Chapter Twelve: Helplessness
After pondering for a long time, Li Chengzhu couldn’t come up with any good solution. The opponent was simply too fast—his attacks couldn’t even touch its shadow. Perhaps only by trapping it could he hope to catch it.
At this thought, Li Chengzhu’s eyes brightened. When he had studied formation arts with the Celestial Guide Envoy, he learned an offensive formation called the “Swift Fire Celestial Array.” Because it was fire-based, he hadn’t engraved it into his sword when refining the Cold Radiance blade. If not for this sudden flash of inspiration, he might have forgotten the formation entirely.
Although it was an attack formation, compared to others, the “Swift Fire Celestial Array” could also bewilder an enemy’s mind—a perfect way to entrap a foe.
Li Chengzhu gave a sly smile, took out six Celestial Mechanism Stones from his ring, and placed them on the ground in order. Using the Cold Radiance Sword, he infused spiritual energy and sketched the array’s diagram into the earth. Only then did he settle himself in the array’s core, conjuring Threefold True Fire to fill the entire formation.
Everything was ready now—only the flying thief needed to take the bait. To let the creature’s guard down, Li Chengzhu closed his eyes and feigned sleep, but his mind, through his nascent soul, remained vigilant for any movement outside.
After devouring three Celestial Mechanism Stones, the little spirit beast still felt unsatisfied. Suddenly, it caught a whiff of a delicious scent in its nose. Unable to resist, it swallowed nervously, poked its head out, and peered from the tree hollow.
What it saw filled it with delight: six pieces of food laid right at its doorstep. Excitedly chirping, it bent its hind legs and darted out with a flash.
Hearing the faint sound, Li Chengzhu wasted no time—he opened his eyes wide and shouted, “Just what I was waiting for!” With a sweep of his hands, he activated the “Swift Fire Celestial Array.”
Instantly, a fierce blaze erupted within the circle of Celestial Mechanism Stones, and the formation shimmered, flickering in and out of sight.
The little spirit beast hadn’t expected flames to suddenly ignite around it. Startled, it no longer cared about the food and retreated rapidly.
“Where do you think you’re going!” Only now did Li Chengzhu get a clear look at the thief—it was simply a larger version of the little mouse from that day. He felt a pang of shame, realizing he’d embarrassed his master, and shouted, “Freeze!” A golden light shot from his hand—the same “Binding” spell he’d used before.
Seeing the golden light about to strike the spirit beast, Li Chengzhu’s heart leapt with joy—he thought he’d finally caught it.
Trapped in the array, the spirit beast had nowhere left to retreat. Suddenly, it sprang forward to meet the golden light, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the beam whole.
“My god!” Li Chengzhu stared in disbelief at the mouse before him.
“Chirp...”
“Beast!”
“Chirp chirp!”
Li Chengzhu’s anger flared—it even dared to talk back. He gripped Cold Radiance and strode forward, threatening to strike.
The little spirit beast wrinkled its nose, sniffed carefully, and at the very moment before Cold Radiance could hit its body, darted away. It headed straight for one of the array’s Celestial Mechanism Stones.
Alarmed, Li Chengzhu dared not underestimate it now. He bit his tongue hard and spat a blood arrow onto Cold Radiance, then swung forcefully. A foot-long arc of immortal sword energy shot toward the spirit beast’s back.
The spirit beast, running at full speed, spun around as if it had eyes on its back, opened its mouth, and swallowed Li Chengzhu’s sword energy—imbued with his spirit—whole. It didn’t pause, nor did it care about the burning Threefold True Fire in the array. It dashed straight to the Celestial Mechanism Stone, snatched it up with both forepaws, and whisked it back to the tree hollow.
With one stone removed, the “Swift Fire Celestial Array” could no longer function. The flames vanished in an instant, leaving Li Chengzhu slack-jawed and dumbfounded.
A falling leaf spiraled past Li Chengzhu’s face...
The spirit beast soon darted out of the tree hollow again, trailing a long shadow, grabbed another Celestial Mechanism Stone before Li Chengzhu, cradled it like a treasure, and dashed back toward the hollow.
Li Chengzhu was speechless, watching the elusive gray shadow. Suddenly, the shadow stopped, turned, and for a third time rushed up to him, snatching a third stone. It overlapped the two stones in its arms, pressed them to its chest with one paw, and with the other paw, gesticulated at Li Chengzhu, chirping noisily.
Li Chengzhu stood in place, his face frosty, and only after watching the spirit beast return to the hollow did he remember to retrieve the remaining three stones into his storage ring.
Recalling the mouse’s arrogant behavior, fury rose in Li Chengzhu’s chest. He gripped Cold Radiance and bounded up into the tree hollow.
“Rodent, surrender your life!” Li Chengzhu declared, righteous and loud.
The spirit beast had just secured three stones when their owner arrived. It hurriedly guarded them behind itself, showing no sign of backing down as it faced Li Chengzhu.
Seeing its posture, Li Chengzhu chuckled lewdly, “Little thing, you’ve got guts, haven’t you?”
“Chirp!”
“Spit out what you took, or else!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“Hm? Still answering back?”
“Chirp chirp!”
Staring at the little mouse, Li Chengzhu suddenly noticed its tail seemed recently broken—the wound had healed, but there was little fur at the site.
A familiar memory flashed through his mind, and he blurted, “You’re the mouse that stole my spoils?”
“Chirp!”
“My god, how did you get so big?” Li Chengzhu was dumbfounded. Back then, it was barely palm-sized, and he’d subdued it with a single spell. In just a few days, it had grown, and its speed was now outrageous. He’d spent so much effort and still couldn’t catch it. Did it somehow get hold of Four-Month Fat?
“Chirp!” The spirit beast chirped excitedly, seeing Li Chengzhu’s astonished expression.
Suddenly, Li Chengzhu grew even more surprised, “Damn, you can understand what I’m saying?”
“Chirp.”
Li Chengzhu trembled, holding up one finger, “How many is this?”
“Chirp.”
He raised two fingers, “How many?”
“Chirp.”
Three fingers, “How many?”
“Chirp.”
Li Chengzhu wiped the sweat from his brow, “Good, I thought you actually understood me.”
“Chirp chirp.”
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