"Nine-Star Phoenix."
The Seventh Elder slapped the Bronze Formation Disk onto the table, his voice as rough as sandpaper scraping wood. "In the chronicles of ancient times, the Fallen Star Ancient Forest was called 'Phoenixfall Slope.' A Nine-Star Phoenix fell there, and its essence blood seeped into the earth's veins, soaking the entire forest in the color of star marrow."
White Snow was stuffing her third piece of Osmanthus Cake into her beak and sprayed crumbs all over the table. "A phoenix? One of my own kin?" "If your kin knew how much you ate, they'd probably rewrite the family genealogy overnight." Han Yuwan thumped a pot of hot tea down in front of her.
"That pillar of light," Ningyu traced a silvery-white line across the tabletop with her finger, "was silver-white, shot straight into the sky, and lasted a full eighteen hours. Old Zhou said the master of the Stars Pavilion smashed a teacup after returning-which means he couldn't obtain that inheritance. Or rather, it refused to recognize him."
"Good thing it didn't!" White Snow wiped her beak, her golden eyes wide and round. "I'll go! My bloodline's pure as pure can be! When that inheritance sees the mighty White Snow, won't it come crying and begging to leap into my arms?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself." The Seventh Elder took a yellowed sketch from inside his robe and spread it across the table. Crooked lines covered it, marked with several faded ink dots. "Packs of third-tier Star Wolves roam the forest's outskirts. With your current cultivation, you could escape three of them. Against ten, you'd be feed."
"I'm a phoenix!"
"A fat phoenix," Red Dragon Girl cut in.
"Say that again, you red mud loach!"
"Fat-phoe-nix-"
Qing Feng lightly tapped the table. She said nothing, but White Snow