The Flower Blooms

The summit of the mountain fell into absolute silence; not a sound could be heard.

The three life-forms ignored Chu Feng entirely.

Chu Feng guessed that the animals didn’t consider him a threat as he was quite far from the summit; they couldn't be bothered about him and simply let him look on from below.

These three were, after all, extraordinary animals with great intelligence.

"I should take this chance to leave!"

Chu Feng decided to descend. Although he was fairly curious about the flower rooted in bronze and wanted to understand more, he understood that it was too dangerous for him to stay around as he could lose his life anytime.

The fragrance, originating from the summit, was becoming increasingly dense.

The mastiff made its move with lightning speed. It pierced through the haphazard rocks within a few leaps and was rushing toward the summit along the precipitous mountainside.

The three-meter long yak was glowing with jet-black radiance, and the large horn on its head was rather intimidating. It stepped out and followed suit at a steady pace.

It traveled with great stability along the rocks on the other side of the mountain and was actually able to climb onto the steep bronze peak.

The vicious bird, seemingly cast from gold, was shining with a brilliant glow. Golden light flashed within its eyes as it lowered its altitude and approached the cliff, all the while focused on the little tree.

The fragrance in the air intensified several times over just as Chu Feng was prepared to retreat. Apparently, the flower bud was about to bloom.

Pop!

Chu Feng clearly heard the flower bursting into bloom despite the distance. The fist-sized flower on top of the little tree had unfurled one of its petals.

The blooming flower made sounds!

The dense floral fragrance invaded the senses and almost seemed to possess a special magic that caused one to become intoxicated.

At that split second, the three life-forms rushed toward the cliff and looked on nervously, trying their best to breathe in the fragrance. It appeared as if they were gulping down the aroma.

Chu Feng turned his head around and so happened to witness this spectacle. Their odd behavior astonished him greatly.

The three animals could no longer hold back and were poised to attack one another. Their primal nature had resurfaced.

Continuous sounds rang out as the silver white flower bloomed completely. Glimpses of sparkling translucence could be seen within the hazy white mist which now hung around it. The fragrance had also increased by no less than tenfold!

Chu Feng was truly amazed by what he had seen. What sort of flower was this? The fragrance was truly bewitching; it made him want to turn around and rush toward the summit.

A silver-white flower was blooming atop this one-meter tall tree wherein white mist spilled forth and diffused throughout the mountaintop, making it appear like an immortal realm.

The flower glowed with intense light within the white mist while the dazzling golden spots on its petals sparkled like the stars.

The scene was exceptionally beautiful and captivating.

The three beasts were waiting for this very moment—the moment of its maturity!

Their primal instincts had taken over them as they fought tooth and nail over this flower, attacking madly in hopes of obtaining the flower for themselves.

The mountaintop trembled slightly with every powerful step taken by the black yak.

The golden bird in the sky brandished its great claws and clashed with the thick horns of the great yak, emitting deafening sounds with every strike.

The mastiff growled with a muffled voice akin to rolling thunder.

The three animals sought to kill each other and win this blooming flower.

They were also breathing heavily during this process, trying to take in as much of the fragrance as possible and at all costs.

Hazy mist spiraled around the summit of this bronze mountain as traces of gold glimpsed out as if a sea of stars was hidden within. The scene was as mysterious as it was beautiful.

As they approached the sparkling green tree, the mastiff’s large claws caught the flower.

A whirlwind kicked up as the vicious bird dived down toward the mastiff, its descending claws poised to tear the latter apart.

They were previously refraining from taking action because they feared one another, but they had thrown caution to the wind after the flower bloomed. They had to obtain it at all costs.

As the vicious bird flapped its wings, a few petals from the flower were blown away from the mastiff’s claw and drifted down the mountain.

The petal drifted swiftly along the steep mountainside and soon neared Chu Feng’s position.

He caught one with a grasp of his hand and was soon intoxicated in the intense and lingering fragrance. Upon closer observation, a layer of sparkling particles was visible on the gold-adorned petal.

"Pollen!"

A lustrous layer of pollen was stuck on the surface of the petal.

Chu Feng reached out and caught all four of them in quick succession. Two of them were less fragrant with apparently less pollen on them. The other two were strongly fragrant and speckled with dense translucence—its fragrance was strong and lingering.

The three animals on the summit of the bronze mountain gazed down at him with cold eyes before resuming their melee once again in order to fight for the petals that hadn’t yet dropped.

Chu Feng grasped the petals tightly after seeing the situation.

But he soon noticed something odd. The petals in his hand no longer felt warm and almost felt as if they were withering. He opened his palm to find that the crystalline radiance had faded, and the petals had indeed dried!

They had lost their vibrant radiance in but a moment and turned a dried yellow.

What happened?

One of the small petals was crushed with barely any strength at all.

