Chapter 490 - Deathless Phoenix Sect (II) (Patreon)

As soon as I stepped out of the room, I was a bit... shocked.

We exited onto an open, curving terrace akin to a viewing platform that overlooked a breathtaking vista of the entire sect. The floor below was marble-tiled, while the railing curving along the edges of the hallway was painted and covered completely in the motif of fire.

As my eyes got adjusted to the natural light, I saw it--a ball of fire. That was the only way I could truly describe it.

It stood directly ahead of where we were, though at a great distance, atop a floating platform without legs. It was... massive. Which was even odder as it didn't seem to be bright or even hot--just expensively beautiful.

"Per Young Master Zhan," Wan Lan explained. "That is Phoenix's Cocoon. Legends go that the founder of the Sect came upon it and, in exchange of guarding it during its rebirth, the Phoenix taught him martial arts."

"... none of that is true, is it?" I asked perhaps a bit too loudly as I noticed Lan'er's eyes dart sideways before she winced. I followed and noted a pair of people standing about ten feet to our side.

I didn't need to be told by anyone that they were important because their clothes screamed that. Luckily, it didn't seem as though they were offended by my words since the older one laughed for a moment before speaking.

"Ho ho, why do you say that Fellow Daoist? Can you sense that there isn't a Phoenix inside?"

"Ah, forgive my loose tongue," I quickly turned and bowed. "No, of course not. I am quite unworthy. Merely, I've often heard so many tales that claimed the heaven and earth, only to very rarely deliver."

"Indeed," the man nodded, his gaze veering to the side; he had long, white hair though didn't look particularly old, perhaps mid-forties at most, and a pair of literally fiery eyes. As in, they were burning. Internally, at least. "Truth is, we don't know either. It's a founding tale passed down for generations, so, as children, we must believe it, but... whether there truly is a Phoenix in there, as you say, might just be a myth. I'd be mindful of saying it, still," he added. "Not many will be as understanding."

"In my defense," I said. "Only Lan'er was supposed to hear it."

"Fair," the man chuckled. "Forgive my late introductions: this here fool is my son, Zahn Qiu, the mumbling idiot that you've saved. All the same, I cannot express in words the depths of my gratitude, Fellow Daoist; please, take this bow." and oh boy, was it ever a bow.

It wasn't one of those polite 'barely-bow-but-more-a-nod' bows, but a full fledged 90 degree pin. I panicked a bit since I knew extensively how inappropriate this was; even though I did save his son, the man was a Sect Master of a major power while I was, as far as he knew at least, a literal nobody.

"I've taken it, so please hurry back up," I said. "My heart nearly leapt out of my chest."

"Ho ho, ever the humble one," he said, straightening up. "Qiu'er, why don't you take Young Lady Lan and show her around." well, it was as thinly veiled of a 'Get away so adults can talk' as I've heard in my life, but it worked. Wan Lan looked at me cautiously for a moment but I sent her off with a smile.

Though I don't know exactly where he is, I know Long Tao is nearby. If the guy attacked... well, I'm pretty sure I'd live, somehow.

"Why don't we go back inside?" I said as I stepped back into the room and he followed. We walked over and sat at the table as he took out a gourd and two cups from seemingly nowhere, pouring purely white liquid into both.

"Phoenix Wine," he said. "Our specialty. We only produce ten gourds a year and only ever sell one. Last year, we auctioned it off for one million high-grade Spirit Stones."

"..."

"Ho ho, indeed, that was precisely my expression when the Elder who sold it told me." really, what the hell?!! Here I am struggling to produce bare minimum so my kids can cultivate in peace, and then there's these guys earning literally millions by selling goddamn wine.

Still, as I held the cup in my fingers, they trembled; this shit is expensive. It reminded me when I went to a corporate dinner and the boss order a bottle of wine that cost over $4,000 for the table. Though I drank it, I was so nervous I don't even remember the taste.

"Wow," I exclaimed softly as I took a sip. It didn't really feel like a wine; there was deep bitterness to it, but because it was so cool on the way down, it... worked. That likely wasn't the reason it was so expensive--it was the fact I felt my cracked meridians recover ever so slightly.

