Xu Ying awoke to find himself in the Paulownia Palace. He leaped up instantly, launching himself from the palace and catching the petite少女 on his Cloud Ladder. His heart raced as he struggled to stabilize her descent.
强行催动云梯天纵 has damaged his heart force, causing excruciating pain. He channels his vital essence, transforming the Cloud Ladder technique into the Sword-Flying Art. A beam of sword light carries Little Phoenix Fairy toward the Paulownia tree and into the palace.
Little Phoenix Fairy remains unconscious. Xu Ying finds a room, lays her down, and examines her injuries carefully. He uses the活性 from his Mud-Pellet Secret Treasury to助她疗伤, and her breathing gradually stabilizes.
When she awakens, a bitter taste fills her throat. She remembers her collapse and quickly sits up, only to find herself covered by a blanket, somehow returned to the Paulownia Palace without knowing how.
She rises from the bed, relieved that her injuries aren't severe. Stepping out of the room, she sees Xu Ying sitting outside on an incense couch, a book covering his face, head tilted to the side, sleeping soundly.
Realizing he must have healed her, she watches his peaceful sleeping expression with amusement, intending to tease him. But before she reaches him, Xu Ying wakes, removing the book from his face with a laugh: "I only read a few pages before falling asleep. How long have you been awake?"
"Just woke up myself."
Little Phoenix Fairy abandons her teasing plan and says apologetically: "Young Master, I originally thought I could help you break the seal, but I didn't realize your seal differs from mine. My reckless attempt not only caused backlash against myself, but might also have alerted the one who placed the seal. We must leave immediately. They will definitely send someone to investigate."
She moves lightly around the Paulownia Palace, gathering her belongings: "Young Master, though Little Phoenix Fairy failed to break your seal, I did loosen it considerably—a small merit at least. If I have the opportunity, I will repay your two life-saving kindnesses. If not, I'll repay you in the next life!"
Xu Ying asks seriously: "Miss Phoenix Fairy, did you truly meet me three thousand years ago?"
She flutters through the palace like a bird, packing: "Of course. Three thousand years ago, I had just hatched and saw you here at Mount Jiuyi. Your appearance was just as it is now, though perhaps a bit younger."
Xu Ying stares blankly. She has no reason to deceive him.
But if Little Phoenix Fairy saw him three thousand years ago, doesn't that mean he is at least three thousand years old?
How could a human live that long?
And what about his memories of Xujiaping? Of his parents? Were his happy childhood memories, his painful memories of the fire at Xujiaping, all false?
Little Phoenix Fairy finishes packing, opens the window, and prepares to fly away.
Xu Ying calls out to her. The petite少女 stands on the windowsill, turns back with a smile: "Young Master, if I don't leave now, I might be intercepted. I'm still weak, and this is a matter of life and death. Please don't try to keep me."
Xu Ying asks: "You mentioned before that you were also sealed. What was the reason? And who sealed you?"
Little Phoenix Fairy's expression grows more anxious as she speaks rapidly: "I was born with keen sensitivity. Shortly after hatching, I sensed that heaven and earth would change, so I wanted to flee this world. That day, I was prepared to fly beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains when suddenly heaven and earth twisted and rotated. Everything went black, and I knew nothing more. It was as if I sank into immense darkness, or returned to the state before birth—utterly confused."
Xu Ying asks: "And then?"
"Then one day, I awoke, opened my eyes, and three thousand years had passed. I flew through the sky, and everywhere I looked, the world was strange. Everything I once knew no longer existed."
Her expression dims.
Everything was gone—including her family and friends.
That's why she was so overjoyed when she saw Xu Ying, the only familiar face she had.
Xu Ying asks: "You don't know who sealed you?"
Little Phoenix Fairy shakes her head: "I'm different from you. I suspect I was sealed along with the entire world. But you are special—you seem to have been specifically targeted. I must go!"
She speaks urgently: "I sense danger approaching rapidly. There's no time to delay! My senses are very accurate!"
Xu Ying quickly asks: "Wait! Who sealed this world? And who broke the seal?"
Little Phoenix Fairy transforms into a colorful phoenix, spreads her wings, and flies away, leaving a rainbow arc across the sky.
Her clear voice echoes from afar: "Young Master Xu, leave this place quickly! When the one who sealed it senses the breach, they will definitely come for you!"
