Everything was happening too quickly. Meng Hao gaped in astonishment. Before he could react, he saw the multicolored streak flying through the air at high speed. It looked like a shooting star as it headed toward the beautiful, proud Scarlet Peacock.

Within the colorful light was none other than the parrot, shooting forward like a spear, head upraised. Its sharp, curved beak emitted a cold glow, as it clenched its body tight into something that looked like a spearhead.

Meng Hao wasn't sure if he was mistaken or not, but it very much seemed like its eyes were shining with excitement, as well as determination and lasciviousness….

It moved with incredible speed. In one breath it was quite a distance from the peacock. In the next breath, it was upon it.

All of the feathers on the body of the Scarlet Peacock stood on end as it turned its beautiful head, emanating the powerful might of a phoenix, seeming to warn everyone from encroaching upon its space. Meng Hao's eyes went wide, and his mind began to spin. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was happening. He watched the multicolored streak of light that was the parrot as it charged directly toward the peacocks rear end….

Aaiiieee!

An intense, miserable screech echoed out from the once graceful and beautiful peacock. The sound was wretched, as an indescribable pain washed over it.

All its feathers stood on end, and its expression was twisted and distorted. It was no longer elegant, and its beauty had now been transformed into suffering. It trembled violently as its scream filled Dongluo City, which of course attracted the attention of large numbers of Cultivators. All of them lifted their heads up in astonishment.

What they saw was the peacock, always so graceful and haughty, now trembling violently and screaming miserably. It was flying haphazardly through the air, beating its wings, as if it was trying to shake something off of its body.

Its efforts were of no avail. As it screamed, its eyes turned red, and a billowing Flame Sea appeared around it. Within the fire, the peacock continued to scream intensely. Its feathers bristled to the point where it looked like it might explode from insanity.

All of the Cultivators in the city were staring with gaping mouths, unsure of what exactly was happening to it. However, they could all sense that the peacock was currently experiencing indescribable pain.

It was at this time that members of Dongluo City's Cultivator Clan emerged, looking worried as they flew up toward the peacock. One among their number was a young woman wearing a long, emerald green garment. Her features were beautiful and enchanting, but her phoenix-like eyes were filled with worry and confusion as she approached the peacock.

"Scarlet Peacock, what's wrong…?" she said. Her voice was pleasant, like the song of a lark.

As soon as the Cultivators down in the city saw her, they began to discuss the matter in hushed tones.

"That's Goddess Dongluo Ling of the Dongluo Clan…."1

"That's none other than one of the three most beautiful female Cultivators in the Black Lands, Dongluo Ling!"

By this time, Meng Hao had ducked his head down and hurried into the city, his scalp slowly growing numb. He blended into the crowd, his face ashen, looking up at the flames in the sky. The miserable shrieks of the peacock continued to ring out.

"Damned parrot!" thought Meng Hao, grinding his teeth. There was nothing he could do about it, though. He should have considered the parrot's indulgences. Back when it was stuck in the copper mirror, Meng Hao had to take the initiative to provoke something like this. But now that it was free, it couldn't hold itself back after seeing a pretty, feathered peacock.

"I can't let people find out that I brought it here…." he thought with a frown. Up above, the peacock let out another shriek. Now, everyone could see a multicolored beam of light whizzing through the air near the peacock's rear end. Before anyone could see clearly what was inside of it, it built up some momentum and then shot back toward the peacock.

The peacock tried to dodge out of the way, but was unable to. When people saw this, they could only watch on in dumbstruck silence.

Based on what they had just seen, they now understood why the elegant Scarlet Peacock was emitting such blood-curdling screams.

A buzz of conversation immediately rose up as everyone expressed their disbelief and astonishment.

"This is…."

"What is that thing? What it's doing is… indescribable…."

"That multicolored light is entering…. My god! Is there really a magical item that does something like this? What is it? It's simply too vicious, too malicious, too penetrating…."

Meng Hao stood in the crowd, his jaw clenched. He felt as if his face were burning, and he was very worried about everyone finding out that the multicolored light had been brought into the city by him.

The Dongluo Clan Cultivators floated in mid-air, trying to figure out how to help the peacock. Dongluo Ling's face was filled with anxiety. However, the sight of the multicolored light caused them to stare in shock.

The Scarlet Peacock's wails were pitiful, its eyes filled with humiliation and pain. Suddenly, it began to fall to the ground, body trembling. The Dongluo Clan Cultivators rushed forward in a frenzy. As they neared, the multicolored light disappeared, leaving behind only an exhausted panting sound.

The Dongluo Clan Cultivators' faces were extremely unsightly. Dongluo Ling's was virtually bursting with flames. Moments later, the entire city was sealed down tightly. More Dongluo Clan Cultivators appeared, bursting with bestial killing intent and rage as they began to search for the multicolored light.

