Imperial Weight Chapter 1
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 1
The fact that Little Phoenix still couldn't shapeshift at three hundred years old had become known to all the immortals, great and small, in Fan Tian.
This matter was actually quite harmless. Every flower and blade of grass in Fan Tian, blessed by Buddhist protection and naturally generating spiritual energy, could transform into human form. Even a passing cat that lapped at the lotus pond water would ascend before retracting its paw, its cultivation soaring rapidly. However, everyone was as laid-back as the Ming Kings—too lazy to transform into humans. Flowers remained flowers, grass remained grass, and small animals lay flat accepting pats, living quite happily.
But Little Phoenix was different, a lone bird, and gradually caught everyone's attention. Among the phoenix clan, he was an anomaly. Ordinary bird spirits could cultivate human form in twenty or thirty years, and phoenixes, being the smartest and most clever species, born elegant and beautiful, could transform within ten years. Each one grew extremely beautiful, their crimson-gold wings spreading more brilliantly than the clouds filling the sky, their long tail feathers flowing with iridescent light.
Little Phoenix wasn't crimson-gold—his feathers were white as snow. Nor did he have an elegant, slender neck and spine. For three hundred years, he had remained ball-shaped—fluffy and round, with tiny bead-like eyes. When perched on someone's head, his jade-white little claws were barely visible, buried along with his short legs in the fluffy down.
White feathers were considered inauspicious by the phoenix clan. Perhaps for this very reason, when Little Phoenix hatched from his shell, he found none of his family and knew he was an abandoned egg. Later, through his own efforts, growing up on a fruit here and a bit of dew there, he became a lone chubby little bird wandering the world, working odd jobs everywhere to fill his belly.
At first, he only had one job—delivering messages for the Heartless Ming King of Fan Tian. Later, he also took on express delivery of Queen Mother's immortal peaches. For each peach delivered, he got to eat one peach. Over three hundred years of coming and going, everyone was astonished to discover that this chubby little bird remained ball-shaped, hadn't grown a bit, and showed no signs of cultivating human form.
In Fan Tian's eternal daylight, amid clouds of rosy light, a snow-white chubby bird flapped its short, plump wings and waddled to a landing. A small bundle was strapped to his back, pressed into the fluffy, soft feathers. With a shake, it tumbled to the ground. The cloth unwrapped, revealing a juice-filled honey peach inside, almost as big as Little Phoenix himself.
"Little Phoenix, you're already so fat, and you're still eating peaches? Didn't you say you wanted to lose weight?" At the lotus pond's edge, a carp surfaced to look at him, asking with great curiosity.
Little Phoenix pecked open a corner of the honey peach with his short, pointed beak, picked up a small piece of sweet flesh, and ate it happily. "I need to eat my fill to have the energy to lose weight. Besides, Queen Mother says eating immortal peaches increases cultivation—I can transform sooner."
The carp burst out laughing: "Oh you, three hundred years have passed, your cultivation has long reached Great Completion. If you could transform, you would have become human long ago. Little Phoenix, give it up. We all think that you probably didn't develop properly as an egg, so you can't transform into a human. Besides, what's so good about being human? They have no tails, no wings, and walking on two legs must be so tiring."
Little Phoenix tilted his head and said nothing for a long while. After a moment, having eaten his fill, the whole bird became even rounder—he tipped backward and lay down, exposing a smooth, round bird bottom, his two claws splayed toward the sky, and began sunbathing.
"Humans are good," Little Phoenix said.
Everyone in Fan Tian knew that Little Phoenix had once ascended to face tribulation, gone to the mortal realm, and been reincarnated to live one life as a human. But no one could pry a single piece of gossip from his beak. The carp spirit suddenly perked up with interest. "Little Phoenix, you must have fallen for someone in the mortal realm, which is why you're so eager to cultivate human form to find them."
Unexpectedly, Little Phoenix didn't deny it.
He pecked the honey peach clean, then lifted his claw to fiddle with the peach pit—this action made his round body wobble a bit, but he managed to steady himself.
