Two multi-colored rays of light shot down from the sky, the glittering light quickly engulfing Keke and the tough little dragon. The two little beasts were tossed into the phoenix nest on top of the tree.
“I ask the sacred phoenix to forgive the two of them.” Xiao Chen really didn’t want to stay at this place for much longer. He wanted to leave with the two little beasts.
However, the phoenix girl had some other plan. Her voice was no longer ice-cold; it was as sweet-sounding as heavenly music, “You wait here for some time. As another one of the same kind of sacred species, I will whip them into shape. Otherwise it will cost them dearly one of these days.” ⌈1⌋
The so-called “whipping them into shape” made Xiao Chen dumbstruck. Keke and the tough little dragon almost threw up blood; the two little things even rolled their eyes. The phoenix girl actually wanted them to incubate the phoenix egg with their power source.
She made the two little guys incubate an egg!
At that time, the two little beasts were angry at her. They were but individuals who even dared to oppose the heavens!
They really wanted to smash the phoenix egg to bits at that time, but they found that a divine power was at work and were practically unable to damage even a fraction of the egg. On the contrary, their powers were absorbed by the phoenix egg, and they somehow ended up incubating the egg instead.
The two little beasts were so angry that they couldn’t bear it, so they shouted in a loud voice.
Ethereal mist flickered, the sacred phoenix lightly waved her divine wings, and a floating isle appeared from thin air; there were many exotic flowers in full bloom on the isle, jade grass-covered the land, red-crowned cranes were dancing in the breeze, and white apes were jumping from tree to tree. It was a world filled with the fragrance of flowers and pleasant birdsong. There were even some pavilions and kiosks, as well as a small bridge across running water. It was practically the very image of heaven itself.
Specks of splendor were circulating around the floating sacred isle. It floated up and down just above the phoenix nest. The phoenix girl turned around and flew towards the isle. Before she ascended onto the isle, she had already transformed into a graceful young lady, but Xiao Chen and company were unable to see her real visage. They could only see her pretty back figure as she walked away gracefully.
The two pitiful little guys suffered the consequences they had brought upon themselves for the first time, but they were also helpless in this situation. They were imprisoned by the sacred phoenix’s power source. It was impossible to even get away from the phoenix nest. Moreover, they must constantly operate the power source hidden within their body to resist it, otherwise the halo of light around them would keep shrinking, squeezing them and making them suffer.
And the multi-colored radiance released by them, after circulating one loop in the phoenix nest, would all flow towards that phoenix egg. This was tantamount to incubating the phoenix egg indirectly.
The two little beasts were incomparably depressed, and yet, it was impossible for anyone to take them away.
Xiao Chen was incomparably astonished. The phoenix nest was actually not as simple as its outer appearance dictated. It was actually merged with a mysterious and unfathomable ancient spell. The reason it was made out of pure spiritual items was so that it could gather even more spiritual power.
Just from a quick look, Xiao Chen could feel how marvelous it was. The golden ginseng kings, millennium fleeceflower roots and other such spiritual items on the phoenix nest hadn’t even dried up yet; they were blending with the spiritual energy and glowed with life force. By absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, as well as the splendor of the stars, a steady flow of essence was delivered to the phoenix egg located in the nest.
The phoenix nest was practically a treasure to amass spiritual energy!
After observing for the whole day, Xiao Chen finally affirmed his speculations. Sunshine, moonlight, and the essence of the plants flowed continuously like water ripples, so much so that even the essence from mother earth had bubbled up. Naturally, the most eye-catching event was during the night. At that time he could clearly see starlight gathering at the phoenix nest from the sky one after another. It made this place incomparably bright, as if the bright moon was just right in front of him.
Ten days passed in a flash as the three skeletons meditated quietly under the parasol tree. Xiao Chen trained painstakingly on top of the phoenix tree. The spiritual energy at this place was dense. It was an exceptionally good place to train.
