CBGC - ch176

Chapter 176 Big Bai Kindergarten

The Kunpeng spreads its wings and soars, carrying the surviving beast girls up the cliff.

The large tree by the cliff's edge has been split in two by lightning, and the lift’s ropes have snapped of course, leaving the area in ruins.

Looking around, the entire temple is draped in white silk, with white mourning cloth and candles, even the flames burn white.

Since the Yayu had been staying at the bottom of the abyss, the temple is High Priestess Jiu Yue’s domain. She lived in the right wing of the palace, where she set up an array—a small pavilion containing a spiritual spring and a medicinal garden with many treasures.

Now, her array has been destroyed, and the pavilion is in disarray. The Six Beast Kings have gathered there, likely dividing up her private stash among themselves.

Did they think she's dead?

Jiu Yue sneers and, with a wave of her hand, directs the Kunpeng to fly above the temple. Her appearance draws the attention of the Six Beast Kings. The Tiger Beast King roars, “You’re still alive?”

Her phoenix-like eyes narrow dangerously. “What do you think?” she retorts. With a light step, the Kunpeng roars, sending a sudden gust of wind howling below, disheveling the hair of the beasts and knocking over items within the pavilion. The Kunpeng, a mighty creature once the mount of the Beast Saint Yayu, now submits to the Nine-Tailed Fox. Seeing this, the faces of the Six Beast Kings below turn grim; it’s clear Jiu Yue hasn’t come with good intentions.

The little rabbit demon clings tightly to Jiu Yue’s tail, trembling when she sees the Tiger Beast King. But when her gaze shifts to the Peacock King, her expression grows deep and distracted.

…

Jiu Yue is about to engage the Beast Kings in a confrontation, so Su Tingyun decides to stay out of it.

The Nine-Tailed Fox's original cultivation was already on par with the Beast Kings, and now that she has absorbed Yayu’s demon core, her power has surged—even the Kunpeng is under her control. These Beast Kings won’t be able to bully her, so Su Tingyun isn’t too concerned. She retreats into the space inside her ring, dedicating herself to cultivation in peace.

During this time, Big Bai wakes up twice, spits out fruit pits to arrange them in a circle, then goes back to sleep. Each time she rests, her cultivation improves, and the once-wild aura becomes more refined. Su Tingyun watches with a mix of envy and pressure, pushing herself to train even harder. Each session drains her spiritual awareness to the limit, leaving her utterly exhausted before she allows herself a brief rest.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passes, and Su Tingyun’s cultivation reaches the eighth level of the Human Immortal stage. As for Big Bai, her aura is so strong—far beyond Su Tingyun’s comprehension—that she has no idea what level Big Bai is at now.

Little Bai has also awakened. Its leaves are vibrant green, glistening and plump. When Su Tingyun pinches them, they feel soft and fleshy. After waking up, Little Bai spots the bells tied to its leaves and immediately protests, demanding to have them removed. Big Bai, however, objects, leading to a noisy squabble between the two, each refusing to back down.

Su Tingyun tries to mediate, but neither listens. Xuanyuan Wentian fans the flames, eager to stir up more chaos. Ironically, his efforts to provoke only unite Big Bai and Little Bai in an instant, turning them against him.

“It’s your fault for not waking up all this time. Wearing the bell sounds just like you talking!” Big Bai accuses.

Little Bai, initially disliking the bells and finding them uncomfortable, suddenly goes quiet, silently accepting the red bow with the bell tied to it. In the end, Little Bai doesn’t manage to remove them.

While Su Tingyun’s realm within the ring remains peaceful, the world outside has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past six months.

Jiu Yue has become the Queen of the Beast Realm. Most of the surviving demonesses stay by her side, but the little rabbit demon has gone to the Peacock Clan. Since Jiu Yue publicly acknowledged her as a younger sister before all the demon beasts, the Peacock King would treat the little rabbit demon with courtesy. Su Tingyun emerges from her ring space, planning to ask Jiu Yue about the restoration of the Bodhi Mirror of Reality. As soon as she appears, Jiu Yue senses her and immediately teleports to her side.

Before Su Tingyun can even ask, Jiu Yue proudly takes out the mirror and presents it to her. “Senior, it’s already fixed,” she says, her tone inviting praise.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Su Tingyun replies.

Following Jiu Yue, Su Tingyun tours the temple, observing many rare and unfamiliar spiritual beasts and plants. They eventually stop in a particular courtyard.

In the courtyard, over a hundred young spirit beasts are sprawled out, all quite small and chubby. They topple and lounge about, and when Su Tingyun approaches, a little owl flutters over with its eyes closed, as if dozing, and perches on her head.

Seeing the smile on Su Tingyun’s face, Jiu Yue finally explains, “These are the recently born young beasts, the ones with the best potential chosen from each tribe.”

That is to say, these are the young beasts that should've been guaranteed to receive a Sacred Fruit. Consuming the fruit will grant them intelligence, allowing them to take on a demon form and begin their cultivation independently, promising them an extraordinary future. But the Sacred Fruits are gone, which means these beasts will remain as spirit beasts. In two hundred years, when the Sacred Fruit matures again, there will still only be a thousand fruits, not enough for the new generation, and certainly not for those who have missed their chance now.

“Last time, I noticed that the sap from your spirit beast’s leaves also has the power to grant intelligence...” Jiu Yue gestures, and two young children who appear to be three or four years old run over. She holds one in each hand. “These two drank the sap from those leaves, and it's no less effective than the Sacred Fruit. I wonder if you still have any of that sap, Senior. How about I trade some treasures with you for it?”

