CBGC - ch177

Chapter 177: Rainbow Kindergarten

The Beast Realm Kindergarten is born.

Big and Little Bai take on the roles of teachers. They have one hundred and eight newborn spirit beasts without any intelligence as their students. The Holy Temple‘s back garden has turned into a school, Jiu Yue acts as the de facto parent for the students, and Su Tingyun’s role is best described as the support doctor. She runs errands, refines suitable Pills, and takes care of any young beasts who get scared or injured by Big Bai.

In the past, Su Tingyun told countless stories to Big and Little Bai. Now, Big Bai begins to tell stories to the young beasts.

Big Bai seems to believe storytelling is the best way to communicate. Unfortunately, this Word Spirit loves listening to stories but dislikes telling them. She stumbles through the introduction, forgets the plot midway, and when she sees the group of young beasts trembling and huddling together, staring blankly at her with confusion, Big Bai gets furious. She chirps angrily, “Why are you so dumb? Can’t you be a bit smarter? If you don’t understand my words, how can I teach you?”

As she speaks, a light breeze stirs, and faint clouds gather overhead. Su Tingyun anxiously checks the sky, relieved to find no other anomalies. Big Bai, as a Word Spirit of the Heavenly Dao, wields the power of the Dao when Speaking, but using that power affects her as well. However, since these young beasts are weak and without intelligence, Big Bai’s accidental use of the Dao power should have minimal impact.

The clouds above soon disperse, and the sky clears, so Su Tingyun goes back to refining elixirs with ease.

Meanwhile, after Big Bai's frustrated shout, her entire body turns a shade of gray. She sits there, sulking, exerting a pressure over all the young beasts. Though the pressure frightens them, it carries no real threat, so after a moment of fear, the beasts calm down. Some return to grazing, others chew their own paws, completely ignoring Big Bai.

These spirit beast cubs, without intelligence, only eat, sleep, and play. Look at the little owl—it's already fallen asleep on Su Tingyun again.

After a long while, a larger black kitten cautiously approaches, carefully padding up to Big Bai and rubbing its head against Big Bai's belly.

Big Bai takes a deep breath, her belly deflating a bit. She looks at the black cat seriously and says, “You need to be smarter, understand? Go sit over there and don’t run around. Follow the rules.”

The black cat tilts its head, looking at Big Bai with wide eyes, then slowly shuffles back to the group of young beasts. It sits obediently, eyes fixed on Big Bai, barely moving. After a long pause, its tail twitches slightly.

Big Bai loves to listen to stories but dislikes telling them. She can't remember too many plot details.

So, it’s Little Bai’s turn, this little copycat, to take over. It mimics Su Tingyun’s voice and tells the story of the Three Little Pigs. At the end, Little Bai says, “There’s wood over there, straw over there, and stones there. You all, go build houses…”

Su Tingyun: “...”

After a few repeats, the black cat from earlier finally goes to inspect the materials, circling them a few times before picking up a thin twig in its mouth. It runs back and forth many times, piling up a small stack of twigs. Big Bai, delighted, extends two tendrils from its round, ball-like body and starts arranging the twigs. Before long, a crooked little structure begins to take shape.

Su Tingyun praises Big Bai, “Big Bai, you know how to build a house?”

"I learned from Old Bai." Old Bai used to craft countless things at the bottom of the cliff back then, and Big Bai watched for so long that she naturally picked up some skills. Though this is Big Bai's first time putting it into practice, the results are pretty decent. After finishing the construction, the black cat also follows suit, creating a wobblier structure. Although it barely resembles a house, it’s clear that this black cat is particularly clever and shows signs of developing intelligence.

Big Bai feels pleased with the black cat’s efforts. She pulls an iron ball from her belly and gives it to the black cat as a reward, gently bumping the cat with its round body. "You’ll definitely get smarter and smarter from now on," Big Bai says encouragingly.

"You all better listen carefully too, or I’ll eat you!" Big Bai turns to the other clueless young beasts, curling her body into a 'C' shape and pretending to be fierce.

...

In the True Immortal Realm, the Bai family has sent many people to accompany Bai Su to search for a certain someone. The Ninth Elder, however, stays behind, his eyes fixed on the Mirror Tablet. He watches as more and more words appear on the mirror's surface.

“Little Black, you need to get smarter.”

“Little Red, if you behave, I’ll give you some fruit.”

“Little Yellow, did you understand?”

“Come on, follow me to practice…”

At first, the Ninth Elder has been stunned, his feather duster dropping to the floor. But soon, he gets used to it. The Dao Word Spirit's words are clearly targetting creatures with extremely low power, so it doesn’t have any significant impact on the Heavenly Dao. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to speak so much without consequence. But because the Dao Speaker says them with genuine sincerity and great expectations for its listeners, it draws upon the power of the Heavenly Dao, making the words visible on the Mirror Tablet.

