Striving for Science C30 pt1

Humans couldn't hear this sound, but the two yao cultivators from the Kong family could hear it perfectly.

"Who is it?"

"So the idiot knows I'm calling him an idiot."

Kong Yang and Kong Yue searched the area, finally focusing on the large elm tree in the courtyard. Kong Yue sneered, "So it's a tree yao with consciousness but can't transform. Our bird clan hasn't had any birds transform in nearly twenty years, but that's still better than your tree clan. Do you even have a right to speak?"

"Heh." The tree yao shook its leaves, "I was calling someone an idiot, you guys insist on putting that title on yourselves, what can I do?"

Kong Yue had always been surrounded by admiration within the clan and looked down on the nameless tree clan. Now, she wanted to teach this ungrateful tree a lesson.

"Young people, do you need any help?" Du Zhonghai, with a fat belly and wearing an old jacket, slowly walked down the stairs. Seeing Kong Yang and Kong Yue, he quickly said, "We're off work now. If you don't have anything urgent, you can come back in the afternoon. I…"

"Hmph!" Kong Yue retracted her hand, glaring at the elm tree, "You're lucky today." In this day and age, unless absolutely necessary, yao cultivators couldn't reveal their identities in front of humans.

"Let's go." Kong Yue didn't even look at Du Zhonghai, turning and leaving.

"These young people nowadays have such big tempers." Du Zhonghai held his teacup, slowly walking out, completely unaware that he had just brushed shoulders with two little yaos.

Because they were mocked by humans and Liu Mao saw them going to trouble Shen Chang'an, Kong Yang and Kong Yue, who were both proud and afraid of their elders' punishment, went back without saying anything, sulking in their room.

But before they could sulk for too long, a yao from their clan came to invite them, saying that the oldest yao of the tree clan, the Mulberry Tree yao, wanted to speak to them.

The two yaos were a little confused. What did the Mulberry Tree yao want with them?

They rushed to the hall and saw the Peacock clan elder sitting upright, the Mulberry Tree yao sitting in the guest seat, his face gloomy. Seeing this, Kong Yang and Kong Yue were a little scared, respectfully walking in front of their elders and performing a grand salute.

"Are you the two who bullied my clan's junior?" The Mulberry Tree yao narrowed his eyes, turning to the Peacock elder, "Old Kong, what does your bird clan mean? Do you think our tree clan has few yaos so you can bully us at will?

"You two brats, apologize to Elder Sang immediately!" The Peacock elder couldn't help but rub his forehead. Because it was extremely difficult for plant-type yao cultivators to transform, they were particularly protective of their own. Not only were they protective, but they were also incredibly shameless. A thousand years ago, a brainless thing from the water clan, relying on the water clan's large numbers, bullied a tree yao who had only transformed for a hundred years. From that day on, the great yao of the tree clan went to the Dragon Palace to complain every day, using all sorts of shameless tactics, making the water clan yao cultivators develop a psychological shadow whenever they saw plant-type yao cultivators.

Thinking of the water clan's experience, the Peacock elder felt a dizzy spell. These two kids were still too young, they didn't know how annoying tree yaos could be.

As long as there were plants in the world, their nagging voices could be heard. If they were held a grudge against, don't even think about cultivating, first consider how to keep yourself from going crazy.

At this moment, Kong Yue and Kong Yang deeply felt the helplessness of being unable to explain themselves. Kong Yue complained, "Elder, we didn't do anything to the tree clan's yao, it was clearly him who insulted me and my brother."

"My bullied junior can't even transform, how dare he insult you two?" The Mulberry Tree yao said with a cold face, "If the bird clan doesn't give me an explanation today, I can only go to Lord Dao for justice."

The Peacock elder's face stiffened. A few days ago, Kong Ying went to the Lord to make a fuss, and they were already afraid that the Lord was unhappy. Now the tree clan was going to complain again, how would the Lord view their bird clan, especially their Peacock clan?

"Old Sang, we've been friends for thousands of years. How can we bother the Daoist Master over such a small matter between juniors?" The Peacock elder said with a smile, "I'll let these two unruly juniors go apologize personally. How about that?"

"My junior is timid…"

"I recently got a bottle of Spirit Elixir, I'll let them take it as a gift."

"Sigh." The Mulberry Tree yao's anger dissipated a lot. He said to the Peacock elder with a heavy heart, "Old Kong, I know your Peacock clan is gifted, as long as you successfully transform, you'll have cultivation that other yao cultivators can't match. But think back to the Phoenix clan, how glorious they were, now there are only a few left. If you keep pampering these juniors, it's not love, it's harm."

