The instant the clear soup passed her lips, Erina felt as though she had fallen into an earthly paradise.
Mountains and flowing waters surrounded her, layer upon layer of forested peaks rising around her. Lost within the mountains, Erina felt a breeze brush across her face—then a clear, resounding cry rang out from the sky.
When Erina looked up, she witnessed another sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
A Giant Strange Bird with five tails flew through layer after layer of clouds, then suddenly rose from the flames and transformed into a massive golden Phoenix.
Its original five tails gradually became the Phoenix's golden tail feathers amid the clouds. Its body feathers, cloaked in flames, became dazzlingly radiant, displaying the majesty of the king of all birds to the fullest.
After several cries that pierced the heavens, the Phoenix reborn in flames finally descended onto an enormous cabbage.
The instant the Phoenix landed, the seemingly ordinary cabbage underwent a rapid transformation beneath the Phoenix's aura and flames, eventually turning into an equally resplendent golden paulownia tree.
Looking at the Phoenix, which radiated an aura of nobility and sanctity, Erina felt that such a divine bird could only be admired from afar. Taking even one step closer would be a desecration of the sacred beast.
The arrival of the divine Phoenix filled the land with rosy light and holiness. Bathed in the Phoenix's sacred glow, Erina felt warmth spread throughout her body, and even all the exhaustion in her body vanished in an instant.
When she opened her eyes again, she finally realized that everything she had just seen had merely been an illusion.
Yet the warmth within her body remained.
"Falling Phoenix on the Paulownia... a Chinese myth and legend..."
As Erina stared at the