Nirvana Egg × The Secret of the Phoenix

"Chew!"

A clear, melodious bird song.

The bird's song was incredibly penetrating, seemingly piercing the very soul.

With a cry, the once listless Phoenix's soul soared into the air.

It trailed a long, fiery tail, arcing through the air as it crashed into the egg.

The originally slightly dark red patterns on it now seemed to have been infused with life.

The moment the Phoenix's spirit body, constructed purely of Nen Aura, completely disappeared into its eggshell like a weary bird returning to its nest, a sudden change occurred.

The lines of the peas on the eggshell suddenly came to life.

They were no longer just patterns drawn with paint, but transformed into flowing lava, shimmering with a deep and dazzling red light.

Every line extends, branches, and intertwines, like ancient and mysterious magic runes being illuminated in an instant.

Like the fiery veins of a phoenix rising from the ashes, the eggshell surface grows and spreads wildly, outlining even more complex and mysterious patterns.

The originally relatively simple pattern transformed in just a few breaths into an intricate totem covering the entire Giant Egg, brimming with primal power and the rhythm of life.

Looking at the intricate pattern, Kevin immediately frowned and began to observe it carefully, trying to memorize these complex designs.

He discovered that these images and texts resembled some kind of more intricate "God Text."

Almost simultaneously with the dramatic change in the patterns, an astonishingly high temperature suddenly erupted.

"Hoo-hoo!"

Pure orange-gold flames rose without warning from every corner of the eggshell, instantly enveloping the egg completely.

This is no ordinary firewood, but a raging fire containing the primal power of the Phoenix.

The flames did not dance wildly, but burned quietly and steadily, like a layer of flowing liquid sunlight, clinging tightly to the eggshell.

The core of the flame was pure gold, while the edges had the unique hue of the Phoenix, mixed with deep red and shadow.

The intense heat distorted the surrounding air, causing the Giant Egg's outline to sway slightly in the heatwave, like a doll fallen to earth.

The molten sun is gathering its power.

The air crackled and popped as it was heated, and the temperature around the camp rose sharply, as if approaching a Volcano. Kevin, Men Qi, Buhaci, Pons, Pakunoda, Beg, Kite, and Tell and Ann all instinctively took a step back.

They raised their hands to shield their faces from the oncoming heat, their faces flickering in the leaping firelight, their eyes filled with astonishment and solemnity.

The scene of this rebirth was even more exaggerated than they had imagined.

The Giant Egg, like a living Magma sculpture, quietly bathed in the divine fire emanating from itself.

The intricate patterns, resembling the trajectories of stars, became even clearer and deeper under the intense heat of the flames.

The eggshell appeared translucent under the flames, faintly revealing the even more intense light emanating from the core inside.

The light pulsed like a heartbeat, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, with a slow but powerful rhythm.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Everyone held their breath.

The egg did not crack, there was no chirping of a chick, and there was no violent tremor as if it was about to hatch.

It simply burned, burning silently and steadily.

A vast amount of energy and spiritual essence circulates, merges, and transforms within the eggshell.

The flames were both protection and a furnace, a place where the ancient Phantom Beast, freed from the Resentment Lock, re-forged its essence.

Awaiting the sacred Succession Ceremony of true rebirth.

It stood there quietly, like a burning altar.

"-Didn't come out?"

After a long silence, Men Qi suddenly spoke up and asked.

Everyone thought that when the Phoenix returned to the egg, and such an exaggerated scene occurred, it might be reborn on the spot.

However, this is not the case.

Beg and Kevin approached, but because the temperature around the flames was extremely high, they didn't rush forward. Instead, they circled around and carefully examined it.

"What do you think?" Kevin asked, looking at Beg beside him.

After observing carefully, Beg said.

"The flames are probably there to protect the egg; under normal circumstances, no living thing would want to get close to such a high temperature."

"Judging from what just happened, the Phoenix has re-entered the egg and started hatching. Obviously, the process from entering the egg to hatching is also part of the rebirth process."

"As for why it didn't hatch immediately, there's no way to be sure. It could be that such a process is necessary, or it could be that the Phoenix suffered too much damage while being restrained and needs time to recover."

This conclusion is mainly based on the energy that the Phoenix egg accumulated during its emergence and growth to such a massive size.

As Kevin predicted.

