Ascension Day

’Did I look like this three thousand years ago?’

Xu Ying’s heart pounded. A chill shot up from the base of his spine, creeping to the back of his head before spreading throughout his entire body.

He suddenly felt the urge to laugh—a loud, booming laugh while glancing at those around him, the kind you use to deflect awkwardness.

This was too absurd!

It was utterly ridiculous!

"Ying, this bird is lying!"

Da Zhong rang out, its voice booming, "She wants to trick you into being her hired muscle, to risk your life for her and shield her from disaster! You’re only fourteen. How could she possibly have met you three thousand years ago?"

Yuan Qi poked his head out of Xu Ying’s collar, looked toward the Phoenix, and sneered, "This big bird is trying to fool you. She’s clearly up to no good. I’ve been reading for one hundred and twenty years, and I’ve never read about anything this absurd!"

Xu Ying just smiled and shook his head. His rational mind told him this Juvenile Phoenix was lying, trying to lure him to his death.

’I’m just an ordinary person. I’m clearly fourteen, so how could I have been born three thousand years ago? Besides, don’t I age?’

’How could a person not age?’

Zhou Qiyun had lived for over three hundred years and his eyebrows had already turned white. Although he still looked like a young man, his lifespan was actually nearing its end, forcing him to find a way of Crossing Tribulation and Ascending.

’If I were three thousand years old, I’d probably have died countless times by now, right?’

Besides, it wasn’t as if he had amnesia. He had a vivid impression of his childhood, remembering every single event with perfect clarity. He even remembered all sorts of details about the fire that had destroyed the Xu Family’s Field during his youth!

’Could it be that my memories are fake, too?’

’This Juvenile Phoenix probably says the same thing to everyone,’ Xu Ying thought, ’hoping to trick at least one person.’

Da Zhong warned, "Ying, if we don’t leave now, we’ll likely get dragged into this mess. I can sense a powerful force invading this area!"

Xu Ying hesitated no longer and leaped down the Phoenix Tree. A sorrowful sigh from the Phoenix echoed in his ears. "You don’t remember what happened before you were sealed, do you? That’s right, your seal hasn’t been broken yet. Once you break the seal, you’ll be able to recover your memories. I can help you, as long as you help me survive this tribulation."

Xu Ying landed on a lower branch of the Phoenix Tree. ’A seal?’ he thought. ’Is she saying there’s a seal inside my body? What a liar!’

Yuan Qi and Da Zhong, however, were both stunned. Xu Ying didn’t know there was a problem with his childhood memories, but they had witnessed it many times.

Every time Xu Ying recalled his hometown, the Xu Family’s Field, his memory would falter. Every time he tried to remember his parents’ names, different names would emerge, never repeating. And yet, Xu Ying himself never noticed!

"Lord Qi, Ying always has trouble when he recalls his childhood. Is it possible that it’s some kind of seal?"

Da Zhong whispered to Yuan Qi, "Is it possible someone sealed his memories from before he was six?"

Yuan Qi was dazed for a moment, then said in a small voice, "I’m just a snake. A month ago, I was comfortably lying in Qinyan Cave reading a book. How would I know about this stuff? Lord Zhong, you might as well just call me a stupid snake. Stop asking me these weird questions."

Da Zhong continued, "Every time he recalls the Xu Family’s Field, could it be his seal loosening, causing him to remember things from the past? Could the different parents’ names he mentions really be his parents? Is it possible that Ying has been reincarnated many times, and in each life his parents lived in the Xu Family’s Field, just in different eras?"

Yuan Qi tried to widen his eyes, but his eyelids kept twitching. He stammered, "To be honest, I haven’t read that many books. I don’t really like those dry classics. I prefer reading strange tales and unofficial histories. I’m really not that cultured..."

Da Zhong said, "...Perhaps he has gone through this endless cycle of life and death, living one lifetime after another for over three thousand years. He has lived through a vast stretch of history."

It grew excited. "Do you think it’s possible that Ying is even older than me? In front of him, could I be just a little brother?"

Yuan Qi shrank into a corner of Xu Ying’s collar and muttered, "I’m just an ordinary Snake Demon, how would I know about any of this?"

"If you don’t save me, I will die here!" The Juvenile Phoenix’s Divine Sense fluctuated, forming a voice in Xu Ying’s mind.

Xu Ying looked back and met her gaze, but still jumped down from the Phoenix Tree.

