Chapter 101.1: Comprehending Myriad Phenomena Gate, Mutation Ability

The tiny, golden canary flapped its wings, shooting three meters into the air. It trembled, looking utterly terrified. “It can talk...

Wow

, you’re a monster!”

Qi Yuan was speechless. “I’m human. A genuine, proper human. You, a bird that doesn’t speak bird language but speaks human words.

You’re

the monster!”

“I

can

speak bird language!

Biubiubiubiu...

chirp chirp chirp chirp...

”

The canary’s voice rattled like a machine gun or an electric scooter alarm—crisp, shrill, and piercing.

Then, the bird demanded, “I just used bird language, so I’m not a monster. Now it’s your turn. You’re a drop of blood, so say something in blood language! If you can’t, that means you’re the monster!”

Their conversation made no sense whatsoever, like two idiots bickering on a message board.

Qi Yuan was dumbfounded.

How’s blood supposed to talk?

Still, he couldn’t lose to a bird. He started making random noises. “

Uh...

rawr...

grrr...

blood blood blood...”

The canary’s beady eyes went wide, pupils darting. “You’re lying! Since when does blood talk like that?”

“You’re not blood, so how do

you

know how blood talks?” Qi Yuan said smugly, quoting the old saying,

You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?

Sure enough, the canary was stunned. She cautiously fluttered closer and landed nearby. “So neither of us are monsters?”

Qi Yuan froze for a moment, realizing he’d just been led in circles. Whether or not someone could speak bird or blood language had nothing to do with being a monster.

He said firmly, “You’re the monster. I’m not.”

The canary landed beside him. “Even if I am a monster, I’m a

beautiful

one. But you... you’re ugly!”

As if Qi Yuan could stand that. “If I could take human form, I’d be very handsome.”

Like two squabbling children, they bickered back and forth, until they gradually grew familiar with each other.

Qi Yuan discovered that this canary wasn’t very bright. She was rather vain, completely obsessed with looks. He felt his own IQ dropping just by talking to it.

No longer wasting time on nonsense, he asked, “Where is this place?”

“This is Nine Plate Mountain.”

“And where is Nine Plate Mountain?”

The canary looked at him as if he were an idiot. “It’s on Nine Plate Mountain!”

Qi Yuan was speechless.

Why not just say it’s on Second Immortal Bridge, or Chenghua Avenue while you’re at it?

Clearly, he wasn’t going to get any useful answers from this bird.

“Do you know about the North South Pact?” Qi Yuan asked again. Anyone from the Flowing Wind World should have known that much.

The canary shook its head.

“Then, do you know about the demon spawns?” he asked.

Could it be that this isn’t the Flowing Wind World?

The canary’s eyes widened in fear. “You mean those ugly things? There are lots and lots of them down the mountain.“

Gazing up at the starless sky, Qi Yuan roughly pieced it together. This was probably still the Flowing Wind World.

“Those ugly things are all crazy. When they see us, they just attack.”

“Do you know what that gate in the sky is?”

That mysterious, ancient-looking gate in the heavens, he had never seen such a thing before. Which meant, wherever he was now, it was not the same Flowing Wind World as before.

The canary shook its head. “I don’t know."

Qi Yuan fell silent. There was no point talking to this bird anymore. He turned his eyes toward the Myriad Phenomena Gate in the sky and began to comprehend it.

The canary glanced at him, then flew back to her nest. The tiny, delicate nest hung from a tall tree. Back inside, the canary began preening its sleek feathers and kept at it for half a day.

After a while, the canary sensed something and poked her head out. “Hey, Blood Drop, what are you doing? What’s so interesting about that gate?”

Qi Yuan replied, “I’m comprehending the Origin.”

To comprehend the Origin didn’t require total concentration like in the TV show. There was no need for meditation or isolation. He just had to look at it.

Anyway, insights came as random fragments.

[You have comprehended the Origin. Back-scrubbing Skill +1.]

[You have comprehended the Origin. Mutation Ability +1.]

[You have comprehended the Origin. Mental Instability +1.]

They were all bizarre, nonsensical insights. Yet the more he comprehended, the better he felt mentally.

“What’s ‘comprehending the Origin’?” The canary looked up at the gate with faint, instinctive fear. “Can it make me prettier?”

Qi Yuan replied truthfully, “Probably... maybe.”

Given how strange these insights were, becoming prettier didn’t sound impossible.

Hearing that, the canary brightened. “Then I want to comprehend it too!”

Imitating Qi Yuan, she stared blankly at the Myriad Phenomena Gate in the sky.

As time passed, Qi Yuan’s body slowly grew larger. Over the course of a month, the ability he gained the most was Mutation. He had gotten ten in total. The rest were fleeting oddities, too scattered to form any system.