The Phoenix's rebirth should be a process like this.

As death approaches, just as the Nirvana process is about to begin, one of the eggs somewhere in the world will be chosen to become the site of Nirvana.

The egg then accumulates energy during this process, until it has accumulated enough.

The Phoenix died, but its soul and Nen Aura allowed it to traverse mountains and rivers to return to its egg.

The accumulated energy should be enough for the Phoenix to hatch from its egg again.

However, apart from the most superficial aspects, all other details are unknown and can only be speculated upon.

But the situation of this Phoenix is quite special.

"Now we can only wait."

Beg shook his head and said.

In his view, the egg is accumulating strength on its own in this situation, so there's no need to worry about it; it will naturally hatch when enough time has passed.

Suddenly Kevin reached out and, under the protection of the barrier, dipped his hand into the fire, gently touching the surface of the eggshell.

A slight surge of Nen Aura entered, then returned.

Feedback has begun.

[Biographies: Phoenix]

Reproduction method unknown.

Of all the biological categories, Kevin can only translate one as "[Cyclical Lifeform]".

Then comes a more detailed description of life forms.

[Adult body]:

Form: It usually appears as a huge Giant Bird with flames burning on its body and liquid light flowing from its wings; the flames can represent its state.

Abilities: The flames possess immense destructive power, capable of rapidly evaporating surrounding moisture, including that within living organisms. They can also attract and, to some extent, control other external flames or similar energy forms.

Activity: They generally inhabit energy areas with higher temperatures, and their very presence can raise the surrounding temperature and alter the environment to some extent.

"Death" signal: When the Phoenix senses that the energy of its current form has reached the peak of a cycle, or has encountered irreversible erosion that exceeds the limits of its current form, it will actively guide its life essence to condense and circulate.

[Nirvana Phase]:

Transformation: The Phoenix's enormous energy body collapses and condenses in an extremely short time, forming a "Light Egg" containing pure life essence. This egg is not an "egg," but a cocoon in which life essence is highly compressed, undergoing self-purification and reshaping.

Status: The egg is indestructible, isolated from the outside. Intense energy restructuring is taking place inside, possibly a process of filtering and purifying energy to eliminate the scars and impurities from before reincarnation.

Ecological role: The Nirvana Egg itself is a powerful source of Life Energy, and the faint radiation it emits slowly purifies the surrounding environment. The impact of the flames transforms from destruction into a process of life's advancement. It is not "hatching," but rather "the completion of the essential reconstruction."

Duration: The length of the Nirvana Phase varies, depending on the accumulation and reconstruction required in the previous cycle. Due to insufficient sample size, precise conclusions cannot be drawn.

[Rebirth]:

Emerging from the Cocoon: When the essence of life completes its reconstruction and purification, reaching a new perfect balance, the Light Egg will Emission an unstoppable, purer, and more powerful radiance from within.

Morphological regression: The eggshell does not "hatch" into a larva, but instead directly reorganizes and stretches into a brand new adult body at its peak state amidst brilliant light. Its form is basically the same as the previous cycle, but the core life essence is even purer.

Uncertain information: The newly born Phoenix may have new abilities, generally some kind of change in flames, but the sample size is insufficient to determine this.

There is no "growth," only "refinement." The power of the Phoenix does not come from linear growth from infancy to adulthood, but from the purification and refinement of the essence of life in each cycle of rebirth.

Growing through cycles.

Note: The cycle of Nirvana is extremely unpredictable, and the cause of Nirvana is unknown. It can last from a few years to hundreds of years.

The oldest known individual has been observed to have completed seven full cycles of Nirvana.

Sure enough, there was a response.

Kevin had done this before when the Phoenix was in its Resentment form, but the Biological Chip didn't provide any feedback at the time. In other words, the Biological Chip didn't recognize the other party as a living being, or rather, it had no life information about the other party at all.

But now it's here again.

After translating the information that could be translated, Kevin felt that perhaps the cycle of reincarnation of the Phoenix in the Dark Continent was somewhat different from the cycle of reincarnation of the Phoenix in human society.

There was no process of traveling thousands of miles to enter the egg; instead, it transformed into an egg on the spot and directly entered the oviparous state to be reborn.

That makes sense. If such a process existed in the Dark Continent, it would be far too dangerous.

