129. Newly acquired
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Bailong finally crossed the Statue's warning point, back into Sky realm territory, and hurriedly crossed the bridge.
'Finally! I should be able to use my talismans here!'
But as he stepped into the brilliant sunlight, he found himself surrounded by more demons.
'Something's wrong here...' Bailong thought as he easily defeated them.
Demon attacks were not new within Sky Realm...
With the greed of the demons and the angst between the two races, demons constantly found ways to enter Sky Realm.
But today of all days...
Bailong certainly did not believe in coincidences and a firm suspicion rooted in his mind.
Determined to prove his suspicion, Bailong ignored his reverse-summoning talisman and ventured forward, and as he suspected, it wasn't long before he ran into another horde of demons, more powerful than the last, and then a third horde, even more powerful.
'I'm indeed being hunted!' He realized, especially after their leader's eyes settled on him with a gleam.
"If it isn't Yin Xiaolong, the Sky Emperor's pet dog!" The leader sneered. He was a rotund demon in elegant purple and black robes, with two large ram horns on his head.
And he was at least Grand Immortal level!
"Hand over the Blood Hell Lily," He continued, "...and we'll let you be on your way!"
"Oh?" Bailong held out a hand and his crystal blue sword appeared. "I'm not so generous... I'll send you off as fine powder!"
"You-! Attack! We mustn't let him return to Sky Palace!" The demons lunged at him and Bailong met their attack with wave upon wave of his brilliant blue qi.
Bailong engaged them for a while, but activated his divine eye technique, looking for something... any kind of clue as to who these obvious minions belonged to.
He smirked as the demon Leader moved, slightly shifting the sleeve of his cloak, and over the great distance, Bailong spotted a symbol burned onto his wrist.
It was the same symbol on that old man's token... A simple arrangement of horizontal and vertical strokes, forming a basic house-shape, and inside it, the 'dao' character, which meant 'upside down' or 'reversal'.
'Indeed, the two are related!' Bailong realized.
In fact, he was fairly certain that all the attacks from when he came out of the abyss were related to the same enemy.
And this was more than simple greed for the extremely precious lily... No.
Someone did not want him curing the Crown Prince, and this person knew the emperor sent him on secret missions, and even knew he came here for the Blood Hell Lily...
Which meant the person was in the Sky Emperor's immediate circle- perhaps even a core deity!
Bailong fished out a reverse summoning talisman. "Well then... I've accompanied you all long enoug-!"
"Fellow Immortal, do not fear!" A voice suddenly interrupted him. "I will fight with you to eliminate this corruption from Sky Realm!"
'Ei?!' This person had ruined his cool exit, and Bailong, along with all the demons, turned as one to face what one could consider an ignorant newcomer... One who did not realize 'how high the sky was', so to speak.
Bailong was simply amused...
A poorly dressed immortal around his age sat atop a giant eagle, but both eagle and rider were poisoned from head to feet, though neither seemed to realize it!
However, this fellow had a good heart, not hesitating to blindly jump into danger to save a stranger.
And so Bailong suddenly appeared before him.
"Idiot..." Was the last thing he said as he activated the reverse-summoning talisman, and the two disappeared, re-appearing in Sky Palace...
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Tianlong was reading one fine afternoon, comfortably reclining on a beautiful couch, when Bailong suddenly appeared.
Tianlong's bored expression brightened. "A-Bai! where have you been!"
Then he turned aghast when he noticed the bound-up immortal behind his friend. "Bailong! What have you done?! You can't simply kidnap people!"
"Tiantian! I know you miss me whenever I'm away, so I brought an exotic bird to lighten up your days!"
"You-!" The fellow protested. "Who are you calling an exotic bird?!"
"Heh! You're an Azure Crystal Owl! What exotic bird is better than you??!"
"You-! How ungrateful! Repaying good with evil! wasn't I there to help you?!" The fellow seemed ready to spit fire and Bailong raised a hand.
"Calm yourself... You and your mount are poisoned, and the poison spreads the more you ignorantly jump around.
"But though your actions were foolish, you did jump into danger to help me... Wouldn't leaving you behind be the real ungrateful thing?"
The fellow turned to Tianlong in confusion, but Tianlong simply shook his head in pity.
"Give up. Just let him do as he pleases! You can leave once you're well..."
