The Council Grand Hall of Dust Sword Palace.
Sword Heart Pavilion.
The sect master’s closed-door disciple and the sect’s Senior Brother, Fang Guyuan, was reporting on the purge before the elders, with Junior Sister Ye Baizhi at his side occasionally adding a few words.
“The most important point is that while searching near the Immortal King Sect, we unexpectedly discovered a woman with a ‘Phoenix Body.’ She appears to have countless ties to the Immortal King Sect.”
Fang Guyuan’s expression did not change.
“‘Phoenix Body’?! Is it the Phoenix Body Fangfei Valley has been searching for all this time?”
Third Elder Wang Siyuan suddenly widened his eyes, joy rising to his brows.
“Now they owe us a huge favor! We must quickly notify the other sects of this news! This is a major matter for the entire immortal dao!”
“Absolutely certain. Baizhi has already given her a rough examination. Green snake pupils, phoenix body, hair like snow—all three outward features match. We are currently sending people to give her a detailed full-body examination and should soon have a general picture of her physical condition. It’s just that…”
“Just that what?”
Great Elder Xie Annan furrowed his brow.
“It’s just that this Phoenix Body has already been refined into a human gu by the Immortal King Sect, and the refining time looks to have been more than ten years… I’m afraid it is already… too far gone to turn back…”
Seeing Fang Guyuan’s face turn ashen and unwilling to speak, Ye Baizhi hurriedly supplemented, her voice growing quieter as she went.
Hearing these words, every sect master and elder present wore a solemn expression.
Throughout history, before a great calamity in the cultivation world, capable and extraordinary people would always arise in response to destiny.
Among all kinds of special constitutions, the “Phoenix Body” and the “Dragon Sovereign” were the two most special.
Once they appeared in the world, it meant a great calamity would surely befall the cultivation world within a hundred years.
The “Dragon Sovereign” was still manageable.
They had always come from the dragon-bloodline of the Fang family of Penglai Immortal Island.
When they came of age and passed the Fang family’s coming-of-age ceremony, they could awaken the power of the Dragon Sovereign.
But the “Phoenix Body” was different.
Every appearance of a Phoenix Body was a random unknown.
It could not be calculated by divination, and there was no pattern to follow.
One could only leave it to fate.
The greatest use of the Phoenix Body lay in her own powerful self-healing ability.
Fangfei Valley sought the Phoenix Body so that she could test medicines with her own body, neutralize and activate the properties of all rare treasures, and refine a “Spirit Phoenix” that could provide powerful healing effects to tens of thousands of people, in order to respond to the life-and-death great calamity of the cultivation world.
But now, the Phoenix Body had been refined into a human gu.
Not only could she no longer benefit the myriad people, she had instead become an endless source of harm, a “Poison Phoenix” that would endanger a region if left unrestricted.
The birth of the Phoenix Body meant the great calamity was already near.
Yet the immortal dao not only lacked this destiny-blessed aid, it had instead gained a disaster that urgently needed to be handled…
Faced with such news, the elders of Dust Sword Palace truly could not feel happy.
In the end, it was Sect Master Ye Fengzou who made the decision.
“How about this. First take the Phoenix Body to Fangfei Valley to see if she can be treated. If that really doesn’t work, go to the Spirit Immortal Sect and take a look. I recall the Immortal King Sect was a heretical branch that rebelled from the Spirit Immortal Sect and founded its own path. The Poison Phoenix they created might have some method that the Spirit Immortal Sect, which also studies gu arts, can use. If that still doesn’t work, then deal with her.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
Fang Guyuan cupped his hands respectfully in salute, smiled faintly, yet did not withdraw.
“There is one more matter.”
“What?”
Seeing Fang Guyuan’s expression, Ye Fengzou’s face also became a little unnatural.
He could roughly guess what this closed-door disciple of his was going to say again.
“In this purge of the Immortal King Sect, more than a hundred artifacts were damaged, more than twenty spirit tools were damaged… the remaining spoils of war are still being inventoried by the disciples within the sect…”
Before Fang Guyuan could finish, Ye Fengzou waved his hand.
“I know. Reimburse whatever should be reimbursed. As long as no one is hurt, it’s fine.”
“Many thanks, Sect Master Ye.”
Having obtained the answer he wanted, Fang Guyuan smiled in understanding.
“Father~”
Ye Baizhi smiled prettily and called out coquettishly.
“In eradicating the scourge of the Immortal King Sect this time, Senior Brother’s contributions cannot be overlooked. Everyone in the sect knows his pockets have always been tight…”
“Alright, alright, alright. Whatever rewards are due will not be missing for you. Everyone who participated in the operation will be rewarded according to merit within the sect. Your Senior Brother isn’t even anxious, so what are you anxious about. Aiya~ my precious daughter really knows how to think about spending money for her father, haha.”
Ye Fengzou shook his head while smiling with doting affection, as if he could do nothing about his well-behaved daughter.
At these words, the elders present could not help laughing aloud.
“You two withdraw first. Pay more attention to the Phoenix Body’s situation. We still have other matters to discuss.”
Outside the hall.
The delicate and charming Ye Baizhi looked toward Fang Guyuan and muttered.
“Senior Brother, now that the Phoenix Body has appeared in the world, shouldn’t the Dragon Sovereign appear as well? I remember the records say that in the past the Dragon Sovereign always appeared before the Phoenix Body. Why hasn’t he come out even now… It’s really strange. Is the Fang family of Penglai capable or not?”
