Chapter 12
To keep anyone from noticing and suspecting that Cloudsky Sect had already claimed the Spirit Plant, Ye Zhenzhen deliberately dawdled. She insisted on taking a nice, peaceful nap, successfully slowing Cloudsky Sect's treasure-hunting team.
By the time everyone else had entered the spirit fruit grove, the four of them had only just arrived.
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Chapter 12
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Tall, luxuriant spirit fruit trees rose before them in layer upon layer, and a fresh, sweet scent filled the air. The fruits glowed in a riot of colors, brimming with spiritual energy. They looked like little sprites dancing on the branches, their luster impossible to resist.
"What genius sword cultivator? Looks like a good-for-nothing to me. He only made it out of the illusion now?"
"Exactly. And he brought two deadweights along. What treasure does he expect to get his hands on?"
"If you ask me, Cloudsky Sect is getting weaker by the day. They should give up their place among the Five Great Sects and let our Thousand Mechanisms Palace take it. Right, Senior Brother Jiang?"
Jiang Kui and the disciples beside him had started sneering at Ye Qinghui and the others again. They had no idea that the Spirit Plants had already been swept clean by the very people they were mocking, while they themselves had found nothing.
Shen Xingyan watched silently from the sidelines without a word.
The man in white robes marked with a red sword pattern, who had stepped in for them earlier, came forward again. "What are you lot shouting at a delicate young lady and a child for? It's not as if you've found any treasure yourselves."
"Lu Lingxuan, mind your own business. We weren't talking about you." Jiang Kui folded his arms and shot him a warning glare.
The man showed no fear at all. "If you've got what it takes, stop flapping your gums. Whoever picks the Millennium Phoenix Spirit Fruit is the real winner." Phoenix Spirit Fruits were rich in spiritual energy and could aid cultivation. The Millennium Phoenix Spirit Fruit was rarer still, a treasure that gathered vast spiritual energy within itself and could help a cultivator break through a bottleneck at a crucial moment.
"Fine. You're on. We'll make sure you lose so badly you have nothing to say." Jiang Kui was done trading barbs. Finding the Phoenix Spirit Fruit Tree with his fellow disciples mattered more.
Lu Lingxuan? Isn't he the young master of Spirit Sword Manor—and another of Senior Sister's future suitors?
Spirit Sword Manor has a monopoly on the materials, forging, and sale of swords. They're famously filthy rich throughout the Cultivation World. I heard they have so many Spirit Stones they use them to build walls.
I want to be friends with someone that rich!
Ye Zhenzhen's thoughts brought a smile to Ye Qinghui's lips. Ye Qingyao lowered her head shyly, while Ye Qingchuan silently clenched his fists. As the heroine of the original book, Senior Sister certainly had plenty of suitors.
Everyone had just scattered to search for spirit fruits in different directions when a flock of enormous birds with rainbow-colored feathers flew toward them. Their wings stretched five or six meters across.
"What beautiful birds! Their feathers have seven colors. They're almost like the divine Phoenix." Cries of wonder rose from the crowd.
Some were itching to make a contract with one and take it home as a mount. What a grand entrance that would make. Others wanted to pluck their feathers and auction them off, or have them made into dazzling feathered robes that buyers would fight over.
But beautiful things were often poisonous, and true hunters appeared in the guise of prey.
While everyone was entranced by the birds' brilliant colors, the giant creatures beat their rainbow wings overhead. Shimmering, multicolored powder drifted down.
The world before them turned strange and dazzling, flashing with an uncanny light.
Oh no, they're Illusion Birds!
Their wings scatter Illusion Powder. It traps people in rainbow-colored visions, robs them of their sense of direction, and makes it hard to tell truth from illusion. Then they're lambs waiting for the slaughter.
Sure enough, once the Illusion Birds had scattered their powder, they opened their long beaks to reveal rows of fangs and attacked the cultivators caught in the illusion. Some of the weaker cultivators lost themselves completely in the shifting colors and could no longer defend themselves. Before long, the birds had torn them apart and eaten them.
"These birds appear and vanish without warning. How are we supposed to fight them?"
First, put on the Artifact Masks we prepared. Then combine the Fire-Controlling Talismans with the Fire Spirit Grass we just found and throw them at the birds' wings.
Ye Qinghui fitted a tiny Artifact Mask over Ye Zhenzhen's face, then put on his own. Following her instructions, the four moved forward, throwing Fire-Controlling Talismans and Fire Spirit Grass at the Illusion Birds.
The birds' beautiful rainbow wings could withstand blades and spears, but the Fire Spirit Grass strengthened the Fire-Controlling Talismans until their feathers burned to ash. The rich aroma of roast squab filled the air. Who would have thought birds so huge could smell so delicious on the fire?
That smells amazing. I want roast squab.
That sizzling, dripping-with-oil kind has the crispiest skin and tender, juicy meat. Brush on a layer of Cumin Powder and take a bite—the flavor would linger on your lips and teeth.
Longing sparkled in Ye Zhenzhen's eyes, and she drooled all over the ground.
Birds were quick to anger. Seeing their companions roasted, the others fluffed up in fury and charged at the four of them without a thought. One after another, they became wingless roast birds, utterly unlike their former dazzling selves.
Robbed of their beautiful feathers, the Illusion Birds drooped dejectedly, as though they had sunk into despair. They wailed overhead, no longer in any mood to attack the cultivators.
They're so ugly now. They look like giant bald chickens. I can't bear to look.
Proof that feathers make the bird! Hahahaha.
With the Illusion Powder still hanging in the air, everyone but the four of them remained lost in visions. Some wore strange smiles; others looked utterly deranged. One chased a bald bird, shouting, "Beauty, wait for me!" while another hacked wildly at empty air.
"Quick! Pick the Millennium Phoenix Spirit Fruit while we have the chance!"
They searched the spirit fruit grove from end to end before finally finding the ancient, mysterious Phoenix Spirit Fruit Tree of legend. As the saying went, "A Phoenix rests only in a Phoenix Tree." The Phoenix Spirit Fruit Tree was lush with branches and leaves, its trunk and foliage much like a Phoenix Tree's, but with an added air of spiritual vitality and nobility.