"Senior Yuan Feng, please show mercy. I am Qing Xuan of the Three Immortal Islands. Greetings, Senior."
Qing Xuan hurriedly emerged from hiding with Da Bai. He truly had not expected that picking up a corpse would lead to something like this. Seeing two Quasi-Saints chasing each other through the sky, he had originally planned to hide and avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Who would have thought Ao Yue would fall into the very valley where they were hiding? Qing Xuan immediately sensed trouble. He had wanted to conceal them with Chaos Qi, but a single blaze scorched the valley clean, leaving nowhere to hide.
"Oh, so you are Qing Xuan of the Three Immortal Islands. You do have some skill. I actually failed to notice you just now."
Recalling Hongjun's assessment of this person, Yuan Feng carefully scrutinized Qing Xuan.
"Oh~ You have already cultivated to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm." Yuan Feng was surprised.
She had heard my name! Qing Xuan was greatly startled. During his travels through the Primordial Wilderness, he had encountered very few people. After thinking it over, he understood that Hongjun must have mentioned him to Yuan Feng.
"Yes. Senior Hongjun thinks rather highly of this junior and once preached the Dao to me. I did not disgrace his expectations and was fortunate enough to break through to the Zenith Heaven Realm."
Qing Xuan answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, hoping Yuan Feng would spare him for Hongjun's sake.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Feng fell silent. Ordinarily, no matter who it was, she would simply kill them. But this man had a connection with Hongjun, and given the Phoenix Clan's current circumstances, it truly would not be wise to make an enemy of him.
Just as Yuan Feng was about to spare him, a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she said,
"Junior, for Hongjun's sake, I will not kill you. However, you must take one move from me. Do you dare?"
Facing the unyielding Yuan Feng, Qing Xuan felt bitter inside. With Yuan Feng's Quasi-Saint Peak cultivation, killing a Zenith Heaven Realm cultivator like him would be as easy as slaughtering chickens and ducks. But now that he was at her mercy, he had no choice but to agree.
"Fine. Da Bai, go hide off to the side."
Qing Xuan agreed. After settling Da Bai, he brought out his treasures. The Myriad Heavens Celebration Cloud shielded him, the World-Purifying White Lotus descended beneath his feet, thirty-six Sea-Calming Divine Pearls formed an array around him, and he held the Primordial Halberd as the Primordial Domain spread open.
"Good boy, you possess deep fortune indeed." Seeing Qing Xuan go all out, Yuan Feng found that even with her status as the Phoenix Clan's leader, her wealth could not compare to his. Her thoughts became even more resolute.
"Boy, it seems you do have some ability. Take this move—Blazing Brahma Heaven."
A fire-element divine ability charged at Qing Xuan with the momentum to incinerate heaven and earth.
Primordial Qi gathered around Qing Xuan. He raised the Primordial Halberd and slashed down fiercely.
"Primordial Tribulation!"
A crescent-shaped black radiance shot toward the flames. Wherever it passed, space collapsed, mountains and rivers shattered. Yet even so, Primordial Tribulation only held out briefly before dissipating within the firelight.
Damn it, am I really going to die here? Qing Xuan was unwilling to accept it when inspiration suddenly struck him.
He used the thirty-six Sea-Calming Divine Pearls to set up the Innate Sea-Covering Great Formation, then took out Three Lights Divine Water and scattered it within. At once, three-colored divine light illuminated the formation.
Blazing Brahma Heaven burned the surroundings. Qing Xuan resisted it with the Innate Sea-Covering Great Formation and Three Lights Divine Water, and water vapor soon filled the sky.
Although Qing Xuan's strength fell short of Yuan Feng's, Yuan Feng had not used the full power of her divine ability either. The flames of Blazing Brahma Heaven were not Southern Bright Lihuo Flame, merely ordinary fire-element flames. Just as the Three Lights Divine Water was about to be burned dry, the flames were extinguished as well.
"Thank you, Senior Yuan Feng, for showing mercy!" Knowing that he had escaped disaster, Qing Xuan sincerely thanked Yuan Feng.