A month later, a torrential storm swept across Nine Plate Mountain. Wind whipped through the trees, drenching the whole world in rain. Through the downpour, Qi Yuan still stared at the gate above. Lightning and thunder roared.

[You have comprehended the Origin. Combat ability slightly increases in thunderstorms.]

“Is that actually possible?”

For the first time in a month, he’d gained something that boosted his combat power. Cold rain hit his face, uncomfortable and chilling. Then, a banana leaf appeared above his head, shielding him from the rain.

“Blood Drop, what a heavy rain,” said the canary.

Qi Yuan glanced at it. The canary's feathers were half-soaked, and she was trembling.

“I’m fine with the rain, but you should go back to your nest. Wet feathers aren’t pretty.”

“

Hmph!

” The canary held up the banana leaf stubbornly. “We’re neighbors. Seeing you with no arms or legs, pitiful as you are, I’m—

ah-choo

!”

“Can canaries sneeze?”

It was Qi Yuan’s first time seeing it. The soaked bird turned away coldly, refusing to look at him.

“Fire,” he murmured, and a small flame flickered to life beside them.

The canary’s eyes darted. “You can use spells?”

“I got this tiny ability from comprehending the Myriad Phenomena Gate, but it is not stable.”

Unlike his Fireball Technique from the Canglan World, which only worked there, this new ability seemed to transcend worlds. Qi Yuan sensed it could function both in the Flowing Wind World and the Canglan World. It resembled his game skills, but felt far more potent in potential.

The canary leaned closer to the flame, relaxing as the warmth dried her feathers. “Wow, Blood Drop, you’re amazing! But why is it that when I try to comprehend the gate, I gain nothing, and now my eyes are blurry?”

“Did you become nearsighted? How could staring at the sky make you nearsighted? Maybe you should stop comprehending.”

“No! I want to become beautiful!” the canary insisted. Then, her eyes darted again. “Do you smell something weird? Like... something’s burning?”

Qi Yuan glanced over. “...Your tail’s on fire.”

“

Aaah!

My feathers are burning! Blood Drop! I’ll never forgive you!”

The canary threw the banana leaf aside, letting rain extinguish the flames. However, scorch marks still marred her tail. For a creature that prized beauty above all, this was unbearable.

The canary glared at Qi Yuan fiercely. “I’ll never talk to you again!”

Like an angry child, the bird flew back to her nest. She sulked, staring sadly at her burnt tail, muttering, “If Blood Drop doesn’t talk to me first, I won’t talk to him ever again.”

Watching the rain outside, the canary eventually curled up and fell asleep, as if that was the only cure for her wounded heart.

Later that night, a banana leaf quietly drifted down to cover Qi Yuan, sheltering him from most of the rain.

Qi Yuan glanced at the oddly-shaped nest above, just enough to block wind and rain. He caught sight of the flustered canary peeking out.

Realizing she’d been spotted, she glared furiously at him. “What are you looking at? If you don’t apologize, I’ll never forgive you!”

In the following days, the canary truly didn’t speak to him again. It seemed her vanity had been seriously wounded.

Qi Yuan, meanwhile, continued to comprehend the Myriad Phenomena Gate. His Mutation abilities kept growing.

A year passed and his Mutation count reached nearly a hundred. All the other strange little abilities came and went like fleeting sparks.

One evening, the canary appeared before him again. Her tail feathers had fully regrown. She glared at him.

After a year, she finally extended an olive branch. “Hey, Blood Drop, when are you going to apologize to me?”

“...Who are you?” Qi Yuan blinked, confused.

The canary puffed up, circling around him furiously. “Y-you forgot me?! Unforgivable!”

Qi Yuan finally recalled and smiled. “Oh, right, you’re the canary! I remember now. Thanks for the banana leaf.”

The canary stared. “You’re not like the fish in the river, are you? So you have short-term memory loss?”

Time flowed on. Twenty-seven years passed in a blur.

Qi Yuan had grown from the size of a marble to that of a soccer ball. His Mutation abilities now numbered close to a thousand.

Above, the Myriad Phenomena Gate was slowly fading, turning fainter and fainter, as though about to vanish at any moment.

The canary fluttered down in front of him. “Blood Drop, tell me, between me and the white fox on Seven Plate Mountain, who’s prettier?”

There were several mountains near Nine Plate Mountain. On Seven Plate Mountain lived a white fox that could speak human language, the most popular creature among all nearby peaks.

Still, golden nest, silver nest, none better than one’s own nest.

“You’re the prettiest,” Qi Yuan said insincerely, just to comfort his neighbor.

The canary pouted indignantly. “See! I told you I’m the prettiest! Those fools have no taste, calling that white fox the number one beauty!”

Then suddenly, she looked up at the sky, stunned. “Blood Drop, the Myriad Phenomena Gate you always watch... it’s gone. Don’t be sad. Blood Drop? Blood Drop!!”