“It looks like the mirror is about to be full,” the Ninth Elder mutters, reaching out to touch the mirror's surface. He has no idea what material the Mirror is made from or what might happen if it truly fills up. After all, even the Bai family’s ancestral records can’t provide any guidance—none of their forebears have ever witnessed a situation like this.

He used to long for the Word Spirit to say something. Now, he just wishes he could cover its mouth...

What’s written on the mirror is all trivial nonsense! Who knows where Su Tingyun has taken the Word Spirit, with all this talk of ‘Little Red,’ ‘Little Yellow,’ and ‘Little Black.’ It’s like a rainbow show! The Ninth Elder grumbles inwardly, “And what’s Bai Su even doing? I sent so many experts, and it’s been ages without results. What a bunch of failures, a whole group of failures…”

At that very moment, the "failures" the Ninth Elder keeps cursing are with Bai Su, searching for the hidden realm in the void.

Initially, Bai Su sensed that Su Tingyun’s soul was stable, so he decided to wait. But unexpectedly, that wait extended to a full month. Su Tingyun’s goal is the Ice Jade Realm, and she wouldn't linger in one place for long unless trapped. With that realization, Bai Su knows he can't sit idly by.

Bai Su, being a master of formations, has gathered several family members who are also well-versed in arrays. This place was once a void, but now it's filled with brilliantly colored and translucent array stones, shimmering like stars against a night sky. They are woven into an intricate, sprawling web.

“There must be a hidden realm in this void, with the Word Spirit inside it. But whoever concealed this realm is incredibly powerful. If even this Heaven’s Web Array can’t reveal it, then we truly are at our limits,” says Bai Yue, a long-bearded elder of the Bai family. He has devoted his life to formations, with deep expertise in breaking them.

This realm remains hidden because a master has concealed it with an invisibility formation.

“If the Heaven’s Web Array succeeds, even the slightest flaw will be enough. With your Heartblood Soul Lantern as a guide, you’ll surely be able to track down Su Tingyun. If you can get this Binding Gold Cord inside, we can break the formation from the outside.”

“Alright!”

A thin thread wraps around Bai Su’s waist—the so-called Binding Gold Cord. Once he finds the flaw, he will follow the spiritual guidance to enter the hidden realm, bringing the cord with him. This will allow him to break the formation from within and free Su Tingyun and Big Bai.

After a while, the last formation stone lights up. Suddenly, a fierce wind rises, and the large web in the sky trembles violently. Beneath that net, a phantom dragon horn appears!

“There it is, hurry!”

Could it be that this hidden realm is built upon a dragon’s remains?

There's no time to ponder. Bai Su channels his spiritual energy to the limit, launching himself like a lightning bolt towards the dragon horn's position. In an instant, a tremendous force slams against him, crushing down as if to pulverize the intruder into dust. The violent power tosses him like a lone leaf in a stormy sea, teetering on the brink of being swallowed and submerged.

He clenches his fists, gritting his teeth, and pushes forward bit by bit toward the concealed realm. His spiritual energy shield shatters in an instant, and his body feels like it's being ground to pieces. Yet, he refuses to give up. The Binding Gold Cord holds him fast, following him into the sealed and suffocating hidden space like a thin silver needle piercing through.

At last, he is inside.

Before him lies only darkness. His divine sense can’t detect any light from the outside world, but Bai Su is not lost—he knows exactly where to go.

Because in his spiritual sea, a warm orange light guides him forward.

...

In the Temple, Big Bai continues playing with the young creatures. They have been together for a month now, and Big Bai has given each beast a name. The yellow-furred one is called Little Yellow, the black-furred one is Little Black, and the others get simple names like Little Second Black and Little Third Black. These names are a bit tragic, but each young demon knows its own name now.

The black cat that first helped Big Bai build a house has transformed into a toddler, about a year old, with limbs like chubby lotus roots. It follows Big Bai around, chirping constantly. Each day it grows smarter, and now it can babble some words. Unfortunately, it speaks human language rather than the beast tongue, so Su Tingyun understands, but Jiu Yue and the others don't. Still, with gestures and babbling, Little Black manages to make them understand his meaning, though barely.

Jiu Yue sighs inwardly, thinking ’It's clearly a demon beast child, yet it learns an outsider's language from Big Bai. It's... quite sad.’

Su Tingyun remarks, "It's obviously a cat, but it never meows. Instead, it chirps now and then. Truly, whatever the master is like, the disciple follows suit!"