That earth-shattering cry of "Mother" left everyone present completely dumbfounded!
Feng Xi was even more stunned, her face full of disbelief!
Great!
She had really gotten tangled up with birds!
First she pretended to be a baby chick for the Golden-Winged Iron-Feathered Eagle, and now she'd become a mother to a little phoenix?
She and the little phoenix stared at each other, big eyes staring at small eyes, and she even saw a look of attachment and admiration in the little phoenix's eyes.
Feng Xi: "..."
This is just fucking ridiculous!
In the book, wasn't this thing supposed to be Shen Zhilan's spirit pet?!
She had only wanted to ruin the matter, not acknowledge a bird offspring!
What she didn't know was that for birds, after hatching, they take the first living being they see as their mother.
The little phoenix's situation was special. When it had just hatched, it had scanned everyone present, so in theory there shouldn't have been any issue of recognizing a mother.
But Feng Xi just had to take out a Golden-Winged Iron-Feathered Eagle feather, and on top of that Shen Zhilan had said Feng Xi's name. The little phoenix's tiny brain started filling in the blanks!
She has the surname Feng, and she even has golden feathers, she must be my mother!
As for why Feng Xi was in human form, her cultivation must be too high, so she transformed, that's all!
Shen Zhilan suppressed her anger and said, "Little phoenix, do you know that between heaven and earth there is only one phoenix? After nirvana it would be reborn. How could Feng Xi possibly be your mother?"
The little phoenix instantly fell into confusion. Yes, its inheritance memories said the same thing, it was the one and only phoenix in the world!
So how could it possibly have a mother?
But it felt like Feng Xi was very friendly to it, so she was its mother!
Perhaps because its divine sense was unstable right after hatching, blazing flames surged up around the little phoenix again. Then it reverted back into a phoenix egg, and after that, sank into the ground and disappeared.
Everyone: "..."
No one had expected such an outcome!
The little black ball let out a sigh of relief, almost scared the ball to death!
Although the rotten brat wasn't exactly great, it didn't want to share her with anyone else.
Shen Zhilan's eyes turned red with anger!
"Feng Xi, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Feng Xi nodded, "Yes, I did it on purpose!
You nearly caused my dantian to shatter, then twisted right and wrong and got me demoted to a menial disciple. Not to mention repeatedly instigating Lu Xiuhan to kill me!
I'm targeting you, do you have a problem with that?"
Shen Zhilan gritted her teeth, "You… you're talking nonsense!"
Feng Xi sneered, "I can swear a heart-demon oath, do you dare? If you dare, I'll dig into the ground and find that little phoenix for you!"
Shen Zhilan choked, "Feng Xi, I won't waste my breath arguing with you. I'll remember today's humiliation. Just you wait!"
With that, she stormed off in fury.
Mu Zihuai shot Feng Xi a cold look and chased after Shen Zhilan with Mo Xiuyuan and Wan Qizhi.
Feng Xi knew that if the other two sects hadn't been present, Shen Zhilan would've definitely urged Mu Zihuai to kill her.
So she could never afford to relax. From now on, she had to cultivate with all her might, only strength was the real foundation.
Once the people from Hunyuan Sect left, the others also prepared to depart.
Feng Xi smiled and asked Xing Wu, "Did you gain anything after coming in?"
Xing Wu curled his lip, "I only found some Xuan-rank medicinal herbs. Not worth much."
Feng Xi hesitated for a moment, then said, "I heard someone say Shen Zhilan and her group found quite a few valuable herbs. Do you think they might have some special spirit artifact?
How about we follow them and take a look?
Maybe we'll run into a great opportunity!"
Xing Wu was still hesitating when his eldest senior brother Qin Shifeng said, "Feng Xi has a point. Let's follow and see."
Feng Xi secretly laughed. Her words didn't really stand up to scrutiny, but it didn't matter, as long as there were fools willing to take the bait!
Qin Shifeng had a good impression of Shen Zhilan and was eager for an excuse to get close to her!
She had just handed him the ladder!
That way, she could use Beast-Taming Sect as a shield, follow Shen Zhilan, and find her Eldest Senior Brother Jiang Ji.
After everyone left, that phoenix egg sneakily poked its head out, then burrowed back underground.
The people of Hunyuan Sect soon noticed that Beast-Taming Sect and Xuantian Sect were following behind.
Shen Zhilan was almost driven mad!