"When they brought you to our Alchemists," he suddenly said. "Not one of them could tell us how you were still alive. I inspected your body personally and it was... hm, I was certain you would not make it past the first night. But, come dawn, you were there, still alive. And in a much, much better condition. Qiu'er told me what happened, though even if he hadn't, I would have learned by now; the entire realm is ablaze, and the Mountain will likely cease to exist within the next month.

"He did not speak of what happened at the end. Not him, not any of the other survivors. Unlike me, some were pressed to the point of death, but they never said anything. Not that they could; a Heavenly Oath isn't the kind of thing one can break even if they are willing to suffer death for it. Though I do not want to be ungracious, you cannot stay here for long, unfortunately; since the incident this time around was beyond massive, I have no doubt that somebody from the Upper Realm will descend. And however confident I am in myself, I am not confident in being able to hide either you or the kids in that scenario."

"..." I mean, it's understandable; the fact that he hid us thus far is already a bit of a miracle.

"I have limited who knows about you and the kids and have already made them swear Oaths, too," he said. "However," he added, taking a sip. "I cannot swear it. While I will maintain silence and not tell anyone about you, I must have an out in case the fate of my home is threatened. Should that happen, and the only way to avoid it is to tell them about you, I will."

"Thank you for telling me," I said, taking another sip.

"You don't seem angry."

"I'm not," I said, smiling faintly. "I already loathe that I had to put someone in this position at all. It simply reflects how weak I still am." I was about to continue, but a sudden pop-up distracted me.

[--anomaly detected][Emergency Quest Instigated][...][Emergency Quest: Cry of a Phoenix (???)][Context: you have chanced upon the Ritual of Rebirth, a rite dating back to Ethereal Age that Phoenixes undergo to shed their coil and be reborn anew. However, the one you encountered was far too weak to properly prepare for the rite and has fallen into a stasis, stuck in time; it has noticed your arrival and Dao of Fire you carry in you. It is crying out for it, as it might be enough to save its life][Rewards][Reward 1: Phoenix's Favor][Reward 2: 10,000CP][Reward 3: ???][Failure][You will become an enemy of the entire Phoenix Race]

... huh. Weird.

No, wait a second--what do you mean Dao of Fire I carry in me? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

Haven't had one of these in a while, but now that we're nearing the end of the current arc, here are some of the things that were in a draft at one point or another:

-- I did consider adding Liao Xinya to MC's party at one point, but I also considered making her the primary villain of the arc back in the very first draft. I can't reveal yet the reason why I went ahead with the story as-is, though ^^-- As more of the lore & hints toward the future are being revealed, you guys are scrambling together something that's very close to my plans. So, that's it, no more lore for you! (love reading the comments that guess it correctly from the tiniest hint, though :D)-- In the very, very first draft of the story, Tortoise was supposed to be part of the Sage Order; this was before I decided to connect it to the little Tortoise Mirror. -- My original plan for the entire arc's structure was for it to be relatively close to the traditional 'secret realm' in xianxia stories; there'd be competition for items, lots of young masters going 'How dare you?', & all that fun jazz. But as I started to outline it, I realized that it will likely end up being close to 150-200~ chapters long, and while I'm sure some of you wouldn't have minded it, I already loathe when I have to slow down the story for 10ish chapters for one reason or another. Having to write about one place for so long would have killed me. -- The first plan I had on the 'climax of the story' was for Lu Qi to undergo a breakthrough & use it to save everyone. While I don't mind playing with the cliches of the genre as it can be super fun, that just felt like it would be a bit too much. His breakthrough's coming soon, though ^^-- I was gonna have a few more chapters detailing kids being on their own, but again felt like they'd start bordering on filler.

-- Lastly, I was going to dedicate a lot more time & word count toward the realm prodigies that I'd hinted at quite some ways back, but since I at that point knew exactly how the excursion into the realm would end, it would feel like an extra filler to dedicate 10ish chapters to characters that won't ever matter again, which is why I focused on just a few most important ones.One note: since there will be quite some catching up to do, story-wise, the next few chapters will mostly be about that, the rewards that Lu Qi is yet to check out, & a small surprise appearance by someone who's been absent for some time ^^Thank you all so much for supporting me & I hope you've had fun reading ^^Until tomorrow.

P.S. anyone else following NBA playoffs? They've started off quite wild