"Your realm is still low. Once you cultivate to the Quasi-Saint Realm, I will be no match for you." Yuan Feng had already begun treating Qing Xuan as an equal. After all, he was favored by the Heavenly Dao and would surpass her sooner or later. Thinking of this, Yuan Feng's gaze dimmed.
"Senior Yuan Feng, this junior shall take his leave first." Qing Xuan mounted Da Bai, wanting only to flee as quickly as possible.
"Wait. Would you be interested in making a deal with me?" Yuan Feng asked.
"What deal?" Qing Xuan became wary. Since he could not defeat her, it was best to be cautious.
"I have two children. I hope you will accept them as your disciples."
"Senior, your children must possess extraordinary foundations. I fear I am not qualified to be their teacher."
Qing Xuan knew she meant Kong Xuan and the Great Peng Bird. Both would achieve great things in the future, especially Kong Xuan, who could be called Number One Under the Saints. His Five-Colored Divine Light could brush away anything. If Zhunti had not intervened, none of the Four Sects' disciples would have been his match. The Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird was not bad either; in the future, he would enter the Buddhist sect and become the Great Peng King.
"You possess great fortune and encounter Opportunities without end. Your future achievements will certainly not stop here. My two children have not yet been born. If they follow you, at least they will not die young." Yuan Feng thought very highly of Qing Xuan's future.
"Senior, why do you not teach them yourself?"
Hearing this, Yuan Feng sighed inwardly. It was not that she did not wish to teach her own children, but given the Phoenix Clan's current situation, leaving her children within the clan was truly unwise.
"I must manage the clan and have little time to teach them, so I can only find them a good master. It will count as fulfilling a little of my duty as their mother." After considering it, Yuan Feng still did not tell Qing Xuan the truth. The less he knew, the better it would be for him.
"If that is the case, I can accept them. But since this is a deal, what will I receive in return?" At this point, Qing Xuan no longer refused. The thought of having Kong Xuan and the Great Peng Bird under him excited him greatly, but he still wanted Yuan Feng's benefits.
"Do not worry. Come with me to the Southern Bright Undying Volcano, and you may choose freely from the Phoenix Clan's treasure vault." Yuan Feng spoke generously. As long as this man taught her children wholeheartedly, what did a few treasures matter?
"Hiss!"
Qing Xuan had not expected Yuan Feng to be so generous. As the saying went, taking another's gift left one obliged to them. As the rulers of the skies, the Phoenix Clan surely had no shortage of good things in their treasure vault. With Yuan Feng allowing him to choose freely, Qing Xuan's heart had already flown to the Southern Bright Undying Volcano.
Seeing Qing Xuan's expression, Yuan Feng knew the matter was settled. The two then flew toward the Phoenix Clan.
Along the way, Qing Xuan did not forget to collect the corpses and bones scattered about. After so many years of collecting bodies, he had already gathered eighty percent of the Tens of Millions of Beast Bones needed for the formation. He only needed to keep collecting for a few more years to complete them.
Watching Qing Xuan collect corpses while traveling, Yuan Feng's expression turned somewhat strange, and she asked,
"Little Friend Qing Xuan, why are you doing this?"
"Senior Yuan Feng, as an Innate Being born within the Primordial World, I truly cannot bear to see these corpses polluting the environment. Thus, I gather them up and will bury them somewhere later."
Qing Xuan began spouting nonsense with a righteous expression. In any case, what he was doing benefited the Primordial Wilderness. Whether he buried them in the earth or incorporated them into a formation, was that not simply putting waste to good use?
"Hehe, you are quite thoughtful." Yuan Feng clearly did not believe him. But thinking that Qing Xuan would become her children's master, she felt even more reassured. After all, in this Primordial World, good people did not tend to live long.
Besides, Phoenix Clan corpses would be collected by their clansmen and buried within the Wutong Forest. As for how the Dragon Clan and Kirin Tribe corpses were used, what did that have to do with her?
And so, the two traveled and chatted. Several years passed before they finally arrived at the Southern Bright Undying Volcano.
Before you continue