Word Count: 2,996 Words
******
Xiao Yan disliked owing favors. Be it kindness or enmity, he always repaid in full.
He hadn't come here planning to fleece the sheep, or rather, pluck this bird. He had arrived fully prepared to pay the entrance fee.
Now that the score between them was settled, Xiao Yan treated Feng Qing Er like any ordinary person and refrained from bullying the little bird too much. Yet watching her practically radiate desperation to send the Plague God on his way, he couldn't resist teasing her a few more times.
Feng Qing Er was so furious her ample chest rose and fell in sharp waves. Her face flushed crimson, and her teeth ground together so hard they nearly cracked. She jerked her head up to glare at Xiao Yan, who lounged in her seat eating fruit with that easy, infuriating smile. Anger blazed in her eyes, but beneath it lurked helplessness and a deep, suffocating sense of powerlessness.
Breaking through to Rank 9 required far too many resources. At such heights, even her tribe could provide precious little assistance. There were plenty of Rank 8 members in the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe, and some who had reached the peak of Rank 8, but in the thousands of years of the tribe's existence, those who had truly broken through to Rank 9 numbered only four.
After all, tribes like the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe carried only a thread of Ancient Heaven Phoenix or Ancient Heaven Serpent blood. They couldn't truly be counted among the super magical beasts. For them, the peak of Rank 8 was the end of the road. Breaking the shackles of bloodline was easier said than done.
Even within the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, Rank 9 existences remained as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Although Feng Qing Er had obtained the Desolate Beast Heaven Spirit Pill and her bloodline had experienced a degree of ancestral reversion, bringing it close to that of an ordinary Ancient Heaven Phoenix, a breakthrough to Rank 9 still remained a distant, almost illusory prospect.
Zhu Li had stalled at the Half-Saint level. Hei Qing, who belonged to the same generation as Xiao Xuan, was only an 8-star Dou Venerate even now. One could well imagine that even for a super magical beast race like the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, the difficulty of reaching Rank 9 was higher than the heavens.
If she could obtain a Bodhisattva Seed and combine it with some of the tribe's secret realm resources, it would indeed significantly increase her chances of breaking through.
Xiao Yan watched her grind her teeth in impotent rage and chuckled. Then, to her astonishment, he casually tossed the wooden box her way.
"You!" Feng Qing Er's eyes went wide when she saw the box sailing through the air with too much force, threatening to fly clean over her head. She sprang to her feet in a panic, stepping onto empty air to steady herself, and caught the box with frantic desperation, terrified that the Bodhisattva Seed inside might suffer even the slightest damage.
Only after opening the box and confirming the seed was perfectly intact did she finally exhale in relief.
"Once something leaves my hand, it's no longer my responsibility." Xiao Yan shrugged.
The Bodhisattva Seed was a priceless treasure to Feng Qing Er, but to Xiao Yan it was merely scrap trimmed from the Bodhisattva Heart. He still had over a dozen more in storage.
Feng Qing Er was livid, but she didn't dare hurl abuse at him. She had no choice but to bear it in silence.
Xiao Yan smiled and strolled toward her. As he drew closer, she instinctively retreated, only to find she had already run out of room.
He raised a hand and reached toward her. Feng Qing Er's eyes snapped shut, bracing for the worst, but whatever she had imagined never came.
"Train hard. With your current strength, never mind Qing Lin, I'm afraid you couldn't even beat Nalan Yanran." Xiao Yan patted her shoulder like a patient teacher delivering earnest advice.
Nalan Yanran's cultivation had been improving remarkably fast, especially after her epiphany beneath the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, which had allowed her to grasp some rather special insights.
She had spent the longest time in enlightenment beneath the tree, after all. Cai Lin had used the Nine-Colored Origin Stone to experience a segment of the Heaven Swallowing Python Tribe's ancient history, comprehending a Secret Technique for devouring Heavenly Flames. Back then, Nalan Yanran had only been a 1-star Dou Venerate, yet she too had gleaned quite a lot from her enlightenment.
"Lead the way. I've paid the ticket price, so don't waste my time." Xiao Yan grinned at Feng Qing Er, not the least bit concerned about how many times she had cursed him in her heart.
Feng Qing Er sighed inwardly. After carefully storing the wooden box, she nodded. "I understand."
As the Saintess, she naturally required neither tedious procedures to enter the Azure Skies Heaven Realm nor points to exchange for the right of entry. With her level of talent and strength, the tribe was already willing to stake its bets on her.
They were pouring resources into grooming her as the fifth Dou Saint of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. Feng Qing Er had her own exclusive passage into the Azure Skies Heaven Realm.
"Tsk tsk tsk, just on scenery alone, your Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe beats Dragon Island by quite a margin." Only after following Feng Qing Er into the realm did Xiao Yan truly understand why it was called Azure Skies.
The first thing that greeted his eyes was a vast, boundless sky painted in hues of deep blue and verdant green, either cloudless or adorned with only a few wisps of white drifting lazily across its expanse. Standing beneath the Azure Skies and gazing upward, one could feel its openness and depth, as though the vault above might pierce straight through the very limits of thought and immerse the beholder in pure, unspoiled nature.
