Yao Ranran watched their shocked and exaggerated expressions and could not help but shake her head.
"Cluck cluck cluck!
The phoenix lifted its head proudly. Even though it had grown so fat that its neck could no longer be seen, in its heart it was overjoyed. After living here for so long, finally someone was amazed at its true identity as a divine beast Phoenix!
"Phoenix… Elder Nie, you are not mistaken, right?"
Zhou Lili could hardly believe that the fat wild chicken in front of her was actually a phoenix.
Nie Rong propped himself against the doorframe and stood up. "No mistake. This is indeed a Phoenix! Look at its tail feathers. That color is unique to the Phoenix!"
Zhou Lili and Meng Xiangxiang looked together. The Phoenix let out a clear cry, its dazzling tail feathers brushing across the roof of the Taoist temple, leaving behind a streak of glorious radiance.
The two of them held their breath.
"This really is a divine beast Phoenix…!"
Nie Rong's pupils quivered as he looked at Yao Ranran. For the first half of his life, he had indeed gone down the wrong path and acknowledged the wrong master!
"Master, you are my true master!"
With a thud, Nie Rong fell to his knees and kowtowed toward Yao Ranran.
Startled, Yao Ranran glanced back, quickly grabbed the violet dragon, and hurried back inside the house. These three… had they been bullied senseless by people from the Central Domain? Not daring to linger, she vanished into her room in an instant.
Meng Xiangxiang also unconsciously dropped to his knees. His surrender came purely from admiration of the Fairy's power.
…
When Yao Ranran's flying boat descended upon Gu Ling Mountain, the villagers soon noticed it.
Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin, upon hearing the news, immediately put down their bowls and chopsticks and excused themselves from their host.
"Physician Ye, we must return now. It should be that Boss has returned!"
Xiao Rong jumped down from the stool and cupped his hands toward Pu Yehai.
Tang Xiangyin also gave a polite salute. "Many thanks for your hospitality, Physician Ye. We will return tomorrow!"
Pu Yehai forced a pale smile. "Fairy Tang, Young Master Rong, you are both welcome to return tomorrow as guests. If Fairy Ranran herself could come and taste your cooking, it would be wonderful. I have not seen her for many days."
Gratitude flickered in Tang Xiangyin's eyes. "Physician Ye has taught me much about the culinary arts. If Fairy Ranran has time, I will certainly bring her here to taste the dishes."
Pu Yehai's smile grew faintly deeper. "It is only because Fairy Tang has talent. Otherwise, I could not have taught you. Very well, then I shall wait for the three of you again tomorrow."
"Thank you, Physician Ye. We take our leave!"
Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin offered a proper farewell and left his home.
Outside.
A villager glanced indifferently at Pu Yehai, then casually turned back into Jiang Shengxiang's house.
"Village Chief, tomorrow Physician Ye plans to invite Fairy Ranran to his home to taste Fairy Tang's cooking."
Jiang Shengxiang narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard. "Good, I know. Continue to watch him. I believe I already know who his target is."
"Yes!"
The villager left. Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin returned to Gu Ling Mountain.
"A dragon?!"
Both of them widened their eyes, faces filled with disbelief.
Nie Rong's expression was complicated. "Yes. That is indeed a dragon."
"Then who is he?" Xiao Rong pointed at the uneasy young man.
Nie Rong looked at him seriously. "Master said he is a ghostly being, a type of fierce ghost."
"Fierce ghost?" Xiao Rong gasped.
Tang Xiangyin too was a ghost cultivator, but the resentment within her body was not heavy, and she was far from the level of a powerful fierce ghost.
"Wow, then that means we are companions!"
Tang Xiangyin excitedly grabbed Meng Xiangxiang's hand, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Meng Xiangxiang froze, bewildered, and looked at Nie Rong.
Nie Rong was also dumbfounded, then suddenly realized. "Fairy Tang… you are a ghost cultivator?"
Tang Xiangyin smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am a ghost cultivator."
Nie Rong clicked his tongue. Gu Ling Mountain truly hid crouching tigers and hidden dragons. This girl had no visible ghostly aura at all, yet she had even deceived his eyes!
Meng Xiangxiang looked at Tang Xiangyin holding his hand, and his nose suddenly stung. Fairy Sister's friends were just as kind as Fairy Sister herself. If his mother could see this from the underworld, she would surely feel happy for him!
While Xiao Rong and the others conversed in the courtyard, Zhou Lili descended the mountain and returned to Biliu Sect.
Meanwhile, Yao Ranran received a transmission talisman from Jiang Shengxiang.
"Fairy Ranran, that cultivator named Ye Hai returned to Longyin Village not long after you left. He now resides at his old dwelling. In recent days he has been drawing closer to Rong-yé and Fairy Tang, intending for them to bring you to his house tomorrow.
Shall we follow his plan, or seize him tonight?"
Yao Ranran listened to the voice in the talisman and glanced at the violet dragon by her side.
"No need to startle him. Tomorrow I will go to his home and see what tricks he intends to play."
She crushed the talisman in her hand and tossed it out the window.
"Ye Hai… just what purpose does this man have in coming to Longyin Village?"
Looking out the window at the desolate Lone Star Peak, a sudden thought flashed through her mind. She muttered softly to herself, then cast out another transmission talisman from Gu Ling Mountain.
"The war in the Eastern Wilderness… it is time to find an opportunity to end it."
She gently caressed the violet dragon's head. A vast aura began to surge from within her body, startling the four in the courtyard as well as the Phoenix.
All voices outside fell silent.
Nie Rong's pupils shook. "This… could it be that Fairy is about to break through?"
Inside the room, Yao Ranran sat cross-legged. The massive violet dragon coiled protectively around her, releasing a soul-shaking dragon roar into the sky.
The sound carried with it the pressure of a true dragon, stirring up a thousand layers of surging waves.
Nie Rong stared at the violet qi erupting from the room. His two fingers flicked, and a transmission talisman shot out toward the mountains beyond.
Xiao Rong's hair whipped about in the pressure. He frowned. "Nie trickster, what are you doing?"
Nie Rong froze. Xiao Rong still did not know his true identity!
"Hahaha, Master's breakthrough is stimulating the pure violet qi of the supreme spiritual vein. I am calling the Zhou father and daughter over so they too can benefit, absorbing some of this spiritual energy that would otherwise vanish into the heavens and earth."
Xiao Rong blinked in confusion.
Tang Xiangyin immediately understood. She pulled Xiao Rong down to sit cross-legged.
"Xiao Rong, do not worry about the details. All you need to know is that cultivating here will help us break through."
She did not bother explaining further, for she knew even if she did, Xiao Rong might not comprehend.
"Ohhh, Xiao Tang, you are really clever!"
Nie Rong: "…" Wasn't that exactly what he had just said?
The outside world had already vanished from Yao Ranran's awareness. She closed her eyes. Before her floated an old scripture, usually serving as a table weight, now radiating golden light.
It was the Thousand Layer Qi Refinement Scripture.
Without wind, the book opened by itself, its pages flipping one after another. Golden characters leapt out of the text and streamed into Yao Ranran's mind.
Her expression grew pained. Her meridians continuously expanded as streams of violet qi poured into her dantian, forming a vast ocean.
Thousand Layer Qi Refinement meant her body accumulated layer upon layer of spiritual energy, her foundation incomparably deep. Outwardly her realm showed no change, but her constitution underwent a complete transformation.
With such a foundation laid, a breakthrough would be effortless, requiring only the right opportunity.
And before her, this supreme spiritual vein contained boundless, pure spiritual qi.