One could imagine what savage methods they would employ to punish the mysterious multicolored light if they ever found it….

As for the Scarlet Peacock, it was currently being given emergency treatment….

Meng Hao's face was just as unsightly as he dispersed along with the crowd. He wasn't sure where the parrot had gone to. If it suddenly appeared on his shoulder, then he would have to leave the city immediately.

He suddenly realized that the meat jelly was actually very well behaved….

As night fell upon Dongluo City, word of what had just happened spread through the various Cultivators. Late that night, the wrath of the entire Dongluo Clan was burning.

In the Dongluo Clan's manor house, Dongluo Ling stood there with tears in her eyes as she comforted the trembling, sleeping Scarlet Peacock. Every time it trembled, her eyes would flash with killing intent.

"I'm going to find that multicolored light," she said, gnashing her teeth, "and when I do, I'll hack it into pieces!"

Meanwhile, Meng Hao sat cross-legged in his room in a local inn, his face dark. Finally, he opened his eyes from meditation and let out a soft sigh as the parrot appeared.

It looked the same as ever, multicolored, with the meat jelly bell still attached to its foot. Its expression was one of arrogance, and its eyes flickered with contentment and complacency.

"Heyyy, Lord Fifth is back," it said, strutting back and forth on the table, lifting its head up to stare at Meng Hao.

"Did you have fun?" asked Meng Hao coolly, his facing expressionless.

"Lots of fun!!" replied the parrot. It took a deep breath, and the haughtiness in its face disappeared, to be replaced by a look of reminiscence.

"I've tried out many different purely colored birds such as that," it said with a sigh. "One year I even tried out their ancestor, the phoenix. However, scarlet is the only color I haven't tried. Not bad. Really not bad."

"Do you know how much difficulty it's going to cause if they found out it was you?" said Meng Hao.

"What are you scared of?" it said, its face filled with conceited grandeur. "Have faith in the Lord Fifth, gain eternal life. When Lord Fifth appears, who dares to cause strife? If they dare to mess with me, I'll screw 'em to death! I'll deal with them like I dealt with that bird. I'm not talking about you, of course. Birds have their tenacity, and so do people. Tenacity, that's the key. Look, I have a duty to help you out. Join me in your loudest voice…."

A solemn-looking face suddenly appeared on the bell on the parrot's foot. "You're immoral! Simply too wicked! My life's mission is definitely to convert you, you sinister bird!"

The parrot looked down at the meat jelly with a look of disdain. "Shut up, b*tch! Did I ever not take you with me to do these kinds of things? Do you remember the Space Ape from that year? Did I take you with me, or not? How about the Flame Phoenix? Did I take you with me, or not? What about that big hairy fish in the Star Sea, or that tiger in the Eighth Mountain? What about the great Golden Dragon? Did you forget about that?"

The meat jelly hesitated for a moment, then gritted its teeth and said, "Uhh… You forced me!"

Meng Hao sat off to the side, watching on silently. Originally he had planned to say a few things about what had happened today, but hearing the parrot list off its "achievements," he suddenly realized he didn't have anything to say. He sighed, shaking his head and ignoring the two, instead closing his eyes and continuing to meditate.

As the night went on, the Dongluo Clan used all its power, all their precious treasures, all their Divine Sense, to search every corner of the city. It was all to no avail. As the search continued, three days slowly passed.

During the three days, Meng Hao went out twice. Each time, the parrot would perch pompously on his shoulder to accompany him. On a few occasions, they encountered members of the Dongluo Clan. However, the uncomely parrot didn't seem to attract any suspicions.

"Don't worry," said the parrot. "I've done things like this before on many occasions, and I've never gotten caught. The only things left behind are legends of Lord Fifth. However, no one ever knows my true appearance."

Meng Hao didn't respond.

On the two occasions he went out, Meng Hao made inquiries about the auction which was to take place in ten days, and was able to confirm that ten Spirit Orchid Leaves would be up for sale.

He also made some inquiries about the price. This particular plant would appear in the auction every few years, and the price was always a bit over ten thousand spirit stones.

Meng Hao personally didn't have many Spirit Stones, but Ji Hongdong's bag of holding had ultra high-grade Spirit Stones, as well as a collection of regular Spirit Stones to the number of about twenty thousand. It wasn't much when it came to duplicating medicinal pills, but it should be enough to purchase the Spirit Orchid Leaf and still have some left over.

On evening of the fourth day, Meng Hao sat cross-legged in his room. Suddenly, his eyes opened, and he let out a sigh. As he had anticipated, trouble had come looking for him. He looked up at the door.

It didn't take long before it exploded, shattered to pieces that showered into the room.

Dongluo Ling's name is 東洛靈 dōng luò líng - Dongluo is the name of their clan, kind of a made up a name. Ling means spirit