The Origin of the Phoenix-Blood Stones

The prefect looked at Lu Yang with gritted teeth, but there was nothing he could do.

He didn't want to reveal this matter from the bottom of his heart, but things had come to this point, and he had to tell it whether he wanted to or not.

The head of the Mo family looked on with amusement, as if he were watching a good show.

The prefect sighed heavily, "Please come with me."

The group followed the prefect to the surface and headed straight for the mine.

"The mine collapse is a false report; there's more to the story."

The prefect, familiar with the area, led everyone to the end of the mine, pressed a mechanism hidden in the wall, and with a rumbling sound, the stone door opened, leading into the interior of the mine.

This is an internal passage known only to a select few, secretly equipped with an array to evade Divine Sense scanning. If Divine Sense were to scan it, what would be seen would be a scene simulated by the array.

The head of the Mo family became serious. Just as he had learned, there was indeed a mysterious passage.

The deeper you go into the passage, the stronger the pungent smell of blood becomes, as if a major murder has occurred ahead, with corpses piled up like mountains and blood drained away.

When Lu Yang stepped out of the cave and into an open space, the stench of blood overwhelmed him.

Fortunately, Lu Yang quickly got used to the smell of blood and could see the scene before him clearly.

In the very center of the open space was a large pit, filled with a blood-red hue. Countless stones protruded from the blood-red lake, exceptionally vibrant, all of similar quality to the Phoenix Blood Stone that Meng Jingzhou had bought.

Several people were walking around the edge of the pit, occasionally pouring blood into the blood-red lake.

"This, this is..."

The prefect explained helplessly, "These are Phoenix Bloodstones that are currently being produced."

"The Phoenix Bloodstone is fake?" Meng Jingzhou exclaimed in surprise. "I spent 500,000 yuan on a fake?"

Li Haoran shook his head. "No, the blood in the pit is all phoenix blood. I saw my teacher use it when he was refining weapons, but the phoenix blood my teacher used was of higher quality than the blood here."

"Your Excellency, who are these people?" A young man with red eyes and red feathers around his neck walked over.

He frowned and approached the prefect, expressing his displeasure at the prefect's decision to bring outsiders.

The prefect sighed, "There's nothing I can do. If I don't bring them here, I'll be the one in trouble."

The red-eyed youth was about to erupt in anger. Bringing outsiders meant that things had been exposed, and how was he going to explain this to the clan leader?

"These gentlemen are from the Ask Dao Sect. This is my grandson, the head of the Mo family."

"Roll!"

"The Ask Dao Sect?" The red-eyed youth looked at Lu Yang and the others in surprise, his expression constantly changing, as if recalling something unpleasant, and his attitude was no longer arrogant.

"Who is Yun Zhi to you?"

"It's my senior sister."

"Who is Gan Tian to you?"

"She is my third senior sister," Lu Yang replied.

The third senior sister, whom I've never met, is named Gan Tian and is currently training in the Demon Realm.

"So it's Ask Dao Sect, here for a visit and inspection. This way, please." The red-eyed youth's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn, replaced by a warm and friendly smile.

The prefect's eye twitched; he had never seen the red-eyed youth so friendly before. "Let me introduce you, this is Jiang Shan, a member of the Phoenix Clan."

"Senior Jiang Shan, do you know the eldest sister and the third sister...?"

"Oh, calling me Senior Jiang Shan is too formal. Just call me Little Jiang from now on." For some reason, Jiang Shan was exceptionally kind to Lu Yang.

"As for Senior Yun Zhi and Senior Gantian, they were exceptionally kind to our Phoenix Clan. They even came to our Phoenix Clan to exchange skills and guide our cultivation. I was fortunate enough to receive their guidance as well."

"Of course, if possible—and I mean if possible—could you please go back and tell your eldest and third senior sisters not to come to our Phoenix Clan anymore? The Dragon Clan is much bigger; go to the Dragon Clan instead."

Lu Yang: "..."

Senior Sister and Third Senior Sister, what did you two do in the Phoenix Clan?

Su Yiren was also very curious; this behavior was different from the legendary proud Phoenix Clan.

"I came here to find out what exactly the Phoenix Bloodstone is all about."

The prefect said, "Jiang Shan knows less about this matter than I do; let me explain."

"The story begins four thousand years ago. Four thousand years ago, the Phoenix Elder passed away here, and his blood soaked into the mine, creating the first batch of Phoenix Bloodstones. The ancients discovered the Phoenix Bloodstones by chance, and were overjoyed. They set up camp here, and the prototype of Luofeng County was formed."

"About seven hundred years later, Phoenix Bloodstones became increasingly scarce and difficult to mine. When the prefect at the time saw this situation, he realized that without Phoenix Bloodstones, the economic pillar of Luofeng County would disappear, and the entire Luofeng County would collapse."

"So he secretly came to the Phoenix Clan, hoping to buy some phoenix blood to create a new batch of Phoenix Blood Stones."

"At first, the Phoenix Clan disagreed. They were proud and untainted by worldly affairs, and unwilling to sell their blood to the Prefect."

"When the prefect wrote down the revenue from the sale of Phoenix Bloodstones over the years and promised to give the Phoenix Clan 30% of the profits, the Phoenix Clan's attitude changed drastically."

Everyone looked at Jiang Shan, the only Phoenix Clan member present.

Jiang Shan said matter-of-factly, "Our Phoenix Clan has so many people. We need Spirit Stone for everything, from food and clothing to shelter and transportation. What's wrong with us earning some money through our own abilities to supplement our household income?"

This was the first time Lu Yang had ever heard of selling blood being described in such a refined and elegant way.

Lu Yang recalled what Li Haoran had said, "The Phoenix Clan is the most arrogant race among the Demon Race. Their blood is extremely precious, and it is as difficult as climbing to heaven for humans to obtain their blood."

That's incredibly difficult.

The prefect glanced at Jiang Shan: "If your Phoenix Clan is so self-righteous, why do you insist on aging the Phoenix Bloodstone, determined not to let outsiders tell that it was just soaked?"

Jiang Shan, feeling guilty, shifted his gaze, not daring to look directly at the prefect.

"The Phoenix Clan is willing to sell Phoenix Blood, but they require that the matter be kept secret and not revealed to others. So, that senior prefect researched a method to quickly age the Phoenix Blood Stone."

"Like this."

The prefect casually picked up a piece of blood from the pool of blood, cast Law Technique, and the originally brightly colored Phoenix Bloodstone became dull and lifeless in his hand, as if it had been hundreds or thousands of years.

Every few years, Luofeng County receives a batch of blood from the Phoenix Clan, soaks stones in it, and creates Phoenix Blood Stones.

"This has continued for over three thousand years, a secret passed down among each prefect."

"Later, something unexpected happened, and a piece of Phoenix Bloodstone that hadn't been properly aged was leaked out. After changing hands several times, it was bought by the eldest young master of the Meng family."

"If an experienced weapon refiner saw that Phoenix Bloodstone, they could guess that the Phoenix Bloodstones currently produced in Luofeng County are all newly made, and thus deduce the agreement between Luofeng County and the Phoenix Clan."

"If this matter were exposed, it wouldn't look good for Luofeng County and the Phoenix Clan, so I've always wanted to reclaim this Phoenix Blood Stone. As for this guy surnamed Mo, he thinks the same way I do."

"But since things have come to this point, and you all know the truth, there's no point in taking it back."