Chapter 117: Two Cranes, Thunder Unfurled-Ovoviviparity(The Black Ring)

Outside the Fire Ruins Cave, an auspicious cloud drifted in, upon which two plump, large cranes flapped their wings and descended, landing right in front of the Feibai Pavilion.

"Which one is the Golden Boy?" the male crane shouted first.

"Call him out! Today, the Liuxiang Twin Cranes are here, and we intend to ask him to his face: just where did he get the audacity to invite us here?" the female crane hissed, her eyes brimming with malice.

Upstairs and downstairs, many acolytes peeked out, while several outside guests leaned against the railings to watch, all wearing the expressions of those looking forward to a good show.

Inside a quiet room on the third floor, Linggu sat composedly before her desk. Her small hand held a brush, dipping it into ink, diligently writing three scrolls of repentance: one for atonement, one for dispelling misfortune, and one for bestowing blessings.

"Done!"

As she finished, a tall, strange figure rose from a meditation cushion in front of the desk. The figure gently vibrated its wings, while a scroll titled *The Great Zhou Celestial Five-Qi Subtle Method* floated before it, slowly being stowed away. The way the book floated and was put away, as if manipulated by invisible hands, left Linggu staring in a daze.

"Brother Bao!" Linggu put away her small wolf-hair brush and asked expectantly, "When will I be able to be like you and control my vital energy as easily as moving my own arm?"

On the cushion, Ji Ming levitated into the air, uncrossed his legs, and landed on the ground. "You are different from me. What you must do is progress steadily, study well by Su Su's side, and lay a solid foundation for your own Daoist cultivation."

As he spoke, he drew the three scrolls of repentance from the desk to his eyes. "Very well written."

Linggu tilted her head, confused. "Why do you have me write these three scrolls for you every day?"

"First, it helps you practice the format and technique of repentance scrolls." Ji Ming walked to a brazier, cast the scroll of atonement into the flames, and continued, "Second, of course, is to help you verify their efficacy."

"Caw!"

He emitted a few crow calls from his throat, and several crows flew in from outside the building. They snatched the scroll for dispelling misfortune and flew toward the mountain to drop it into the river.

"And this third reason is to conveniently help me atone for my sins and dispel my misfortunes."

Linggu’s attention was clearly not on his words. Watching the crows fly toward the mountain, she tugged at her brother. "I want to learn that."

"That is bird language; you lack the talent for it."

Linggu was now quite superstitious about Ji Ming—or perhaps, worshipful. She was obsessed with his power and worshipped his decision to walk the path of the secret arts' inverse cultivation. Since her brother said she lacked the talent, she did not dwell on it.

"Brother, you never step out of the main gate, living a life of austerity even more severe than those heterodox old monks. What sins could you possibly have to atone for, and what misfortunes to dispel?"

"Golden Boy!"

"Come out!"

"..."

Outside the building, the shouting grew louder.

"Look, the retribution for my sins has arrived."

Placing the final scroll of blessing in the quiet room, Ji Ming exerted force with his crane-like legs, his entire body shooting out of the room like an arrow from a bow.

Outside, within the cluster of auspicious clouds hanging in mid-air, the two cranes tilted their necks, heads bowed and lifted, wings slightly spread, balancing on single legs. Just as they were catching their breath after shouting for so long, they felt something heavy pressing down from above and hurriedly channeled their spiritual energy to push back.

An invisible wall of force pressed down, driving the two cranes to the ground before the pressure finally stabilized. They looked up in unison to see a figure sitting cross-legged in mid-air.

"Demon Crane!"

Ji Ming kept his crane legs crossed, his wings lowered, and continuously exerted his vital energy downwards. He spoke softly and slowly, "Why are you brawling outside the Fire Ruins Cave?"

"Bah!" the male crane said contemptuously. "You covet our bodies, wanting to take us to that so-called 'Luoxi Small Blessed Land.' We know all about that place!"

The female crane was stunned and asked, "Didn't Elder Ape say he wanted to send us to some Feihuzi? What is a Small Blessed Land, and how do you know all about it, dear?"

"You foolish woman! That Feihuzi’s home is in the Small Blessed Land. I tell you to listen to more news, but you spend all day moping on Liuxiang Peak—you’ll never attain the Dao in eight lifetimes." The male crane, frustrated by her lack of insight, finally explained, "That piece of Small Blessed Land was originally in the Central Earth Continent, but was moved to the Guhe Continent by an immortal with great power, which damaged its roots. I suspect that in a few hundred years, that land will be reduced to a mundane place, devoid of any terrestrial spiritual essence."

"Good!"

Seeing that these two cranes still had the mood to chat, Ji Ming, who had been planning to test them further, poured out all his vital energy. As he lifted and pressed his wings, the two-zhang space beneath him seemed to spark with electricity. A flash of white light revealed vital energy as solid as rock.

The pressure on the cranes’ backs rose sharply, and the auspicious clouds surrounding them rose up to support them.

"Wind, come!" the two cranes shouted in unison, and a great wind rose on the flat ground before the building. The wind howled and swirled, forming a small tornado that violently dragged at Ji Ming, who was sitting in the void.

Ji Ming sank his body into the rock-solid vital energy; regardless of how the tornado raged, he remained as steady as a mountain.

"Little demon-human, so it’s the inverse technique of Crane Control." The male crane's long beak was as sharp as if it had been dipped in poison. "No wonder you want to subdue us; you must be planning to refine us into 'Dao Organs'."