That 'newly acquired' immortal turned out to be Fei Yun... A discarded half prince of the Crystal bird Clan.
Fei Yun had been banished so his elder brother could become Crown Prince without worry, but while journeying to meet a few relatives in the Floral Clan, he had been chased and attacked by the same brother.
"I won't rest easy as long as you're alive, so die for me!" His brother had said, hitting Fei Yun with an attack.
Fei Yun had fought through them and successfully escaped, but unknown to him, he and his mount had been poisoned.
Fortunately, Bailong had noticed...
...or they might have been dead within the hour!
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By the time Fei Yun was healed, he had no desire to leave.
In Bailong and Tianlong, he found a clean and easy friendship lacking the dismissive and disapproving gazes of everyone in the Crystal bird Clan.
Especially with Bailong...
Bailong discovered who Fei Yun was without too much effort.
"There aren't too many crystal owls in Sky Realm!" Bailong had simply stated as an explanation, and before long, he had also learned how Fei Yun had been treated within the Crystal bird Clan...
Fei Yun had always blamed himself for his mother's decision to seduce the Crystal Bird King, and he had spent his life simply accepting the hate, scorn, and bullying from others with a smiling face, believing he deserved such a fate as atonement.
But Bailong clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk tsk, how presumptuous of you, living like you could have done a single thing to change your mother's decision at a time when you weren't even conceived!
"In the East Sea Mer tribe, my mother is also considered a homewrecker. They're not wrong... But though I don't understand this deep and profound love my parents held, I can understand how they felt for each other."
After all, he could recall his birth clearly, and how his parents would have given their lives for each other if they could.
"The late East sea Queen was not right to kill my mother," Bailong continued. "...but I can also understand her own pain, though I won't forgive her. Because her actions harmed me."
No matter how much love his father showered on him, the mark of causing his mother's death would never go away.
Without him, his mother would have gotten that pill. In fact, if she hadn't been pregnant, pouring most of her essence into him, she would have detected and likely eliminated the poison a lot sooner.
But he was simply too wise to dwell. It was arrogant to assume he held sway over those events. He had had no say in whether his parents should get together, nor could he have stopped or agreed with his own birth.
"No matter how powerful the immortal, we can't control our own births! Nor can we undo the past. In the end, you should only understand the desperation behind your mother's actions, but it's not your weight to bear. You have a right to despise and fight against those who mistreat you.
"One can't choose their own parents, and any decision by those parents should be borne by those parents! It's cruel blaming a child for their parents' sole actions..."
Warmed by Bailong's words, Fei Yun held a new view on life, and though he eventually had to leave for the Floral realm, he found as much time as possible to visit Sky Palace and accompany Bailong and Tianlong.
And that was how two became three, and the three popular friends were formed...
Which of course led to more adventures, and as the Two Thousand year deadline approached, Bailong finally voiced out his plan to heal Tianlong, but only to Fei Yun.
"I planted the Blood Hell Lily within A-Tian, and it has finally matured! But the real cure is the Sky Emperor's Millennia old Plum."
He informed Fei Yun. "Heh! He hid it away, but I already found out it's buried in the secluded gardens, and I also have a way to break in. During the summer solstice, he visits his temple in the mortal realm! That's a good time to steal it!"
Fei Yun nearly spat blood in shock.
Was his friend speaking of robbing the Sky Emperor as if they were discussing the change of seasons?!
"B- But since it will heal A-Tian, why don't we just tell the Emperor?!!!" He asked.
"Ei? There's no guarantee it would work." Bailong shrugged. "Do you want people to say A-Tian swallowed two precious and powerful items, yet he remained useless? Do I need to say anything further?"
Fei Yun sighed in understanding. If such a thing happened, it would kill Tianlong's spirit, and he might give up all hope on himself.
"This is why you don't want him involved..."
"Uhm. It's better if he doesn't know anything! That way, if it doesn't work, the lamp of hope is still lit, and we can simply keep looking. If we get caught for stealing the plum, then I'll claim responsibility!"
And that was how Bailong and Fei Yun had stolen the Plum, handing it to an innocent Tianlong...
But the plum had worked!
Tianlong's suppressed powers had burst forth, indeed making him more powerful than most High Immortals, and this led to a massive and glorious celebration in Sky Realm...!
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