“I don’t know.”
Fang Guyuan shook his head.
“Perhaps some accident has occurred. The Dragon Sovereign inheritance doesn’t seem to be such a simple matter either.”
Ye Baizhi’s eyes lit up.
“Eh, Senior Brother, speaking of which, your surname is Fang, and the Fang family of Penglai is also surnamed Fang. Could it be that…”
“You’re overthinking it. Sharing a surname doesn’t mean coming from the same branch. There are plenty of people with the same surname in this world. It’s not like your family’s rare surname.”
Fang Guyuan could not help finding it funny.
“I’ve heard that the children of the Penglai Fang family are all born into fine clothes and jade meals. If I were truly a descendant of the Dragon Sovereign, why wouldn’t I cultivate my natal dragon pearl in the Penglai main family instead of coming to Dust Sword Palace to practice the sword? I simply don’t have that good fortune.”
“That’s true, hehe.”
Ye Baizhi stuck out her tongue.
“Time is pressing. We should first go see the Phoenix Body who was refined into a human gu. I don’t know how her examination is going either.”
Fang Guyuan urged, quickening his pace.
…
After listening to the report of the physician who had completed the Phoenix Body’s physical examination, Fang Guyuan’s brows furrowed deeply, and his voice rose several degrees.
“You’re saying she only has one extra life left?!”
According to legend, a phoenix had nine five-colored tail plumes in total.
Each time it died, one tail feather would fall away and it would nirvana and be reborn.
The owner of a Phoenix Body could even gift the number of rebirths she possessed to others.
In order to respond to heavenly disasters and great calamities, a Phoenix Body would often bestow these hard-won chances at rebirth upon the outstanding figures of the immortal dao, so that if an accident occurred they could recover in time and the loss of peak combat power would not be affected.
Precisely because of this, the appearance of a Phoenix Body was a matter the entire immortal dao regarded with extreme importance.
But she now had only one chance at rebirth left?!
Without the trump card of rebirth, it meant that before the great powers of the immortal dao acted they would all have to weigh things carefully and could no longer act freely as they had when facing previous great calamities.
“What on earth happened?”
Ye Baizhi also asked.
“It’s like this. Even though a Phoenix Body possesses an extremely powerful self-healing ability, the… the number of gu insects and poisons the Immortal King Sect cultivated on her body is still too great.”
The moment this was mentioned, Physician Li Suxin let out a long sigh, her brows and eyes full of reluctance, and she kept gasping as she recalled the scene from that time.
“In my entire life I’ve only seen a few dozen kinds of gu insects. This is truly the first time I’ve seen over a thousand kinds of gu poison all on one person, and I’m afraid it will also be the only time.”
“Do you know, that child can no longer be called human. She is a human-shaped gu-nest monster!”
“The moment I touched the hard lumps on her skin with tweezers, that skin immediately broke, and densely packed little insects crawled out from inside, covering heaven and earth, panicked and flustered, flowing out like running water! From the table where her hand lay, all the way until the entire ceiling and entire floor were covered! The vast majority of the varieties inside I had never even seen! Do you know I nearly fainted from fright at the time?!”
“She said that for as long as she can remember, she has been like this.”
Li Suxin’s expression held both terror and heartache.
“Think about it. A child, treated from a young age as food and nourishment for poisons. How strong can a child’s resistance be? The deadly toxins in there were enough to kill me hundreds of times… no, thousands of times! Even if she is a Phoenix Body, she couldn’t withstand it! I’m afraid that during the process of being refined into a human gu, the poison erupted and she died, and when she came back to life the evil cult continued… ai…”
The more Li Suxin spoke, the more her emotions collapsed, and even her crossed, stacked hands were trembling.
“I feel my mental state isn’t good either. I have to apply to the sect master for a holiday to rest properly for a while. If that girl has any physical problems, go find my other colleagues. I really…”
“These damned heretical paths!”
Fang Guyuan was so angry that his right hand clenched into a fist and smashed fiercely onto the stone table, smashing out a sunken little pit.
The way his eyes reddened at the corners and his face filled with killing intent startled Ye Baizhi.
She knew Senior Brother was usually generous and gentle, and only became this agitated when encountering matters that outraged both gods and men.
“Senior Brother…”
“I’m fine.”
Fang Guyuan closed his eyes, slightly calmed his emotions, and spoke again.
“Physician Li, after you report this matter to the sect master, you must not reveal it to anyone else. This matter is of great importance.”
“I understand. This is her examination report. Look it over yourselves. I’ll take my leave first.”
“Thank you. We’ve troubled Physician Li today.”
After seeing Li Suxin off, the two of them briefly looked over the examination report, growing more and more alarmed the more they read.
“S-Senior Brother… is this really something a human can do?”
Ye Baizhi’s lips were pressed tight, virtual sweat beaded on her forehead, and her face was pale.
“I don’t know. But I know this is the reason I cultivate immortality not for longevity, but only to wield my sword and act chivalrously.”
Fang Guyuan let out a cold laugh.
“These evil cults have never treated people as people. I don’t even know whether they would have the heart to do something this vicious to their own sons and daughters. Truly worse than beasts.”
The tone with which he bit out the four words “worse than beasts” one by one was through clenched teeth, that hatred of evil almost condensing into substantial ink-like killing intent.
“Let’s go. We’ll go to that side room and see that Phoenix Body again.”