A Modern Guide to Cultivating Spirits

One day, when Zhu Queque was ten, her back suddenly started itching, and a small crack appeared. It didn’t bleed or hurt.

Her mother and older sister joked that this was bad news: her wings were about to grow in, and they wouldn’t be able to hide that she was a bird-person anymore.

Zhu Queque thought they were being ridiculous. Her skin had just cracked from the dry weather, so she carefully rubbed on some baby lotion.

But one day, she woke up and felt the wings on her back. She was stunned.

Her mother and sister stood around her bed, setting off party poppers.

Zhu Queque: ...

*

Zhu Queque whispered a secret to her deskmate: "Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually a Vermilion Bird."

Her deskmate looked around furtively. "Actually, I’m a Azure Dragon."

Zhu Queque: You didn’t believe me at all, did you?

One day, torrential rain caused a landslide, and Zhu Queque watched as her classmates took to the clouds one by one and turned the tide.

*

When young Zhu Queque was selected for the Riverport City team, she set herself a goal: work hard to make the national team and bring glory to her country!

Later, at the World Supernatural Abilities Championship in Hasala, dazzling lights exploded across the sky.

Her teammate pushed up his sunglasses. "So annoying! Westerners are always coming up with all kinds of ridiculous magic effects."

The girl gripped a longbow and narrowed her eyes in the blazing sunlight. An arrow wreathed in flames shot toward the priest on the other side. "Enough talk. Let’s take them down."

*

When Zhu Queque first met Li Xuanshuang, she unwittingly "offended" this young master from a cultivation family, and Li Xuanshuang’s face darkened on the spot.

Zhu Queque, who came from a small town, was also called a country bumpkin to her face.

At a friendly gathering for young competitors on the eve of the championship, Zhu Queque showered a handsome foreign elf guy with compliments, calling him an angel and saying he was "very beautiful."

That evening, Li Xuanshuang knocked on her door. "Aren’t I the one you like best?"

Zhu Queque pretended not to understand. "This country bumpkin only likes handsome guys."

CP: A brash, mixed-blood Vermilion Bird with ancestral traits x a cold young master from a cultivation family

A satisfying team-growth story in a modern alternate setting

Theme: Carry on tradition while embracing innovation