Xu Jiujiu froze for a moment, then rubbed her hands together somewhat awkwardly.
"Ah? It'll still take a month?"
Xuan Xiao raised an eyebrow at her hesitant expression.
"What is it? Just say what you want to say. Don't beat around the bush."
Xu Jiujiu bit her lip, but finally gathered her courage and spoke.
"Well... I broke through Rank 50 a long time ago. I've been waiting for your place to open so I could buy a suitable Soul Spirit."
Xuan Xiao understood. She had been waiting for him to open shop. He remembered that the Star Crown seemed to be star-attributed. Soul Beasts with that attribute were exceedingly rare, so it was no wonder she had kept waiting.
He rummaged through his storage ring for quite a while before finally taking out a transparent sphere the size of a fist. Sealed inside was a fire phoenix whose entire body shimmered with starlight.
Though the fire phoenix was only palm-sized, its feathers were magnificent and its eyes lively, as though it might come alive at any moment.
"Take it. Consider it an opening gift from me."
Xu Jiujiu accepted the sphere and carefully examined the creature inside, her voice tinged with surprise and confusion.
"Is that... a phoenix? Why is there starlight flowing through it?"
Xuan Xiao crossed his arms and explained calmly.
"A fifteen-thousand-year Starlight Fire Phoenix. Use it wisely and cherish it."
"If you want another Soul Spirit this good in the future, you'll have to trade resources for it. I won't be giving them away for free again."
Cradling the Soul Spirit Ball, Xu Jiujiu turned toward Xu Jiawei.
"Brother, does our family have records of this kind of phoenix? Why have I never heard of such a Soul Beast?"
Xu Jiawei shook his head, equally