That's right, I did it on purpose!

That earth-shattering shout of "Mother!" left everyone present completely dumbfounded!

Feng Xi was even more struck dumb with utter astonishment!

Good grief!

She really had an uncanny knack for getting entangled with birds!

First, she was made to act as a brooding mother bird for the Golden-Winged Iron-Feathered Condor, and now she was supposed to be a mother to a baby phoenix?

She and the little phoenix exchanged blank stares, and she could even detect a sense of filial attachment shining in the tiny creature's eyes.

Feng Xi: "..."

This was utterly, ridiculously absurd!

In the original book, wasn't this creature supposed to be Shen Zhilan's spirit beast?!

She had merely wanted to sabotage this little scheme, but she had never intended to adopt a fledgling bird!

What she did not know was that, for birds, upon hatching, the very first living creature they laid eyes on would be instinctively regarded as their mother.

The little phoenix was in a special situation; when it broke out of its shell just now, its gaze had swept across everyone present, meaning the usual rule of imprinting on the first seen creature didn't strictly apply.

Yet as fate would have it, Feng Xi had just pulled out a feather from the Golden-Winged Iron-Feathered Condor, and coupled with the fact that Shen Zhilan had just called out Feng Xi's name, the little phoenix's tiny brain began to wildly jump to conclusions!

She carries the surname Feng, and she has golden feathers—she must be my mother!

As for why Feng Xi was in human form? She must have cultivated to a high enough level to take human shape, obviously!

Shen Zhilan suppressed her rising anger and said, "Little Phoenix, do you know that there is only one phoenix between heaven and earth, which is reborn only after entering nirvana? How could Feng Xi possibly be your mother?"

The little phoenix was instantly plunged into confusion. That was true; the ancestral memories imparted to it said the exact same thing—it was the one and only phoenix in the entire world!

Therefore, how could it possibly have a mother?

Yet it felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity and warmth toward Feng Xi; she simply had to be its mother!

Perhaps due to its divine sense being unstable right after hatching, flames surged wildly across the little phoenix's body once more before it shrank back into a phoenix egg, which then sank into the ground and vanished completely.

Everyone: "..."

No one had ever anticipated such an outcome!

The little black sphere heaved a sigh of relief. That scared the wits out of it!

Though that wretched girl wasn't much to look at, it certainly didn't want to share her with anyone else.

Shen Zhilan's eyes were red with fury!

"Feng Xi, did you do that on purpose?"

Feng Xi nodded. "That's right, I did it on purpose!

You nearly shattered my Dantian, twisted the truth to have me demoted to a mere handyman, and not to mention all the times you instigated Lu Xiuhan to kill me!

I'm targeting you. Is there a problem with that?"

Shen Zhilan gritted her teeth. "You—you're spouting nonsense!"

Feng Xi sneered. "I can swear a demonic heart oath. Do you dare to do the same? If you dare, I'll dig down to the depths of the earth to find that little phoenix and bring it back for you!"

Shen Zhilan choked on her words. "Feng Xi, I won't lower myself to a war of words with you. I've noted down today's debt, so you just wait and see!"

With that, she turned and stormed off in a rage.

Mu Zihuai cast a cold, malicious glance at Feng Xi, then took Mo Xiuyuan and Wan Qizhi with him to pursue Shen Zhilan.

Feng Xi knew that if the members of the other two sects weren't present, Shen Zhilan would definitely have instigated Mu Zihuai to kill her right then and there.

Therefore, she could never afford to let her guard down. She must seize every moment to cultivate in the future, for only absolute strength was the hard truth.

Once the members of the Primordial Chaos Sect left, the others also prepared to depart.

Feng Xi smiled and asked Xing Wu, "Did you find anything after coming in?"

Xing Wu curled his lip. "I only found some mysterious-tier herbs, nothing worth much!"

Feng Xi hesitated for a moment before saying, "I heard people say that Shen Zhilan and her group found quite a few valuable herbs. Do you think they might have some special spirit tool?

Why don't we just follow behind them and see?

We might stumble upon a great fortuitous encounter!"

While Xing Wu was still hesitating, his senior martial brother, Qin Shifeng, spoke up. "What Feng Xi says makes sense. Let's follow them and take a look."

Feng Xi felt a surge of secret amusement. Her claim didn't bear the slightest scrutiny, but she was banking on finding a fool willing to take the bait!

Qin Shifeng held a favorable impression of Shen Zhilan and was just itching for an excuse to get close to her anyway!

She had simply handed him the ladder to climb.

This way, she could use the Beast Taming Sect as her protective talisman and trail behind Shen Zhilan to find Senior Martial Brother Jiang Ji.

After everyone else had departed, the phoenix egg cautiously poked its head out from the ground, only to burrow back down into the earth a moment later.

The members of the Primordial Chaos Sect soon discovered that the groups from the Beast Taming Sect and the Mystical Sky Sect were trailing right behind them.

Shen Zhilan was so furious she was ready to pop!

She felt that Feng Xi was deliberately and maliciously trying to disgust her!