Such changes in human society may be due to increased safety, or perhaps because adult bodies after each rebirth may not be able to store enough energy to transform back into eggs.

Interestingly, the Phoenix has significantly more biological information than the Vengeful Resentful Serpent.

Moreover, based on the information above, it is quite clear that the information about the Phoenix recorded in the Biological Chip indicates that a specific individual was captured and studied.

All the information about the Resentful Eater Snake came from observation.

After translating a lot, Kevin thought it might be because the Phoenix is not a social animal but a solitary one.

Its life form is also very different from that of the Resentful Eater Snake.

Even so, they might only have obtained one or two individuals, and the research might only have Phoenix that had undergone one or two rebirths.

Having observed the Phoenix after seven complete rebirths, it appears impossible to approach it directly; observation is the only option.

In other words, the more individuals of the Phoenix that are normally reborn, the greater the range of life forms they can have.

After sorting out the information in my mind...

Kevin looked at the people around him.

"Judging from the situation, if we want this egg to hatch, we'll have to take it to an area similar to Volcano region."

Upon hearing this, An was the first to ask.

"I don't know much about this stuff. What I want to know is, if this egg is placed near Volcano, will it cause violent Volcano eruptions?"

"We're here to address the Volcano eruption here. If it could indeed cause violent Volcano activity, I can help you identify some more suitable areas."

Based on the information in his mind, Kevin shook his head.

"Probably not. I think putting the egg in the Ash Urn Magma Chamber where we got the urn before will be fine."

Upon hearing this, Ann looked at Tell.

Tell frowned for a while before relaxing and shaking his head.

"There won't be any problems; the wildfires caused by the Volcano eruption won't happen again."

"Really? Then the problem is solved, and everyone is happy now."

"In that case, let's have a barbecue party tonight! How about we use this fire?"

Men Qi immediately jumped out and shouted loudly.

It seems there's no other way but to reluctantly agree.

At night, various materials were piled up around the camp, and Men Qi and Buhaci set up a grill around the eggs.

After all, this flame was much more intense than the flame in the Ash Urn, so it was impossible to get close; the only option was to use the high temperature around it to roast it.

Moreover, the flames sway gently in the wind, allowing the surrounding area to be roasted as well.

Kevin picked up the meat skewer in his hand and took a bite.

"It tastes much better than roasted food from Ash Urn. How should I put it—it has more Life Force?"

He said uncertainly.

Men Qi also tried some.

He frowned and pondered carefully.

"The meat feels fresh, like it was just cut from a slaughtered animal."

But this place is inconvenient to begin with, and the ingredients you buy here can't really be considered fresh.

After being grilled over a flame, they actually become fresher.

Perhaps this is why the flames at Nirvana transformed from flames of destruction into flames of Life Force?

Kevin could only connect the dots in that direction.

However, this doesn't affect the deliciousness.

The group huddled together in twos and threes.

Kevin sat next to Kite, and Pakunoda and Pons were also there.

"What have you been doing lately? Are you also within the Kakin Empire?"

Kite nodded.

"Before you came back, I signed a contract with the government of the Kakin Empire to help with domestic and biological surveys."

"As a late-developing nation, the Kakin Empire has preserved much of its ecosystem relatively well, and has many new species. However, the agreement is likely to expire soon."

It was precisely because of his biological research on these new species that he earned the title of One-star Hunter.

Because the number of new species investigated was sufficient.

"And you?" Kite asked, taking a sip of her beer.

Kevin shrugged.

"Training some suitable personnel, making some preparations, etc., is no different from before."

"Then I think that guy named Tell is pretty good, his Nen ability," Kite said.

Upon hearing this question, Kevin shook his head helplessly.

"I think it's good too, but he might not be interested in this. If he doesn't share the same goal, he might not be suitable to be a partner."

Although they did not explicitly inquire about the other party's Nen ability, they can infer it based on their current assumptions.

The other party should have been able to foresee the disaster to some extent.

This ability is extremely useful.

Especially when traveling to the Dark Continent.

The problem is that the other party's past experiences and goals have nothing to do with the Dark Continent.

Dedicated to preventing natural disasters in human society.

The reason for this was the disaster he suffered in his childhood, which led to the destruction of his family and the loss of his life.

That's why.

Kevin felt the chances of being invited were very slim.