"You are... that phoenix chick from before?"
Xu Ying studied the petite girl's features, finding no trace of a phoenix—but her eyes were unmistakably phoenix eyes, identical to those of the young phoenix he had seen.
"You may call me Fengxian'er, or Little Fengxian," the girl said lightly, her toes barely touching the ground as she turned and beckoned him to follow.
Xu Ying called out for Master Bell again, but received no response. He leaped through the window.
His feet landed on something soft—he had stepped on someone. Guo Xiaodie groaned, rolled over beneath the window, and fell back into deep sleep.
Xu Ying jumped in alarm. *Why hasn't she gone back to sleep? Why is she so determined to occupy my bed? Is my blanket really that fragrant?*
He shook his head and followed Little Fengxian.
The girl, with bright eyes and white teeth, laughed softly: "That girl was given a sleeping potion—she won't wake for a while. I came by earlier and saw someone luring away a large bell and a great serpent. Then another woman carried this girl here, stripped her bare, and put her in your bed—even taking her clothes away. I didn't want to disturb you. But before I'd gone far, I saw you throw the girl out. Knowing you couldn't sleep, I came to talk."
Xu Ying nodded. "I see. I thought there weren't enough rooms on the mountain."
Little Fengxian laughed. "You're such a strange person—truly amusing! If I were you, I wouldn't have dressed the girl and thrown her out."
Xu Ying was puzzled. "What else would I do? Besides, the mountain is cold—throwing her out naked might give her a chill."
---
Not long after, the beautiful woman Li Yingzhu crept to Xu Ying's window, thinking: *By now, it should have happened. Bursting in to catch them would seal his actions—no room for denial. Then he'd be the Guo family's son-in-law, and even Zhou Qiyun would have to weigh the combined strength of the Guo and Li families!*
Suddenly, her foot sank—she had stepped on someone. Looking down, she gasped.
Guo Xiaodie, crushed in pain, cried out and rolled over, falling back asleep. Li Yingzhu, bewildered, pushed open the window—Xu Ying's room was empty. She hastily scooped up Guo Xiaodie and hurried away.
At that moment, Guo Yue approached, smiling: "I lured that bell and that serpent to another Mount Jiuyi. These nine mountains are identical—in the dark, they can't tell the difference. Who knows when they'll find their way back here? But why did you bring Xiaodie back, my love?"
Li Yingzhu shook her head. "The peiping tom wouldn't eat the rice served on a silver platter—he jumped out the window and fled."
Guo Yue showed genuine respect. "He's a tough one! But how could he resist?"
Li Yingzhu laughed coldly. "If it were you, you couldn't resist—could you?"
Guo Yue stammered, not daring to reply.
Li Yingzhu said: "Since he won't take the gentle approach, this will be difficult..."
Guo Yue couldn't help but suggest: "My love, why not have Xiaodie take the Sword-Flying Art to him tomorrow and ask him to explain it?"
Li Yingzhu scoffed. "If it were that simple, why would Elder Zhou have captured him? He doesn't like Xiaodie—does he like..." Her face flushed crimson. "How is that possible?"
---
Little Fengxian led Xu Ying to the paulownia tree at the mountain's peak, spiraling upward until they reached the canopy.
She knocked on the trunk—three long taps, two short—and the tree split open, revealing a passage. At its end lay a magnificent palace of gold and jade.
Little Fengxian stepped forward, Xu Ying following. The palace was not large, but exquisitely beautiful—decorated with feathers of every color, adorning latticed windows in a dazzling display.
She stopped before a latticed window, gently pushing it open. The window was cut into the paulownia tree itself, offering a view of Mount Jiuyi by night.
The window faced east. On the horizon, white light was beginning to dawn.
Little Fengxian said: "Young Master, you once did me a great kindness—a debt of life I can never forget. I can only..." She glanced at Xu Ying's features, noting his somewhat dark complexion. "...repay it by serving you in my next life, as an ox or a horse."
Xu Ying laughed. "It was nothing—a mere trifle."
He still didn't understand how he had saved Little Fengxian. He only knew that the Celestial God and Celestial Demon had attacked simultaneously—one from the sky, one from the ground—fierce and overwhelming, threatening to flatten the paulownia tree and the young phoenix. Yet thunder had come without rain; they appeared swiftly and departed just as quickly, retreating the moment they clashed.
Little Fengxian said: "I intended to rest a few more days, recover fully and strengthen my cultivation before seeking you out to repay my debt. But last night, catching a glimpse of you from afar, I changed my mind."