The Juvenile Phoenix said no more. She sensed a powerful enemy approaching. Pleading with others was now useless; she could only focus on preparing for battle.

’I really have met him before. Three thousand years have passed, so why does he still look the same?’ she wondered.

As Xu Ying passed Yuan Weiyang and the others, he called out, "This place is about to become dangerous! I fear there’s great peril ahead. Everyone should leave at once!"

Hearing this, Yuan Weiyang said to the beautiful woman, "Madam, this place is about to become dangerous. We should go down and talk."

The beautiful woman paid her no mind. "The words of a lecher are not to be trusted. If we miss this chance, who knows when we’ll encounter a Phoenix again. Emperor Zhetian the Great Saint became the Empress and subdued the world by comprehending the Phoenix Bone. This is our great opportunity."

Yuan Weiyang felt a growing unease. Knowing Xu Ying wouldn’t deceive her, she excused herself and leaped down from the tree.

Seeing this, Guo Xiaodie quickly followed. "Brother Weiyang, wait for me! Let’s capture that lecher together and haul him off to Eunuch Chen!"

Yuan Weiyang was exasperated but had no choice but to let her tag along.

The beautiful woman smiled and shook her head, turning to the young man beside her and Uncle Xiao. "Weiyang has grown more dashing and heroic these past two years. It looks like she’s reached marriageable age, and Xiaodie seems to like her. They met when they were children. Why don’t we pick an auspicious day for the Yuan Family’s old madam to meet Xiaodie, and have Weiyang visit my sister at the Guo Family’s estate?"

Uncle Xiao’s heart skipped a beat. He stammered, not daring to speak.

The beautiful woman saw his hesitation and sneered, "Uncle Xiao, don’t tell me you think my Xiaodie isn’t good enough for your Yuan Family? Is it the Guo Family that isn’t worthy, or is it our Li Family that’s beneath you?"

Uncle Xiao cried out silently in his heart.

The Yuans had very few descendants, and even before Yuan Weiyang was born, the hopes of revitalizing the Yuan Family rested on her. Who would have expected that she would be born a girl? The old madam thus made the decision to raise Yuan Weiyang as a boy, and she was presented to the world as such.

In recent years, Yuan Weiyang had started to mature, naturally developing a heroic and dashing aura that was very attractive to girls. She truly lived up to everyone’s expectations; her innate talent was extremely high, allowing her to learn anything with ease, and her comprehension was terrifyingly profound.

But she was, after all, a girl. How could she dare marry the cherished daughters of the Guo and Li families?

Uncle Xiao coughed and quickly said, "You two, that lecher is quite skilled. This old servant will go check on the Young Master and Young Miss, to make sure nothing goes wrong!"

He hurriedly leaped down from the Phoenix Tree. Suddenly, he saw a dark cloud drifting toward them from the horizon. The cloud was moving incredibly fast. The moment Uncle Xiao landed, it had already arrived over the summit of Jiuyi Mountain.

He looked up, a little puzzled. ’This cloud...’

He smelled a putrid stench. Just then, chaos erupted down the mountain. Someone shrieked, "Everyone, be careful! Something from the Cangwu Abyss is coming up the mountain! It’s already devoured several people!"

Uncle Xiao quickly looked down the mountain and saw scarlet flesh and blood crawling up the cliffs, devouring everything in its path!

It was unclear if the mass of flesh was growing or crawling, but it extended numerous enormous pythons, dozens of yards long, that thrashed about, snapping their great maws with exceptional ferocity!

’Was this thing the source of that stench from before?’ Uncle Xiao wondered, alarmed and uncertain.

Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky. The dark cloud that had just arrived began to pour down a torrential rain. A colossal creature was faintly visible within the storm clouds. In the flashes of lightning, one could see that the great beast had a long beak, like that of a bird, or perhaps the snout of a dragon.

At that moment, Guo Xiaodie was dragging Yuan Weiyang along in pursuit of Xu Ying. The girl was inexplicably excited, shouting, "Brother Weiyang, let’s corner him by the lake, make him strip naked, and see where he runs then!"

Yuan Weiyang coughed and said, "Xu Demon King, we’re far from the Phoenix Tree now. No one will chase you here. You can stop running."

Xu Ying stopped, turned around, and smiled. "I was starting to think Brother Yuan was really going to help her catch me."

