The Flower Of The High Mountain Turns Into A Cat And Is Picked Up By A Human Chapter 1
byChapter 1
It was night.
The moonlight was like water, washing away the restless, volatile energy of the day.
Under the cover of darkness, a long-haired white cat was perched on a desk, visible through a window that glowed with light. A tablet stood upright beside it.
The recording equipment next to the desk was connected to a computer, and the computer screen displayed a live stream.
[“Chendeng is a Cat” Live Stream]
Only a few minutes after starting the broadcast, fans continuously poured into the stream. The number of real-time viewers in the upper right corner had already surpassed ten thousand.
Bai Chendeng, the white cat, was highly intelligent. Its round, sapphire-blue eyes scanned the computer screen, saw the almost non-stop gift effects, and moved closer to the camera, letting out a soft “meow.”
The sound carried the gentle softness of a cat, yet the cat’s demeanor was one of extreme calm, strikingly human-like.
As one of the few spirits to achieve cultivation in the modern era, Bai Chendeng did not follow the conventional path of hiding in the Remote Mountains and Forests to cultivate. Instead, he forged a new path, becoming active in human society.
His daily routine involved filming videos to accumulate Votive Power.
At the suggestion of his close friend, Grapevine, Bai Chendeng had sung in his original form as a white cat, and that song remains a national treasure BGM on a certain short video app. His unintentional movements even went viral overseas, becoming material for cat meme videos.
The money earned from becoming an internet celebrity was used by Bai Chendeng to establish a comprehensive charitable foundation called the Chendeng Foundation, focusing on vulnerable groups and remote areas. This had long provided him with a massive amount of Votive Power, accelerating his cultivation speed by leaps and bounds.
However, the Votive Power he collected had recently been decreasing for unknown reasons. While contacting the auditing team responsible for oversight, he also started live streaming to accumulate more Votive Power.
Taking advantage of the growing popularity of a math app suitable for elementary students—Little Cat Mental Math—Bai Chendeng wanted to use this opportunity to reach the next level. Thus, he started a live stream on Friday night, preparing to make a shocking move.
In the live stream, the tablet standing beside the white cat displayed the daily mental math PK interface of the app.
The fans in the live stream were very active, and the bullet comments flew by rapidly.
[Daily Mental Math? What the heck?]
[Hahaha my son plays the mental math competition every day, but he got his defense broken by a college student (cat nodding.jpg)]
[Cats are forbidden from performing! But you can’t stop a cat from insisting on performing! (cat shrugging.jpg)]
After starting the live stream, the Votive Power available for absorption rapidly increased. Although the Votive Power generated by the foundation’s operations had been decreasing recently, he had accumulated a considerable amount over the years—enough for him to attempt his first breakthrough to become a Celestial Demon.
This was the final live stream before the breakthrough.
A snowy white, round little furry face showed a cautious, human-like expression, its snowy white paw pressed onto the tablet.
15 ? 6
A mental math problem comparing numbers within 20.
The cat’s paw pad slid from the upper left to the right, and then from the right to the lower left, forming a complete greater-than sign (>).
When it reservedly retracted its paw, countless people in front of their screens gasped a genuine: “Holy crap!”
“The cat can do math?!”
That’s right, the cat could do math.
And it was a math problem comparing numbers within 20.
It could even use the touchscreen to write the greater-than and less-than signs.
Heng Yuze, a wealthy fan who lived in the same community and was an unconventional food blogger in the same guild as the streamer Chendeng, was neglecting his duties and live streams. He was holding his phone, using a secondary account to secretly admire the cat.
He expressionlessly retrieved a snow-white cat model from his bedside, a one-to-one replica worth tens of thousands.
While skillfully petting the fake cat, he typed with one hand.
Lantern’s Grace: [The opponent is answering so fast, they must be smurfing, I hate smurfs the most! (cat angry.gif)]
The dazzling text box blinded the crowd.
[666, Grace Boss is still so sour (cat chewing.jpg)]
[Please excuse us, this is just how shady the super-rich are (cat laughing.jpg)]
[Brought my grandson to watch the stream. After watching, he jumped three feet high and did eight math worksheets. (cat affirming.jpg)]
Lantern’s Grace sent “Cat Carnival” X3!
Desk Lamp sent “Cat Teaser” X9!
Floor Lamp sent “Cat Food Can” X5!
The various gift effects nearly drowned the live stream.
The white cat licked its paw pad. Seeing the gift-giving frenzy sparked by the wealthy fans, it glanced at a few familiar usernames and let out a soft, gentle meow.
The man who had just spent a month’s salary on gifts clutched his chest, put on his over-ear headphones, and prepared to listen to the sacred cat sound from every possible angle.
Soon, the white cat started another mental math PK.
As the cat successfully answered the math problems, howls and shrieks echoed in countless locations.
“Awoo—Wife, look, the cat can do math!”
Wife: “Oh my god, seriously?!”
“Mom and Dad, look, the little cat is doing math!”
Mom and Dad: “Even a cat can do math, how dare you just watch a live stream?!”
“Great-grandson—look, the cat has become a spirit!”
Great-grandson: “Grandpa, 666!”
After the live stream ended, the cat jumped off the desk and stood still.
A gentle golden light softened the night, blurring the cat’s figure and forming a cocoon of light. The light cocoon gradually grew larger, finally breaking apart into light spots resembling fireflies.
The cat vanished.
What remained in its place was a young man.
The youth simply tidied up the equipment, took a short rest, and sat down on the sofa.
Bai Chendeng sank into the sofa. His soft, scattered hair was fluffy and clean, tougher and longer than cat fur. Hidden beneath the hair were a pair of round cat eyes. He had a youthful face, rosy lips, and white teeth, a naturally approachable appearance, but his overly calm demeanor added a sense of inaccessibility.
“The harvest this time was huge. I finally accumulated enough Votive Power. If I break through soon, I won’t be restricted anymore and can ascend to Celestial Demon status. But I feel uneasy. I have always entrusted the foundation’s matters to…”
Bai Chendeng pondered, looking at the date circled on the calendar. After a brief silence, he left the recording room and went to the Underground Secluded Chamber.
He had been preparing for countless years to shed his status as a spirit and become a Celestial Demon. From an ordinary stray cat that accidentally gained sentience, struggling to survive, and painstakingly achieving human form, to now possessing his own assets and a massive source of Votive Power—the Chendeng Foundation—he had sacrificed too much.
The Chendeng Foundation was involved in various fields: providing supplies to nursing homes, offering books and nutritious meals to students in mountain villages, granting scholarships to impoverished students, establishing relief funds for various major diseases, and building rescue stations for wild cats.
These acts of kindness, in the eyes of ordinary people, brought him an incredibly terrifying amount of Votive Power.
Then, he received a gift of fate.
A Spirit-Nurturing Flower, mentioned only in ancient texts.
In the secluded chamber, the formation, spirit stones, medicinal incense, and magical artifacts were all prepared, surrounding the Spirit-Nurturing Flower. The flower bloomed only for a limited time; cultivated with spiritual energy, it bloomed for only seven days a year before withering.
The scattered specks of Votive Power were invisible to the naked eye but undeniably present.
Bai Chendeng stopped at the center of the formation, a place he had frequented countless times. These Votive Powers rushed into Bai Chendeng’s body like moths to a flame.
Currently, the demon race was in decline. There were almost no demons active among humans, let alone Celestial Demons.
Bai Chendeng had essentially found a unique path, blending into human society, walking a tightrope with risky maneuvers. This allowed him to cultivate at an extremely rapid pace, reaching the point where he could attempt a breakthrough.
At this moment, a spiritual energy vortex slowly appeared, condensing above him.
As spring flowers first bloom, their branches and leaves are graceful. All things sense the spiritual energy, and the cleansing of this energy is like a complete transformation.
The bottlenecks in his cultivation were silently broken one by one.
A massive, cat-shaped phantom shimmered over Bai Chendeng, moving like a breath.
This transformation would require a long time…
Cleansing the bones, shedding the mundane.