Seeing there was something to this, the little carp pressed on. "Really, Little Phoenix? If you don't speak, I'll take it as confirmation. Does he still remember you? Where is he now? Why don't you go find him sooner?"
Little Phoenix still didn't speak, looking somewhat shy yet also somewhat proud. He concentrated on rolling around a few times, then jumped in place, stretched out his little wings horizontally, and began his post-meal weight-loss exercises.
The little carp waited for quite a while, then gave up, knowing Little Phoenix definitely wouldn't tell him, and prepared to dive back to the bottom. But before swimming away, he suddenly thought of something. "Little Phoenix, Little Phoenix, I know a place—at Linglong Gate in the Northern Heaven, wandering immortals often go to sell talismans. There must be talismans that can transform you into a human. You've worked so long, you must be quite rich, you can buy as many as you want. Then you can transform into a human and go find the person you like, what do you say?"
The little carp was in the water, unable to see far. He waited a while and still heard no answer from Little Phoenix, so he jumped out of the water to look. With this jump, he saw that Little Phoenix had long since left his original spot—only a round white dot remained at the horizon's edge, carrying a small bundle, flying high up.
****
Northern Heaven couldn't be called desolate, only that it snowed year-round. When Little Phoenix quit his jobs and rushed over with his bundle, he happened upon a bustling scene outside Linglong Gate. He perched on a tree, his bead-like eyes first gazing toward the distant mountaintop. There stood a majestic divine palace, appearing pitch-black from afar, dignified and solemn, almost merged with the mountain, more than half covered by snow.
"That's the palace of Fuli Yuanshi Tianzun, Xingyi Emperor. Short and stubby little sparrow, why are you looking there? Are you lost?" On a neighboring branch, a golden-winged bird looked at him and voiced its confusion.
Little Phoenix withdrew his gaze. Over the years, people had called him a sparrow, a parrot, a quail, a white-cut chicken—anything but a phoenix. He looked at the golden-winged bird and said, "I want to buy talismans that can transform me into a human."
The golden-winged bird, upon hearing this, flapped its wings and landed, transforming into a handsome young man, and laughed. "You still can't shapeshift? What a coincidence, I have just what you need. Why not buy from me? I've recently learned to draw talismans, and I'm quite good at it. But since you're my first customer, I'll give you a low price—three hundred spirit stones per talisman, how about it? Go ask around, everyone else sells them for a thousand spirit stones each."
Little Phoenix hesitated, craning his neck to look down. "One talisman—how long does it last?"
The golden-winged bird patted his chest, answering a different question. "Jinjin's products, honest to young and old alike. If you don't have money, I'll lower the price—do you have money?"
Little Phoenix shifted slightly, bouncing up and down on the soft branch, very cautiously: "Not very much."
The golden-winged bird was very enthusiastic. "Then I'll lower it a bit more—one hundred spirit stones per talisman, how about that? How many do you want?"
Little Phoenix mentally calculated the speed at which he earned money from two jobs, then calculated how long the "long" in "flowers bloom, moon is round, people together forever" actually meant. Since he didn't realize he was missing the necessary condition of "how long one talisman lasts," he confused himself.
Little Phoenix crouched in a round ball, thought seriously, then answered. "I'll take ten thousand to start."
The golden-winged bird: "......"
Little Phoenix, whose money was "not very much," was told that ten thousand talismans would take half a month to write, and only after half a month could he receive what he needed—payment on delivery. Little Phoenix said, "Fine, I'm not in a hurry. You write them first, I'll come find you when the time comes."
Having said this, he waddled away, slowly hopping along the snowy path.
After waiting three hundred years, he wasn't worried about these fifteen days. Little Phoenix built a nest in a tree at the foot of Fuli Mountain and successfully infiltrated a flock of sparrows, blending in quite convincingly. Those long-tailed white sparrows were all lively and adorable, chattering away. Little Phoenix squatted in the nest every day listening to them talk, bringing over paper and brush to take careful notes, his attitude very earnest.
He asked, "You said that Emperor comes to pat you before going to court sessions—is that true?"
