’t be so cruel. Although she greatly despised Zhanyue’s earlier behavior – appearing gentlemanly on the surface but playing with her foot for so long, did it really take that long to put on her shoes and socks? What a pervert, she should stay away from him in the future.

With a thought from Yunyao, a divine light fell on Zhanyue, and then her figure disappeared from the cave. She couldn’t let that Disaster Beast off for making her so embarrassed. By coincidence, her mental state had reached a new level, and even her cultivation had advanced, crossing from Moon Profound to Sun Profound realm. She had widened the gap with Zhanyue by another major realm.

After a while, Zhanyue woke up groggily. He had only meant to rest for a bit, how did he suddenly fall asleep? When he woke up, he found Yunyao gone, and instantly felt as if he’d fallen into an ice pit. Where Yunyao had been, only a broken mirror remained.

“What happened?” Zhanyue was puzzled and quickly gave chase.

A earth-shattering battle was taking place on Monkey Mountain. When Zhanyue arrived, his eyes nearly popped out. Monkey Mountain was no more; the entire small mountain had been leveled. The Disaster Beast’s aura was nowhere to be felt, and sword qi lingered everywhere, refusing to dissipate.

“She couldn’t have done this, could she?” Zhanyue felt a chill down his spine. This woman had quite a temper. Had she recovered?

A figure suddenly appeared behind Zhanyue. He turned to look – who else could it be but Yunyao? Gone was her previous meek demeanor; now she had returned to her usual icy, unapproachable self.

“Is the Disaster Beast dead?” Zhanyue asked.

“Dead,” Yunyao replied coldly, her sword still unsheathed.

“What… what are you planning to do? You’re not thinking of silencing me, are you?” Zhanyue said, sensing the killing intent from Yunyao hadn’t dissipated.

“Killing you would be pointless. After all, dying here isn’t real death,” Yunyao said.

“What do you mean? Are you planning to kill me after we get out?” Zhanyue asked again.

“We’ll see,” Yunyao only left these two words before heading to the ground.

“We’ll… see?” Zhanyue felt a headache coming on. She really was planning to kill him? But outside, she’d be even less able to act. “This woman is just trying to scare me,” Zhanyue thought as he followed her to the ground.

“I don’t want anyone else to know about what happened earlier,” Yunyao said while dealing with the Disaster Beast’s corpse.

“I… I understand,” Zhanyue dared not disagree. “After you recovered, you just attacked directly? Why didn’t you call me to join you?”

“Call you? You’re not immune to that divine light. Bringing you would only hinder me. That light no longer affects me; killing it was like slaughtering a pig or dog,” Yunyao explained. She was actually afraid that if she brought Zhanyue, he might end up in the same situation. The divine artifact was already destroyed; she couldn’t protect a second person. The artifact was indeed divine, not fake. It’s just that the methods of using them were very special, whether it was the sword from last time or this mirror.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Zhanyue was speechless. This woman had been saying earlier how she was useless and everything depended on him for the seven Disaster Beasts, but now she had completely reversed, saying he would only be a hindrance. However, Zhanyue was happy. The familiar Yunyao had finally returned, and only this Yunyao could possibly work with him to kill the seven great Disaster Beasts.

“See if you can use its blood,” Yunyao asked. She had known since their last battle that Zhanyue’s armor was somewhat strange.