Phoenix
The feeling this tree gave Ruan Qingyu was similar to that of the mother tree in the world of monsters, and this tree even felt closer to Ruan Qingyu.
It was as if the mother tree in the monster world only treated guests. But this tree treated her with the gentleness of a child, with the warmth of a mother, bringing back the feeling of being born.
Drawn by some mysterious force, Ruan Qingyu slowly approached and pressed her cheek against the tree.
The warm, water-like touch made Ruan Qingyu close her eyes like a child.
"child......"
Ruan Qingyu's originally serene and peaceful face immediately furrowed upon hearing the call.
"My child, my child..."
Finally, Ruan Qingyu responded to the call. It was so heartwarming, just like her mother's response during her childhood.
"Are you calling me?" Ruan Qingyu asked cautiously.
The warm water seemed to rush towards her, but Ruan Qingyu didn't feel suffocated. Instead, she felt increasingly at ease and could even fall asleep immediately.
"Yes, I am calling for you, my child. I have never seen my child since those birds left." The voice was as ethereal as wisps of smoke, coming from all directions.
Little birds? Ruan Qingyu was a little puzzled. Could it be that there used to be a flock of phoenixes here?
The warm voice seemed to understand Ruan Qingyu's thoughts and quickly replied, "Yes, I named you Phoenixes back then. You accompanied me every day, and I always loved to hear you sing on me."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu couldn't help but ask, "What happened next? Why did you say they left?" The Phoenix bloodline inheritance doesn't mention the origin of the Phoenix, nor does it mention where they left off.
Everything about Phoenix is a mystery to Ruan Qingyu.
That warm voice seemed to laugh, and laughed for a long time.
“My dear child, perhaps I should introduce myself. I am a phoenix tree, and of course, I am also a Jianmu tree.”
The sound of the phoenix tree gradually faded into the distance, intermittently recounting a story from long, long ago.
The little phoenixes grow up on the phoenix tree from a young age, and each phoenix will eventually leave the tree. Until the last phoenix leaves the phoenix tree, there will be no more phoenixes in the cultivation world.
"Did they ascend to the immortal realm?" Ruan Qingyu always felt that the ancient stories were like broken pieces of wood, and even piecing them together, she could not understand the whole picture.
The warm tide washed over Ruan Qingyu's head and then quickly receded.
“Phoenixes are free; they can go wherever they want. We haven’t heard from them in the Immortal Realm for a long time. If they were here, I think they would come down to see me.” The phoenix tree’s voice gradually faded.
"But it doesn't matter, we will surely meet again in time. Just like now, I saw a little phoenix again."
As she spoke, the phoenix tree became slightly excited: "You are even weaker than any phoenix I have ever seen in its fledgling stage. My child, you have suffered."
Ruan Qingyu was momentarily speechless. Was she weak? Perhaps it was because the phoenix tree was the legendary Jianmu tree, and her ancestors were mostly adult phoenixes.
"But the fact that you came here means you need me." The phoenix tree seemed excited, circling around Ruan Qingyu again and again.
The topic had jumped too far, leaving Ruan Qingyu momentarily bewildered: "I need you?"
Finally, she stirred her somewhat drowsy brain and remembered. She clearly had just fought a fierce battle with Chen Tian, killing her mortal enemy, and then she remembered nothing more.
Where is she now? Is this a dream or reality?
"I really miss the days when a flock of little birds would chirp in my ear. It was so beautiful," the phoenix tree said wistfully.
Blinking, Ruan Qingyu moved her face away from the phoenix tree and pursed her lips.
After several attempts, finally, a few light chants escaped her lips. At first, there were some stumbles, but it became smoother and smoother, filled with indescribable confidence and joy.
A warm feeling enveloped Ruan Qingyu once again; she could feel the phoenix tree gently embracing her with a powerful force.
The soft, lingering murmurs echoed slowly through this secluded place, their lingering notes blending with the newly uttered tones, as moving as an echo reverberating through an empty valley.
"That's the sound! No wonder it's the most beautiful bird in the world," the phoenix tree sighed.
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu gradually stopped singing.
"Breakthrough imminent, why aren't you awake!" The Phoenix Tree's voice suddenly turned serious, washing away Ruan Qingyu's somewhat confused consciousness.
The disciple sat inside, Mo Wen's expression was solemn. The Qiankun hexagram was suspended on the right, and spiritual power was faintly flowing into the bed.
Ruan Qingyu sat cross-legged on the couch with her eyes closed.
"Your consciousness is gone, your soul has left your body, why is this?" Mo Wen looked at Ruan Qingyu with deep concern. Ruan Qingyu had not woken up since Chen Tian died yesterday.
They invited elders skilled in healing to examine the patient, but they all shook their heads helplessly. Although there was no physical damage, there were few ways to treat the soul.
Recalling what the elder who had come to see him said: "The soul has run away, and no amount of tonics will help."
*
As expected, the Phoenix Tree became much happier after Ruan Qingyu finished chanting. She had a natural affinity for the Phoenix Tree, so she accepted all of its requests.
Especially after hearing the Phoenix God's somewhat reprimanding words, although she was dizzy and in unbearable pain, she still obeyed and closed her eyes tightly to try her best to regain her senses.
The water, which had been lukewarm, became scalding hot. She felt as if she were in boiling water, and if she stayed any longer, she risked being cooked.
"It doesn't matter if there is one less phoenix in the world, but if all the phoenixes disappear, then the world will lose its balance." The phoenix tree's voice suddenly became indifferent, and even more ethereal.
