Seeking the Lu Yuan Dan was originally a matter for Qing He and Qi Rong alone. They didn't want to involve Li Jiang and the others, lest they waste their time, especially Zhuge Changdeng, who had no connection with them and had no reason to go to the Yuanbei Valley with them.
Just as she was thinking about how to tell Li Jiang about this, Mu Dong spoke first.
“Yuanbei Valley is full of rare and precious materials. It looks like a lot of fun.” He looked at Li Jiang with shining eyes. “Senior Brother, why don’t we stay here for a few days? I also want to go and play in that valley.”
Li Jiang looked uninterested and shook her head in disagreement.
Mu Dong's eyes darted around, and he put down his bowl and chopsticks, saying, "Senior Brother, we came out here to search for divine... natural treasures. Perhaps there's something we're looking for in this valley. Wouldn't it be a pity to miss it?"
After a moment's thought, Li Jiang realized that what he said made sense, so she nodded in agreement.
Mu Dong was happy and cheerfully picked up her chopsticks again to enjoy her meal.
Qinghe watched Mu Dong eat without a care in the world and thought that being simple-minded had its advantages. You could say what you wanted to say and do what you wanted to do without having to care too much, which made you feel quite at ease.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms.
Under the warm candlelight, Qinghe sat upright by the bed, took out the Great Light Mantra from the wound on his little finger, and with a slight exertion, the Great Light Mantra transformed into its true form.
The dark bronze weapon was heavy and cold. Qinghe touched it with her palm, her fingertips gently gliding over it. The runes on it no longer emitted golden light under her fingertips as before, but were silent and indifferent.
Her fingers paused between the grooves of the characters, then she withdrew her hand, and the Great Light Spell transformed back into a ring on her little finger.
Recalling the changes in the Path of Ruthlessness, it must be closely related to this Great Light Mantra. The Great Light Mantra was originally the original owner's weapon, so it was inevitable that she would cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness. However, she was not the original owner, and since the Path of Ruthlessness had been sealed, she could no longer use the Great Light Mantra.
The fact that she was temporarily without a suitable weapon made her feel as uncomfortable as if she had lost her left and right arms.
With a slight sigh, her eyes darted around, and then suddenly fixed their gaze on the lively nine-headed fire phoenix.
Receiving a strange gaze, Little Red, who was having a great time, suddenly stopped in her tracks, her feathers trembled, and she stiffly turned her head.
Under the candlelight, Qinghe's eyes emitted a sinister and eerie green light, and a chilling smile played on his lips.
Although its small head and intelligence couldn't figure out why the candlelight was emitting a green glow, its keen intuition told it that there was danger and it should leave quickly!
As soon as it realized what was happening, it flapped its wings and flew into the air, having already devised a feasible escape plan for itself in the emergency.
It faced the open window, intending to escape the room that terrified the bird. Its wings fluttered, its cries echoing, and it flew at breakneck speed towards the outside world. The free and beautiful world was within reach; it was about to soar freely, about to shake off the terrifying woman behind it…
With no eyes to see and no freedom to roam, just as it was about to fly away, Qinghe had already come up behind it and grabbed its fate by the scruff of its neck.
"Little Red, how could I forget about you? Aren't you a high-level magical beast? You must be able to transform into some kind of weapon or something, like that dragon." She stroked Little Red's wings, her tone incredibly gentle. "Show me quickly, okay?"
The tone was gentle and soothing, yet Little Red felt colder than ever before. It opened its mouth and let out a piercing, desperate cry, struggling fiercely. If Qing and He understood animal language, they would surely have heard Little Red's screams—
I am a high-level magical beast. I have dignity. I would rather die than be a weapon in someone else's hands!
When gentle persuasion failed, Qinghe turned to another tactic: coercion and enticement.
She gave a chilling smile, "If you don't change, I'll pluck all your feathers, roast you, and turn you into a featherless roasted pheasant, believe it or not!"
