"Alright... alright... I'll give you one of the Phantoms I've got!"
Shen Zuo said, rising wearily, his eyes fixed on that irritating creature in front of him.
Then he pressed his lips together and said in an angry tone laced with sarcasm:
"You don't actually need anything from me, do you? No food, no Phantoms, nothing at all... I just don't get it... where the hell do all those Phantoms you steal even go? Are you stuffing them up your ass or something?"
The bird kept staring at him... the same look... that insolent indifference, as though it hadn't heard a single word. As though it was just waiting. For the right moment... to take another bite out of Shen Zuo.
Shen Zuo calmed himself down a little, took a deep breath, then said in a calmer tone, trying to suppress his anger:
"How about... cooked meat?"
He smiled a sidelong smile, looking at the bird, which kept watching him with no expression whatsoever.
"Remember? I fed you before... huh?"
He raised an eyebrow and said in a falsely enticing tone:
"How about I cook you every beast you help me kill? Grilled, crispy meat... better than that raw stuff you eat, no?"
There was no direct response, but the bird tilted its head slightly, as though the idea had started to spark its interest... even if only slightly.
Shen Zuo kept his eyes on it, trying to read any sign, any acceptance... or even an outright refusal.
But as usual.
Silence and mockery were the only answer.
Shen Zuo said, waving his hand irritably at empty air:
"What else do you want?! Grandpa Zhou Ji... help me out here a little! This author favoritism thing's basically a habit for you now... it wouldn't hurt you much to help me one more time."
He didn't actually expect a direct answer... but even so, he kept talking as though genuinely addressing someone, as though waiting for the solution to drop from the sky at any moment.
Confusion crept over his face as he looked at the bird, still staring with no clear interest whatsoever, while Shen Zuo cursed his luck, cursed everything.
"Ugh..."
Shen Zuo let out a forceful breath as his body collapsed to the ground, having completely lost hope, watching the bird still standing exactly where it was, fixed like a statue, mocking him with its cold eyes.
But...
A small smile formed on his cracked lips as he whispered to himself:
"It's fine... it's fine... even if you don't help me... I won't need any of you once I find a way myself."
He slowly raised his head, his features no longer carrying that same despair, but something closer to stubborn resolve...
There was still time left.
Shen Zuo sat calmly treating himself in the observation tree, after his energy had fully recovered. Every now and then, he glanced toward the Pit inside his Aether Field... the water there had climbed close to 80% full, only a little left before he'd finally reach the First Rank.
And as the days passed... everything moved at a steady pace.
He slowly treated his wounds, then began training again. He had a few crystals he'd collected earlier from various beasts, and made use of them to boost his energy.
Weeks passed without any major events... he only left the observation post when absolutely necessary: to relieve himself. As for food and water, he now had a solid enough stockpile to last him a long while.
Life had become monotonous, but necessary... every moment he spent here pushed him one step closer to his goal.
And now, after three weeks inside the Aether Field, the lake had come close to completion. Energy flowed into it at a steady pace, growing bit by bit with every passing day.
Then... after a stretch of time that wasn't exactly short, the lake finally reached completion.
The instant it filled up entirely, reinforcement points surged toward it in a flood, as though some hidden floodgate had opened. The gathered energy began condensing, and with this condensing... the lake's color gradually began to shift.
That pale blue kept seeping into it slowly... flooding the clear water bit by bit until the lake glowed with a faint shimmer, barely visible... but real.
The starting point toward the First Rank... had finally arrived.
"Hooooh."
Shen Zuo let out a deep breath, his exhales rising with the steam of the cold air. A faint smile formed on his face without him even noticing. There was something inside him... a sense of satisfaction he hadn't tasted in a long time.
His body began expelling large clumps of black matter, dark chunks resembling scorched clay, coming out of his pores, his skin, from everywhere. These were the leftover toxins and impurities that had clung to his body his entire life.
Shen Zuo felt an indescribable lightness.
He stepped out of the observation tree, feeling his arms, looking at his fingers as though they belonged to someone else. Then he headed toward a small nearby pond and washed the sticky black layer coating his skin.
The cold water touched his skin for the first time in months.
He smiled again, without meaning to.
