She gave Su Muqing a reassuring smile and said softly, "The Phoenix Bird is injured, so we shouldn't disturb it. I'll go in alone. Don't worry, Senior Brother, I'll be fine."
The Phoenix Black Bird is a pure and kind spiritual beast in heaven and earth. It has no ill will towards cultivators. As long as she does not harm it, it will not attack her.
Song Xixi was very relieved about this, after all, she also valued her life very much.
Su Muqing's eyes were full of worry, and he seemed not to want to be separated from her for a moment. Finally, under Song Xixi's insistence, he reluctantly agreed to let her go in by herself.
Su Muqing gently kissed her forehead and said softly, "You are alone, so be careful."
Finally, he gave a word of advice: "Contracting a spirit beast requires fate. Even if you fail, don't be discouraged. You can't force this kind of thing. Do you understand?"
Song Xixi was a little dizzy from his kiss and nodded shyly.
She walked to the entrance of the cave, took a deep breath, and suppressed her inner excitement.
Phoenix, here I come!
Su Muqing and the Tianji Sect disciples watched her disappear.
Su Muqing was worried. He pressed his twitching right eyelid and felt uneasy.
Except for Su Muqing who sincerely hoped that Song Xixi could bring back good news, the disciples had different expressions and were all a little dissatisfied in their hearts.
They were all wondering why Song Xixi was the first to go in.
Although she was the one who found the cave, she didn't put in any effort along the way, but they had to risk their lives to protect her. It was so unfair.
With Su Muqing around, the disciples could only complain in their hearts, but dared not speak out their anger.
Not long after, there was movement in the cave.
Then, Song Xixi ran out with an unusually agile pace, staggering and with a look of fear on her face.
Behind her was a swarm of black bats, like a black cloud, flapping their wings and flying out of the cave in a swarm.
"Big Brother, save me!"
Song Xixi wailed and fell to the ground with a thud. There was a lot of bat droppings on her body, emitting a strong and foul smell.
When the disciples smelled the odor, they frowned and covered their noses with their sleeves at the same time.
Su Muqing walked quickly forward and helped her up from the ground without any disgust.
A look of surprise and anger flashed across his face.
He raised his hand and used his spiritual power to drive away all the bats, and then he freed his hands to comfort the frightened little sister.
"Big Brother, those bats are so scary..."
"What's going on inside? Don't be in a hurry, tell me slowly."
Song Xixi was so frightened that she couldn't think. Her mind was full of scary bats. She sobbed and said, "Maybe... maybe I found the wrong place. The Phoenix Bird is not here."
Su Muqing said in a steady voice: "It's okay, then we'll look for it somewhere else."
Song Xixi grabbed his collar and nodded repeatedly in fear, just wanting to leave here quickly.
After the people from the Tianji Sect disappeared, several disciples from the Beastmaster Sect walked out from the darkness.
How could Song Xixi have thought that she was still a step too late.
The Beast Taming Sect had discovered this cave long ago, but they also came up empty-handed as there was no Phoenix Bird in the cave at all.
Thinking about all the bad luck that had happened so far, the saint girl thought about it and realized that someone must be secretly plotting something and deliberately going against their Beast Taming Sect, so she just sat there and waited for something to happen.
Then the people from Tianji Sect arrived.
They had released the bats in the cave on purpose, and they felt happy when they saw the female disciple of Tianji Sect being scared away by the bats.
"Damn it, it turns out that the Tianji Sect is against us!"
"But how did the Tianji Sect know about the existence of the Phoenix Bird?"
The Saint suddenly asked, "Who is that female cultivator in white?"
The tall man thought for a moment and said, "Looking at her relationship with Su Muqing, she should be the new disciple of the Tianji Sect's leader. She greeted me not long ago. I think her name is Song Xixi."
"Does the Saint suspect that there is something wrong with her?"
The Saintess pondered for a moment and said, "She was the one who guided the other members of the Tianji Sect to find this place, which means she already knew the location of the cave. I don't believe there are so many coincidences in the world."
The Saint snorted coldly: "What's more, she still has the residual scent of Phoenix Grass on her body."
The tall man clenched his fists until they cracked and said angrily, "So she was the one behind this!"
The Saint thought about it, narrowed her eyes, and said coldly: "The Phoenix Grass should be on her. Keep an eye on them and find a chance to catch that woman. We must get the Phoenix Grass back!"
"Also, we must pry open her mouth. I want to see how she knows the news about the Phoenix Bird."
The Beast Taming Sect disciples responded in unison.
Then several figures disappeared into the forest like ghosts.
......
Fan Li, Ye Wushuang and others returned to the place where the Tianji Sect had set up camp in Wangyue Valley, and the Phoenix Black Bird followed them happily.
It didn't make a contract with anyone, and just followed them proudly.
Except for them who knew it well, no one thought that it was the legendary top-grade spiritual beast.
The truth is that its appearance is so different from that of a phoenix, and it hides the unique aura of a top-grade spiritual beast. Therefore, people who see it think it is an ordinary monster in the secret realm that they cannot name.
It doesn't remind me of the majestic Phoenix or Black Bird at all.
In addition, Fan Li's appearance attracted everyone's attention, so no one paid attention to the inconspicuous ugly turkey.
"Senior Sister, it's great that you came back alive! Woohoo, we all thought you were gone!"
"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you talking about! Senior sister, you are blessed by heaven, isn't this good enough?"
"Senior sister, let me tell you, you missed a big show. That golden shadow was so powerful that it slapped the demon king away. That scene was really..."
Surrounding Fan Li were disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage. Their eyes were clear and bright, and they chattered about what had happened before.
It was nothing more than how shocking the golden shadow was, and how the phoenix killed the demon king.
No matter how hard they tried, they would never have thought that Fan Li was an important part of it.
It had been a long time since Fan Li had felt so much excitement surrounding him, and it was all well-intentioned. He felt a little emotional for a moment.
It's a bit funny.
In her previous life, Su Muqing disliked her for her bad personality. She was not as approachable as Song Xixi, who was kind to others and liked by her disciples.
So she forced herself to suppress her nature, put on a mask, and tried hard to please the people around her like Song Xixi, becoming more and more unlike herself.
But even if she lowered her posture and behaved in a humble manner, she could not win the love of others. Instead, more and more people despised and disliked her.
Su Muqing even said that she was hopeless and an imitator of others, which completely shattered her self-esteem.
Now that she has lived a new life, she no longer cares about what anyone thinks. She just stays herself and does not deliberately maintain relationships with others.
But they suddenly liked her again.
It turns out that you can be liked by others without trying to please them.
Fan Li couldn't describe the feeling in his heart.
The disciples kept chattering until Wang Fa told them not to disturb their senior sister's rest, and then they reluctantly dispersed.
Fan Li sat by the campfire, holding Daju in her arms. The warm yellow light of the fire reflected on her face, making her look very peaceful.
Han Shouyu came and sat down next to her, glancing at her back and forth a few times before speaking: "Xiao Qi, I'm relieved to see that you are okay."
Fan Li hummed indifferently.
Han Shouyu raised his broken hand to show Fan Li, with a bitter look on his face: "Look, this may be retribution."
Fan Li still looked cold and indifferent, not even bothering to say polite words.
She didn't sympathize with Han Shouyu at all, nor was she curious about how his hand was broken. If she had to express her opinion, she only had four words for him.
You reap what you sow.
Han Shouyu was a little depressed because he didn't get the care he wanted.
"Xiao Qi, I'm sorry."
"Brother shouldn't have hit you before."
Han Shouyu sincerely apologized to Fan Li, "I promise, I will never lay a hand on you again."
Han Shouyu thought that the reason why Fan Li still refused to pay attention to him was because of the slapping incident in the inn.
Upon hearing this, Fan Li didn't even bat an eyelid as he slowly stroked the golden tiger's fur.
She had heard this promise countless times in her previous life. Whether she believed it or not was none of his business, because he would still beat her. So she simply shut up.
Fan Li's indifference completely hurt Han Shouyu's heart.
That familiar feeling came back.
His eyes gradually turned red, his facial muscles twitched slightly, a few blue veins popped out on both sides of his temples, and he gritted his teeth, trying his best to endure something.
His neck and face were red with a hint of purple.
Because the firelight shone on his face, no one noticed his abnormality for a while.
He spoke hoarsely, as calmly as possible: "Xiao Qi, can't you forgive Senior Brother?"
Fan Li was already annoyed and stood up as if to leave.
At this time, Han Shouyu squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Is it only when my senior brother dies that you will forgive me?"