The Rising Phoenix

Bai Xifeng remembered that she still had to cook for Tao-chan. Without wasting another moment, she hurried to the kitchen and began the labour-intensive process of preparing the meal.

Because she was preparing such a vast array of dishes, it took her nearly three hours to complete everything. By the time she finished, the sky had already turned dark, and the night had quietly settled in. Carrying the prepared dishes, she made her way to the gazebo, where she saw Ji Yuan sitting calmly, his fingers lightly brushing over the strings of the guqin as a soft melody filled the air.

"Teacher Ji, it is a little late, but let us eat dinner," Bai Xifeng said warmly.

Ji Yuan waved his hand, and the guqin vanished into his inner world. Bai Xifeng then began to take out the dishes one by one from her storage rune, carefully placing them onto the table until it was completely filled.

"It is a lot of food." Ji Yuan commented, his gaze lingering on the impressive spread before him.

"Most of them are for Tao-chan." Bai Xifeng explained casually.

"Oh..." Ji Yuan responded.

He remembered Bai Xifeng’s promise to cook a massive feast for Taotie. She truly was a person of her word. At first, he had thought she had only said it to coax Taotie in that moment, but it seemed she had taken that promise far more seriously than he had expected.

Bai Xifeng called Tao-chan out. The moment Tao-chan appeared and saw the table filled with food, his eyes instantly lit up with excitement as he rushed over and took his seat without hesitation.

"Eat it. It’s yours." Bai Xifeng said with a faint smile.

Tao-chan immediately dug in without restraint. Meanwhile, Bai Xifeng and Ji Yuan served themselves their own portions and began eating as well.

....

The next day, Bai Xifeng went to the Quest Building to check on the quests available for her to take. As she stood before the quest board, scanning through the listings, someone suddenly called out her name. When she turned around, she saw a man smiling at her.

However, she did not remember this person at all. She tried to recall, searching through her memories, but there was nothing. No matter how hard she thought, she still had no recollection of him. She truly did not remember this person.

"You... You don’t remember me?" The man asked in disbelief, clearly stunned.

He had not expected Bai Xifeng to completely forget him. Was his face truly that unremarkable? He had always believed that his appearance was outstanding, comparable to that of the crown prince of the Liuyin Empire. Many girls admired him and dreamed of becoming his crown princess.

He had even refused when his parents attempted to arrange a betrothal with the daughters of ministers in his kingdom. At first, he rejected them because he wanted to focus on his cultivation. However, after meeting Bai Xifeng, he rejected them for an entirely different reason. He wanted Bai Xifeng to become his crown princess instead.

"I am sorry. I think I do not know you." Bai Xifeng said calmly.

"I am the Crown Prince of Hediong Kingdom, Zou Weizhe." Zou Weizhe introduced himself, his tone carrying a hint of pride.

"Oh...." Bai Xifeng replied flatly.

Her tone turned slightly colder the moment she heard that he was a crown prince. She could not help but associate him with that bastard, Liu Jun.

Zou Weizhe noticed the subtle change in Bai Xifeng’s demeanour. However, he chose to ignore it as if nothing had happened.

"Well, what are you doing here, Lady Bai?" Zou Weizhe asked politely.

"I am checking the quests." Bai Xifeng replied briefly.

Her eyes had already finished scanning the quest board, and she had a rough idea of what she wanted.

"Why don’t you join my group?" Zou Weizhe offered with a smile.

"No, thank you." Bai Xifeng rejected the invitation without hesitation.

"You should be grateful that we are inviting you to join our group!" A girl’s voice suddenly rang out as she stepped forward and scolded Bai Xifeng.

Bai Xifeng turned her head and saw a group of students standing behind Zou Weizhe. Among them, a girl was glaring at her with obvious hostility.

"I do not even know you. Why should I accept your invitation?" Bai Xifeng scoffed lightly.

She quickly observed the group, three boys and four girls in total.

"A girl like you... I can already tell that you are weak. When a group of strong students invites you to join, you should be grateful." The girl continued, her tone filled with disdain as she looked down on Bai Xifeng.

"Oh... You are strong?" Bai Xifeng said slowly, a faint grin forming on her lips.

In the very next second, the girl was suddenly forced to her knees under an overwhelming pressure.

"Zhilan!"

Everyone called out in shock.

A moment later, the pressure disappeared as abruptly as it had come. Jin Zhilan gasped slightly, finally able to breathe again.

"I thought, from the way you spoke, you were truly strong. But it seems you are not worth much at all." Bai Xifeng said calmly as she looked down at Jin Zhilan, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Her companions hurried over to help Jin Zhilan stand up. Jin Zhilan glared at Bai Xifeng, her eyes filled with humiliation and hatred.

"You!!!" Jin Zhilan gritted her teeth, her entire body trembling.

"I do not have time to waste on you." Bai Xifeng said indifferently.

She then took a quest slip from the board and walked toward the registration counter.

"I want to take on this quest." Bai Xifeng stated.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko*