Chapter 40: The Trial of Recognition

Bai He’s heart had almost ceased its beating.

All the soul power in his body had been condensed to its absolute limit, the radiance of his eight spirit rings glowing behind him. He was prepared to unleash the fastest and most powerful strike of his life at any moment, even if it could only buy a sliver of hope for his granddaughter’s survival.

"Xiangxiang! Stop talking! Get behind Grandpa!"

His voice was hoarse and parched from extreme tension; every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Yet, Bai Chenxiang seemed not to hear him.

She remained standing there, her small figure appearing so insignificant under the gargantuan, sky-covering shadow of the giant python, yet so incredibly calm.

Her "Wind Whisper" did not truly translate the language of beasts.

But from the most minute vibrations in the air, she could perceive the profound, abyss-like loneliness deep within the heart of this behemoth, as well as the contradiction of being both sustained and bound by this Heart of Wind and Thunder.

Bai Chenxiang did not speak again; she simply watched it quietly.

In those clear eyes, there was no greed, no fear—only a sense of equality, an understanding bordering on compassion.

It was a gaze the Deep Valley Thunder Dragon Python had never seen on the face of any human who had trespassed here.

To those others, its eyes held only greed, only the desire for possession, or the fear and awe felt when facing overwhelming power. They looked at it as if it were a rare material, a walking spirit ring.

But this little creature before it looked at it as if she were looking at one of her own kind.

"Hiss—"

The roar of the Deep Valley Thunder Dragon Python echoed once more, but this time, the sound carried less brutality and more confusion and agitation.

It could not understand.

Its not-so-complex mind was unable to process the scene before it, which defied all reason.

Violent, surging thunder began to coalesce around its scarlet tongue. The air within the cavern turned scorching and tempestuous.

Bai He’s pupils contracted sharply; this was the precursor to the beast’s attack!

"You wretched beast! Do not dare harm her!" he bellowed, his Seventh Spirit Ability—Avatar of the Martial Soul—suddenly igniting!

A massive, silver-white phantom of a Pointed-Tail Swift emerged behind him, instantly locking down the entire space.

Just as he was about to launch his attack regardless of the consequences, Bai Chenxiang made a move that stunned everyone.

She gently raised her right hand.

Following her motion, the translucent wings of wind and thunder behind her slowly unfurled.

It was not a posture of combat, but rather one of display—a form of communication.

Threads of pure, cyan-violet soul power, a fusion of wind and thunder, spilled from her fingertips. They held no hostility, simply circling quietly before her, as if in response to the giant python’s own power.

"You are very powerful," Bai Chenxiang’s voice remained soft, yet it echoed clearly in every corner. "But you are not free."

"This heart has given you life, but it has also given you a cage."

"Every breath you take, every heartbeat, only serves to reinforce this cage."

"You fear me, not because you fear I will harm you, but because you fear I will take your cage away."

"Because you no longer know how to go on living without it."

Each of Bai Chenxiang’s words struck like an invisible heavy hammer, pounding deep into the soul of the Deep Valley Thunder Dragon Python.

"ROAR!"

The giant python was thoroughly enraged!

It could not grasp the profound meaning behind those words, but it could feel that the deepest secrets of its heart were being laid bare by this little creature!

It opened its gaping maw, and a purple thunder sphere the size of a human head, compressed from pure electrical energy, instantly formed. Carrying an aura of absolute destruction, it was about to be unleashed!

But just as the sphere was about to leave its mouth, Bai Chenxiang did not retreat; instead, she took a small step forward.

"I can help you."

She tilted her head, looking directly at the sphere capable of destroying everything, and spoke word for word:

"I can help you absorb the excess energy within this heart—the part you cannot withstand, yet which binds you so tightly."

"I can return your freedom to you."

The condensed thunder sphere stopped at the python’s lips, held in check.

Those vertically slit eyes, burning with purple fire, stared fixedly at Bai Chenxiang, filled with struggle, suspicion, and a sliver of something suppressed deep within—something called longing.

Freedom?

To it, the word was both familiar and strange.

It did not trust this human.

Humans were the most cunning and untrustworthy creatures it had ever encountered.

"Hiss—hiss—"

It let out a series of low hisses, and the thunder sphere at its mouth slowly dissipated, but a more overwhelming pressure locked onto Bai Chenxiang.

It wanted proof.

Proof that she had both the capability and the sincerity to fulfill what she had said.

The next moment, all the wind and thunder energy within the cavern was drawn forth by the beast!

Countless cyan wind blades and purple electric serpents appeared out of thin air, forming an impenetrable net of death that swept toward Bai Chenxiang, engulfing everything!

This was not for slaughter; it was a test!

"Xiangxiang!"

Bai He’s eyes were bloodshot.

However, facing an energy storm capable of tearing a Spirit Emperor into shreds, Bai Chenxiang closed her eyes.

In that moment, her world of Wind Whisper became incredibly clear.

The trajectory of the wind, the veins of the thunder, the intensity of the energy, the gaps in the attack—everything transformed into precise data, flooding her mind.

She moved.

Her small figure was like a falling leaf dancing in a storm, or a butterfly flitting through lightning.

Her footsteps were devoid of any trace of effort.

Each time she lifted a foot or turned, it was exquisite to the finest degree—not a fraction too much, nor an inch too little.

Wind blades grazed her clothes, yet could not stir a single ripple.

Electric serpents coiled around her body, yet could not touch her in the slightest.

She did not resist, nor did she dodge; she was guiding.

Using her own understanding of wind and thunder, she perfectly integrated herself into the energy storm controlled by the giant python, becoming a part of the storm itself.

Wind cannot be harmed by wind.

Thunder cannot be destroyed by thunder.

Inside the cavern, the violent wind and thunder gradually subsided.

Bai Chenxiang stood quietly in place, her clothes unruffled, her hair undisturbed, as if that world-shattering scene had been nothing but a hallucination.

The massive head of the Deep Valley Thunder Dragon Python slowly lowered.

In those purple, slit eyes, a flicker of something called acknowledgment emerged.

Having lived for nearly a hundred thousand years, it had never seen any creature capable of controlling wind and thunder to such a harmonious, such a perfect degree.

Its simple mind reached a conclusion:

This little creature might, perhaps, truly be able to help it.

The giant python’s head bowed three times before Bai Chenxiang.

It was an ancient, dragon-kin ritual of contract.

It had agreed.

Bai He stared blankly at this unbelievable scene, feeling his brain turn into complete mush.

He slowly withdrew his Martial Soul Avatar, his body swaying as he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

Watching his granddaughter, who remained calm, and then glancing at the giant python that was actually capable of reasoning, he muttered to himself:

"Should my Min Clan change our ancestral 'Manual on Spirit Beast Identification and Hunting' to 'Spirit Beast Psychology and Non-Violent Communication Techniques'?"

He felt that this world was simply far too insane.