The female crane asked again, confused, "Didn't Elder Ape say he invited us to have a talk?"

This time, the male crane couldn't be bothered to explain, merely mocking Ji Ming and spewing filth. Both inside and outside the cave, more and more people gathered to watch the spectacle. Even Su Su, the second disciple of the Great Master, was drawn by the commotion and cast a glance their way.

Ji Ming sat in his vital energy like an old Buddha, listening to the cranes' insults. He knew that if he did not display thunderous methods, the momentum he had built within the Fire Ruins Cave risked fading. These two cranes from Liuxiang Peak could still chat under such powerful suppression; their demon bodies must already be of copper skin and iron bone. He had already gauged their foundation—not yet great monsters that had shed their forms, but they had certainly achieved successful shape-shifting.

Behind Ji Ming’s head, a grey-silver radiance expanded. Sensing this, the two cranes were filled with premonitions of danger, their feathers bristling. They exchanged a look, seeing the terror in each other's eyes, and dared not utter another insulting word. They flipped within the clouds, transforming into a man and a woman clad in crane-feather cloaks. They spat out white breath that turned into long swords held in their hands, hacking and slashing at the surrounding vital energy.

The rock-like vital energy suppressing them from above was neatly carved open by these two swords.

"Strike!"

The man and woman shouted together, throwing their long swords into the air toward Ji Ming, the sound of the blades ringing out.

"Flying swords."

Ji Ming was genuinely startled; the reputation of flying swords was synonymous with slaughter. Behind his head, the Heart-Gathering Halo suddenly expanded and shone forward, locking onto one of the cranes. At the same time, he channeled his energy to seize the two flying swords. The blades were frozen in place, and only then did Ji Ming realize the two cranes had been bluffing.

The two cranes had already transformed back into their original forms and were flapping their wings to fly away from the peak, when one crane’s body stiffened and it fell like a severed kite. The other crane tried to return to save it, but its body began to convulse, its legs kicking wildly in the air as if struck by sudden madness, a sight that chilled the hearts of the onlookers.

The crane pecked at its own body with its long beak, and a small, long worm was startled out from under its feathers, falling into the poison-collection bag held by the two acolytes in the pavilion. With a cry, the poisoned demon crane collapsed and fell, crashing in front of the Feibai Pavilion and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The hearts of the two acolytes in the pavilion pounded; although they were only following orders, the feeling of personally taking down a demon monster was truly exhilarating.

"Immortal Master, spare us!" The female crane, pinned by the Heart-Gathering Halo, flailed on the ground before transforming into human form and kowtowing repeatedly. "We are willing to surrender! We surrender!"

"You may surrender, but he cannot."

As he spoke, the halo behind his head shifted, shining upon the male crane.

At that moment, the voice of Elder Ape, late to the scene, rang out from the mountain path outside the peak: "Golden Boy, spare his life!"

A blood-dripping crane heart was already suspended within the halo. Ji Ming shook his head and sighed, "Lacking virtue in speech, sowing the seeds of disaster with your tongue—this demon was destined for this tribulation."

Elder Ape sighed and groaned before the crane corpse; his foot speed was no match for the cranes, and he had arrived too late.

"You..."

The female crane was furious. Just as she was about to lash out, the figure with dark wings and crane legs landed before her. Dressed in a black robe with a crimson sash, his phoenix eyes were imposing without needing anger. Ji Ming stared at the female crane; deep within his consciousness, the character [Egg] inside his "Eye of Ovi-viviparous Transformation" gradually faded, indicating that her oviparous nature had been settled.

"Well done."

A wondrous voice came from within the cave—it was the Master. "This is a place of purity for the Dao; the noisy demon cranes deserved this fate."

"Master!" The female crane bowed toward the Fire Ruins Cave, shouting with hatred, "We, the Twin Cranes of Liuxiang Peak, were guarding the 'Three-Insect Resurrection Grass' for Daoist Qiuqiu! He is a disciple of the southern ghost-god Zhong Chengzi; in other words, he is the successor of the Southern China Lady of Fire Virtue. In terms of status and background, he is far more noble than you, a disciple of the Central Heaven! When he returns to Liuxiang Peak, I will surely report this!"

Ji Ming had not expected that while this female crane's words were not profane, they were even more venomous. He couldn't help but worry that the Master might kill her outside the cave in a fit of rage.

"Audacious."

The Master's voice from the cave remained calm.

The female crane outside was about to say more when a strand of white breath was snatched from her beak; a similar strand of white breath flew from the beak of the male crane’s corpse. The two strands of white breath hung in mid-air, and the two precious swords Ji Ming had seized dissipated into strands of energy, each returning to its respective white breath.

"Keeping these two sword-energies in your mouths is truly a waste of divine materials. I will not kill you here today, but I will refine them as a warning."

Having had her sword-energy stolen, the female crane tucked her neck and fled the peak, not daring to make another sound.

Just as Ji Ming thought the matter had drawn to a close and the dust had settled, the Master’s voice emerged from the cave once more, this time addressing him directly.

"I intend to refine these two sword-energies into a sword embryo. Golden Boy, consider it—do you wish to accept it?"

"Thank you, Master—"

Before Ji Ming could finish, the Master interrupted him.

"Come and collect the sword embryo in three months. I hope you will be able to make good use of this sword by then."