Refining the flesh and blood, removing impurities.
Tempering the soul, purifying the demonic nature.
The vast, river-like Votive Power lifted him, allowing him to undergo a complete metamorphosis, like a fish leaping over the dragon gate.
One day, two days, seven days…
During this period, the Spirit-Nurturing Flower absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy, making Bai Chendeng’s bloodline increasingly pure, subtly tending toward transforming his acquired nature into an innate one.
Seven days passed, and the Spirit-Nurturing Flower withered.
In that instant, Bai Chendeng, now without the protection of the spiritual item, felt a thread of ruthless killing intent from the heavens and earth.
Immediately afterward, countless malicious thoughts assailed him like a rain of needles, threatening to pierce his soul into a thousand holes!
The Votive Power, which was the foundation of his cultivation, was instantly drained and exhausted, leaving only faint traces to keep him alive. A massive amount of resentment and malevolent energy emerged from nowhere, invading his body. His meridians became congested, threatening to burst his body, and pain surged through his limbs and bones.
The breakthrough failed.
The Spirit-Nurturing Flower withered, the formation dimmed, the medicinal incense was depleted, the spirit stones shattered, and the magical artifacts were defiled.
He could not maintain his human form; his body was locked in a cat state, barely clinging to life.
If he stayed where he was, death was certain.
He fought with his last breath to prop himself up.
After all the years of cultivation and planning, how could he be willing to die inexplicably halfway through his breakthrough!
The white cat transformed into an extremely faint shadow and rushed out of the basement. The already meager Votive Power was almost completely exhausted in that moment! His entire body convulsed slightly, his life hanging by a thread.
He was losing consciousness.
Would he die?
No!
Bai Chendeng had ruthlessness in his bones. Only one thought remained in his mind: I cannot die here!
He sensed a trace of Votive Power connected to himself. He stumbled, dragging his dying body, searching for a sliver of hope.
The greenery was lush, and the cool air of morning and evening gradually replaced the dry heat of summer.
The roadside trees cast mottled shadows, making the young man’s face appear indistinct. He wore simple black and white casual clothes, devoid of any extra color, mirroring his mood.
Few pedestrians were out in the early morning; only the breakfast shops and all-day convenience stores showed some signs of life.
Heng Yuze was not in the mood to cook. After some mental preparation, he went downstairs to buy breakfast. A video played through his headphones.
“The large-scale documentary ‘The Cat Who Does Math’ continues to air: #Streamer ‘Chendeng is a Cat’ conquers the cat world’s difficult problems. Cats may challenge humanity.”
“Cats can do math, and humans will be utterly defeated.”
“I’ve seen cats that can flirt and act cute, and cats that can act out and be aggressive, but this is the first time I’ve seen a cat that can do math.”
“Little Cat Mental Math was originally just an app for elementary students to practice, but the mysterious addition of streamer Chendeng has made it impossible for humans to distinguish whether the person on the other side of the screen is a human or a cat.”
“Initially, humans thought the cat could only compare numbers within 20, but in the near future, the cat world may produce a genius capable of solving systems of linear equations.”
“Conquering calculus, exploring algebraic geometry. The Academy of Sciences will welcome its first foreign feline academician. This is a small step in social change, and a giant leap in civilizational evolution.”
Listening to the nonsensical, exaggerated commentary, Heng Yuze subconsciously managed a slight smile, but then took off his headphones and contacted his familiar “Squad Leader.”
The Squad Leader had not found the source of the trolls behind the rumors. Heng Yuze frowned and sent a transfer payment. Just as he was scrolling through his contacts, looking for a more reliable person, he suddenly heard a cat meow.
The sound was weak and faint. Fortunately, he was extremely sensitive to it, so after scanning the surroundings, he finally found the white cat curled up in a low shrub.
The small furry face showed a human-like expression of distress. Its cat eyes were tightly closed, and it muffled an extremely faint cry from its throat, almost covered by the sound of the wind and leaves. Only the tip of its tail occasionally trembled.
Gazing at the familiar figure, Heng Yuze let out a surprised murmur: “Chen…deng?”