Heat kept rising, forcing Xiao Ya to stop shining the light and move farther away.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Xue and Ye Rumeng, who were in their rooms, also ran over to watch.
The Fire Element surged for about a minute before stopping.
Under their gazes, once the flames stopped pouring out, more and more cracks appeared on the Phoenix Egg's shell. They could all clearly sense a lively little creature inside, constantly battering the shell, trying to break free.
After several minutes of effort, a hole finally broke open at the top. A little head covered in golden-red down poked out, turning this way and that to inspect its surroundings.
"So this is... a phoenix?"
They all gathered around curiously to watch.
"It looks like a chick..."
"But its feathers are red..."
"It seems stuck. Should we help?"
"No, breaking out of the shell is a very important process. It's best to let it do it itself..."
As they discussed it, the Phoenix Hatchling on the ground struggled with its neck caught in the shell. Finding that it could not get out, it could only retreat inside and keep battering away.
Only after widening the opening another notch did it try to emerge again.
This time, the phoenix finally slipped out, but its wings could not spread yet, and it toppled headfirst onto the ground, golden-red down and all.
"Chirp!"
The phoenix seemed to have hurt itself in the fall. It gave an aggrieved cry, wiggled its bottom as it shifted around, and bit into the shell. Crunch, crunch-soon, it had eaten every scrap.
"Burp!"
After eating, the little phoenix even burped, opening its mouth to spit out a small flame that instantly heated the surrounding air again.
"Chirp?"
Just as the little phoenix lay on its back