"Heh." The Peacock elder sneered in his heart, this old Sang always had a nasty mouth.

"Alright, considering our long-standing friendship, I won't hold this against you." The mulberry tree yao stood up and glanced at Kong Yue and Kong Yang, the siblings. "If something like this happens again, I can only help Elder Kong educate his juniors."

Only the tree yao clan could make bullying the young by being old sound so elegant and refined.

When the arrogant meet the shameless, they both become trash with a combat power of negative five.

***

"Dao Nian."

Dao Nian was sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window. Hearing Shen Chang'an's call, he turned his head towards the doorway. Rushing footsteps came from outside, the sound arriving before the person.

A few seconds later, Shen Chang'an strode in. Their eyes met, and without hesitation, Shen Chang'an walked over to Dao Nian, flashing a bright smile. "Dao Nian, good afternoon."

The smile was too bright, dazzling even. Dao Nian closed his eyes briefly. "Wash your hands, eat."

"Okay, wait for me." Shen Chang'an slipped into the kitchen. Seeing Uncle Zhao preparing sweet and sour fish, he washed his hands and asked, "Uncle Zhao, do you need any help?"

"No, it's already done." Uncle Zhao took a plate of cut fruit from the cabinet and placed it in Shen Chang'an's hands. "Have some fruit first, I'll have someone bring the dishes to the table."

"Thanks." Shen Chang'an held the fruit and went out, sitting down next to Dao Nian. "Have some fruit to fill your stomach."

Dao Nian glanced at the contents of the plate. They were all things suitable for humans to eat, clearly prepared by Old Zhao specifically for Shen Chang'an.

After dinner, Dao Nian remembered that Shen Chang'an had to go to work, so he asked Liu Mao to take him there.

"I still have an hour before work, no rush." Shen Chang'an pushed Dao Nian towards the outdoor flower room, fumbling in his pocket with a bit of embarrassment, pulling out a keychain.

"You gave me the keys to the front door and the house, I don't have anything to give you. This is the key to my house." He placed the key in Dao Nian's palm. "I lost my family when I was very young, so even though I have several keys to the house, no one else has ever used them besides me."

"This..." Shen Chang'an blushed slightly. "Although my house is small, with this key, you won't have to knock on the door when you come over."

"This is your house key?" Dao Nian finally understood what the key represented. He looked at Shen Chang'an with a complex expression, slowly closing his palm. The emotions in his eyes calmed down. "I accept your intention."

Shen Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief. He had considered that Dao Nian might refuse the key, but he didn't regret his actions.

"Accepting your key, I will be responsible for you." Dao Nian reached out and touched the top of Shen Chang'an's head. "There are too many fish at home, we can't finish them all. Come over tonight too?"

Shen Chang'an scratched his head, the spot where Dao Nian had touched felt itchy. "Then... I'll come over directly tonight?"

"Mm." Dao Nian put the key in the pocket closest to his chest, lazily closing his eyes. "Go to work, I'm going to rest for a while."

"Okay, I'm going to work then." Shen Chang'an pulled the blanket on Dao Nian's knees up, and with light steps, left the flower room.

After a long time, Dao Nian opened his eyes and looked at the twin brothers guarding outside the flower room. "Shen Cha."

"Sir?" Shen Cha walked into the flower room, looking respectfully at Dao Nian.

"I accepted his key."

"Sir?!" Shen Cha looked at Dao Nian in shock. "You, what did you say?"

Dao Nian glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"But Mr. Shen is just a human. Humans have short lifespans, and birth, aging, sickness, and death are inevitable. You..." Shencha saw that Dao Nian remained unmoved and bowed, saying, "As you please."

Keys were extremely private objects. If a god or yao give someone their mansion key, it meant they're inviting them to cultivate together. But the Master was different from ordinary gods and yao cultivators. He represented the ultimate and supreme from the moment he was born. He had no emotions, no biases, and naturally, no one dare to give him a key.

But today, a human gave him a key, and he accepted it.

At that moment, Shen Cha even thought that perhaps Shen Chang'an didn't know what the key he had given out actually represented.

But whether he knew or not, the moment the master accepted the key, the question no longer mattered.

"Master." Liu Mao hurried in, "The leaders of the Bird Tribe and the Beast Tribe have brought their juniors to pay their respects."

"Why are they here again?" Dao Nian lay back in his wheelchair, closing his eyes and pretending not to hear anything.

"The elders of the Bird Tribe and the Beast Tribe saw that the master has been staying in the human world for a long time, and they were worried that you would be inconvenient in the human world, so they sent a few juniors who have been mingling with humans since childhood to help." Liu Mao said, "If you don't want to see them, I'll send them back."

