Chapter 136 Children's Morning Recitation of the Great Dao! Attracting Ten Thousand Birds to Pay Homage to the Divine Phoenix
In the early morning, Qingyun City welcomed a new day.
The early autumn morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, and in the east wing of Mortal Dwelling, five little ones were already sitting neatly in their respective seats.
Outside the door, Holy Lord Zixiao and the Nine Nether Devil Emperor lay against the crack of the door, nervously peeking at the situation inside.
On the podium, Lin Yuan held a cup of hot tea and looked at the five small booklets collected on the desk.
“Not bad. No one was late today, and all assignments were submitted on time.”
Lin Yuan picked up the first one; it was Zhang Xiaopang's. Although the handwriting was still crooked, at least he had written it a hundred times and hadn't gotten oil stains on it this time.
Next, he picked up Goudan and Tiezhu's assignment books.
Lin Yuan flipped through them, his eyebrows twitching slightly.
“Goudan, Tiezhu, your handwriting is quite neat.”
Lin Yuan pointed at the ink on the paper and said somewhat puzzledly, “But what kind of low-quality ink is your family using? Goudan, this ink has a faint golden tint, and Tiezhu, yours is even stranger—it's pitch black with a hint of purplish-red, and it even smells a bit fishy.”
Down below the podium, Goudan and Tiezhu's hearts skipped a beat.
When they were copying last night, they used the [Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Revolution Immortal Marrow] from Zixiao Holy Land and the [Primordial Devil Dragon True Blood] from the Demon Realm to grind out top-grade ink! Even a single drop of such divine objects would cause Cultivators outside to fight to the death for it!
“Te... Teacher!” Goudan swallowed hard and stood up nervously. “My family is poor and can't afford good ink. This is just some colored soil my uncle found on the back mountain and ground with water. Maybe... maybe the soil quality isn't good.”
Tiezhu also hurriedly Chimed in, “Right, right, right! My uncle used the bloody water left over from slaughtering pigs mixed with black ash, so it has a fishy smell! I won't do it again next time!”
Lin Yuan came to a realization and shook his head helplessly.
“These parents really... no matter how poor you are, you can't skimp on education. They can't even bear to buy a proper inkstick.”
Lin Yuan turned toward the door and instructed, “Old Wan, go to the storehouse later and get two pieces of good ink for these two children to take home. Writing with that low-quality ink is bad for the eyes.”
“This old servant obeys!” Demon Venerable Wanhua, standing outside the door, suppressed a laugh and responded loudly.
He felt a secret sense of satisfaction in his heart. Let Zixiao Holy Land and the Nine Nether Demon Abyss show off their foundations! In the Young Master's eyes, all your immortal marrow and devil blood are just low-quality goods that hurt the eyes!
“Alright, the homework check is finished. Now we begin today's first item of morning class—morning reading.”
Lin Yuan picked up the small booklet he had bound himself and walked to the center of the podium.
“Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself. You must not only know how to write the characters but also read them out loud, reading with energy and spirit.”
Lin Yuan cleared his throat, his gaze becoming focused and gentle.
“Follow my lead.”
Lin Yuan slowly opened his mouth. His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried a power that went straight to the heart.
“At man's beginning, his nature is fundamentally good.”
Below the podium, the five little ones immediately opened their tender throats and followed along, reading loudly.
“At man's beginning, his nature is fundamentally good!”
Boom!
At the very moment those five tender voices rang out simultaneously in the east wing!
Above the entire Mortal Dwelling, a terrifying Dao charm that defied description suddenly erupted!
To Lin Yuan's ears, this was just the neat and loud reading of children, full of youthful vigor.
But in the ears of Goudan, Tiezhu, Old Wan, and the two parents eavesdropping outside, these words clearly transformed into columns of Law light that reached from heaven to earth, piercing straight into the clouds!
The sound penetrated the walls of Mortal Dwelling, pierced through the sky over Qingyun City, and turned into ripples of the Great Dao invisible to the naked eye, spreading frantically toward the mountains, forests, and rivers in all directions!
“Natures are similar, but habits lead them apart!”
Lin Yuan continued to lead the reading.
“Natures are similar, but habits lead them apart!”
The children's reading became louder and louder, and the speed at which the ripples of the Great Dao spread also became faster and faster.
Within the continuous mountain ranges outside Qingyun City.
Countless birds and beasts that were originally sleeping or slaughtering each other all stopped their movements the moment they heard this reading sound.
A [Blue Underworld Thunder Eagle] with a Soul Transformation Stage cultivation was just about to pounce on its prey. When the Dao sound entered its ears, the ferocity in its eyes instantly faded, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and awe.
“Screech—!”
The Blue Underworld Thunder Eagle let out a long cry, abandoned the prey before it, spread its wings, and soared into the sky, rushing toward the direction of Qingyun City.
Not just it, but the [Seven-Colored Phantom Sparrow], [Gale-Splitting Divine Eagle], [Iron-Feathered Black Crow]... thousands upon thousands of various Yao Beasts and birds were all drawn by this morning reading sound that contained a noble righteousness akin to the beginning of heaven and earth.
They seemed to hear the summons of the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Yao, hearing the supreme teachings of the Heavenly Dao, and they all flapped their wings and flew high, regardless of everything else.
The flocks of birds, blotting out the sun, gathered into a multicolored sea of clouds, surging majestically toward the sky above Mortal Dwelling.
“If there is no teaching, nature will shift...”
The morning reading in the schoolroom continued.