Guo Xiaodie jumped in fright. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the two of them in terror, and cried out, "You’re in this together? What are you going to do? Don’t you dare try anything! My Guo Family’s people are all over this mountain!"

Xu Ying’s expression suddenly changed. He leaped to their side and shouted, "Lord Zhong!"

Guo Xiaodie screamed in terror, thinking he was about to assault her. But at that exact moment, countless pythons of flesh and blood flew up from below, slithering onto the rocks. Then, a huge chunk of flesh, dripping with putrid blood, leaped up, about to crush them all beneath it!

"GONG!"

A great bell flew out from behind Xu Ying’s head. The patterns of all creation appeared on the bell’s inner wall, while all sorts of strange symbols materialized on its outer wall. As the bell chimed, a thick wall of light appeared and expanded outward, layer by layer. In an instant, a symphony of Dao Sounds erupted, blocking the pythons of flesh and blood.

When the flesh-pythons touched the wall of light projected by the bell, they made a SIZZLING sound and were scorched black, forcing them to retreat.

Meanwhile, more flesh-pythons crawled up from below, swarming toward the Phoenix Tree.

On the Phoenix Tree were many Nuo Masters comprehending the various Divine Bird Dao Images. Among them were Nuo Masters from the Cangwu Sect, as well as disciples of the Royal Family and the Guo Family. They were thrown into a panic, and the casualties were heavy.

Seeing this, the beautiful woman and her husband finally realized that Xu Ying hadn’t been lying. They hurriedly put up a desperate resistance.

The Divine Birds nesting in the Phoenix Tree also took flight, battling the flesh-pythons. Flesh-pythons were continuously severed and burned to ash, but some Divine Birds were also caught by the pythons and dragged into the mass of flesh.

More and more rotting flesh crawled up from the cliffs, gradually engulfing the Phoenix Tree and climbing higher up its trunk.

The beautiful woman and her husband fought relentlessly, their hearts filled with shock and anger. "What in the world is this thing that crawled out of the Great Abyss?"

Beside the Phoenix, the three Cyan Birds with Treasure Beads hovering above their heads looked up at the dark cloud in the sky. The colossal creature within the cloud let out a thunderous roar and suddenly lunged toward the Phoenix Tree!

The three Cyan Birds spread their wings and soared into the air, their Qi Blood surging like a tidal wave. The light from the Treasure Beads above their heads erupted, pushed to its absolute limit by the three birds!

They were fueling the Treasure Beads with their very lives. Even if their bodies were smashed to pieces, they had to stop the great beast in the cloud!

At the same time, the chime of Da Zhong happened to ring out. The colossal beast in the cloud, its Fierce Qi raging, suddenly shuddered upon hearing the bell. It hurriedly raised its head and looked toward the source of the sound.

In the instant It was distracted, the Treasure Beads launched by the three Cyan Birds struck, blasting three gruesome, bloody holes through its body!

The three Cyan Birds shrieked, their sharp talons gouging at the great beast’s eyes. The beast roared in pain and swiped with its own claws, tearing the three Cyan Birds apart. At that exact moment, the Juvenile Phoenix shot forward, her body like a sword, and pierced through the front of the beast’s head and out the back, skewering its skull!

"You ambushed me!"

The colossal beast roared in fury. It summoned a storm of blood and thunder and howled away. In an instant, the sky cleared, becoming as blue as if it had been washed clean. The dark clouds and crackling lightning from moments before seemed like nothing more than an illusion!

Around the Phoenix Tree, the flesh-pythons that had been wildly attacking the Divine Birds and Nuo Masters suddenly lost all Activity. The pythons collapsed one after another, and the mass of flesh lost all its Vitality, emitting a foul, rotting stench.

Da Zhong, which was in the middle of fending off the siege of flesh, was also taken aback when it suddenly withered and decayed.

It heard the colossal beast’s furious roar as it fled and was stunned. ’That was the Venerable Celestial God my master sealed in the Stone Mountain Well!’

Just then, a pleasant voice sounded in Xu Ying’s ear. "Thank you, Daoist Brother. You truly have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You said you wouldn’t save me, but you still took action."

Xu Ying recognized the voice as the Juvenile Phoenix’s and froze. ’Wait a minute,’ he thought, ’when did I save her?’

The Juvenile Phoenix’s voice continued, soft and low, "Please wait a few days, Daoist Brother. After this little one has recovered from her injuries, I will meet with you again."