Her expression turned solemn. "Young Master, do you realize you have been possessed by a Celestial Demon? The demon has not yet claimed your body, but given time, it will erode your soul and seize your flesh! This demon is an otherworldly visitor—impossibly difficult to guard against. Even the most powerful cultivators can fall victim if they are not careful!"
Xu Ying smiled incredulously. "That Celestial Demon was already destroyed by Elder Zhou and the Holy Spirit Emperor. How could it be in me?"
Before he could finish, a sharp pain pierced his brow. Behind him, his shadow contorted wildly—black tendrils crawled across the palace walls, clinging to every surface.
From his brow came a burst of laughter. The shadow tendrils tightened, and Xu Ying's body rose involuntarily into the air!
Xu Ying was terrified. "I really have been possessed?"
The Celestial Demon roared from within his brow: "Fengxian'er, I have no quarrel with you. I intended to kill you, but I retreated before reaching you! This boy is different. He destroyed my physical form and locked me in a great hall with two supreme experts, who destroyed ninety percent of my cultivation! If I hadn't escaped by chance, I would have been utterly annihilated!"
Little Fengxian stood with her back to the window, colorful wings unfurling like dawn clouds stretching ten thousand miles. Her voice was calm: "We are natural enemies, fated to fight until death. And you have possessed my benefactor's body—yet you ask me to spare your life?"
She shifted her steps. The Celestial Demon, controlling Xu Ying's body, mirrored her movements, always facing her head-on, denying her an opening.
"Fengxian'er, if you attack, I will force his body to meet your technique head-on—we'll perish together!"
The Celestial Demon shouted. "Surely you don't want your benefactor to die at your hands?"
Little Fengxian hesitated. Seizing the chance, the Celestial Demon drove deeper toward the center of Xu Ying's brow!
The demon was cunning and vengeful. Obsessed with possessing Xu Ying to exact his revenge, he had latched onto Xu Ying's brow the instant he leaped into the water jar, burrowing beneath his skin to hide.
He knew the Great Bell always guarded Xu Ying's soul—while the bell remained, there was no chance to consume it. So he had bided his time.
Guo Yue had lured the bell away, giving him an opening. But the demon had grown curious when Li Yingzhu delivered the naked Guo Xiaodie, testing Xu Ying's character—and had delayed.
He never expected Little Fengxian to come seeking him out, robbing him of his opportunity.
Now, knowing the situation was critical, he had to devour Xu Ying's soul, seize his body, and establish himself—otherwise, he stood no chance against the young phoenix.
In the Paulownia Palace, every black tendril clinging to the walls contracted violently, then shot inward toward the depths of Xu Ying's brow!
Little Fengxian's expression changed sharply: "No!"
She launched herself into the air, transforming into a phoenix with wings of seven colors. The wings spun, her body shrinking, becoming a streak of light aimed directly at the point between Xu Ying's brows!
The Celestial Demon laughed triumphantly: "Too late, Fengxian'er! Once I consume his soul and claim his body, if you dare enter—you'll be seeking your own death! Hmm, what is that?"
Little Fengxian was about to plunge into the small opening in Xu Ying's brow when she saw light surging ahead—growing brighter and brighter, radiating a destructive pulse even she could feel!
She made an immediate decision, beating her wings and reversing course, flying backward!
The Celestial Demon's scream echoed: "Spare my life! I won't dare again—"
"BOOM!"
From the tiny opening in Xu Ying's brow, waves of world-annihilating power surged forth—a tremendous blast that obliterated the Celestial Demon and then bore down on Little Fengxian!
She revealed her true form—a seven-colored phoenix—beating her wings and bursting from the Paulownia Palace, emerging outside the tree. But the wave of energy moved faster than she could fly.
With no room to evade and no chance to escape, Little Fengxian spread her wings and raised her feathers, pouring every ounce of strength into a desperate defense!
Mount Jiuyi and the great paulownia tree shook violently. Radiance erupted from within the tree, illuminating half the sky, its brilliance shooting toward the heavens before finally subsiding.
---
In another Mount Jiuyi, Zhou Qiyun raised his head toward the radiance illuminating half the sky, his expression uncertain. "Another expert has arrived at Mount Jiuyi? I came to Yongzhou simply to undergo tribulation—why can't I have peace? Experts keep appearing one after another! Could it be that Heaven watches me, knowing I seek to ascend, and sends experts from every direction to阻我成仙?"
His expression hardened. "But what do I, Zhou, have to fear?"