Xiao Yan had assumed the Azure Skies Heaven Realm would be blisteringly hot, an infernal hell filled with raging flames at every turn. He was wrong. It wasn't hot at all. Instead, a gentle breeze drifted through the air.
In this incomparably vast world, a gigantic nest floated serenely in the sky. The Phoenix Nest resembled an inverted cone, topped by a platform so broad it could pass for a continent. At its underside gaped a series of entrances, and from a distance, Xiao Yan could see enormous birds soaring in from all directions, breaking through a thick layer of flames to enter the nest's interior.
Even from afar, he could make out the intricate detail. The nest was decorated with incredible extravagance, built from gold, silver, gemstones, colorful feathers, and other precious materials that gleamed with a mysterious radiance. Endless flames were being siphoned toward the summit, pooling into a boundless sea of fire upon the platform at the nest's peak.
The scene defied the power of brush and ink to capture. From a distance, it looked like an entire world unto itself, a world of flame. At its center lay something resembling land and crust, yet what enclosed this world was not atmosphere but a mantle of multicolored fire.
"Legend has it the Phoenix Nest is a world created by the progenitor of all birds, the Phoenix, as a new realm for avian survival. For some unknown reason, the attempt ultimately failed, and it was cast aside into this patch of void," Feng Qing Er explained unhurriedly.
Xiao Yan had never imagined he would one day witness fire cascading like a waterfall, rushing not downward but upward. Those towering falls of flame rose from below, swirled together at the top of the nest into a colossal vortex, and finally flowed toward the center of the summit, forming a self-contained cycle that wrapped the beautiful Phoenix Nest in its eternal embrace.
Ordinary members of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe had to brave this fire waterfall to break into the nest's interior. From there, they challenged their way upward starting from the lowest level. Each successful challenge yielded tempered resources, in a fashion somewhat similar to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
But Xiao Yan had no interest in the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's resources. What he needed was the fire waterfall that wrapped around the entire Phoenix Nest. His target was the very center of the nest's summit, a spot akin to the pool at the base of a cliff waterfall, where the force was at its greatest.
For someone of his Dou Saint cultivation, only the absolute center of the fire vortex could provide the intensity needed to temper his body and refine the Bodhisattva Heart.
"How do I get over there?" A trace of eagerness crept into his voice. This fire vortex suited him perfectly. Combined with the effects of the Flame Mantra, which had already reached the High Tian Class, he was certain this closed-door cultivation session would yield the best results.
"However you like. There's no surveillance here." Feng Qing Er shook her head.
Although this was an extremely important location within the tribe, it was equally a perilous land, much like the Nine Serene Yellow Spring. That terrifying fire vortex posed mortal danger even to the Three Demon Phoenix Saints should they venture too close to its deepest regions. No one in their right mind would go there without reason.
"This is my soul jade slip. Once you've finished cultivating, you can use it to leave the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe." Feng Qing Er handed him the jade slip. Naturally, she hoped he would leave as soon as humanly possible.
"Hahaha, good! You did well this time, Little Phoenix." Xiao Yan burst into hearty laughter and gave her back a heavy slap. "Don't worry, I won't touch anything here. I'm only here for body tempering."
Things had gone far more smoothly than he anticipated. He had expected to undergo layers of investigation and resort to all sorts of methods just to slip in undetected. He hadn't expected the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe to be this carefree about security.
The heavy slap made Feng Qing Er's eyes flash with anger, but she was helpless to do anything about it. She could only silently pray for his swift departure.
Xiao Yan didn't waste any more time teasing Feng Qing Er. Serious business took priority. A single step carried him across what seemed like thousands of miles to the lowest entrance of the magnificent Phoenix Nest, and without hesitation, he plunged headfirst into the fire waterfall.
Boom!
Flames of every color crashed against his body in an instant. The sensation was much like diving into a waterfall, except this one surged upward instead of falling down.
Ordinary Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe members needed to fight their way through this layer of flame to enter the nest beyond. Xiao Yan, however, had no intention of going inside.
Whoosh!
A new Heavenly Flame, born from the merger of eight different Heavenly Flames, surged forth and enveloped his entire body, transforming him into a man wreathed in fire.
With the Heavenly Flame's protection, Xiao Yan moved through the fiery cascade like a fish through water. He didn't need to resist the flames at all; instead, he rode the powerful upward current straight toward the summit. The higher he climbed, the more he felt both the temperature and the destructive power of the flames intensify.
When he reached the very top of the Phoenix Nest, a terrifying pressure and searing heat bore down on him even through the Heavenly Flame's protection.
'Good heavens, these flames truly might be Beast Fire left behind by a Phoenix. Their power is absolutely terrifying!'
Even with a High Tian Class Flame Mantra and eight Heavenly Flames at his disposal, Xiao Yan felt a frantic, maddening heat upon reaching the summit. In terms of pure temperature alone, the Phoenix Nest's flames might well be the hottest Beast Fire on the entire Dou Qi Continent!