Once he finished, he stood calmly under the sunlight filtering through the tree branches, then slowly raised his hand in front of his eyes and began channeling a small amount of energy into the Rock Mutation Phantom, the same tiny amount that had barely activated the Phantom before.
But now...
with this qualitative shift in his energy, and with the lake inside his Aether Field now full, everything had changed.
His entire hand, from fingers to wrist, turned into a solid stone mass within moments. There was no delay, barely any effort at all, everything responded seamlessly, as if body and Phantom had become a single thing.
Shen Zuo smiled.
The energy now wasn't just bigger... it was purer.
His energy was now at least three times better than it had been before.
"Oh my god."
He thought to himself, clenching his stone fist, looking out toward the horizon.
Shen Zuo lunged toward the bird without hesitation, his eyes gleaming with fresh defiance as he shouted:
"Hey, feather brain... come here."
The bird came, as usual, annoyed by Shen Zuo's confident tone, but curiosity was clearly present in its cold eyes.
Shen Zuo didn't wait any longer, didn't give it a chance for mockery this time. He simply said one line, in a steady voice:
"Fight me."
Then he attacked.
The number of needles Shen Zuo fired from his Phantom gradually increased... from four to five, then to ten, then dozens at a time. Their firing speed was faster, their precision sharper.
The needles formed and streamed out from his fingertips like a never-ending torrent, chasing the bird, which for the first time since their meeting was forced to put in real effort to dodge them.
Shen Zuo's expression didn't change, remaining steady throughout.
This time, the bird didn't settle for just dodging; it went on the offensive too. It wasn't just throwing feathers anymore, but small fireballs that exploded on impact with anything they touched.
Shen Zuo didn't back down. On the contrary. He began activating the Rock Mutation Phantom, but this time in a different way. Instead of just coating his fist, he began spreading the stone across scattered parts of his body: his shoulders, left forearm, chest, and even parts of his leg. It wasn't a full coating, but it was enough to block off lethal strikes.
"Not the same feeling as before..." Shen Zuo thought as he tested his new hardness. The stone felt denser, more flexible with his movements, far less sluggish than what he was used to.
But the bird gave him no time to think. It lunged again, its wings moving at an unnatural speed. One of the fireballs struck Shen Zuo's stone-covered shoulder. His body shook, but this time it didn't knock him down.
Shen Zuo raised his left hand and fired a focused burst of needles. The bird dodged them easily as usual, but didn't notice the last needle that nearly grazed its wing... a last-second dodge at the critical moment.
The fight escalated gradually.
The bird now used a mix of feather attacks and fireballs... it closed in on Shen Zuo again, wings spread wide, as if trying to tear him apart. Shen Zuo focused his energy into his stone-covered fist and struck, but the bird dodged the blow, shooting past him like an arrow.
Round after round, the bird tried to bring him down, and Shen Zuo refused to fall.
The struggle was gradually shifting from a contest of strength into one of endurance and attrition.
Heat filled the air. Shattered rock covered the ground. Feathers and fire scattered everywhere.
"The offer still stands, dead feather brain, by the way."
Shen Zuo said, dodging one of the fireballs with difficulty. A faint explosion sounded behind him, but the bird showed no real interest, continuing its attack with even more force.
"Alright... how about a challenge, huh?"
Shen Zuo continued in a more provocative tone, and this time he clearly caught a glint of interest in the bird's eyes, which eased its attack slightly without fully stopping.
"Three hits." Shen Zuo raised three fingers in front of him, panting.
"If I can land just three hits on you... you help me. Just three hits... a strong bird like you isn't afraid of a challenge, right?"
A brief moment of silence.
The bird tilted its head slightly, as though the idea genuinely intrigued it... then slowly lowered its wings, giving him a cold, expressionless stare.
"I'm taking that as a yes!" Shen Zuo shouted, dodging one of the feathers. He began firing needles, but suddenly froze in place.
The blue flame in the hawk's eyes flared sharply. It closed in on Shen Zuo and pecked at the top of his foot, which had been coated in stone. The stone shattered, blood mixing in with it.
Shen Zuo managed to move his body again, pushing his energy into the Phantom and firing needles at maximum speed. He struck the bird. It had been expecting the move, but couldn't dodge it completely.
Several more needles shot out at the same speed. The bird barely dodged them, and one of them struck it too!
The bird pulled back far away, taking to the air, then began attacking from a distance.