Yet with the Beast Taming Sect members around, she had no way to instigate Mu Zihuai into killing Feng Xi.

Her eyes flickered, and she abruptly changed her intended route.

Two hours later, the group entered a stone cavern.

This cave was extremely peculiar, with numerous holes peppering its walls that interconnected in all directions.

A faint, lingering fragrance of herbs could be indistinctly detected in the air.

Shen Zhilan chose one of the tunnels and squeezed into it, with the rest of the Primordial Chaos Sect members following closely behind.

Feng Xi had originally intended to keep following them, but to her surprise, Mu Zihuai stood guard at the tunnel entrance with a gloomy expression.

Feng Xi and the others had no choice but to choose a different tunnel.

Feng Xi guessed that this must be the cave of the Horned Stone-Centipede. As for why Shen Zhilan had come here, she couldn't quite figure it out yet.

It might be to search for treasures, or perhaps she intended to use the Horned Stone-Centipede to get rid of her.

However, Feng Xi was rather pleased, because she had a strong premonition that she would soon find Senior Martial Brother Jiang Ji.

She followed Qin Shifeng and the others deeper and deeper into the tunnel. The further they went, the darker it became, until they finally had to rely on spirit tools to illuminate their path.

A quarter of an hour later, the tunnel suddenly opened up into a spacious stone chamber.

Yet the scene before their eyes made everyone feel somewhat uneasy.

A large number of rotting demon beast carcasses and numerous skeletal remains were scattered across the ground.

What surprised everyone was that there was not the slightest foul odor inside the cave; instead, a faint medicinal fragrance lingered in the air.

Feng Xi knew the reason behind this.

The Horned Stone-Centipede was a symbiotic demon beast of the Crimson-Cloud Fragrant Ganoderma, and the herb possessed the property of transforming the stench of decay into a pleasant medicinal aroma.

Just as Feng Xi was scanning the area for the Crimson-Cloud Fragrant Ganoderma, Shen Zhilan suddenly came running back in.

Right behind her were several venomous insect-like demon beasts covered in toxic spikes—none other than the Horned Stone-Centipede.

Shen Zhilan sprinted directly toward Feng Xi and her group.

She sneered inwardly. She alone knew the unique toxicity of the Horned Stone-Centipede; once they were all poisoned, she would claim that only the blood of someone with a supreme-grade Water Spiritual Root could cure it.

That way, she wouldn't have to worry about Qin Shifeng and the others remaining utterly devoted to her!

And then she would simply find an opportunity to get rid of that bitch Feng Xi once and for all!

Qin Shifeng and the others turned pale with shock at the sight of the Horned Stone-Centipedes. Although they were unfamiliar with this specific kind of venomous insect, they could easily tell that their cultivation level was equivalent to the Golden Core stage of human cultivators.

Even though Qin Shifeng was also at the Golden Core stage, there was no way he could fend off so many of these creatures at once!

Feng Xi rapidly analyzed the situation. Since Shen Zhilan dared to lure the Horned Stone-Centipedes over, it meant she had nothing to fear and definitely possessed a method to deal with them.

Therefore, she exchanged a subtle glance with Jun Wen and Xing Wu.

Credit where credit was due—though these two weren't particularly blessed with great intellect, when it came to comprehending Feng Xi's intentions, absolutely no one could rival them!

Both of them struck almost simultaneously, moving to block Shen Zhilan's path.

At the same time, Feng Xi used spiritual vines to bind Shen Zhilan tightly by the ankles.

Because of this brief delay, the swarm of Horned Stone-Centipedes closed the distance and arrived right in front of them.

Gritting her teeth in fury, Shen Zhilan whipped out the unhatched immortal beast egg. The moment the demon beasts caught sight of it, they instantly trembled violently and scrambled backward in panic, fleeing out through the tunnels in disarray.

Feng Xi clicked her tongue. "Tsk tsk. Since you had such a wonderful method, why did you lure the venomous insects over here? Were you trying to get us all killed?

We have a personal grudge, so you trying to kill me is one thing, but the members of the Beast Taming Sect have done you no wrong, yet you still tried to get them all killed?

What a truly venomous and malicious heart you have!"

Xing Wu naturally possessed a fiery temper and instantly prepared to fight Shen Zhilan to the death!

The other direct disciples of the Beast Taming Sect also glared at her with burning rage.

Only Qin Shifeng maintained a relatively calm expression.

With tears shimmering in her eyes, Shen Zhilan looked at him imploringly.

"Senior Brother Qin, I only thought of the immortal beast egg at that critical moment of life and death. It wasn't like what Feng Xi said at all. Please, won't you believe me?"

Qin Shifeng looked at her pitiful and helpless appearance and chose to believe her.

Feng Xi: "..."

As expected, simps truly have no brains whatsoever!

Right at that moment, someone stumbled heavily into the chamber through one of the side tunnels, their face tinged with a dark, sickly blue—a clear sign of severe poisoning.

Jun Wen let out a startled cry, "Eldest Senior Brother?!"