"Although the Heavenly Dao is relatively stable now, the position of Heavenly Fire Venerable has been missing for nine thousand years. The Immortal Realm is supported only by the three Venerables of Heavenly Water, Heavenly Earth, and Heavenly Wood. If Heavenly Fire is hard to find, the Immortal Realm will collapse in ten thousand years, and disaster will befall the cultivation world. This calamity will last forever."
Gradually, Ruan Qingyu regained consciousness. Although she didn't quite understand what these words meant, she subconsciously memorized them.
But what does something that happened ten thousand years from now have to do with the present? She wondered, and asked the question subconsciously.
"The phoenix disappeared at the same time as the Heavenly Fire Venerable. Now you are the only phoenix in the world, and you are the most likely person to inherit the Heavenly Fire Venerable's position and maintain the balance of the world." The phoenix tree's voice was very firm, as if it believed that Ruan Qingyu's fate was destined to be this way.
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu shook her head. She did not feel that she should bear such a great responsibility: "There are countless fire-attribute cultivators in the world, and there are many who are far superior to me. How can you be sure that it is me?"
"If it were you, you would definitely make it through the Nascent Soul stage. If it weren't you, you wouldn't make it through the Nascent Soul stage and you would die."
At this moment, Ruan Qingyu felt as if she had entered a fourth perspective, experiencing a dream. However, her consciousness remained clear, and she could even see her physical body and Mo Wen, Lan Ci, and others beside it.
Seeing that Ruan Qingyu remained silent, the Phoenix Tree's voice became gentle again.
"Child, believe in yourself."
Something seemed to sprout within me, until it blossomed. In an instant, the surrounding environment changed; the spot where the phoenix tree had been suddenly transformed into a blooming fire lotus.
The Phoenix Divine Fire was the root of Ruan Qingyu's new beginning. Looking at the ever-expanding Phoenix Divine Fire, Ruan Qingyu felt a metallic taste in her throat. After a long while, a perfectly round bead radiating purple light flew out of her mouth.
The bead circled around Ruan Qingyu once, and without hesitation, it revealed the Phoenix Divine Fire.
"Soul Core!" Ruan Qingyu's distant memories were awakened; that Soul Core was Yun Yin's beast core from his previous life. If it were destroyed by the Phoenix Divine Fire, Yun Yin would surely be in trouble.
Ruan Qingyu lunged towards the Phoenix Divine Fire, which instantly enveloped her. At the same time, her physical body outside suddenly emitted a golden-red light.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a red lotus platform of flames, forming a protective barrier around her body. This forced Mo Wen, who was originally close by, back to the doorway, while Wutong outside watched the commotion inside with constant worry.
After Ruan Qingyu fell into a coma, he lost contact with Wutongqin. He knew this feeling all too well; Wutongqin would never again have anything to do with his former Nine Netherworld Wutongqin.
In the distant world of demon beasts, Yun Yin, who was still confronting the Mother Tree, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and then everything went black before his eyes and he fainted.
The mother tree's massive canopy shimmered, and soon a misty light fell upon Yun Yin. Visibly, Yun Yin's previously pale complexion quickly improved.
While still in a dream, Ruan Qingyu's ashen face quickly brightened after being enveloped in divine fire.
It was only then that she realized the Soul Pill had completely merged into her body, and had been thoroughly purified and refined by her Phoenix Divine Fire.
In the blink of an eye, she progressed from the late Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage.
Perhaps because she had completely dissolved Yun Yin's soul pill, her cultivation did not stop after breaking through to the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, but continued to climb higher.
It wasn't until he reached the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage that he began to weaken.
At that moment, the voice of the phoenix tree rang out: "The crucial moment has arrived, little phoenix, you'd better be careful."
As they spoke, a few emerald green leaves drifted down. They landed precisely in the still-blooming flame lotus.
The lotus phantom continued to expand, and from within it, the cries of phoenixes could be heard, like jade shattering in Kunlun. Occasionally, two cries of pain from Ruan Qingyu's transformation would be heard. Gradually, the human voices within the fire lotus decreased, and were replaced by more and more cries.
After completely transforming into a phoenix, Ruan Qingyu was finally able to emerge from the fire lotus. The phoenix divine fire also vanished instantly, turning into embellishments on the phoenix's tail feathers.
The phoenix, its body ablaze with fire, cried out as it spiraled upwards toward the phoenix tree. Finally, it stopped at the very top of the tree and remained motionless.
The phoenix, reborn from the ashes, stood quietly on the treetop, its magnificent plumage breathtaking. Only its bright eyes remained tightly closed, and its tail feathers drooped casually in mid-air.
At this moment, He felt He was not Him. Perhaps, He shouldn't be here?
The disciples remained inside, while Mo Wen stood firmly outside the door, refusing to move. His junior sister's condition was unusual, and he would not abandon her under any circumstances.
It was at this moment that Wutong was the first to notice something was wrong. She suddenly flashed in front of Mo Wen, a faint blue light flashing around her.
Suddenly, Ruan Qingyu, who had been sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, opened her eyes.
What kind of eyes were those? The pupils burned with a raging fire, and the golden-red eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
"Qingyu?" Mo Wen hesitated, because those eyes and the way she looked over when she heard the voice didn't seem like Ruan Qingyu.
Sensing the other party's cold gaze, alarm bells rang in Wutong's heart. A chill ran down her spine; it was both a warning of danger and a feeling of being suppressed by oppressive power—a feeling clearly only experienced when encountering a high-level demonic beast.
A moment later, Ruan Qingyu slowly closed her eyes again.
Within his consciousness, he sensed that inexplicable consciousness with some irritation.
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