"What can they do?" Dao Nian opened his eyes, "Call them in for me to see."

Soon, the two tribe elders came in, followed by two men and two women, all with pleasing appearances. They smiled in a way that was particularly appealing to human elders.

Dao Nian raised a finger, signaling Liu Mao to ask.

"I wonder what the juniors of the two Daoist friends are good at?"

Good at what?

The two elders were a little confused. They had chosen juniors from their tribes based on the standards of the humans who were favored by the Lord. They said they were coming to serve the Lord, but it was just an excuse to get close to him. They hadn't thought that the Lord would actually treat these juniors as servants.

"My Lord, this junior is best at planting." A cute rabbit yao in a white dress spoke. She smiled, revealing beautiful dimples, her face was flawless.

"I haven't taken on any disciples, you can't call yourself a junior in front of me." Dao Nian asked expressionlessly, "How do you compare to the descendants of the Ji family?" 

TN: Ji family is a legendary family known for their skills in agriculture and medicine

"This yao's cultivation is still shallow, how dare I compare myself to the descendant of the Farmer God." The rabbit demon blushed, not daring to look at Dao Nian.

Dao Nian waved his hand.

Liu Mao then began to ask the fox yao standing next to the rabbit yao: "What about you, what are you good at?"

The fox yao: "..." What else could a fox spirit be good at, of course it's seducing people. But in front of Dao Nian, he didn't dare to tell the truth, racking his brains, he said: "This yao is skilled in calming and soothing the mind. If the Lord is willing to keep this yao, this yao is willing to sing for the Lord to relieve his worries."

Dao Nian wanted to wave him away, but suddenly remembered that Shen Chang'an sometimes had trouble sleeping, so he nodded to Liu Mao: "Let him sing for Chang'an tonight."

The fox yao: "..."

He's here to seduce the Lord, not to be a slave or a maid for the Lord's lover.

"You're not willing?" Dao Nian saw that the fox yao didn't speak, "Then forget it...

"It's my fortune." The fox yao gritted his teeth and agreed. In this world, there are only shovels that don't work hard, not corners that can't be pried open.

Seeing that a junior from the Beast Tribe had stayed behind, the Bird Tribe elder became anxious. "My Lord, in terms of singing, who can compare to our Bird Tribe? This is our tribe's skylark bird yao, he can sing the most beautiful music in the world." 

What's the point of playing the most beautiful music? Is it to attract Chang'an's attention right under his nose?

Since he had taken Chang'an's key, he didn't intend to let any other yao or human take advantage of Chang'an. Dao Nian lowered his eyelids and didn't speak, with an air of "I'm already very tired, just say what you have to say quickly."

The Bird Clan elder: "This is a parrot yao from our clan. It's very good at making people laugh and can keep you entertained."

Dao Nian thought, Chang'an always works overtime. He heard that some humans commit suicide due to work pressure. Having a parrot to relieve boredom wouldn't be bad. He reached out and touched the parrot yao, who instantly transformed back into its original form. He nodded in satisfaction: "That's it."

How can you seduce the master if you're back in your original form?

The Bird Clan elder's face turned black. He hadn't expected that the human sent to be a temptress would be so skilled in seduction, that he had captivated the Lord's attention so completely. They had to take things slowly, only then would they have a chance to win the Lord's favor.

The little yao who had transformed into a parrot flapped its wings, timidly tucking its head under its wing. Her ideal was to blend into the crowd and become a stand-up comedian. This high-difficulty operation of seducing the upstanding Lord wasn't really suitable for her. It was only because the elders' orders were difficult to disobey that she had been forced to take on this task.

She didn't know what the elders are thinking, but they actually want to use a beauty trick on the Lord, who was emotionless and desireless. How could they not think that the Lord see all living things, calmly watching the seasons change, what difference could there be between living beings in his eyes?

But the elders were like they've lost their minds, insisting that the yao race could do what humans could do, and even better. The human race had flourished for so many years, relying on their own abilities to create spaceships that can even reach the moon. What could they do?

The Heavenly Dao has fifty, the Heavenly Mandate has forty-nine, and humans escape with one*. The human race's fortune was at its peak. Even the Lord could not fully control the vitality of humanity. Their yao race's destiny was like a stepchild, what were they competing with humans for, what were they fighting for?

TN: this phrase will come up quite a bit, just think of it roughly as ""The Great Path is broad and plain, but people prefer the side paths." from https://zh.hinative.com/questions/26067241

Sigh, to be born a yao, the worst thing was to have unfulfilled desires.