The only Beast Fire that could possibly surpass them was perhaps the Ancestral Dragon Fire of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe.
Xiao Yan walked inward for a short distance before stopping. The terrifying heat here was more than sufficient. He sat down cross-legged.
'This spot will do.'
With a single thought, he withdrew every last Heavenly Flame into his Acceptance Soul. The instant the protection vanished, a tremendous surge of fire slammed into him head-on, and in a single heartbeat, it burned every scrap of cloth on his body to ash.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
Even Xiao Yan's body, tempered as it had been by twelve kinds of Heavenly Flames, began to show signs of charring. That alone spoke volumes about how deadly this place truly was.
He slowly closed his eyes. The Yellow Spring Demon Saint's Essence Blood went down his throat as the Flame Mantra began to circulate. Deep within his body, an emerald-green heart started to beat. Stream after stream of pure aura, suffused with majestic life force, flowed forth and coursed through every inch of his flesh.
The refinement of the Bodhisattva Heart had begun!
Far away, Feng Qing Er watched Xiao Yan vanish completely into the flames before withdrawing her gaze and leaving the Azure Skies Heaven Realm.
She had guessed he would cultivate for a long time, but never imagined that a long time would stretch into a year and a half!
And she could not have begun to imagine that a year and a half later, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe would stand at the very brink of destruction!
…
During this year and a half, the Dou Qi Continent enjoyed unusual peace.
The Yan Alliance, riding high at the zenith of its power after its victories over the Profound Sky Sect and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, also settled into a year-and-a-half-long period of calm.
Within that span, the Snake-People Tribe's territory in the Yellow Springs Mountain Range steadily shrank. First, one-third was seized by the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe. Then, one after another, several powerful magical beast tribes from the Beast Region fished in troubled waters and claimed portions for themselves.
It wasn't until a magical beast clan led by a Half-Saint Demon Saint invaded deep into the Snake-People Tribe's heartland, only for the Demon Saint to be instantly obliterated by a colossal nine-headed python, that the Beast Region's clans finally quieted down, no longer daring to provoke them.
Meanwhile, the Profound Sky Sect's mountain gate had been renamed to the Misty Cloud Sect. Nalan Yanran directly disbanded the original Profound Sky Sect, retaining only those disciples who passed a strict assessment and allowing them to continue cultivating under the Misty Cloud Sect's banner. The Profound Sky Sect had truly become nothing more than a page in the Dou Qi Continent's history.
Following the dissolution of the Profound Sky Sect, all the elders of the Flower Sect unanimously agreed to the Yan Alliance's proposal: they would join the Yan Alliance and merge with the Misty Cloud Sect, implementing a dual Sect Leader system. The names of the master-disciple pair, Nalan Yanran and Yun Yun, now resounded throughout the entire Central Plains.
With that, the Era of the Two Sects officially came to a close, giving way to a new age: the Era of the Three Ones—One Hall, One Tower, One Alliance!
…
At this very moment, in a luxurious palace hall atop the highest level of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe's divine tree, Feng Qing Er's face had gone deathly pale.
She stared at the beautiful woman before her, momentarily unable to process what she had just heard.
Over a year and a half of cultivation, Feng Qing Er's strength had risen to the equivalent of a human Six-Change Dou Venerate, making her the supreme powerhouse of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe second only to the Three Demon Phoenix Saints themselves.
The beautiful woman before her was none other than Feng Huang, leader of the Three Demon Phoenix Saints and a 2-star Dou Saint.
"Qing Er, did you not hear? You're coming along for the siege on the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe," Feng Huang repeated. The other two Phoenix Saints frowned at Feng Qing Er's dazed expression, clearly disapproving of her overreaction.
Feng Qing Er finally snapped to awareness, but terror still lingered in her eyes. She hastened to speak. "Three Supreme Elders, please wait!"
"Although our Tribe Leader is nearing emergence from seclusion and our tribe's strength has grown by leaps and bounds, already not weaker than the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe... but... but if we move against them, it will certainly drive all four Dragon Islands to band together. Our tribe may not be able to withstand their combined assault!"
Feng Huang nodded. "You needn't worry about that. This time, our Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe is not moving against all four Dragon Islands."
Kun Huang, the middle-aged man beside her, smiled and nodded. "The three Dragon Kings of the South, West, and North have already reached an agreement with Tribe Leader Huang Tian. We need only assist the three Dragon Kings against Eastern Dragon Island. Once the Dragon Emperor who possesses the Dragon Phoenix bloodline is captured, she'll be handed over to our tribe."
"With the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe's Dragon Phoenix bloodline in our hands, the Tribe Leader will certainly shatter his bloodline shackles and advance his cultivation even further."
Ying Huang let out a cold laugh. "Heh heh, to think the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe has fallen so far that they'd sell out their own Dragon Phoenix bloodline! Hahahaha! Before long, our tribe will completely surpass them and become the foremost magical beast tribe on the Dou Qi Continent!"
Feng Qing Er's expression slowly went blank with shock.
Of all possible targets... it just had to be Eastern Dragon Island!