Jiang Huang

Xie Xuanyi stepped on the stone wall, adjusted his direction, bent his knees slightly, and in the next moment, he shot out like an arrow.

"Whoosh!"

Hellfire swirled!

Countless shards of flame shot out!

In a short distance, Xie Xuanyi accelerated continuously, plummeting like a meteor. Almost instantly, he arrived before the black fire-wreathed throne!

As he had expected... the seemingly magnificent phoenix Dharma was just a facade. The bottom of Emberpeak Mountain had already begun to collapse. Several boulders passed through the light curtain surrounding the Dharma, crashing heavily beside the throne, while the little girl was still "sound asleep," completely unaware of the impending disaster.

Xie Xuanyi didn't hesitate any longer, extending his arms and picking up her petite body.

Standing before the throne, he raised his head and looked up.

"Rumble—"

The sound of thunder grew even more deafening.

The mountain body of Emberpeak Mountain clearly could no longer withstand the impact of the heatwave. The boulders on the inner side of the mountain wall began to break apart, cascading down piece by piece! This volcano had completely ushered in its revival!

Before long, Emberpeak Mountain would completely "collapse"!

"Sleeping so soundly..."

Xie Xuanyi lowered his eyes and glanced at the little girl in his arms, muttering, "Wouldn't it be too embarrassing to die like this?"

A phoenix bird buried in a volcano was like a fish drowning in the sea.

This kind of death was indeed too embarrassing, too pathetic.

In the next moment, Xie Xuanyi concentrated all his spirit.

He didn't notice that the little girl curled up in his arms, after hearing this voice, her eyelids flickered slightly...

Time seemed to slow down.

Xie Xuanyi held his breath, holding the little girl, squatted down again, and after a breath, he bounced up again—

Countless rubble fell, like floating landmasses. Xie Xuanyi tapped his toes, seized the fleeting moment, and used the force to leap continuously, his sleeves and phoenix fire fluttering together!

The crackling sound of exploding rubble reverberated within the crater.

Xie Xuanyi stepped on the rubble and went up, each step extremely fast, extremely accurate, and extremely stable!

Fast! Faster! Even faster!

He didn't look down, but he could feel the increasingly fiery aura beneath him.

"Boom!!!"

The bottom of Emberpeak Mountain completely shattered, and an extremely majestic wave of flame rose from the ground, soaring into the sky!

Xie Xuanyi, whose speed had been increased to the extreme, was now only a hair's breadth away from rushing out of the crater.

Xie Xuanyi's expression was gloomy, and he subconsciously turned his head.

In an instant, his face was illuminated by the blazing light.

The wave of flame swallowed the white clothes.

In fact, Xie Xuanyi's previous words were not just for the little girl.

It was also for himself.

Having finally "lived again" once, he certainly wouldn't accept such an embarrassing and pathetic death.

Since he had made the move to turn back and save someone, he was 100% sure he could get out together.

At the moment when the wave of flame was about to catch up with him, Xie Xuanyi turned his body and stretched out his palm—

Swish swish swish swish!

Streams of light converged in his palm!

The Northern Territory's spiritual energy was thin, but there was still some. The scattered spiritual energy wandering in the Emberpeak Mountain cave, under Xie Xuanyi's spirit mobilization, instantly approached, gathered in the palm position, and condensed into a thin barrier!

Although the quality of these spiritual energies was very low, accumulating little by little, it could withstand mountain fire!

"Bang!"

A loud noise exploded in mid-air!

The wave of flame gushing out from the bottom of Emberpeak Mountain heavily impacted the spiritual energy barrier. Xie Xuanyi, who had stubbornly withstood this blow, groaned, and was ejected by the huge impact force, flying out of the top of the mountain like a kite with a broken string, and finally fell into a dense forest, breaking several ancient trees along the way before barely stopping.

"Hiss."

"Master was right, saving people... is indeed much harder than killing people..."

Xie Xuanyi was weak all over, lying on the ground, looking through the mottled forest leaves at the fleeting clouds in the sky, and muttered.

He felt like his bones were about to fall apart.

It had been a long time since he'd been in such a sorry state.

This "new body" of his hadn't even had time to cultivate and mobilize the world's spiritual energy; he had forcibly used forbidden techniques.

That one move just now had exhausted all his mental energy.

After a long while, Xie Xuanyi recovered.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at the little girl in his arms.

