Chapter 434 - Experiencing Death
Chapter 434: Experiencing Death
Translator: Misty Cloud Translations Editor: Misty Cloud Translations
At Sima You Yue’s words, the phoenix went into a flaming rage. Yet, no matter how much it struggled, it was unable to break past the array.
“You should save your energy.” Sima You Yue climbed onto a boulder, staying. “If you hadn’t returned to your nest, you could have avoided my array. Yet, you returned despite sensing the presence of humans in the area. Your own complacency caused your downfall.” The phoenix’s entire body gave off a chilling aura, glaring at Sima You Yue with murderous intent.
She was right. Before it returned, it had indeed picked up the smell of humans in the air, but it reasoned that since it was rather powerful, that whatever human was there would probably be no match for him, and had not even considered the fact that it could be putting itself in danger.
“What exactly do you want?” It struggled a few times and realised that it was pointless, and started to still itself.
“I’ve already said so. I am making you mine.” Sima You Yue said. “Making you her contract beast.”
“No way.” The phoenix insisted.
“Well, you only have have two choices. Either her, or death.” Sima You Yue said.
“Then I’ll choose death.” The phoenix replied, without hesitation.
“Alright. I’ll grant you your wish then.” Sima You Yue did not hesitate either. She then released a bout of spirit energy on the array, also putting in a flame from Crimson Flame in it. When the phoenix saw Crimson Flame’s flame, its eyes flashed with fear. That flame’s heat and strength… It definitely was who it thought it was! It opened its mouth to say something, but it started to get enclosed by the flame. The great heat made the taste of death seem close on its lips, and its heart was filled with the fear of its impending death. It lowered its head and saw that its wings and feet were being burnt to ashes, reaching for its heart and head soon.
“AHHHH” Before the flames were about to swallow it whole, it felt a tinge of regret sear its heart. Why did it choose death so confidently?
It was only at this point in time that it realised that remaining alive was more important than anything else in this world. Being a contract spirit beast was definitely much better than dying. Realising that this was its final moment, the phoenix finally tasted the full flavour of death, and everything became black.
CRASH— The phoenix fell heavily from its nest unto the ground. It opened its eyes, its eyes teeming with regret. Hadn’t it been burnt to ashes by the flames? How was it still alive? Sima You Yue walked to the edge of the array, and seeing the look in its eyes, she said, “Aren’t you curious as to how you could still be alive?”
“What have you done?” The phoenix looked at Sima You Yue, shocked.
“Nothing much. I’ve just let you taste what death could be like with a hallucination.” Sima You Yue said. “But that was just an illusion. But I think whatever you felt in that period of time did feel very real indeed, did it not? How did dying feel like? Do you still wish to die? If you still insist, it won’t be an illusion this time.” She toyed around with the flames that were in her hands, her eyes glimmering with a smile. This caused the phoenix to feel very uneasy indeed. It knew that Sima You Yue definitely was not joking, and that she would not give him another chance.
So, death, or being bound?
It was still unsure, but when it saw the flames dancing around Sima You Yue’s hands, recalling how death tasted helped it to make its decision.
“I… I’ll agree.” It had ultimately been defeated by the illusion. It definitely did not want to have to be subject to such fear ever again.
“Alright.” Sima You Yue kept the flame and said, “Then come here, I’ll tame you.” The phoenix got up and walked over, and placed its head close to the edge of the array.
Sima You Yue stretched her hand out to touch its forehead. She then adjusted the spirit energy within her, and started to tame it. Although the phoenix had given its verbal agreement, its heart was still very resistant, and so it was rather excruciating for Sima You Yue while she was carrying out the process. Of course, most of it was due to the fact that she had not completely recovered yet. But thankfully, she was very strong, and she was able to focus her energy on the phoenix’s mind and duel with it, which eventually caused the phoenix to submit itself. After its mind had been put in a place of submission, it made the taming of the phoenix much easier for Sima You Yue.
After half the day passed, Sima You Yue removed her hand and waved it. With that, all the array stones were kept back, and the array was removed. She turned around to look at Zhuo Ma and said, “Come and establish the contract.”
The Zhuo Family members were stunned still while they were watching her tame the phoenix, and had only just regained their senses. They didn’t dare to speak or even breathe, in case they disrupted the process. It was only after she moved aside were they able to see that the phoenix had already been tamed, its rebellious anger replaced by a mild look of confusion.
Zhuo Ma squealed and ran over, looking at the phoenix excitedly. She then turned to look at Sima You Yue and said, “Are you really giving this to me?”
Sima You Yue nodded.
“Woaaah… You Yue, you’re too cool! I didn’t know you were a beast tamer!” Zhuo Ma squeaked excitedly.
“Quickly go and establish your bond. Once that’s done we can be on our way.” Sima You Yue chased.
“Yep!” Zhua Ma nodded her head eagerly and turned around to look at her father. When she saw his nod of approval, she turned around and put her hand on the forehead of the phoenix, establishing their bond. Soon after, the streaks of the bond started to encircle the beast and its human, and made its way into both their temples. When the Zhuo family members saw that the bond had been successfully established, they wanted to run up to speak to Zhuo Ma. But before they could even take two steps forward, they saw that the phoenix and she had been wrapped by the glow of rank ascension.
“You’ve ascended in rank!”
“Little Miss and the contract beast have both increased in rank at the same time, is this because of the bond?”
“But I’ve never seen someone ascending in rank after establishing a contract with a beast!”
“Young Master Sima’s powers are indeed formidable!”
“Precisely! He’s not only an array master, but a beast trainer as well! I’m not sure what methods were used to tame the beast, but it was able to ascend in rank right after the contract was established!”
“Little Miss’ contract beast was already a second rank sacred beast, but now it has ascended to become a third rank sacred beast! Does that mean that its powers are now equal to those of a divine overlord? If so then it means that it is the most powerful member of our family!”
“That’s right! With it, we no longer need to fear the Jiang family!”
“That’s great!”
While the family discussed enthusiastically, Zhuo Ran felt a deep sense of peace and comfort in his heart. It was as though the fate of their entire family had just changed in an instant! He turned to look at Sima You Yue with grateful gaze. If he hadn’t saved him back then in the desert, they might never be able to go through the changes that they did today. Saving him was the best thing that they had done in the past few years!
Quickly, after their ascensions in rank had both been completed, Zhuo Ma jumped up happily, while the phoenix tried to process the joy of ascending in rank.
“Thank you, You Yue.” Zhuo Ma happily expressed her gratefulness towards him.
“You guys saved me.” Sima You Yue replied simply. If they had not saved her back then, she would not have helped them in such a way today.
“I still have to thank you.” Zhuo Ma said. “You Yue, since you can train beasts, could you help us to tame a few more?” If the family had a few more contract beasts, wouldn’t they become even stronger?
As the Zhuo family members heard her request, they held their breaths nervously, waiting for her reply.
Sima You Yue mulled over it for a bit and then nodded, saying, “Sure. But you’re responsible for bringing them to me.”