Ayao gritted her teeth and sat down next to Miexinluo. She seemed to be muttering to herself, "When your true form, Xu Fengzhi, said goodbye to me, he told me that he would use his last strength to severely injure Lou Munan, so that he would not be able to appear in front of me for at least ten thousand years. Now more than fifteen thousand years have passed."

Upon hearing this, Mie Xinluo finally opened his eyes.

Looking into his bloodshot eyes, Ayao excitedly grabbed one of his arms: "Can you find Lou Munan? If he regains his power, you'll definitely be in trouble. He might even try to devour you."

"If I were him, I definitely wouldn't let my clone run around uncontrollably. Do you want to do nothing and just wait for him to come looking for you?"

Mie Xinluo looked at A Yao, but remained silent.

"Cooperate with me. I'm now the young emperor of the Phoenix Clan, with my master and the entire Phoenix Clan backing me up. In terms of combat power, I can be considered a Celestial Emperor. Our cooperation is better than you doing it alone, right?" A Yao smiled very brightly.

Looking into her jewel-like eyes, Mie Xinluo remained silent for a moment before withdrawing his arm from her soft, boneless hands. Then he closed his eyes again.

Ayao: "..."

Ayao jumped up in anger: "Hey, can't you just say something? Will you agree or not? Say something!"

The man ignored her.

Enraged, A Yao kicked him, sending Mie Xinluo flying hundreds of meters away, crashing through a wall in front of him. Mie Xinluo calmly stood up, dusted himself off, and flew towards a tall statue, where he continued his meditation on its head.

Ayao stomped her feet in anger.

The fact that she could project him using the Causal Mirror proves he definitely cares about her, doesn't it? But over ten thousand years have passed, and he hasn't said a single word to her. Could it be that she could project him using the Causal Mirror not because he cares about her, but simply because Xu Fengzhi is his true form?

"asshole!"

Ayao turned and opened a path out, leaving the Kunpeng King's tomb. Over the past ten thousand years, she had been driven away by the Heart-Destroying Demon countless times.

After she left, the man meditating on the statue sighed softly, seemingly quite helpless about A Yao's occasional harassment.

————

Ancient Realm, a certain primeval mountain range.

Suddenly, a spatial rift opened above the mountain range, and a girl dressed in a purple gauze dress flew out of it. After she emerged, the spatial rift behind her slowly closed.

The girl stood in the sky, holding a piece of paper in her hand, spreading her divine sense as if searching for something. This girl was A Yao, and what A Yao held in her hand was Xu Fengzhi's childhood doodle. She was searching for the places marked on Xu Fengzhi's doodle.

"Huh? This should be the place, right? How come it's not here?" Ayao wondered. Could she be mistaken?

This is highly likely, because the handwriting is crooked and she could easily misinterpret it.

Just then, Ayao sensed a familiar presence.

Sword energy!

In the distance, a domineering sword aura soared into the sky.

This sword energy...

Ayao's eyes lit up; it was Feng Chu.

She hadn't seen Feng Chu for over ten thousand years. She had gone to the Sword God Palace to look for him, but each time she was told he was in seclusion. Ayao suspected that Xie Chen didn't want her to see Feng Chu, so he always gave her a perfunctory answer and sent her away with some excuse.

A Yao's figure flickered, transforming into a streak of light as she sped forward.

————

Deep within the mountains, a bizarre human face emerged from an enormous ancient tree. The tree's vines twisted like pythons, relentlessly attacking the white-clad youth in the sky.

The white-robed youth pointed his finger, and thousands of sword energies roared out. The ancient tree was smashed into a pile of wood chips by the sword energies.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"

A cute little beast floated beside the boy, and excitedly jumped around him after seeing how easily he had dealt with the wood demon.

My master is so amazing! My master is so amazing!!

Feng Chu reached out, and the Lightning Beast jumped onto his shoulder. Suddenly, he sensed an extremely powerful aura flying towards him; the aura was very familiar.

Who is it?

Feng Chu spread his divine sense and saw a purple beam of light. Within the light was a stunningly beautiful girl dressed in purple. He saw her, and she saw him too. The girl revealed a breathtaking smile.

“Ah Yao…”

Feng Chu's eyes lit up, and he transformed into a streak of golden lightning, carrying the Lightning Beast, and flew towards A Yao. Before long, the two met high in the sky.

"Ayao, what are you doing here?" Feng Chu looked at Ayao, sizing her up. He noticed that Ayao had changed a lot. Oh, right, she was no longer human; she was a phoenix.

Although he hadn't left the Sword God Palace in recent years, he had always heard about A Yao from other people.

"Coo coo coo..."

The Lightning Beast was overjoyed to see A Yao, hopping and skipping onto her and affectionately nuzzling her face. A Yao hugged it tightly, then looked at Feng Chu before her; he was already a Taiyi Golden Immortal.

"I was looking for something here when I unexpectedly ran into you. It's been a long time, Feng Chu," A Yao said with a smile.

The boy in white still had a youthful face, and his golden eyes remained clear. A gentle breeze made his white robes flutter, and Ayao felt as if she had traveled back more than 15,000 years to when she first met him. He really hadn't changed at all.

Ah Yao thought to herself.

"Long time no see," Feng Chu said with a smile.

"Are you doing well at the Sword God Palace?" Ayao asked with a smile.

Feng Chu immediately snorted coldly: "No good, not good at all. That bastard Xie Chen torments me every day, and I get beaten until I vomit blood every time. I've run away hundreds of times, but he catches me every time, humph!"

Ayao: "...So you still managed to sneak out?"

"What do you mean, 'sneaked out'? I'm not a member of the Sword God Palace. It was that bastard Xie Chen who insisted on keeping me under house arrest there. I'm not going back now that I've escaped," Feng Chu said indignantly, his resentment towards Xie Chen running high.

Ayao: "..."

Sword God Senior, it's been over ten thousand years, and you still haven't made Feng Chu acknowledge you as his master?

Feng Chu suddenly glared at A Yao and said angrily, "Why didn't you come to save me? Don't you know I'm imprisoned in the Sword God Palace?"

Ayao smiled and said, "I went to look for you, but they said you were in seclusion and wouldn't let me see you."

"You've looked for me? Nobody told me." Feng Chu thought for a moment, then revealed a vicious expression. "It must be that bastard Xie Chen. He wants to control me. He won't let me go out, and he won't let my friends see me. That bastard, once I cultivate to the Immortal Emperor realm, I'll definitely kill him."