Chapter 13: Activating the Jinwu Bloodline

Consciousness gradually awakened from chaos; Zhang Yi felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring, warm and comfortable enough to make him want to groan aloud.

But his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and he could not open them no matter what.

After struggling for a long time, he managed to squint them open a crack, but what met his eyes was a blinding, fiery red.

"I... where am I?"

Zhang Yi thought groggily, then a burnt smell drilled into his nostrils, making him snap wide awake.

Fire!

There was fire everywhere!

He widened his eyes in terror, only then discovering that he was lying in a pile of burning dead branches and leaves, the raging flames nearly licking his feathers.

Strangely, he did not feel the slightest heat; instead, he felt this fire was as warm as a mother's embrace.

He tentatively stretched out a claw and touched the leaping flames; surprisingly, nothing happened at all!

"Damn it! What's going on?"

He couldn't help but curse.

He struggled to stand up and flapped his wings; a sense of power like never before surged into his heart.

He felt his whole body was filled with strength, as if he could soar into the sky.

He tried waving his wings, *whoosh*—a powerful current of air instantly blew the surrounding flames away, forming a vacuum zone.

"Holy cow! Did I... mutate?"

Zhang Yi looked at his shimmering golden feathers, both surprised and delighted.

His originally pitch-black feathers were now covered in golden patterns, like flowing magma, emitting a dazzling light.

He instinctively felt that these golden patterns were closely related to the powerful energy surging within his body.

Just then, an anxious shout came from outside the cave: "Hey, hey, hey! Are you okay in there?"

It was the voice of his Empress Sister!

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Yi hurriedly rushed out of the cave, the glaring sunlight making him squint.

He saw thick smoke rolling outside the cave; the forest had already been swallowed by the great fire, the flames fierce, as if they wanted to turn everything into ash.

Nudi and Ju Niao Mu Qin were standing not far away, looking over anxiously.

Seeing Zhang Yi appear safe and sound, Nudi clearly let out a sigh of relief, walked quickly to his front, and looked him up and down.

"Are you okay? You scared me to death!"

"Mother and I called for you for a long time, but you didn't respond; we thought you had turned into a roast chicken..."

"Pah, pah, pah, you're the one who turned into a roast chicken!"

"Your whole family is..."

Halfway through his sentence, Zhang Yi suddenly realized that if it were Nudi's whole family, wouldn't that include himself and Ju Niao Mu Qin?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yi followed up with a grin, showing off his feathers that were shining with golden light.

"Look, you guys, I just took a nap, and it seems... I've become even more powerful!"

Reminded by him, Nudi and the giant bird nearby finally reacted.

This guy really seemed different from before.

The two birds, one large and one small, stared at him blankly, taking a long while to react.

Nudi's face was full of disbelief: "You... your feathers! How did they turn golden?"

"Tell me quickly, how did you do it?"

At this moment, Ju Niao Mu Qin also walked over, gazing deeply at the golden patterns on Zhang Yi's body, a trace of surprise flashing in her eyes: "This is... the Jinwu bloodline! You actually activated the Jinwu bloodline within your body!"

Zhang Yi was confused: "Jinwu bloodline? What is that?"

Ju Niao Mu Qin explained: "Jinwu is a legendary divine bird that possesses the powerful ability to control fire."

"The ancestors of our Wangri Bird were actually the legendary Jinwu, but because the era is too distant, although our tribe all contains the Jinwu bloodline, it is negligible, and very few descendants can awaken the Jinwu bloodline during cultivation."

"Therefore, the Jinwu bloodline in our Wangri Bird tribe has always been in a dormant state; I didn't expect it to be activated by you, kid, by some stroke of luck!"

"It seems those snake eggs were not just food for you, but also a catalyst."

Hearing Ju Niao Mu Qin's explanation, Zhang Yi finally understood; it turned out his coma wasn't because he was poisoned, but because he had activated the bloodline power within him.

He excitedly flapped his wings, feeling the surging power within his body, and couldn't help but let out a long cry toward the sky.

Watching his smug look, Nudi, who was on the side, was now full of disappointment.

If she had known those snake eggs could activate the Jinwu bloodline, she should have eaten a few more even if it meant stuffing herself to death.

Now it was fine; it had all gone to this glutton in front of her for nothing.

Just thinking about it made her teeth itch with irritation.

She had originally planned to teach this guy a good lesson to avenge the previous humiliation once her own strength improved in the future.

Now it was fine; the gap between the two was getting wider and wider.

How was she supposed to catch up!

Compared to Nudi's secret annoyance, Ju Niao Mu Qin was full of gratification at this moment.

"Alright, don't get carried away."

Ju Niao Mu Qin suddenly spoke up to interrupt: "The most important thing now is to leave this place; the fire is too big, and we must find a safe place as soon as possible."

Once the other party said this, Zhang Yi finally noticed the raging forest fire all around.

He looked at the giant bird with some guilt: "Mother, this fire... it wouldn't have been caused by me, would it?"

Ju Niao Mu Qin sighed: "I'm afraid so. When you activated your bloodline just now, you released a large amount of fire energy, which ignited the surrounding dead branches and leaves."

"Now the wind is strong, and the fire is spreading quickly; we must leave as soon as possible."

Nudi also looked at the sea of fire around them with worry: "The fire is too fierce; where should we go?"

Ju Niao Mu Qin raised her head to look at the sky, pointed in one direction, and said, "Head south; there is a river there. We can fly along the river and find a safe place."

The three of them set off immediately, with Ju Niao Mu Qin flying in the lead, followed closely by Zhang Yi and Nudi.

During the flight, Zhang Yi clearly felt that his speed and strength had improved significantly compared to before, even faster than Nudi.

"Hey, slow down!"

Nudi shouted breathlessly, "Wait for me!"

Zhang Yi smiled smugly: "Hehe, I am a Jinwu now, so of course my speed is fast!"

"If you can't keep up, just grab my tail!"

Nudi glared at him fiercely: "In your dreams! I would never grab your tail!"

Just then, a cry of alarm came from Ju Niao Mu Qin ahead: "Watch out! There is a situation ahead!"

Zhang Yi and Nudi hurriedly looked up, only to see thick smoke billowing ahead, and vaguely, several huge figures could be seen circling in the air.

"It's... it's the giant eagles!"

Nudi recognized the identity of those behemoths at a glance.

"They are the overlords of this forest!"

However, the moment the three of them discovered the giant eagles, the flock of giant eagles also discovered them.

The next second, these fellows let out sharp cries, calling their companions as they sped toward them...