A little sparrow spirit said, "Not every time, only sometimes. You need good luck to encounter the Emperor. The Emperor is an ancient war god who can break through myriad karmic fire tribulations with a single thought, descending to save mortals. He's even busier than the Jade Emperor. Encountering him once is a blessing cultivated over countless millennia—how could we expect it every time?"
Little Phoenix said "Oh" and continued holding his brush to take notes.
After that, he followed the sparrows around Fuli Mountain every day, exercising, eating berries, then squatting at the base of the tree waiting. From the first day to the fifteenth day, not a single person appeared on the snowy path.
Sometimes when the wind picked up, bringing heavy snow down with it, the little birds all chirped and hid back in their nests, but Little Phoenix still waited patiently. When the wind and snow buried him too deeply, he would twist and nimbly burrow out from the snow, the tuft of down on his head waving in the wind. When buried again, he'd burrow out again. From afar, he looked like a large fluffy round mass—except for those two bead eyes, he wasn't much different from a snowball.
This day, Little Phoenix had eaten an extra nut and was doing weight-loss exercises in his nest. As he exercised, he pondered when to collect his ten thousand talismans, when suddenly he heard a little sparrow below calling out to him. "Come quick and see, the Emperor is here!"
Today was windless with light snow. At the end of the mountain path appeared a dark figure, wearing deep red robes nearly black in color, with silver thread trim embroidered with rivers and starry skies. The person walked leisurely, steps unhurried, holding an umbrella painted with vast mountain ranges. The wind stirred slightly, the footsteps stopped.
He stopped at the base of the tree.
The sparrows flew down one by one to perch before him in a row. Little Phoenix quickly flew down too, blending in and crouching properly. Snow-white and fluffy, a round pile of little birds all gathered here. The person extended his hand, scattered food before them, then reached out to stroke their heads.
Shortly after, a small immortal official who looked like an attendant emerged from the end of the mountain path, rushing over frantically and calling, "Emperor! Emperor! The time has come, all the immortals have been waiting for you for over an hour now. Please hurry!"
But the person didn't move a muscle, as if he hadn't heard, only looking down quietly at this flock of birds. Though the little sparrows had spiritual awareness, their cultivation was low—they couldn't speak human words, only chirping as they lined up one by one to nuzzle his palm, fluffy and very warm. After patting one, another came. The sparrows were well-behaved, leaving after being patted without lingering. No one noticed that after Little Phoenix nuzzled his palm, he circled around the tree trunk, sneakily went to the back of the line, acting as if nothing had happened, full of anticipation as he waited for another pat.
He thought he wouldn't be discovered, but Little Phoenix was slightly bigger than the sparrows. Though equally round and fluffy, certain subtle details couldn't escape a person's eye.
The newcomer immediately caught this opportunistic little fellow—that slender hand stopped before Little Phoenix, then gently picked him up.
Little Phoenix looked at him with wide eyes, innocently kicking his legs once, then obediently let himself be loosely held. When the palm turned over and the index finger extended, Little Phoenix hopped twice and quietly crouched on the fingertip.
The movements were so slow and leisurely that the anxious little immortal official broke out in sweat and urged again. "Oh my, this is killing me with worry! These are just ordinary little sparrows. Let me feed them for you. I beg you, please hurry!"
The newcomer chuckled softly.
"There's a little phoenix here."
Little Phoenix looked at him, he looked at Little Phoenix. In those pitch-black, bottomless eyes there seemed to be some amusement, bringing with it a trace of divine light that ordinary people never saw—like countless stars crashing down, like countless lotus flowers in Fan Tian's lotus pond surging with the wind.
Little Phoenix felt himself becoming unsteady. In that instant, his memories from the mortal realm and all he'd heard over three hundred years aligned with the person before him, and he truly confirmed it.
Emperor Fuli Yuanshi.
This title had only emerged in recent years. Fuli—the meaning of dawn's floating and surging light—this was an ancient immortal ranked alongside Pangu and Nuwa.
