Chapter 68: Feng Xi, You Heartless Woman!

The voice of the little black ball echoed in Feng Xi's spiritual consciousness:
"Unprovoked favors always mask ulterior motives!
It definitely harbors evil intentions!
Do not go!"

Feng Xi had been somewhat hesitant, but hearing the little black ball say this made her decide to go take a look after all.
Because the little black ball's tone was beyond ordinary... jealous!
Besides, Feng Xi felt that although this little chubby bird was vastly different from a true young phoenix, its gaze was far too similar!
It gave her plenty of reasons to let her imagination run wild.

Feng Xi stood up and said to Jiang Ji, "Eldest Senior Brother, I'm going over there to take a look."
Jiang Ji didn't think much of it and merely urged her to be careful.

Jun Wen felt a sour ache in his heart. Previously, the Junior Sister would share everything with him, but now that the Eldest Senior Brother was back, he had been pushed aside!
Could it be that he had recently done something wrong to displease the Junior Sister?

While Jun Wen was here deep in self-reflection, Feng Xi had already followed the little chubby bird into the nearby woods.

The little chubby bird hopped onto the ground and chirped in a soft, childish voice, "Mom!"
Its pair of tiny mung-bean eyes were brimming with deep longing and affection.

Feng Xi: "..."
She couldn't help but massage her forehead. "I am not your mother. You have the wrong person—no, you have the wrong bird."

The little chubby bird piped up two more soft syllables: "God, mom!"

Feng Xi: "..."

The little black ball popped out, shouting, "God mom? Even a god-granny won't do! Scram! Get lost right now!"

The little chubby bird cast a sidelong glance at the little black ball with its mung-bean eyes, then wrapped its chubby wings tightly around Feng Xi's ankle:
"Mom, not, go!"

Just as Feng Xi was hesitating, the little chubby bird spoke in its soft, milky voice: "Mom, alchemy, fire!"

It only took a brief moment of thought for Feng Xi to understand what the little chubby bird meant—its phoenix fire could assist her in alchemy.
If that was the case, taking it in wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

The little black ball was practically fuming with anger!
"Didn't you say that all your thousands of doting affections were reserved for me alone? Didn't you say you would only take a single ladle from the vast ocean of water?
You unfaithful woman!
You heartless schemer!
I'm breaking ties with you once and for all!"

Feng Xi leisurely replied using her spiritual consciousness:
"Right now, I only have you as my spirit pet, and you're the one doing all the dirty and exhausting work. I was just thinking of taking in another one to help you out with the chores.
Besides, you're a primordial spirit of chaos, yet you don't even have a single helper to boss around. It felt a bit unfair to you.
Since you're unwilling, never mind. I hadn't really planned on keeping this little chubby bird anyway..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the little black ball interrupted her:
"My brilliant, wise, and kind master, I was just joking with you a moment ago!
Although this little chubby bird is a bit foolish, it is a phoenix after all. Who knows, it might actually be of some use to you, Master!
You should definitely keep it!"

Wonderful!
As long as she keeps this silly bird, all the heavy and dirty work from now on will fall to it!
Normally, I'll even be able to put on airs and throw my weight around like the boss!
This is simply delightful!

A glint of amusement flashed in Feng Xi's eyes as she said to the little chubby bird,
"I can take you in, but you mustn't call me mom anymore. Call me Master, understand?"

The little chubby bird nodded and squeaked softly, "Mas, ter!"

Fine, as long as Mom is happy!
What it calls her doesn't matter!
After all, once she is mother for a day, she is mother for a lifetime!

How could Feng Xi possibly know what was running through its tiny little head? She immediately forged a contract with it.

At that moment, a bolt of heavenly tribulation lightning struck down outside Turtle-Back Mountain!
It instantly provoked a wave of uproar among the onlookers outside.