Xu Ying watches her departure, feeling a sense of loss: "Am I truly someone from three thousand years ago? Could she have mistaken me for someone else? Isn't my home at Xujiaping?"
He stands silently for a long while, but doesn't leave. Instead, he waits.
He wants to see if, as Little Phoenix Fairy warned, the one who sealed him will indeed come.
---
Little Phoenix Fairy soars through the sky at incredible speed, leaving a trail of seven-colored auspicious clouds behind her.
Suddenly, a wall of blue light blocks her path. The light stretches like a celestial barrier, impossibly wide and tall, standing亘古不变.
Little Phoenix Fairy's heart tightens. She flies upward, attempting to cross the barrier. But she sees crisscrossing lines on the blue light wall, like a giant chessboard.
"This is the chessboard!"
She shivers with terror. "Could this be a Great Divine Ability like 'An Inch Away, a World Apart'?"
Alert now, she flies at maximum speed. But from beyond the heavens, an enormous finger appears, pinching a white chess piece. It pierces through the thick atmosphere, heading straight for her!
The chess piece is mountain-sized. The piece and finger ignite with flames from atmospheric friction, descending with a sharp crack as it strikes the blue giant chessboard, sending heavenly fire scattering in all directions.
Little Phoenix Fairy dodges the piece, but another white jade hand reaches from beyond the sky, two fingers pinching a black piece, descending toward the blue chessboard!
She pushes her speed to the absolute limit, weaving left and right to avoid the jade hands and pieces. Yet another slender jade hand appears, holding a white piece!
She becomes an ant on the chessboard, desperately dodging mountain-sized pieces, doing everything possible to survive.
But the pieces fall faster and faster, multiplying across the board. Each mountain-sized piece makes evasion increasingly difficult.
She can only thread through the gaps between the mountainous pieces, desperately avoiding the relentless bombardment from above!
Just as Little Phoenix Fairy reaches despair, a voice laughs: "This game is over."
The blue light and chessboard vanish instantly. Little Phoenix Fairy, still shaken, looks toward the voice and sees an old man and a woman playing chess atop a distant mountain peak. Their board is the very same blue jade disk!
She flies to the mountain, landing some distance away before approaching on foot. Transforming into a colorful-clad girl, she bows deeply: "Begging for mercy!"
The white-robed old man doesn't look up, waving his hand: "Go. Don't meddle in others' affairs next time."
Little Phoenix Fairy flees as if pardoned, retreating several steps before leaping into the air and transforming into a phoenix, escaping into the distance.
The woman playing chess with the old man wears black robes, her face round with a red beauty mark between her brows. She smiles: "That old gentleman went to deliver tea again?"
The white-robed old man sighs: "Yes. Poor thing, rushing about every day, serving tea and water. I hear he prepared ten bowls of Meng Po's Soul-Bewildering Brew this time. Even Meng Po finds his constant visits annoying and speaks ill of him behind his back."
The red-marked woman laughs: "Ten bowls of Soul-Bewildering Brew? Is he drinking for cattle?"
The white-robed old man laughs heartily: "Ten bowls would knock out even an immortal. With that, we can rest easy."
The black-robed woman sighs: "I hope so. Otherwise, this constant vigilance will make us sick even if we weren't already."
---
Xu Ying stands at the window of the Paulownia Palace, looking outside. His mind surges with emotions that久久难以平息.
"After I deal with Elder Zhou's matter, I will go to Xujiaping!" he thinks silently. "Only by finding that place can I solve the mystery of my origins!"
His memory contains the path to Xujiaping.
Suddenly, a gentle knock echoes from outside the palace.
Xu Ying passes through层层宫闱 to the palace gates. Opening them, he smells incense. A worried-looking old man stands on a tree branch outside, his face etched with distress as he regards Xu Ying.
Xu Ying doesn't seem surprised, smiling: "Elder, we meet again."
The worried old man sighs: "We could have met at Wuwang Mountain, but alas, we missed each other. Fortunately, we meet again here, Young Master Xu."
Xu Ying's eyes flash: "You're not here to invite me for tea again, are you?"
The old man nods: "Young Master Xu is remarkably perceptive. I've brought fine tea this time—please sample it."
Xu Ying's smile becomes ambiguous: "What if I refuse?"
The old man sighs: "Then, I'm afraid I must force you to drink. Come!"
The sky trembles violently as golden light beams pierce through, illuminating the sky above Mount Jiuyi. Golden-armored giants stand atop the clouds, looking down.
