"Too big."
"Too small."
"Slow down! I still want an intact body!"
Li Renjie cursed in his heart as he sat in front of a convenience store located on a busy intersection.
After leaving his apartment he followed his plan and walked towards an active part of the city where all sorts of warehouses and factories operated.
There were plenty of trucks here.
"Sigh…it's almost time," Li Renjie mumbled as he looked up at the moon.
As ready as he was, as much as he had planned, he still found himself getting nervous.
What if it didn't work?
'Well, at worst I just die and at best I'm just injured and look like a fool.'
Just at the moment, his eyes gleamed as he spotted the perfect truck!
Not too big, not to small, and perfectly boxy!
His goldilocks truck had arrived!
Taking a deep breath, his eyes looked resolved as he firmly held onto his backpack.
Ten seconds!
At the same time as Li Renjie was beginning to act a group of older men appeared from around the corner and arrived just a few feet from the convenience store.
"Man, we had to work overtime again. This is getting ridiculous; does he not know we have families?!"
"I know, but what can we do? After all...!!! Wait! What are you doing?!"
One of the men quickly shouted before bolting forward. His friends seemed confused before looking ahead and gasping.
A young man had suddenly leapt out in front of an incoming truck!
"Young lad, no matter how bad it is as long as you are alive things can change!!!" the older man who had ran forward shouted as he reached out to grab the foolish young lad.
However, he was just a hair to late and only managed to grab the young man's backpack!
Snap!
The zipper burst and two stacks of paper were revealed!
One managed to just barely stay in the bag while the other flew away and scattered in the air!
Li Renjie's eyes nearly popped out his head as he saw the papers scatter.
"Nooooo!!!!!!!"
His plan!
His perfect plan!
All his effort!!!
Alas.
Bang!
Li Renjie, twenty years old - Deceased.
***********************************
::North Star Island – Kingdom of Amon::
Chirp, chirp, chirp
A little blue jay made its way out of its home as it sang merrily.
Winter was beginning to give way to spring.
The brisk morning air was invigorating while the freshly fallen snow made the land appear pure and unblemished.
It pruned its feathers while basking in the early morning sun, taking in the beautiful sight just outside its home.
The rays of light bounced off the snow making it shimmer and shine, all the while warming the little bird's body on this cool early morning.
The little bird walked onto a branch and bit down into a fresh plump berry. As he ate the juices leaked down his beak, the little bird did not seem to mind and continued to indulge himself.
Life was good.
Fwwshh!!
Four beams of lights suddenly cut through the tranquil morning sky rattling the little bird. They flew by so fast that the gust of winds that followed blew the little bird of the branch.
Before he could even catch a glimpse of his assaulters they had vanished into the horizon.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp!!!" The little bird tweeted angrily as he felt his perfect morning had been ruined!
Up in the air, the four lights continued to soar forward.
"Senior brother can't you just let it go?" A young woman asked the young man flying ahead.
She had waist length black hair, dressed in silk sky blue robes, and standing on a bronze flying sword. While she appeared to be just nineteen years old, in her eyes a hint of exhaustion could be seen.
She was one of the three individuals currently flying behind the young man.
The young man she addressed was standing on a silver sword and wore similar sky-blue robes. However, his robes were adorned with elegant and refined silver embroidery that resembled stars. His hair was light brown and cut short, his eyes hazel in color, and right below his right eye was a single mole.
The young man did not respond right away as his eyes simply remained locked onto the horizon.
"Senior brother?" The young woman asked again.
All of a sudden, the young man stopped and plunged towards a tree right beneath him!
"There he goes again, sigh," a bald young man in similar sky-blue robes sighed as he watched his senior brother.
The young woman from earlier and the last member, a woman with the same blue robes and shoulder length golden hair smiled as they shook their heads and watched helplessly.
Their senior brother had a very particular trait.
The young man had just about reached the tree before suddenly launching himself off his sword and towards a specific branch!
"You can't escape this time!" he shouted.
Quickly he flipped in midair and reached out towards a bundle of leaves on the branch as an ethereal azure colored qi began to pour out of his body!
His silver sword on the other hand remained suspended right above the tree.
At the same time, a flash of golden light bloomed from within the leaves and shot out!
It flew just above the young man's head, aiming for the space right behind him!
"Bakakakaka!!!"
A disdainful laugh sounded as the light passed the young man.
"You think I'll fall for the same trick twice?!" The young man shouted as a smile appeared on his face.
His sword suddenly came flying down towards the golden light.
"Drifting Stars! Four Luminaries!" the young man hollered.
His sword began glowing with the same azure-colored qi before splitting into four identical swords!
The four swords surrounded the golden light and restricted its movements as they began attacking from the air.
"Try and escape now!" the young man shouted as he landed and once again launched himself towards the golden light.
Beneath his feet specks of bluish-silver light began to glow and propelled him forward!
Star Treading Steps!