She felt like Feng Xi was deliberately trying to disgust her!
But with Beast-Taming Sect present, she had no way to incite Mu Zihuai to kill Feng Xi.
Her gaze flickered, and she changed their original direction of travel.
Two hours later, everyone entered a stone cavern.
This cavern was very peculiar. The walls were riddled with holes, connecting in all directions.
There was also a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance of medicinal herbs in the air.
Shen Zhilan chose one of the holes and slipped inside, with the rest of Hunyuan Sect following closely behind.
Originally, Feng Xi wanted to keep following, but Mu Zihuai stood guard at the entrance of the hole with a gloomy expression.
Feng Xi and the others had no choice but to choose another hole.
Feng Xi guessed this was likely the lair of the One-Horned Stone Salamander. As for why Shen Zhilan had come here, she couldn't yet tell.
It might be to search for treasure, or it might be to use the One-Horned Stone Salamanders to get rid of her.
Either way, Feng Xi was actually quite pleased, because she had a premonition that she would soon find her Eldest Senior Brother Jiang Ji.
She followed Qin Shifeng and the others deeper along one of the tunnels. The farther they went, the darker it became, until they eventually had to rely on spirit artifacts for illumination.
After about a quarter of an hour, the space suddenly opened up into a wide stone chamber.
But upon seeing the scene before them, everyone felt uncomfortable.
The ground was littered with rotting monster corpses and many beast bones.
What surprised them was that there was no foul smell at all in the cave. Instead, there was a faint medicinal fragrance.
Feng Xi knew the reason.
The One-Horned Stone Salamander was a companion beast of the Scarlet Glow Fragrant Ganoderma, and the Scarlet Glow Fragrant Ganoderma could transform the stench of decay into medicinal fragrance.
Just as Feng Xi was searching for the Scarlet Glow Fragrant Ganoderma, Shen Zhilan suddenly rushed in.
Behind her followed several long, spiny poisonous insects, it was the One-Horned Stone Salamanders.
Shen Zhilan ran straight toward Feng Xi and the others.
She sneered inwardly. Only she knew the special nature of the One-Horned Stone Salamander's poison. Once they were all poisoned, she would say that only the blood of a top-grade water spiritual root could detoxify it.
That way, Qin Shifeng and the others would become utterly devoted to her!
And she could find another chance to get rid of Feng Xi, that wretched woman!
When Qin Shifeng and the others saw the One-Horned Stone Salamanders, they were shocked. Although they didn't recognize the insects, they could tell their cultivation was roughly equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator.
Even though Qin Shifeng himself was at Golden Core Stage, he couldn't possibly hold off so many poisonous insects!
Feng Xi quickly analyzed the situation. Since Shen Zhilan dared to lure the One-Horned Stone Salamanders here, it meant she was confident and must have a way to deal with them.
So she gave Jun Wen and Xing Wu a look.
To be fair, although these two weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, when it came to understanding Feng Xi's intentions, no one surpassed them!
Almost at the same time, the two of them made their move and blocked Shen Zhilan.
Feng Xi used spiritual-power vines to bind Shen Zhilan's legs.
With this brief delay, the One-Horned Stone Salamanders all rushed up.
Shen Zhilan gritted her teeth and took out the unhatched immortal beast egg. The poisonous insects instantly began trembling, panicked, and retreated through the tunnels.
Feng Xi clicked her tongue, "Oh? Since you have such a good method, why did you lure the insects over here in the first place? Were you trying to get all of us killed?
You and I have a grudge, killing me would be one thing. But the people from Beast-Taming Sect have no enmity with you, and you still wanted them dead?
You really have a vicious heart!"
Xing Wu, already hot-tempered, immediately wanted to fight Shen Zhilan to the death!
The other Beast-Taming Sect direct disciples also glared at her angrily.
Only Qin Shifeng still looked relatively calm.
Tears misted Shen Zhilan's eyes as she looked at him.
"Senior Brother Qin, I only thought of the immortal beast egg at the last moment when my life was in danger. It's not like Feng Xi said. Please believe me, okay?"
Qin Shifeng looked at her pitiful expression and believed her.
Feng Xi: "..."
Sure enough, all licking dogs have no brains!
Just then, someone stumbled out from one of the tunnels, face dark green with poison.
Jun Wen let out a howl, "Eldest Senior Brother?!"