The two little beasts had already lost their will to be angry a long time ago; they were really scared of the phoenix girl now. Even incubating an egg could turn into some kind of torment. Although this was also tantamount to training, they only wished they could get away immediately.
During this period of time, that floating isle was intermittently visible, and its position was not fixed either. It seemed to go from place to place like the clouds, always drifting within a radius of ten miles.
Xiao Chen was deeply shocked, this sacred phoenix’s ability was really too terrifying. He couldn’t estimate just how powerful she really was.
On the fifteenth day, the sacred phoenix flew out of the isle. She transformed back into a phoenix while she was still quite some distance away. Then with a flash of light, she appeared in the phoenix nest. She smiled gently and asked, “Will you two little young’uns yield?”
Her voice was melodious and sweet. It was very pleasant to listen to, but it undoubtedly sounded like the sneers of a demon to the two little beasts. They quickly nodded their head in sync and didn’t dare to throw a tantrum anymore.
“Good boys, hehe.”
A multi-colored radiance flickered. Keke and the tough little dragon were engulfed by the light and sent back to the ground.
“Eh…?” The phoenix girl found that the fluctuation of life inside the colorful egg was now stronger than ever. It surpassed her expectations. She looked at the two little beasts on the ground and said, “I almost made an error of judgment. Hoh? You guys are more uncommon than I thought. Could it be……”
The two little beasts did not pay attention to her as they were itching to leave this place immediately, but Xiao Chen was listening attentively. He wanted to know Keke and the tough little dragon’s origin. He only saw the phoenix girl pucker up her brows. It seemed she couldn’t be sure, so there was no conclusion whatsoever. On the contrary, she had taken notice of the dim little tree on Keke’s head.
Multi-colored rays of light flickered, and the sapling flew towards the sky. The phoenix girl lightly waved her wings and a divine light was launched towards the sapling. A rainbow-colored radiance immediately soared into the sky from the sapling. The inky jade leaf, the white jade leaf, the jasper leaf, and the gold leaf were flourishing with brilliant rays. ⌈2⌋
“Ah…!” The phoenix girl cried out in surprise for the first time, “This is…… did the sacred tree of legends reincarnate?” She was clearly very shocked.
Just when Keke was about to get anxious, she quickly sent the little sacred tree back. It seemed like she was feeling very apprehensive. It caused the little snow-white critter to feel very confused. It originally thought the phoenix girl would rob it of the treasured tree; never in its wildest dreams would it have imagined the phoenix girl to give it back just like this.
“You guys may leave.” It seemed like the phoenix girl didn’t want them to stay for long.
Xiao Chen opened his mouth to ask, “Can I ask the sacred phoenix to give us some directions? We wanted to go to the Celestial City, but we lost our way in the south desolate region.”
“Very well, I will take you to the ancient road that leads to the Celestial City.” But just at this time, the sacred phoenix furrowed her brows again. She whispered to herself, “It seems like I really underestimated you guys too much.” While speaking, she ignored the two little beasts on the ground. She turned towards Xiao Chen instead and said, “Let me take a look at the sacred burial cloth you are carrying.”
That burial cloth did not emit any fluctuations of life, but it was still perceived by the phoenix girl; her power was truly god-like. Xiao Chen retrieved the item and lightly waved his hand. The burial cloth transformed into a light beam and soared into the sky.
The phoenix girl received it and looked at it over and over again, then she returned it back to Xiao Chen without saying anything more.
Suddenly, countless strip of auspicious rays appeared between the heaven and earth. Xiao Chen and company were shrouded within the rays of light. They could hear the sound of the wind rustling beside their ears. They landed on a broken ancient road about half an hour later.
A beautiful phoenix feather fell gently from the sky. It landed right in Xiao Chen’s hand. The feather had a smooth surface, and there was an indistinct fragrance.
“Sorry to have wasted your time. Take this feather as a present, you can think of it as compensation.”
A heavenly voice transmitted from the sky. The instant the phoenix girl turned around, she transformed into a dream-like girl. Her back figure was out-of-the-world as she floated away gracefully.