Chu Feng was stunned. He dropped the other three petals and shouted toward the mountain, "I’m returning this!"

He turned around decisively afterward and fled, rushing down the mountain without giving the flower any further thought.

Although he was in a hurry to escape, he couldn’t help pondering over why the petals had dried up in his hands. The change was simply too odd!

He didn’t stop even as he passed by the bronze houses and tablet. There was only one thing on his mind and that was to escape to safety. He was able to raise his speed as the topography became evener.

By the time Chu Feng had reached the foot of the mountain, the red sun was already descending to the west.

Fortunately, the three extraordinary beasts didn’t chase him down the mountain and kept on fighting among themselves.

Chu Feng was drenched in sweat after the intense episode of exercise at such a high altitude. He felt completely exhausted despite his fit constitution.

He sat, gasping for breath, at the foot of the mountain and could still hear his own heartbeat even after a long while. He quickly gulped down large mouthfuls of water.

Turning back to glance at the great mountain, everything still felt like an enigma.

The bronze tablet, the mysterious bronze buildings, and the bronze mountain—was this majestic mountain really made of bronze?

If only he could, he wanted to tear down the earth from this gigantic mountain and see for himself what the interior was like.

This mountain was only one of the peaks within the Kunlun Mountain Range. Just what kind of secrets could be hidden in this area?

"I should leave soon. It’ll be dangerous if the three beasts come rushing down the mountain."

The mountain was riddled with cracks due to the earthquake a few days ago and its foot was no exception. Chu Feng had to proceed cautiously in order to avoid them.

He inadvertently noticed a certain rock within one of those cracks. It was oddly square and about three inches in height.

Chu Feng picked up the curious rock and continued on his way.

Along the way, Chu Feng almost felt as if a faint warmth was flowing through his body, but he wasn’t quite certain whether or not it was a misconception.

It would disappear when he focused on the sensation, but then it would appear once more when he wasn’t paying attention.

Was it an illusion? Or was it some type of allergy?

He momentarily suspected whether his perception had been thrown into disorder.

"It starts from this hand."

He opened his left hand. It was precisely in his left palm that he had first noticed the sensation, but there was nothing of note there.

"The four petals withered in my left hand."

Chu Feng pondered about this matter along the way and felt that things were not so simple. This case was indeed odd and made him feel somewhat uneasy.

The flower petals, suffused with white mist and adorned with specks of light, were odd no matter how one looks at it.

The bronze Kunlun mountain behind him back had toppled many of his original beliefs and concepts, giving him much to contemplate.

"The flower should be harmless since even those three extraordinary animals were fighting over it."

Although he had his misgivings, Chu Feng felt that this flower shouldn’t be harmful to the body. If it was, the three vicious beasts wouldn’t be killing each other to obtain it.

He shook his head and decided to temporarily stop thinking about it as he headed toward the shepherd settlement in large strides.

The boundless plateau was exceptionally quiet under the curtain of the night. Some beast roars would occasionally be transmitted from the distance, adding a touch of vastness and desolation to the landscape.

Chu Feng asked to lodge in one of the shepherd’s tents and decided to return on the morrow.

He spent the night reading a book in silence, trying to experience the stream of warmth he had sensed earlier. He wondered if there would be any change to this faintly discernible sensation.

He sighed long afterward, "Oh well, I should just let nature take its course."

Because after trying every possible method, he found out that the sensation would vanish the instant he focused on it and would faintly resurface when taking no notice of it.

"Pollen, catalyst," Chu Feng muttered these words as he recalled a certain scene from the past.

Just after graduation, he had once overheard Lin Naoi mention them to one of her family members albeit only vaguely due to the distance.

Chu Feng wanted to see her off even though they had broken up at the time, but after noticing the Lin Family’s cold eyes staring at him, he could only leave after waving his hands.

He was sent into a momentary daze and, at that moment, noticed the small rock beside him.

"Why is this rock so regularly shaped?"

He sat within the tent, studying the rock he had picked up. Although it was square in shape, the edges were rather smooth and rounded as if it had been polished.

On closer inspection, he found out that there were certain patterns on its surface. They were quite dark and barely noticeable unless one was paying attention.

"Could they have been formed naturally? Or were these patterns crafted by hand?"

He hadn't given it much thought at the foot of Mount Kunlun and had only picked up this regularly shaped stone out of convenience. He had been lost in thought along the way and had absent-mindedly carried it back.

Only now did he discover that the stone was somewhat special.

Chu Feng washed the stone clean and observed it further under the lamp.

It was about three inches tall and of a dusty brown color with indistinct vine-like patterns all over its surface. These archaic patterns appeared somewhat like naturally formed marks.

"Could this be a stone equipment left behind by a primordial civilization?" Chu Feng guessed.

He flipped it around and looked all over, stroking along those traces when, suddenly, a loud click rang out in the silent night.

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Retranslated by Alsey 2018/JAN