At the great hall of the Cangwu Sect, the Holy Spirit Emperor stepped outside, gazing toward the mountain's radiant glow, clenching his fist.
"Who is this new expert? Has he come to assassinate me, knowing I am wounded? I was merely gathering yang essence to cultivate—and you refuse to let me be! *Cough, cough, cough!*"
---
Xu Ying regained consciousness, finding himself standing by the window. Outside, the sun was rising—newly crested above the horizon, large and red.
The seven-colored phoenix floated in the center of the red sun, facing him as if confronting a great enemy.
Xu Ying hastily raised his hand to touch his brow. He found a speck of black blood.
Overjoyed, he wiped it away and laughed: "The Celestial Demon that possessed me has been eliminated! Little Fengxian, you truly are remarkable—even the emperor said you are the natural enemy of gods and demons, and so it proves. I felt nothing, and the demon was destroyed by you."
Little Fengxian flew toward him, transforming back into the petite girl, landing outside the window with colorful feathers drifting behind her. She regarded him with lingering uncertainty.
"Young Master, do you have no memory of what just happened?" she probed cautiously.
Xu Ying shook his head. "Everything went black, and I knew nothing until I woke to find the demon gone. Little Fengxian, your skill is extraordinary—the demon vanished at your hand!"
Little Fengxian felt a flush of shame. A thread of blood escaped the corner of her lips.
The terrifying blast had wounded her too.
She flew back to the Paulownia Palace. "Young Master, your seal seems different from mine. Try to recall as much of your past as you can—let me examine what kind of seal you carry!"
Xu Ying strained to remember what had happened before the great fire at Xu Family Village. "My family lived in Xu Family Village. My father was Xu Yanping. My mother was Cai Zhenzhen. We lived in the third house from the west entrance..."
Behind Little Fengxian, seven-colored divine light materialized, forming a luminous mirror that reflected Xu Ying. In the mirror, an image of Xu Family Village appeared—the third house, a farmer with a hoe in hand leading young Xu Ying, while a broad-handed woman sat washing clothes by the well.
The farmer and woman looked up, their expressions strange, gazing out of the mirror at Little Fengxian—as though they could see her!
Little Fengxian's heart lurched. The farmer and woman had no features—just blank, smooth faces!
"Details! Try to recall details!" she cried.
Xu Ying strained harder, his memories growing clearer. The farmer and woman's faces began to develop features, but they shifted constantly, never settling.
Little Fengxian's expression grew increasingly grave. She intensified the seven-colored divine mirror, calling out: "Continue recalling—don't stop! Think carefully—who lived in the house to the east of yours?"
Within the mirror, with each shift of his parents' faces, Xu Ying's memory reset—their appearance and names changed each time!
Little Fengxian had him recall every detail using exhaustive enumeration, attempting to expose the seal's true form!
Xu Ying's head throbbed increasingly. He murmured: "My family lived in Xu Family Village. My father's name was Xu Leping. My mother was named Fang Jing—"
"CRAASH!"
The Xu Family Village in the seven-colored mirror suddenly collapsed, rapidly reconstructing. But the man and woman at the center of the mirror remained motionless—their faces, ears, mouths, and noses shifting at impossible speed, different features composing different countenances.
The pair allowed their features to change, allowed their clothing to change, allowed the surrounding houses and even the mountains and rivers to change—yet they kept looking upward, gazing out of the mirror at Little Fengxian!
Even Little Fengxian, a phoenix of the mortal realm with extraordinary combat power, felt a chill at this sight. She vaguely regretted getting involved.
"Why—why hasn't the exhaustive enumeration reached the seal's end? Why hasn't the seal revealed its true face?"
Even as she thought this, she saw the figures of the man and woman in the image growing larger—closer to the mirror's surface!
A cold dread rose from the depths of Little Fengxian's heart. In the seven-colored mirror, the pair's forms were beginning to interfere with the real world—about to invade reality from within the mirror!
And the seal's true form still had not appeared!
"Sever!"
Little Fengxian beat her wings and flew backward. Her seven-colored wings unfurled as dawn clouds drifted from the rising sun in the east, connecting with the prismatic light of her feathers, slashing toward the seven-colored divine mirror—severing the通道 between the mirror's contents and the real world!
Instantly, across the nine peaks of Mount Jiuyi and the hundred-thousand mountains, radiance filled the sky, illuminating every peak!
The radiance contracted sharply. The seven-colored divine mirror shattered. Little Fengxian coughed blood and tumbled from the sky, her eyes vacant, her mind in turmoil: *What kind of seal is this? Why is it different from mine? What is his true origin...*