And in the courtyard of Mortal Dwelling, a spectacle that left Old Wan dumbfounded had already occurred.
The countless birds flying from the sky did not dare to land directly in the courtyard. They circled uniformly above Mortal Dwelling, forming a massive funnel-shaped vortex.
In the innermost circle were over a dozen Great Yao of the half-step True Immortal Realm, radiating terrifying Demonic Qi!
In the outer circles were countless high-rank spiritual birds!
They didn't make a single bit of noise; they even used their demonic power to deathly suppress the sound of their wings flapping, for fear of disturbing the sacred reading sound in the schoolroom.
Under the pavilion.
Inside the wire birdcage hanging from the crossbeam.
That purple-gold wooden bird slowly opened its eyes.
It felt the gathering of countless birds in the sky; that was the instinctive submission of a hundred birds facing a Phoenix!
The wooden bird raised its carved head high in the cage. Though it didn't make a sound, a supreme pressure belonging to a Primordial Pure-Blooded True Phoenix silently enveloped the entire sky above the courtyard.
The thousands of birds in the sky, upon sensing this True Phoenix pressure, lowered their noble heads in unison mid-air, assuming a posture like humans in worship.
A Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix! Ten thousand Yao listening to the Dao!
Outside the door, Holy Lord Zixiao and the Nine Nether Devil Emperor looked through the crack at the terrifying flocks of birds blotting out the sky, so frightened that even their breathing stopped.
“That... isn't that the Gale-Splitting Brat from the depths of the Eastern Barrens?! He's a peerless Yao King who is about to undergo tribulation! He's actually circling and worshipping in the sky like a well-behaved grandson?!” the Nine Nether Devil Emperor said, even though the Tribulation Transcendence Stage was nothing in front of him.
Holy Lord Zixiao swallowed hard. “The Great One merely led a few children in morning reading, yet he actually drew the miracle of ten thousand Yao worshipping and a hundred birds listening to the lecture! Such a grand display for a lecture—even if a Primordial Dao Ancestor were resurrected, it would be impossible to achieve!”
The time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed.
The morning reading in the east wing finally ended.
“Alright, we'll stop reading here for today. Your throats must be dry from shouting; take a break and have some water.”
Lin Yuan put down the small booklet in his hand and looked with satisfaction at the five little fellows whose faces were flushed red.
He picked up the teacup on the podium, took a sip of water, and casually turned his head toward the window to check today's weather.
With this look, Lin Yuan was stunned.
He saw that above the courtyard, countless birds were circling densely. On the walls, on the eaves, and even on the branches of the Primordial World Tree, colorful birds of all sizes were perched everywhere.
“Whoa! What's going on today? Is there a hundred-bird convention?”
Lin Yuan pushed open the door in surprise, walked into the courtyard, and looked up at the sky.
“How did this autumn bird migration end up circling right over our courtyard?”
Hearing the sound of the door opening, those Great Yao and spiritual birds in the sky that were just worshipping instantly retracted all their Demonic Qi. One by one, they pretended to be ordinary birds, chirping and twittering randomly in the sky.
“This is quite a commotion.”
Lin Yuan shook his folding fan and looked at the courtyard full of birds, not getting angry.
“I suppose these birds are tired from flying, smelled the fragrance from our backyard vegetable patch, and came looking for food.”
Lin Yuan turned and shouted to the dazed Old Wan, “Old Wan! Go to the kitchen and bring out that half-basin of leftover multigrain rice from last night.”
Old Wan shuddered and hurriedly responded, “Yes! Young Master!”
Lin Yuan looked at the birds in the sky and said with a smile, “It's not easy for them to fly such a long distance; meeting is a form of fate. Scatter some leftovers for them; once they're full, they can continue their journey.”
Old Wan ran out carrying more than half a basin of leftover rice.
What was in that basin was supreme divine rice steamed from a mixture of Fortune Golden Wheat and Nine Heavens Spirit Rice!
“Young Master, where should I scatter it?” Old Wan asked, feeling pained.
“Just scatter it on that open space outside the courtyard gate. Don't scatter it in the courtyard; it'll be hard to clean up if bird droppings are everywhere.”
Old Wan carried the basin to the main gate.
Holy Lord Zixiao and the Nine Nether Devil Emperor quickly made way, staring wide-eyed at the glittering leftover rice in Old Wan's basin.
“Go, go, go, there's none for you!”
Old Wan glared at the two parents, then grabbed a handful of rice and threw it forcefully toward the sky.
“Time to eat!”
The birds filling the sky saw the rice radiating endless light of fortune being scattered into the air, and they instantly boiled with excitement!
But they didn't scramble; instead, according to the hierarchy of their Bloodlines, they caught the falling rice grains in mid-air in an orderly fashion.
A single grain of rice entering the stomach was worth a hundred years of bitter cultivation!
“Screech—!”
The birds that ate the rice grains all nodded their heads three times in mid-air toward Lin Yuan's direction with immense gratitude.
Afterward, they didn't dare to linger any longer, turning into streaks of light that filled the sky, scattering in all directions with satisfaction to continue their cultivation in the mountains and forests.
A 'Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Dao Lecture Convention' that had startled the entire Yao Race of the Eastern Barrens came to a successful conclusion after Lin Yuan casually scattered a handful of leftover rice.
“These birds are quite polite; they even know to nod after eating.”
Lin Yuan watched the dispersing flocks of birds, smiled, and turned back to the east wing.
“Alright, break's over. Get ready for the second lesson; today we'll learn to write a new character.”