All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 234: From White Swan to Ugly Duckling

Mysterious light beams surrounded Zhanyue from all sides. He frantically thought of a way out, but none of his abilities seemed capable of escaping this trap.

At the critical moment, Zhanyue felt his body freeze, then suddenly found himself displaced. In his original position now stood a graceful figure – Yunyao.

Countless strange light beams hit Yunyao directly.

Zhanyue remembered that Yunyao had demonstrated a similar spatial ability in the arena before. He hadn’t expected her to instantly swap their positions, taking the Disaster Beast’s attack herself.

“Go!” Yunyao shouted to Zhanyue.

Zhanyue nodded, quickly flying to Yunyao’s side and carrying her far away.

Watching the two fly off, the white-haired monkey attacked wildly in frustration, shooting countless light beams across Monkey Mountain. Chief Ming Guang, watching the battle from afar, felt his heart sink. “Did they lose?”

Zhanyue dared not take Yunyao back to the Spirit Eye Clan’s territory, as he didn’t know what would happen to her after being hit.

“Why… why did you save me?” Zhanyue asked, his face full of guilt. He should have been the one hit, but Yunyao had used her spatial ability to take the blow for him.

“The divine artifact recognized me as its master. It’s better for me to take that strange attack than you. Perhaps the artifact might have some reaction,” Yunyao explained. This was indeed her reasoning – as the one holding the divine artifact this time, she naturally felt responsible.

After flying far enough, Zhanyue threw out his flying sword, carving a cave in a cliff face for them to rest temporarily.

“How… how are you?” Zhanyue looked at Yunyao beside him, anxious about how she might have changed after being hit.

“I’m fine. I don’t feel any abnormalities, just exhausted from the battle, especially from using the spatial ability to swap our positions,” Yunyao explained.

Zhanyue couldn’t help but admire her. As expected of the Great Emperor’s successor, whether it was her earlier sword qi corridor or this spatial exchange technique, her abilities seemed endless.

“Really nothing wrong?” Zhanyue asked again, remembering how previous victims had either gone mad or died.

Yunyao retorted irritably, “Do you want something to be wrong with me?”

Seeing her still maintaining her distant attitude, Zhanyue finally relaxed. “It’s good if you’re alright.” Inwardly, he thought, “This woman is really cold and hard to get along with.” But then again, although she was cold, she was loyal and righteous. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have voluntarily taken that hit for him.

“It’s my fault this time. When I went to steal the divine artifact before, I didn’t uncover this thing’s trump card. I didn’t expect it to have such clone abilities,” Zhanyue said, blaming himself. The monkeys’ ability to clone was one thing, but the mirrors cloning too was another level entirely. Dodging one beam versus thousands was a completely different challenge. No matter how many times they tried, they’d eventually get hit. “Let’s think of a strategy before trying again.”

But Yunyao shook her head, “Let’s give up. Our current abilities can’t avoid those strange light beams. After being hit, I feel like I can’t muster any fighting spirit. Why don’t we abandon this Disaster Beast and look for the next divine artifact?”

Zhanyue stared at Yunyao in disbelief. He could hardly believe these words came from her. How could such a proud woman give up so easily?

“What are you staring at? Is it strange? Am I wrong? Against the Fear Beast and the Spider Beast before, if you hadn’t saved me twice, I would have lost my life and failed the trial. Without relying on you, I couldn’t possibly complete the trial,” Yunyao said dejectedly.

“???”

Zhanyue finally realized something was wrong. She wasn’t fine at all; she had definitely been affected. The Disaster Beast’s greatest ability was to make people fall into a state of inferiority and self-deprecation, constantly negating themselves. Many went mad because of this, and many more committed suicide. Although Yunyao still seemed rational, her state was clearly abnormal.

“What are you saying? You contributed equally to defeating the Fear Beast. Without your assistance, how could I have so easily approached its weakness? As for the Spider Beast, it was only because the fire I controlled countered its spider silk. Come to your senses, you’re the Great Emperor’s successor,” Zhanyue encouraged.

This encouragement, however, only stirred up another of Yunyao’s worries. “Hmph, Great Emperor’s successor? It’s just my luck. Perhaps the Feather Sky Emperor doesn’t think much of me at all. The Thousand Affinity Feather she left me – I’ve carried it for so many years without being able to refine it, yet you refined it easily. It clearly chose you, not me. Maybe you’re more suitable to be her successor.”

Zhanyue patted his head. This was bad; Yunyao seemed heavily influenced by that divine light. A heavenly maiden, far surpassing her peers in beauty, figure, strength, and experience, truly unparalleled in the world – such a proud person had begun to feel inferior and self-pitying after being hit by that light? No wonder others went mad.

“Wake up, you’re just affected by that light. You’re starting to doubt yourself. What nonsense is this? Although I don’t know what that Thousand Affinity Feather is, the Feather Sky Emperor definitely didn’t underestimate you,” Zhanyue continued to comfort her.

“Stop pretending to comfort me. Someone like me has never been likable. No one likes to interact with an iceberg. Gentle and beautiful women like Feng Xueqing are the ones you all prefer to be around,” Yunyao said.

Zhanyue felt like the world had gone mad. Yunyao’s words sounded like she was jealous of Feng Xueqing, but he understood that at this moment, Yunyao might truly feel inferior to Feng Xueqing.

“I’m a hybrid of the Bird Clan and humans, abandoned by my parents since childhood. I can neither integrate into human society nor return to the Bird Clan. I’m probably a joke to many,” Yunyao suddenly added.

Zhanyue knew about Yunyao’s mixed heritage, but not being able to return to the Bird Clan was news to him.

“Why can’t you return to the Bird Clan?” Zhanyue asked.

“When I was young, my master took me to the Bird Clan to find my birth father, but we were turned away before even entering their territory. They said Bird Clan members with impure bloodlines couldn’t enter their land, as it would be disrespectful to their ancestors,” Yunyao explained.

“So that’s what happened. Isn’t all this the fault of your father whom you’ve never met? The Bird Clan is the one being ungrateful, rejecting a prodigy like you, a Great Emperor’s successor. They must be out of their minds. But isn’t it better this way? Isn’t staying with humans good?” Zhanyue countered.

Yunyao pointed at her wings. “Have you seen any other humans with wings? Everyone who sees me for the first time inevitably stares at them.”

“But I think they’re beautiful. Besides, in this human competition, Lei Zun and the others didn’t treat you as an outsider. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have entered the Book Trial. In their hearts, you’re part of the human race,” Zhanyue said.

Yunyao smiled bitterly, “It’s precisely because I know they treat me well that I want to work harder. But this Book Trial is clearly beyond my capabilities. Seven Disaster Beasts, and we’ve barely defeated one with your strength. What use am I?”

Zhanyue’s head was about to explode. No matter what he said, they kept circling back to the initial problem. Yunyao’s current mindset clearly made her unable to continue fighting. What should he do?