Little Bai has long since recovered, and no more sap has seeped from its leaves. Su Tingyun can only shake her head, then takes Big Bai out to show Jiu Yue.

Big Bai gives a happy cry and immediately leaps into the pile of young spirit beasts.

Little Bai anxiously shouts, “Jump more slowly! Slowly! The bow is going to fall off! It's coming loose!”

Su Tingyun: "…"

Who was it that hated the bow so much earlier, it wanted to break it's own leaf stalks to remove the bow and bell?

“No more sap, I see…” Jiu Yue sighs, her disappointment clear despite her efforts to hide it.

Previously, the sap appeared because Little Bai couldn’t absorb all the energy, but now that Big Bai has recovered and grown stronger, Little Bai has benefitted alongside her, absorbing all the spiritual energy within—thus, no more sap. Su Tingyun’s twelve fruit trees in her ring space have grown significantly, but it will still be a long time before they could blossom and bear fruit. She can't help with this problem.

She takes the sleepy owl from her head, cradling it. She isn’t sure how demons judge the potential of young beasts, but this little owl seems half asleep, one eye open and one eye closed, with two tufts of feathers sticking up on its head. It stares at her with a blank expression before closing its open eye and falling asleep in her arms.

“The temple has abundant spiritual energy, so keeping them here is an attempt to help them awaken their intelligence sooner,” Jiu Yue explains.

But this is a far cry from the effects of consuming a Sacred Fruit. After half a year, the hundred-odd young beasts have done nothing but eat and sleep, showing no signs of awakening. It seems the future of this generation is doomed.

Jiu Yue finishes speaking and lets out a heavy sigh.

Meanwhile, the courtyard has turned into chaos with Big Bai’s arrival—like an invader causing a ruckus in a village.

Some young beasts, curious and unaware of what Big Bai is, instinctively try to grab her because she looks fun, only to crash into each other.

Big Bai, always rolling balls, finds herself treated as one, getting rolled around amidst the young beasts. Instead of getting angry, she seems to find the situation amusing, laughing joyfully and letting out happy chirps, thoroughly enjoying herself. After playing for a while, she tires of the game and tries to command the spirit beasts to line up. But the young ones don’t understand; they keep pawing at Big Bai, causing it to turn gray in frustration. Big Bai suddenly grows larger, unleashing a pressure that makes the young beasts tremble—some even pee in fright.

“Big Bai! Stop bullying them!” Su Tingyun scolds.

Big Bai shrinks back, her body becoming smaller. “Granny, they’re so dumb. They don’t understand what I’m saying.” She's never seen so many small beasts gathered in one place, and it's a fresh experience. She acts like their boss and tries to organize them into a game of rolling.

Jiu Yue’s lips twitch, thinking to herself that it’s Big Bai’s fault for eating all the Sacred Fruit in the first place, though she doesn't voice it. Instead, she presses her lips together, letting out a soft sigh, almost inaudible.

“If they’re dumb, then you teach them,” Su Tingyun suggests, a sudden idea lighting up her eyes. She steps up to Big Bai, patting her on the back. “Teach them to be as smart as you.”

Big Bai’s gray fur lightens, and she focuses her pressure on a round, fluffy white spirit beast that looks like a puffball with legs. “You, come here,” Big Bai commands.

The puffball hasn’t gained intelligence yet and doesn’t understand the command. Overwhelmed by Big Bai’s pressure, it shivers but shows a hint of cleverness compared to the others—it suddenly exposes four stubby legs from under its round body and bolts in the opposite direction.

“Stop right there!” Big Bai screeches.

The fluffball stumbles, rolling several times on the ground. Its sudden tumble sends the previously dazed spirit beasts into a frenzy. They scatter in all directions, driven only by fear and instinct, crashing into each other. In the chaos, Big Bai gets kicked around by the fleeing beasts, knocked about several times. A few birds take off in panic, so nervous that they drop several splatters of bird droppings mid-air, directly at Big Bai's head.

At that critical moment, Little Bai’s leaf enlarges and shields Big Bai from the mess, preventing a disaster.

“Granny, Granny, come quickly, it's so dirty!” Su Tingyun rushes over and uses a cleansing spell on Little Bai.

Big Bai, seeing the chaos unfolding in front of her, turns bright red. After a long while, she stammers, “Why are they so dumb?”

Su Tingyun decides it’s time to have a serious talk with Big Bai, at least enough for Big Bai to understand why these young beasts lack intelligence.

She hands the sleepy little owl to Jiu Yue and picks up Big Bai. “Because you ate all the fruits that would have made them smarter. That’s why they’re so dumb.”

Hearing about those fruits, Little Bai has a lot to say. “You didn’t even give a warning before eating them all! I thought I was going to burn to death!”

Big Bai shrinks smaller and smaller, finally mumbling awkwardly, “Then, Granny, what should I do now?” She fidgets, making odd sounds for a while, until she finally just hiccups.

“I ate them all, and I can't bring them back up. I already spat out all the pits.”

Big Bai stares at the trembling spirit beasts huddling together, piling on top of each other in their fear. After a long silence, she says, “Granny, Little Bai was pretty dumb before too. We can tell them stories and teach them to get smarter.”

Little Bai snaps: “You’re the stupid one! You’re stupid from top to bottom!”

Big Bai replies: “You’re on me right now.”

Little Bai falls silent.

After devouring a thousand intelligence-boosting fruits, Big Bai’s strength has grown significantly, and its intelligence has improved too. With a few months left before the full moon, Su Tingyun decides to let Big Bai play with the young beasts.

After all, Big Bai is the Word Spirit of the Heavenly Dao; who knows, maybe a miracle will happen.