The Birth of Mu Jinyin

"Here, take it back." Murong tossed a Ring of Holding to Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao caught the Ring of Holding on instinct. A closer look told him it was the one Du Tianhong had left behind.

He froze for a moment, then said, "This was meant for you. Why are you giving it back to me?"

Murong replied softly, "I only need the Spirit-Womb Art. I have no use for the rest."

She paused, then continued, "By the way, you cultivate the Metamorphosis Incantation, right?"

"Yeah." Zhou Hao nodded. There was no need to think about it—there had only been two cultivation arts in total.

Murong nodded slightly. "The Metamorphosis Incantation is no less impressive than the Undying Divine Art, perhaps even better. So be glad you didn't cultivate the Undying Divine Art!"

"Really?" Zhou Hao asked in surprise, seeking confirmation.

Murong nodded. "Whether spiritual beasts or divine beasts, transformation and evolution are both exceedingly difficult. The fact that the Metamorphosis Incantation alone can help them transform and evolve is already extraordinary."

She held the Metamorphosis Incantation in very high regard. At the very least, it was a Heaven-grade High-rank cultivation art.

Zhou Hao secretly rejoiced. Sure enough, a cultivation art that even Du Tianhong had praised to the skies could not be simple. Now that it had received the approval of a big shot like Murong, its extraordinary nature was even clearer.

Murong continued, "You should eat that Metamorphosis Pill too. The ingredients inside are complicated, and I can't be bothered to study them, but one thing is certain—it will be extremely beneficial to your cultivation of the Metamorphosis Incantation."

"Mm, understood." Naturally, Zhou Hao would not stand on ceremony with something that benefited him.

He searched through the Ring of Holding. When he spotted the other sword, he paused, then took it out and handed it to Murong.

"Take it. Since we're going to be husband and wife, this pair of Dragon-Phoenix Swords can serve as a token."

Murong gazed deeply at Zhou Hao, then smiled faintly and accepted the sword.

She chuckled. "Actually, I truly hope I can fall in love with you."

"Huh?" Zhou Hao's mind went blank at those words.

Seeing his startled expression, Murong immediately burst out laughing, though she did not continue the subject.

Zhou Hao gave an awkward laugh, feeling somewhat embarrassed. That shrew had seemed serious just now.

It was precisely because he had sensed Murong's sincerity that he had not known how to respond, and even felt a little awkward. Otherwise, he would have asked why long ago.

Murong truly was serious. She only had a thousand years of life left. No—the decades that had already passed meant she had less than a thousand years remaining.

Before her life ended, she truly wanted to taste what love felt like, so that she could die without regrets.

To ease his embarrassment, Zhou Hao changed the subject. "By the way, do you still want that Phoenix Egg?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the Fire-Phoenix Egg in the corner.

Murong glanced at him and immediately understood what he was thinking. With a gentle lift of her hand, the Phoenix Egg flew over at once.

She lightly plucked at the air above the Phoenix Egg. A wave of icy chill swept past, and in the next instant, the restriction on the egg was broken.

Murong tossed the Phoenix Egg to Zhou Hao and said, "You can have the egg, but after it hatches, it has to take my surname."

Zhou Yuanbao had taken Zhou Hao's surname, Zhou. Naturally, she could not fall behind.

Zhou Hao agreed without hesitation. What was a name? For this Phoenix Egg, he could even sell his body—though in Murong's eyes, his body was already worthless.

"Make it recognize you as its master," Murong said.

She wanted to witness the moment her "daughter" was born. Yes, she knew the little phoenix inside the egg was female.

Zhou Hao nodded and immediately formed a hand seal, forcing a drop of blood essence from his fingertip.

The blood essence slowly dripped onto the Phoenix Egg. Then, with a whoosh, the red glow around the egg surged violently. Vermilion flames suddenly erupted around it, threatening to spread outward.

Zhou Hao was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated two steps.

At some point, Murong had appeared behind him. Icy energy radiated from her body, shielding him from the heatwave.

She watched the Phoenix Egg calmly and said, "It's fine. This is normal."

Zhou Hao breathed a sigh of relief and curled his lips. "Yuanbao didn't make such a huge fuss when it was born."

Murong glanced at Zhou Yuanbao, who was watching the show from the side, then slowly withdrew her gaze and explained, "The Phoenix of Blazing Fire has a higher compatibility with fire crystals. It absorbs more energy, so its strength will be slightly greater than Yuanbao's."

The corner of Zhou Hao's mouth twitched. Embarrassed, he said, "Then wouldn't it already be a Gold God the moment it's born?"

Zhou Yuanbao was already at the peak of the Profound God Realm. One step higher was the Gold God Realm.

Watching the commotion from the Phoenix Egg, Murong estimated, "It should be Gold God Third Order."

Crack—

The sound of eggshell breaking rang out. A bird's head poked through, accompanied by a scorching heatwave.

Then the little phoenix completely broke free of its shell. It immediately spread its wings and soared through the air, circling around the secret chamber.

Zhou Hao watched the cheerful little phoenix overhead. It had the head of a swan, the rump of a qilin, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish, dragon markings, the body of a tortoise, the jaw of a swallow, and the beak of a chicken—matching the legends of Blue Star.

He could not help wondering whether someone on Blue Star had truly seen dragons and phoenixes, or whether Blue Star actually had cultivators.

Zhou Hao had no way of knowing any of that.

Just as he sank into thought, the little phoenix suddenly landed on his head and called out, "Mother."

Pfft—

The moment Murong heard that, she burst out laughing without giving Zhou Hao the slightest face. Still, as the Empress, she retained the proper restraint and did not laugh too wildly.

The corners of Zhou Hao's mouth twitched violently. He suddenly realized that being called "Dad" by Zhou Yuanbao was not so hard to accept after all.

Afterward, Zhou Hao coaxed the little phoenix from every direction and introduced Murong to it, telling it to call Murong "Mom" and him "Dad," just like Zhou Yuanbao did.

Murong was generous. The moment she made a move, she gave it several divine crystals. After receiving them, the little phoenix immediately began calling her "Mom" over and over.

Naturally, Murong would not neglect Zhou Yuanbao either, and she gave it a share of divine crystals as well.

Zhou Hao looked speechlessly at the two little misers, sighed, then turned to Murong. "Give it a name!"

Murong propped up her chin and thought for a moment. Then her eyes lit up. "Let's call it Jinyin—Mu Jinyin. It matches Zhou Yuanbao too."

Zhou Hao rolled his eyes dramatically. With a name like that, these two little ones were destined to be money-grubbers.

Still, since Murong had chosen it, he naturally supported her. Even if he did not, he could not change anything.

Once the name was decided, Murong was a little excited, though she kept it hidden out of consideration for her status.

She beckoned to Mu Jinyin and told it its name.

Mu Jinyin had a favorable impression of Murong, so it readily accepted the name.

Afterward, it received another divine crystal as a reward, then excitedly flew back to play with Zhou Yuanbao.

Murong watched them with a satisfied smile on her face.

Zhou Hao shook his head repeatedly as he watched. It was clear that Murong truly liked children. No wonder she had always wanted to have a child with him.