Everyone used to think this fellow had died of old age long ago, already buried in the dust of ancient battlefields. But in recent years, someone noticed the star disc's unusual movements—the Moon Palace Jade Rabbit’s star position became entangled with the Three Stars of Slaughter, Destruction, and Chaos, nearly costing the dignified Moon Palace Jade Rabbit its life and its memory, leaving the immortals of the Heavenly Court heartbroken. The fates of immortals were actually reflected in the star positions above, and there was someone manipulating all this behind the scenes—above the Lingxiao, opposite the Southern Heaven Gate, was precisely this Emperor Fuli's domain. Only when everyone deliberately investigated did this corner of Northern Heaven's mysterious veil reveal itself.
It was after that when the immortals invited the person hiding behind the scenes to come forward. The Underworld has the Minister of Fate, controlling mortal destinies, while the fates of all immortals are recorded in the star disc, also controlled by someone.
Only one person in this world was qualified to control the star disc. What the little sparrows hadn't told Little Phoenix was that the person controlling the star disc must truly be heartless and emotionless, able to keep their heart free from all things, only then qualified to manipulate the Milky Way, playing with immortals' destinies in the palm of their hand. They only told Little Phoenix that the Emperor was someone who liked to play chess with stars. Stripping away various honorifics, what remained was a name given by heaven and earth—now called Xingyi.
(TL: Star Chess)
Xingyi put Little Phoenix down and stroked his head with a finger.
"I'm leaving."
His robe stirred up a slight breeze, and the figure suddenly disappeared at the other end of the snowy path.
Little Phoenix stared for a long while, then suddenly seemed to remember something, spread his wings and fluttered up, flying toward Linglong Gate.
****
"These talismans are foolproof. Ten thousand of them, I've stored them all in a storage ring for you. I tested them on people—the results are rock solid. Instant transformation, no delay whatsoever."
"What? How long do they last? Try it yourself and you'll know. Hey, ten thousand talismans are enough for you to hatch several eggs."
"Come back again, little boss! Wow, these days, hehe, a round dumpling of a chicken is richer than wandering immortals. Hehehe..."
Late at night, Little Phoenix carried a talisman in his beak, with a small bundle containing the storage ring on his back, and secretly slipped into Fuli Palace. At night, the palace had few people around. The immortal maidens and attendants on night duty didn't notice a snow-white round ball occasionally rolling past their feet, stopping for a moment before whooshing along a stretch, then stopping again after a moment, then whooshing out another long stretch. Swift movements, unpredictable as ghosts and gods.
This round ball rolled straight into Xingyi's sleeping chamber.
Calming incense burned in the room, mist swirling, faintly revealing the sleeping figure on the bed.
Little Phoenix slapped the talisman on the ground with a smack, then flopped backward with another smack, extending his two short little legs and sticking them to the talisman. In no time, he was delighted to find his view rising higher, his body growing longer—the round chubby bird disappeared, and a figure between youth and young manhood rose from the ground, eyes bright and lively.
Little Phoenix gave the golden-winged bird's talisman a good review in his heart. He rubbed his hands together, tiptoed to sit by the bed, then gazed intently at the person before him.
The person before him had his eyes closed, looking heartless and emotionless, coolly detached, but Little Phoenix thought he looked good no matter what. Little Phoenix stared longingly at the sleeping person, hands cupping his cheeks, holding his breath.
He should wake Xingyi now. He'd thought about this for a long time—in all those storybooks about fox spirits and snail maidens, they all went like this. Upon waking to find a beauty beside the bed, one's heart would surely be deeply moved, becoming a tale of romance from then on.
However, perhaps because Little Phoenix's gaze was too fervent, before he could call out "husband" with tender affection, Xingyi woke on his own, lashes trembling lightly as he opened his eyes.
Xingyi looked him up and down, also noticing a stranger unafraid of death by his bedside. Looking again, things changed, as if his eyes were playing tricks.
Little Phoenix was very excited. He wanted to call out: "Husband." But he himself vaguely sensed something was wrong—he had wanted to reach out and touch Xingyi's face, but when he extended his hand, he saw a round, short, plump little wing.
Xingyi looked at him.
Little Phoenix drew his neck back in, wings back in too, pretending to be an innocent chubby bird passing by. He said: "Chirp, chirp chirp chirp."