His figure blurred as he flew towards the light!
The sheer speed making it appear as if he was teleporting!
As he shot forward one of the four swords quickly flew into his hands!
"Bkaaaaaa!!!!"
An angry cry sounded from the golden light as it was surrounded.
The light began to dim, and the creature's true form became visible!
A chicken!
A resplendent golden chicken with a crown of feathers!
The Golden Crown Treasure Chicken!
A spirit beast!
As its figure was revealed, so too was its cultivation!
Peak Stage -Nine Springs Realm!
The chicken looked at the young man charging towards it and began to raise its beak in disdain, arrogance flashed in its eyes as its beak and claws began to glow with a deep golden light.
The young man seeing this began to curse the chicken!
"You damn chicken! You dare look down on me?! You along with the Crystal Moon Rice, Jade Essence Fruit, and Ten Mountains Wine will make a great meal for me, Wang Hao!" he shouted as he lunged towards it.
Boom!
His aura exploded; he too was at the peak of the Nine Springs realm!
The chicken sneered before charging towards Wang Hao!
Its claws rending the ground beneath its feet as it launched itself forward!
It wanted to fight him head on!
The three in the air seeing this did not know what to do, their senior brother was quite capable but had one particular quirk.
He was a die-hard foodie!
"That's one fierce chicken," the bald young man said as he watched on in amazement.
"This would be easier if senior brother would just let us help. If we all attacked together, this would be a sure thing," the young woman with long black hair said.
"You know he likes to gather all the ingredients himself," the young woman with golden hair laughed as she watched in amusement. She was quite fond of this trait that her senior brother had, she found it charming.
"True, but we've been chasing this damn thing for three days now," the bald-headed young man sighed thinking about how many times they've failed to catch it or rather…their senior brother.
"Well hopefully he can catch it this time," the young woman with golden hair said with a smile and continued to watch.
During their short conversation, the chicken and Wang Hao had already exchanged over fifty blows!
Sparks flew as sword met beak and claw!
Deep pits were carved in the ground and trees as thick as wine barrels were cut clean in half!
The man and chicken had completely destroyed the surrounding area!
Suddenly the chicken clucked before flashing with a dazzling golden light!
It was getting ready to finish this whole affair!
However just as it was about to end this peasant, it saw something flying in the distance, about three or so hundred feet away.
!!!!!
The moment it saw the object it seemed to completely forget about Wang Hao.
Its body began to emit an even more resplendent golden light before it quickly flapped its wings and launched itself towards the object at frightening speeds.
"What?!" Wang Hao seeing this was shocked, the treasure chicken was moving at least twice as fast as before!
'How is it getting so much stronger day by day?!'
He had been feeling that this chicken was improving by leaps in bounds in the three days they had been chasing it and now he could finally verify it.
The other three seeing the chickens sudden burst in speed were equally shocked.
All of them were also at the Nine Springs realm and although not at the peak stage like their senior brother or the treasure chicken, they were all still quite capable.
The four of them could easily see an ant from a hundred feet away. As such, they had no problem seeing what the chicken was going for!
A small, white, and fluffy object.
It was peacefully floating in the air, carried by a gentle breeze.
However, before they could identify what it was the chicken had already arrived.
It quickly opened its beak and swallowed the object whole!
"Bkaaaaaa! Bkaaaaaa!!!"
The moment the object entered the chicken's body it began crying with joy! It puffed its chest out and sang merrily, looking as if it had won the lottery.
Turning its head, it looked back at Wang Hao showing what could only be described as disdain before suddenly vanishing into the horizon in a flash of golden light.
A faint and arrogant 'laugh' could be heard in the distance but soon trailed off.
"Damn chicken!!!" Wang Hao seemed to go mad seeing a chicken treat him with such contempt!
This chicken's head was swollen!
He would bring it back down to earth!
As he was cursing towards the horizon the other three came down.
"Senior brother…what was that?" the bald young man asked curiously. He still wasn't quite sure what just happened.
"I'm not sure, but that arrogant bastard seemed to treat it as a treasure. It doesn't matter, whatever it eats will eventually nourish me anyway, hehehe," Wang Hao began to chuckle to himself as he opened his left hand, inside was a single golden feather.
Clap, clap, clap
The golden-haired young lady suddenly began clapping getting everyone's attention.
Her name was Sun Xiulan, she was the second strongest person in the group and notably, the most responsible. Her golden hair was shoulder length and contrasted nicely against her deep blue eyes and robes.
"Alright, we have to let that go. Senior brother, the Seven Skies Conference is in three months, we need to get back and prepare or the elders will punish us for sure," she said seriously.
Staring at the beautiful but stern golden-haired girl in front of him Wang Hao couldn't help but sigh slightly.
He could only accept this loss…for now.
The four leapt back on their flying swords and began to head back towards their sect.
Good food and clear weather, vibes~
Cultivation ranks and the likes will become clear organically.
Thanks for reading.