Keke watched the back figure of the sacred phoenix impatiently. Seeing that she didn’t return the spiritual items it collected by itself, it felt incomparably disappointed. In the end, it looked at the multi-colored feather in Xiao Chen’s hand and mumbled to itself, as if it was saying this is unfair.
Xiao Chen looked pensive.
Three days later, Xiao Chen and company had already traveled several hundred miles. With their speed, this was not considered quick. The main reason was that they didn’t make haste on their journey. On the way, the tough little dragon would occasionally go into the forest to fight with the vicious beasts. And then there’s also little Keke, who would go to look for spiritual grass from time to time.
However, this kind of leisure journey didn’t last for long. There were still eight hundred miles before they arrived at the Celestial City.
The tough little dragon let out an angry roar from the jungle ahead. It seemed like it had encountered great danger. Xiao Chen hastily rushed over there, guessing that it must have encountered a powerful creature. ⌈3⌋
But he quickly overthrew that very idea after getting close to the forest. He saw five young practitioners surrounding the tough little dragon. ⌈4⌋
They were definitely a group of experts. Three of the girls among them were psychics. All three of them were floating in the sky and enveloped the tough little dragon within a barrier. They wanted to keep the tough little dragon in place. The tough little dragon’s movement was very sluggish. And the other two on the ground did not hesitate to attack the tough little dragon, so it was riddled with scars.
Exuvia Second Celestial Layer!
……
Exuvia Sixth Celestial Layer!
Xiao Chen was alarmed, the weakest among these five youngsters was at the Exuvia Second Celestial Layer, and one of them had actually reached the Exuvia Sixth Celestial Layer. They were undoubtedly experts among the youth. Otherwise, how was it possible for them to keep the tough little dragon in place and even injure its thick-skinned body.
Xiao Chen rushed over like a streak of lightning, leaving an afterimage in the jungle. His palm blade swept through the forest like thunder. The forest trees collapsed under the glaring rays of light, and a gale rose abruptly.
That was no doubt the power of the Exuvia Eight Celestial Layer!
He broke the barrier in an instant and saved Tenax ⌈5⌋, the tough little dragon, whose entire body was stained by blood, from a dangerous situation.
Xiao Chen entered the fray to protect Tenax, the tough little dragon. His towering figure remained motionless as he fixed his eyes on the few people.
Looking at this uninvited guest who appeared like the wind and lightning, the few of them were gobsmacked.
“Who are you? Mind your own business!” One man among the group seemed very unhappy, and he stared at Xiao Chen resentfully.
Xiao Chen also looked at him. Looking at the bearings of everyone present, this guy seemed to be the leader of the group, but he was definitely not the strongest. That was because his power was only at the Exuvia Third Celestial Layer, and the Sixth Celestial Layer expert was right beside him.
“I think there is a misunderstanding between us.” Xiao Chen muttered to himself for a bit, then he said, “This warbeast is my partner. It is not a wild beast in the uncultivated forest. I hope everyone can kindly overlook this.”
It was still that young man who was thought to be the leader who opened his mouth to talk, “Your partner? Hmph! What a joke!” He was very arrogant and didn’t put Xiao Chen in his eyes. He said with a cold voice, “This is a warbeast the great me laid my eyes on. It is an untamed beast found in the forest, it is mine!”
Xiao Chen didn’t say anything immediately, but he was already calculating in his mind whether or not he could eliminate all of them if conflict was to break out. That was because these people were so very arrogant, and it seemed like they had quite a bit of background. They were a little too tyrannical, and it seemed like reconciliation was out of the question.
1. Silva: Wehehehe…. about time someone teach the little critter a lesson xD
2. Silva: I got a really bad feeling about this…
3. Silva: I have a feeling it’s a poacher.
4. Silva: Looks like I was right
5. Silva: It doesn’t seem like Xiao Chen will give this tough little dragon any other name, so I will just call him Tenax for now. It is latin word for “tough” and “tenacious”