At this moment, Yao Ranran's heart was weighed with countless doubts. She tucked those questions deep inside, waiting for the day they could finally be unraveled.
After surveying the entire terrain, she discovered a shrine, the Ranxian Shrine, built halfway up Longyin Village's mountain slope. Its presence did not surprise her much.
Back when she had been receiving faith power daily, she already suspected that Jiang Shengxiang had done something in secret.
Now, seeing the shrine with her own eyes, the pieces fell neatly into place. Having finished her inspection of the ten li surrounding, she returned to Gu Ling Mountain.
As the sun set beyond the western peaks, Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin also made their way back to the Daoist temple. The two children played for a while on the swings, then sat idly on the stone benches.
Night gradually climbed across the sky.
Xiao Rong peered into the temple and exclaimed, startled, "Boss still hasn't come back!"
Tang Xiangyin tilted her head. "Is Fairy Ranran only coming back tomorrow?"
"Gu gu gu!" From somewhere in the shadows, the phoenix suddenly bounded out, shaking its head at them.
Xiao Rong immediately understood. "Da Huang says Boss will be back tonight!"
"Really? How does it know that?" Tang Xiangyin looked at the phoenix with suspicion.
The phoenix shook its head harder.
No, not tonight—she was already back!
Xiao Rong stared at the bird's nodding head, then solemnly concluded, "Mm, mm, mm. It says Boss told it herself!"
"Gu gu gu!" The phoenix flapped its wings furiously, round eyes glaring at Xiao Rong.
That was not what it meant at all!
Tang Xiangyin, however, believed him. "As long as Fairy Ranran is back tonight, that's good. Without her staying here, I get uneasy… I'm still a little afraid of the black fog below the mountain."
"Why would you be scared of that…" Xiao Rong suddenly had a thought. "Xiao Tang, are you afraid there are monsters in the black fog that will eat you up?"
Tang Xiangyin's pupils trembled. "I'm not some kind of treasure. Why would the black fog want to eat me?"
Xiao Rong narrowed his eyes at her. "Xiao Tang, you must be hiding something. Every time you touch water, it turns strange and brims with spiritual energy. Just what kind of constitution do you have?"
Tang Xiangyin averted her gaze. "Xiao Rong, I'm just an ordinary human. What secrets could I possibly have?"
Xiao Rong puffed out his cheeks in protest. "I don't believe you. Did Boss tell you not to tell me?"
"Gu gu gu!" The phoenix also longed to speak up.
It too was certain this girl was not ordinary.
The first time it had accidentally tasted Tang Xiangyin's blood, its entire body was flooded with boundless power, a rush so overwhelming that it nearly spread its wings and soared straight into the heavens.
Even now, that taste lingered in its memory, making its beak twitch with hunger.
The phoenix licked its beak, eyes glinting greedily.
Feeling both boy and bird staring at her with burning intensity, Tang Xiangyin shivered, instinctively stepping back to put distance between them.
"Xiao Rong, I really have no secret. I'm just a human. If I were something else, say a spirit grass, you would have sniffed it out immediately!"
Her eyes darted nervously after she said that.
Xiao Rong rubbed his chin, eyeing her seriously.
"That's true! Da Huang, let's stop suspecting Xiao Tang. She's right—there isn't a single spiritual herb I can't smell!" He puffed his chest out proudly.
The phoenix gave him a dubious look. Somehow, it did not trust that confidence one bit.
Tang Xiangyin covered her smile with her sleeve. As expected, Xiao Rong was easy to fool. Thank goodness she had diverted their suspicion.
The crescent moon climbed the branches, stars glittering like scattered pearls.
Yao Ranran returned to the Taoist temple under moonlight.
By then Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin were already asleep. The phoenix darted out of the kitchen, rushing to her side.
Yao Ranran rubbed its head. "Hungry? There's food in the kitchen, isn't there?"
The phoenix presented a spirit fruit, nodding obediently.
She noticed the stash of fruit hidden under its wings and took it.
"This must be from Biliu Sect. Not much spiritual energy inside, but the flavor is good enough."
With that, she bit into it and finished the fruit within moments.
The phoenix tried to follow her into the room, but Yao Ranran shut the door firmly behind her.
"Tomorrow I'll sort out a room for you. For tonight, you'll have to make do elsewhere."
The door closed without mercy.
The phoenix drooped its head dejectedly. How had it, a divine beast, fallen to such a sorry state?
It longed to unfurl its true form and cry aloud beneath the heavens, but under Yao Ranran's oppressive aura, it dared not even think of trying.
Inside, Yao Ranran quickly settled herself and lay down.
Her thoughts wandered back to what Lu Ziqian had said about the war. With the Tiansha Lonely Star Constitution and a false core, he likely would not fall so easily on the battlefield.
But Suohong Tower and Yun Gu Sect, after devouring Mingxia Sect's forces, were badly weakened. Did they have the strength to overturn the battle's tide?
Though she had sold them inside information, she knew little of their actual ability.
"In a few days, the result will be clear… Sect master Zhou should also be out of seclusion by now. His daughter is still in Central Continent…
I need to find a way to bring them back tomorrow." Her thoughts drifted aimlessly until sleep claimed her.
Within the protection of the great formation, two villages and a sect all slept soundly that night.
On a mountaintop, Zhou Shengqian stood alone, gazing at the black fog shrouding Gu Ling Mountain's peak. "Fairy Ranran truly is Biliu Sect's greatest benefactor."
Never had he imagined his Golden Core breakthrough would go so smoothly. Without the pill refined from phoenix blood, he would never have escaped the inner demons that plagued his heart.
At the critical moment when his liquefied qi began to coalesce into a core, his energy nearly collapsed, his meridians faltered, and death loomed near.
Fortunately, the phoenix pill's medicinal strength erupted, dragging him back from the very edge.
The thought of failure chilled him. If not for that pill, he might have perished in that secret chamber, his life ended in silence. The terror of it sent shivers racing through him, his hairs standing on end. "No more. I never want to feel that horror again."
The cold wind whispered over the cliffs as Zhou Shengqian vanished back toward Biliu Sect. His speed now was more than triple what it had once been. The gulf between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core was truly vast.
Before dawn even broke, Yao Ranran's eyes opened.
An Xiaolin had not appeared during the night. She scanned the room, summoned her flying vessel, and activated the teleportation staff.
Each transfer cost tens of thousands of spirit stones, but she was resolved. Today, she would rescue Zhou Lili and her companion.
-
Central Continent.
"Physician Zhou? Physician Zhou?"
Zhou Lili stirred groggily awake. A hand withdrew from her cheek.
"Physician Zhou, we need to leave this place quickly!"
Nie Rong turned and opened the stone gate.
Zhou Lili's eyes snapped wide as she looked down at her freed hands.
"How did you unlock it?"
Nie Rong gave a small laugh. "The elders of Wuxiang Sect, the number one sect in Central Continent, are no fools. I do have some skill of my own. But this is no time for explanations. We must hurry!"
The stone gate rumbled fully open.
Without further delay, Zhou Lili rushed after him.
As they slipped outside, Nie Rong flung two Phantom Talismans into the chamber. They landed where they had been bound, and in an instant two illusory doubles appeared, faces slack, eyes staring blankly at a single point.