Xiao Hong, full of ambition, raised her head and looked at her coldly, disbelieving.
Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "You're quite ambitious. Fine, you're impressive." Her eyes darted around, and she added, "If you're going to be my weapon, I'll find you a beautiful woman of your own kind to be your wife, okay?"
Little Red seemed to be moved. The red team's eyes darted around, as if considering and weighing their options, but they still couldn't sway its heart. It turned its head away and said no.
Qinghe was furious. "It really is a high-level magical beast. It's truly unyielding to the death." She sighed and said, "Fine, since you won't listen to me, then you don't need to follow me anymore. Go, and I'll give you your freedom."
She released Xiao Hong's neck, sat back on the edge of the bed, sighed to herself, and showed a lonely and sad expression on her face.
Little Red, now free, chirped triumphantly twice, glancing at Qinghe every now and then. Seeing that Qinghe really didn't intend to care about her anymore, she flapped her wings and flew out the window. But after a while, she flew back and perched on the windowsill, pacing back and forth.
Qinghe sighed again.
Little Red tried to get her attention by going back and forth, but Qinghe was determined to ignore it and didn't even glance at it again.
After struggling back and forth for a long time, it finally gave in. With a flap of its wings, red light flowed around its body as it gracefully moved.
As the spiritual energy surged, feathers detached from Xiao Hong's body and slowly covered Qing He's skin, merging with it to form an indestructible protective armor. Her wings transformed into red light, flapped behind Qing He, and then gradually disappeared. At the same time, a red phoenix flying mark slowly appeared between her eyebrows.
Before Qinghe could take a closer look, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, and the next moment she heard a clear male voice.
“I am in your spiritual sea.”
Qing paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and entered the spiritual sea, where he indeed saw the nine-headed Fiery Phoenix.
But now it was no longer itself; it had transformed into a handsome boy with red hair and eyes, naked except for a tattered red cloth skirt on his lower body.
Qinghe was taken aback. "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"
Upon hearing this, the little boy angrily retorted, "You still dare to talk back! I gave you all my clothes, of course I have nothing to wear!"
Qinghe looked at his arm, and the armor formed by the red feathers flashed with light before he understood what he meant.
With a slight smile, she took out a piece of clothing from her spatial storage and gave it to him.
The clothes were red, just like his personality, and he liked them quite a bit, but they were a little too big and looked a bit cumbersome on him.
"Little Red, so you can transform! Why didn't you transform before?"
Upon hearing the name, the little boy immediately frowned. "I'm not called Xiao Hong. I have a name, Tong. I was just too lazy to transform before."
"Tong? Is it the 'Tong' of copper and iron, or the 'Tong' of child?"
The little boy glanced at her. "It's the 'Tong' in 'wutong' (梧桐). Haven't you heard of 'Phoenix perches on a wutong tree'?" He dragged his long clothes, raised his hand and conjured wutong branches, weaving them into a chair. As he sat down, he said, "Although I am not a real phoenix, I am still a high-level species among magical beasts, with half phoenix blood. It is fitting that I am named Tong."
“That’s true,” Qinghe said. “Then what about my weapon?” She hadn’t forgotten this important matter.
"I've already given it to you."
Qinghe was taken aback. "You mean this protective armor?"
"Yes, this is my best treasure. I've given it all to you. What more do you want?" the little boy said, feeling wronged.
"But can this be considered a weapon?"
"How can it not be? This armor is incredibly sturdy, impervious to blades and spears. Ordinary swords and magical weapons cannot harm it. When necessary, it can shield you from a fatal blow in times of crisis. Isn't that a weapon?"
Qinghe stroked the feathers and said in a low voice, "That's true, but it's a pity they're defensive."
"Alright, I'm going to rest now, you can go." After saying that, he yawned and went to sleep.
Qinghe looked at his back as he turned away and sighed, "Never mind, I'll find the magic weapon myself. But thank you anyway."
Not hearing a response from the little boy, Qinghe turned and left Linghai.
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