Chapter 36

Houtu remained silent, while Fengxi, a wallflower off to the side, expressed that his eyes were opened wide.

Having Dijiang, whose strength is profound and who is deeply familiar with the traits of powerful beings in Honghuang, give his evaluation, allowed him to truly begin understanding and making contact with that circle, which is of great significance.

If before, he could only speculate based on a heap of information whose truth he couldn't verify, and the mental image he had formed of the many deities of Honghuang was full of distortions, now that he has obtained the exact inside story, he will be incredibly close!

And the closer he gets, the more similar it becomes… perhaps one day in the future, he will reap an unexpected reward.

"This trip to Mount Fengxi, Nüwa is nothing to worry about." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu gazed into the distance, "but Fuxi… Xihuang, will be a formidable opponent."

"But that's what makes it interesting…" He suddenly chuckled, "Always bullying weaklings gets boring after a while."

"Only a deity as supremely wise and astonishingly talented as Fuxi, as an opponent, can let me have a truly exhilarating showdown… Houtu, don't you agree?"

"Hehe… as long as you're happy." Houtu smiled, noncommittal.

Fengxi watched from the side, always feeling that Houtu Zu Wu's smile was somewhat forced, somewhat fake—the kind of smile that's all lips and no heart.

"Now, speed up and head for Mount Fengxi!" Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu gave the order; under his will, the team's speed climbed to a new level.

Finally, after a stretch of time had passed, at the far end of the vista lay an endless, undulating mountain range, as if foretelling their arrival at the destination.

The reason I say this is simply because—the closer they got, the more divine birds and strange fowl they could see!

All kinds of birds with brilliantly splendid plumage gathered, using that seemingly boundless, vast mountain range as their core… a sight nowhere else to be found.

Mandarin ducks, blue phoenixes, vermilion birds, the mythical zhen, swans, great winds… birds whose names could be spoken and those that could not left Fengxi dazzled.

But, this was not the end!

Perhaps it was the arrival of this Wu Clan retinue that startled the local birds… when one frightened bird took flight, it inadvertently set off the other divine birds.

In the end, amidst the vast mountains, countless divine birds rose together, soaring into the heavens, until even the sky was obscured.

Under the brilliant sunlight, their feathers reflected and emitted the most beautiful radiance… countless glimmers gathered, forming a sea of gorgeous colored light.

An ocean, boundless and endless, stretching beyond sight, five-colored and dreamlike.

The divine birds soaring and wheeling were like this ocean undulating and surging, its waves rolling heaven and earth, making everything visible seem unreal.

"The Fengxi Bird Vista." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu spoke slowly, startling Fengxi, who had been immersed and intoxicated by that sight, "It ranks among the top hundred of Honghuang's ten thousand wonders—whether a natural phenomenon born of heaven and earth, or a marvel carved by ages of ancient divinity."

"No matter how many times you look, it's always this pleasing to the eye."

Fengxi stared without blinking, yet nodded vigorously, indicating his agreement and approval.

"We're not here at the right time, so we can't yet see the most dreamlike, beautiful aspect of this view." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu said with a smile, "If we waited until the phoenix tree spirit-root in Mount Fengxi blossomed, the phoenix ancestor's consciousness, sleeping beneath the mountain range and suppressing the undying fire veins with nirvana, would awaken, shine upon the world, draw the phoenixes to sing in unison and a hundred birds to face the phoenix… then it would be a thousand times more magnificent than now."

"Sir, have you seen it yourself?" Fengxi longed, wishing he could cross time and space just to catch a glimpse.

"That's only natural." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu said lightly, "Although that phoenix tree spirit-root hasn't bloomed in hundreds of thousands of years, I heard it suffered a calamity—cut down by the music sovereign, Fuxi, who used its wood to craft a lute imitating the phoenix's form…"

—Fuxi, seeing the phoenixes gather on the paulownia, took its form and carved the paulownia to make a lute!

"But, in the Great Luo, past, present and future are all accessible… I went to ages past and witnessed the scene of the phoenix tree blooming, the phoenixes singing, and myriad birds paying homage." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu sighed, "Such a splendid sight can make one forget all pressure and worry…"

"Let the world know that in the Honghuang realm, there is not only cultivation, hegemony, and slaughter, but also the beauty jointly enacted by heaven, earth, and all living beings…"

"From now on, whenever I have time, I will definitely go out and see it." Fengxi's gaze was full of longing.

The world is so vast; he wants to see it.

"If you're going, you'd better hurry." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu smiled, "Before the Wu-Yao war breaks out, while you still have that mood, that leisure… and before those wonders are destroyed."

"After they're destroyed, the only way to witness their splendor and shock firsthand is to attain the Great Luo Dao."

"I understand." Fengxi nodded repeatedly.

Suddenly he noticed a blind spot, his expression turning strange: "Are the dojos of the Great Sage Fuxi and the Holy Mother Nüwa both on Mount Fengxi? And beneath Mount Fengxi, isn't there also the ancestor of the phoenix?"

"In such a tiny place, there are actually three of the most powerful innate deities… Who is the master of this land?"

"Of course it's the phoenix… Mount Fengxi, Mount Fengxi—isn't that already clear?" Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu glanced at him, "Actually, the original dojo of the Fuxi and Nüwa siblings was on Mount Buzhou; only later was it moved to the Fengxi mountain range."

"According to rumors, the Holy Mother Nüwa felt Mount Buzhou wasn't safe enough… As the monster sovereign, her nest is right beside the Wu Clan's stronghold—just how big must her heart be?"

Furthermore, through countless pieces of information gathered from the future, it will also be split open by Gonggong Zu Wu's headbutt—whether his iron-headed ramming of the mountain is due to the Wu Clan's defeat or being forced by the human sovereign Zhuanxu.

"It's only natural that Fuxi and Nüwa would choose to relocate."

"Will the phoenix lineage allow it? Selling their ancestral land?" Fengxi muttered.

"They can't refuse the fists of these two great sages, nor their wealth… they have no choice but to grant a plot of land to this sibling pair." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu shook his head, "But thanks to the abilities of the two, the central Xihuang, the Mount Fengxi Hundred Birds Collective has been flourishing more and more in recent years; big and small phoenixes are making money hand over fist, having broken free from the business of renting out clanspeople to go sell cuteness and put on shows—if they engage in anything, it's high-end, aimed at those female mighty cultivators."

"Look now, the carts are mostly pulled by true dragons—often nine at a time." Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu sighed, patting the carriage frame, "As for phoenix mounts, they're rare enough not to mention… what you mostly see are solitary singles, at most three—and even those are usually offshoots of the phoenix line, like the blue phoenix and its kin."

"Why?"

"They've got money now!"

"Pure manual labor? The phoenixes look down on it… labor costs have risen too much!" Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu felt distressed, "I've long leased nine true dragons, yet it's still less than half the price of a phoenix of the same rank!"

"The dragon and phoenix races—nowadays almost only the dragon race remains, still relying on the lord to eat this bowl of rice, to manage the clan—after all, they have a unique racial lineage; any living being with even a trace of dragon blood can later evolve into a dragon, letting the dragon race continually expand."

"(End of chapter)"