Early the next morning, Taiwu Xixi was strolling on the plains with Xiao Monü, and after walking for a while, she found Simon lying on a bluestone by the roadside.
"Hehe, Buddhist Son, were you homeless last night?"
"Yes."
"You command the world, yet you don't even have a bed to sleep on?"
"Naughty." Simon shook his head, not intending to continue this boring topic.
Xiao Monü raised her sleeve to hide her smile, and Taiwu Xixi pouted, "How am I naughty? I'm just worried about you."
"Let's go to the next Sword Tomb."
The second Sword Tomb, Phoenix Cocoon.
Above a wilderness, a towering ancient tomb stood solemnly, enveloped in intense golden light, with faintly visible carved beams and painted pillars. Deep within the Sword Tomb, there seemed to be a large cocoon, with countless golden silkworms moving across its surface, appearing extraordinarily divine.
The stone tablet in front of the tomb read: Phoenix Cocoon.
The phoenix is divided into male and female: the male is the Feng, and the female is the Huang. This Divine Bird has a head like a wild goose, a body like a Qilin, a neck like a snake, a tail like a fish, a chin like a swallow, a beak like a chicken, and five colors on its body. Its head bears "Virtue," its belly "Trust," its back "Propriety," its chest "Benevolence," its wings "Righteousness," its feet "Justice," and its tail "Martial." Its light cry is like clashing gold and vibrating jade, and its heavy cry is like beating drums shaking the heavens.
The phoenix is immortal, completing a cycle every four thousand six hundred days, returning every four thousand six hundred days, flowing in cycles, endlessly regenerating.
When the Divine Bird appears, a sage arrives. The phoenix descends to the world to seek a sage and can be called an auspicious omen.
Simon had always had a deep suspicion after hearing about the phoenix's image: why would a bird have various characters on its body? Could it be that it was raised by humans, and its owner, for good fortune, would paste characters on this beautiful large bird—it had a sense of low-quality absurdity.
The three slowly walked towards the Sword Tomb, and the closer they got, the golden light enveloping it seemed to sense danger, flickering intensely, making it hard for people to open their eyes.
Simon gently reprimanded, and the golden light shattered, turning into a misty fog, swirling in wisps around the palaces and pavilions.
After a few steps, three people rushed out of a small building, shouting and killing. The woman in front called herself Huanmu, and the two behind were both Qu Shan.
As usual, he transcended their demonic obstacles, and the three turned to ash and vanished.
Taiwu Xixi ran into the small building ahead and found some stone tablets and calligraphic works, all masterpieces, drawing exclamations of admiration.
As they went deeper, they constantly encountered some Xiangxu minions, noticeably stronger than those in the first Sword Tomb.
Many had already begun to mutate, for example, one person, claiming to be the Manifestation of the Demonic Heart, bared his chest, which was covered with ghost faces, and shrieked sharply.
Taiwu Xixi, after all, was a novice in the martial world, and her movements were not very agile. Although she inherited the cultivation of previous Taishi—which wasn't much—compared to disciples of renowned sects, she was roughly at the level of a Ran Mountain Three Sects successor.
However, whenever she faced an enemy, she always had ingenious inspirations and spiritual insights, striking with agile and continuous movements, always able to defeat her opponents and win against stronger foes. This was thanks to her fortune from her previous life.
Sun Lichai was also known as the chief of the Fourteen Venerables back then, and her martial arts were so profound that even the current sect masters could not hope to match her.
Xiao Monü obediently stayed behind Simon, only looking around, appearing somewhat bewildered.
They arrived at the depths of the Sword Tomb, where there was a grand hall, cast in crimson gold, covered with patterns, beautiful and magnificent. There was an opening on the main door that required the Fuyu Sword Hilt to unseal.
Taiwu Xixi held the sword and stepped forward, unsealing it. With a loud boom, the main door opened, and a strangely dressed woman emerged. Her clothes were golden, as if woven from the sun in the sky. The woman's face had a brilliant, innocent, and childlike smile, and she was carrying a jar of fine wine in one hand.
She immediately asked, "I ask you, in this current era, is there a sage? I couldn't wait for a sage, so I came out to search. Let me test if you have the talent of a sage, how about it?"
After she spoke, she lifted the pot with her left hand and drank heartily, while the long sword in her right hand radiated light, transforming into a sharp golden saber, which she haphazardly slashed towards Taiwu Xixi.
Simon flicked his finger, shattering the golden saber. The force did not diminish, sending the woman flying.
The woman fell to the ground, saw Simon, and cried out in surprise, "Jinhuang'er has seen a sage!" She laughed loudly, coughing up blood incessantly, and raised the wine jar, intending to offer it to the Buddhist Son, but ultimately collapsed in a pool of blood, losing her breath.
Taiwu Xixi frowned, "Buddhist Son, you're too mean! I still wanted to talk to her!" In the little girl's eyes, the mature Sword Tomb eccentrics were completely different from their childish selves, and Simon had deprived them of their personalities.
"You can talk later, it's all the same."
Jinhuang'er vanished, leaving behind a sword hilt, which was a fragment of the Phoenix Cocoon.
The Divine Sword Phoenix Cocoon, containing the divine ability "Seven Characters, Five Colors," corresponds to the phoenix's divine uniqueness. Its effect is to continuously increase the wielder's true qi, and once the true qi realm reaches a certain height, the enemy cannot harm the sword wielder at all. It is a Divine Sword that grows stronger the more it fights.
With the death of the eccentric, the vast Sword Tomb began to vibrate violently and slowly dissipate.
That faint scene emerged before their eyes. Jinhuang'er searched everywhere for a sage in the human world but was hurt by people again and again. From childhood to adulthood, to old age, her original intention remained unchanged; she never died, never gave up, reincarnating again and again, only to find the sage who would save the world.
"Trapped by shackles, unable to be free. But it may not be a bad thing." Simon shook his head. The phoenix's nature dominated this girl's life, and this nature, in fact, was merely an assigned mission. The phoenix clan keeps its promises, never violating them, possessing a noble character beyond mortal imagination.
After the Sword Tomb dissipated, Simon took the Phoenix Cocoon fragment, intending to use his divine ability to revive the eccentric.
Taiwu Xixi saw Xiao Monü's curious expression and thought she couldn't let her realize that she was also a sword hilt transformed. So, she blocked the little girl's sight and started chatting with her to distract her.
Simon, as usual, tossed the sword hilt forward. In the brilliant golden light, seven red-eyed golden silkworms emerged from thin air, spinning silk to weave a cocoon at an extremely fast speed. Then, a young girl broke out of the cocoon, dressed in brocade, wearing a necklace, with two braided pigtails, a wine gourd hanging from her waist, and a radiant smile on her face, "Hehehe, you are a sage! Jinhuang'er is so lucky, she found a sage as soon as she went out!"
Taiwu Xixi turned her head and saw Xiao Huang'er, immediately delighted. Xiao Monü also secretly peeked out, and seeing the bouncing little girl clinging to the Buddhist Son's sleeve, she unconsciously gently caressed the pearl hairpin hanging from her head, her posture shy and melancholic.
Taiwu Xixi clapped her hands, "Alright, alright, Momo, you have a new friend. Get along well, okay?"
In contrast, Xiao Monü liked to stay by Taishi's side, while Xiao Huang'er was happy to cling to Simon. The two little girls barely spoke to each other.
Taiwu Xixi, seeing the second young eccentric, was clearly in an excited state. What kind of Sword Tomb was this? It was simply a treasure trove! It could produce so many little cuties.
"Buddhist Son, Buddhist Son! Hurry, let's go to the next one!"
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