Xu Ying steps aside to let him in: "Since I cannot resist you, I won't even try. Elder, bring the tea—I'll drink."
He calculates inwardly: *If the Great Bell were here, combined with my Pure Yang Anomalous Fire from the Domain of the Ineffable, I might be able to struggle against this old man. As long as I cause enough commotion, Zhou Qiyun will definitely appear!*
With Zhou Qiyun present, this worried old man shouldn't be able to cause much trouble.
*Earlier, Little Phoenix Fairy created such a disturbance—the Great Bell should have found his way here easily,* Xu Ying thinks.
The worried old man sets up tea implements. A flame appears in his palm, heating water in a kettle to rinse the tea sets before pouring tea for Xu Ying. The tea is clear and inviting.
Xu Ying sees the flame used to heat the water and his heart skips a beat, abandoning any thought of summoning his Pure Yang Anomalous Fire. The flame the old man is using IS Pure Yang Anomalous Fire!
Clearly, using Pure Yang Anomalous Fire against him would be useless!
*After all this commotion, Zhou Qiyun should have come to investigate by now!* he thinks.
"Young Master, drink your tea." The old man pushes a teacup forward with a green bamboo stick.
Xu Ying lifts the cup, smiling: "Last time you treated me to tea, it seemed ineffective. This tea looks identical—aren't you worried it might fail again?"
The old man's heart skips. He has long suspected the Soul-Bewildering Brew might be failing.
"Young Master Xu, drink while it's hot." His expression remains unchanged.
Xu Ying's expression fluctuates. He holds the cup without drinking. The old man says: "Young Master Xu, are you perhaps waiting for Zhou Qiyun? He's still injured and wouldn't dare show himself before me. There's also the Holy Spirit Zhangwu Emperor in these mountains, but he too is injured. An emperor wouldn't easily venture into danger."
Xu Ying stares at the teacup, his heart in turmoil. Then, gritting his teeth, he raises the cup and drinks it all in one gulp!
As he sets down the cup, the old man's expression relaxes slightly. He refills the cup: "I brought several Golden-Armored Titans. If you refused to drink, I would have held you down and forced it into your mouth. But since you're cooperating, I'm spared the trouble."
Xu Ying laughs heartily: "It's just a few sips—no need for you to trouble yourself, Elder. I was actually quite thirsty."
He grabs the teapot, removes the lid, and drinks directly from it.
The worried old man's face clears, joy replacing his distress.
Xu Ying drains the entire pot and laughs: "Last time you treated me to tea, you told an amusing story about Emperor Chen Mianzhu of the Southern Dian Kingdom who became a white-robed immortal, only to be devoured entirely. Why no story this time?"
The old man beams, wrinkles smoothing from his face: "Then, while the medicine takes effect, let me tell you another interesting tale."
He smiles: "This Grotto-Heaven is called the True Void Grotto-Heaven of Morning Truth. In ancient times, cultivators gathered qi here, considering it a sacred site. There are traces left by immortals who ascended from this place. Everyone believed this location could facilitate ascension. They all wanted to use the ascension traces and heavenly tribulation's power to open a path to the immortal realm. Haha!"
He opens his mouth exaggeratedly, spreading his thin, long fingers: "They all died, you know!"
He laughs until tears form, wiping his aged eyes with slender fingers: "All dead. Not a single survivor. Later, someone with the Celestial Eye arrived. His sharp gaze examined the ascension light and declared it wasn't ascension light at all, but the remains of the first unlucky soul to undergo tribulation here—shattered by heavenly lightning. Those lights were fragments of his body and Primordial Spirit!"
His expression returns to unsettling calm: "Young Master, don't you find that amusing?"
Xu Ying has collapsed on the tea table, snoring soundly—sleeping as peacefully as an infant.
"Quite amusing, isn't it?"
The old man's eyes deepen. He packs the tea implements, stands, and exits the Paulownia Palace, closing the door behind him.
At that moment, a great bell comes flying toward them. The old man sees it and raises his sleeve to shield his face.
The bell crashes through the palace window, bumping and ratturing, calling out: "A-Ying! A-Ying! Are you alright?"
The old man smiles, about to leap from the Paulownia tree when he hears Xu Ying yawning awake: "Master Bell? How did I fall asleep?"
The old man's eyes twitch. His smile freezes, gradually transforming into worry.
Something big has happened. He thinks silently.
---