Saving her was much more tiring than killing those demon spirits earlier.

It wasn't his physical body that was tired, but his soul.

After shifting his gaze, Xie Xuanyi froze—

He saw a pair of bright eyes.

A pair of eyes burning with fiery red light.

The Phoenix Blood Descendant... was awake?

This wasn't good news. Xie Xuanyi subconsciously wanted to prop himself up.

But the next moment, a heavy body hugged him, its scorching temperature pressing him down onto the grass.

The little girl, her eyebrows and hair burning with fire, sat on Xie Xuanyi. He had to admit, this Phoenix Blood Descendant's eyes were truly beautiful, as dazzling as stars.

But upon closer inspection, one would notice...

Her pupils were unfocused and scattered.

She didn't seem very bright.

When she spoke, Xie Xuanyi became even more certain of his thoughts.

"Dad?"

The little girl looked at Xie Xuanyi with confusion and bewilderment. Her hands were pressed against Xie Xuanyi's chest, and her fiery red hair cascaded down, revealing a sense of innocent childishness.

"I'm not, I didn't, don't spout nonsense..."

Xie Xuanyi almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

He quickly sat up, picked up the little girl, and placed her to the side, earnestly correcting her, "I'm not your dad. You can't just call me that."

The little girl tilted her head, blinked her eyes, as if she understood.

The next moment, she cautiously changed her address, "Then... Mom?"

"???"

Xie Xuanyi fell into complete silence.

Rumor has it that "mentally deficient" demon spirits will regard the first living being they see upon opening their eyes as their "parents"... but the Phoenix Blood Great Demon in front of him obviously didn't meet the criteria of being "mentally deficient." The most likely explanation for this situation was a mutation of the soul, right?

Because of the soul being injured, memories were lost.

This situation was equivalent to a change of soul...

The personality of this little girl in front of him was stable, and she didn't have any of the fiendish aura that the Great Demon he encountered during his Northern Territory hunt had!

"Neither Dad nor Mom."

After a moment, Xie Xuanyi patiently explained, reaching out to touch the little girl's head, which was very hot, "My surname is Xie, and I'm called Xie Xuanyi. Do you remember this name?"

"Xie Xuanyi, Xie Xuanyi..."

The little girl repeated the name to herself, her gaze becoming even more lost.

After thinking for a long time, she shook her head like a rattle drum, "I don't remember this name."

After a pause.

She said very solemnly, "But I know you're a good person."

A good person?

This was the first time Xie Xuanyi had heard that title used on himself.

He found it somewhat ironic and asked in a hoarse voice, "You think I'm a good person?"

"Of course."

The little girl smiled foolishly.

She cautiously approached, carefully observing Xie Xuanyi's reaction, afraid that he would dislike her, and finally succeeded in grabbing a corner of his sleeve.

She looked at Emberpeak Mountain in the distance, where red light was erupting, and the heat filled the sky.

The little one's face was serious, and her tone was firm, "You saved me, of course you're a good person, the best person in the world!"

Xie Xuanyi was silent again.

He had never seen anything like this before.

Originally, he was very worried that after the Phoenix Blood Great Demon revived, she would turn her sword against him—

Thankfully, the worst-case scenario didn't happen.

Perhaps due to severe injuries, this great demon's spirit had undergone a distortion. He could now confirm that the little one sitting beside him and the Phoenix Blood Descendant of the past, though sharing the same skin, were two completely different "species."

The way this little one deliberately tried to please him seemed both clumsy and clever.

"You..."

Xie Xuanyi thought for a long time, but ultimately didn't reveal the truth.

He sighed softly in his heart and asked gently, "Do you still remember your name?"

Hearing this question, the little girl's somewhat lost eyes became even more vacant.

Her slender eyebrows furrowed as she fell into a long period of contemplation.

Seeing this expression, Xie Xuanyi felt a sudden sense of familiarity.

Perhaps he had the same expression when recalling his own past...

No matter how good one's memory is, sleeping for ten years will inevitably cause some things to be forgotten.

Trying to remember wouldn't be an easy task.

Xie Xuanyi waited patiently.

This time, he didn't have to wait too long.

"My name, my name..."

The little girl, muttering to herself, suddenly raised her head.

A hint of spirit suddenly appeared in her empty eyes.

Using her fingertip as a pen, she quickly wrote two neat characters in Xie Xuanyi's palm.

Jiang Huang.

The Huang of the phoenix.