"Shen Zhilan must have contracted the phoenix! Her fortune is simply too overwhelming!"
"She possesses a top-tier water spiritual root, of course the phoenix would choose her!"
"Previously, I thought Feng Xi from the Xuantian Sect had pretty good fortune too, but now it seems she still can't compare to Shen Zhilan!
To say nothing else, Feng Xi couldn't even enter the secret realm, let alone contract a phoenix!"
"Indeed, not a single person from the Xuantian Sect managed to get in. Who would have expected that?"
...

Once Feng Xi completed the contract with the little chubby bird, they could communicate through spiritual consciousness.
The little chubby bird babbled in its soft voice:
"Master, we're finally together! I am so happy! It was truly worth traveling thousands of miles to find you!"

Feng Xi: "..."
Leaving everything else aside for a moment, this secret realm is at most a few hundred miles across. Just where on earth did your "thousands of miles" come from?

Just as Feng Xi was about to ask about the alchemy matter, a miserable scream echoed from the distance, belonging to Jun Wen.

Feng Xi's expression shifted drastically. She hurriedly grabbed her wooden sword and rushed back to the spot.
However, everyone was gone.
Only a pile of crackling, burning campfire remained.

The very thing she had been worrying about had finally happened!
This secret realm truly had hidden problems!

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
A moment later, she asked the little chubby bird, "Are there any unusual places in this secret realm?"
Where there is an anomaly, there must be demons at play. Perhaps she could find a breakthrough point.

The little chubby bird answered cautiously, "I, I just broke out of my shell, so I, I'm not very familiar with this place either."
The little chubby bird was terrified, afraid that Feng Xi would vent her anger upon it.
After all, it was the one who had lured Feng Xi away.

Sensing its inner thoughts, Feng Xi said, "Rest assured, I don't blame you. Only the incompetent vent their anger on others.
Besides, if you hadn't called me away, I might have been captured as well."

The little chubby bird was moved to tears.
Mother is truly wonderful!
As it turned out, choosing not to go with that top-tier female was the right choice after all!
A female cultivator with a top-tier water spiritual root could simply be called a top-tier bitch—no faults found there!

The little black ball glanced at the little chubby bird. It initially wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but swallowed it back down.
The brat is in a bad mood right now, so it'd better not court disaster.

Feng Xi decided to go and ask... the single-horned stone-scalers.
They were the local residents; perhaps they might know some clues.
There was no help for it. She didn't know anyone familiar here, so she had no choice but to consult some familiar bugs!

She tracked down the cavern of the single-horned stone-scalers and shouted right at the entrance:
"Is anyone breathing in there? Come out right now! Otherwise, I'll start a fire and smoke you all out!"

The single-horned stone-scalers inside the cave, who were currently busy rescuing their Crimson Rosy Ganoderma mushrooms: "..."
Oh, heavens!
That freak who runs faster than all of their hundred-odd legs combined has tracked them down!

Feng Xi continued to shout: "Come out! I just want to ask you a few things, and I'll leave as soon as I'm done!"

After engaging in a brief ideological struggle, the single-horned stone-scalers eventually crawled out.
Although they weren't particularly afraid of smoke, that female fiend probably had other malicious tricks up her sleeve, so it was better to come out and see what she wanted.

Feng Xi cut straight to the point: "Just now, my people vanished in the blink of an eye. Do you know what kind of person or creature might have done this?"

Seeing the clear, unadulterated foolishness filling their compound eyes, Feng Xi had no choice but to change the phrasing of her question:
"Are there any special places around here? For instance, places where spiritual energy is exceptionally dense or exceptionally thin, or anywhere with demonic energy?"

After a long period of silence, finally, a single single-horned stone-scaler let out a couple of shrill cries.

Joy flared in Feng Xi's heart: "Lead the way!"

The single-horned stone-scaler: Why should I?

Feng Xi released the little chubby bird: "Use reason and evidence to persuade it!"

The little chubby bird spat a puff of fire toward the single-horned stone-scaler.
Instantly, all hundred-plus legs of that single-horned stone-scaler moved in unison, scattering away like the wind!

Although the little chubby bird was merely a phoenix hatchling, bugs instinctively feared birds due to the suppression of their bloodlines.
Feng Xi closely followed behind them.