Chapter 29: Can a Phoenix Associate with Sparrows?!

"Something's off, it's really off!"

The more Su Ming looked, the more his body trembled.

The reason is simple!!!

The altar on the left—

【Altar Number: 7766】

【Connection Marker: Nine Heavens Fairy Realm】

【Karma: Heaven's beloved daughter Na Lan Ranran, tormented in her heart. Three years ago, her fiancé Xiao Huohuo's cultivation regressed. The clan elders forced a broken engagement. She stands at a crossroads of life, not knowing which way to go.】

This...

Can this be right?

The altar on the right, likewise defying Heaven—

【Altar Number: 6677】

【Connection Marker: Nine Heavens Fairy Realm】

【Karma: Talented youth Xiao Huohuo, trapped in suffering. Three years ago, his cultivation inexplicably stalled. The surrounding cold scoffs and sarcasm pierced his heart like sharp blades. He longs to break the impasse, yet no one can help.】

The night breeze by the river froze at this moment.

Su Ming stood before the two completely different altars, his heart pounding wildly.

"What the heck!"

"Na Lan Ranran... Xiao Huohuo..."

Su Ming took a deep breath, trying to calm his turbulent thoughts.

This damn...

This is clearly...

"It's happening! This time it's really happening!"

Su Ming's eyes shone terrifyingly bright.

He knows the plot trajectory of this kind of story all too well—

The prodigy falls, the fiancée breaks off the engagement, suffers humiliation, and then the golden finger awakens!

The protagonist embarks on the defying-heaven path, slaps his own face, and ultimately claims the summit!

This!

is a perfect Karma closed loop!

"Alright, alright..."

"So... if I were the mastermind behind this, what should I do?!"

"If I rashly intervene and stop the broken engagement, Xiao Huohuo might never activate the golden finger in his dire situation!"

"In that case, that defying-heaven act might never be completed, and I wouldn't gain anything!"

Su Ming's mind raced.

What he needs is to go with the prevailing trend.

But he also must leave his own mark at the crucial juncture, maximizing the benefit!

"So... first stir emotions... let Xiao Huohuo fall into the abyss first!"

"That way, no matter how he moves, it's upward!"

At this thought, Su Ming's gaze fixed on the left 【Phoenix Altar】.

Tsk tsk tsk!

Na Lan Ranran, Heaven's proud daughter.

She is not entirely heartless; she is merely caught in the situation, coerced by her family, and feels wavering toward her now useless fiancé.

What she now needs is a final push.

"So... this broken engagement must become more fierce, more decisive, to force Xiao Huohuo into a dead end!"

Su Ming's expression turned odd.

Who does he think he is?!

He can't do anything right, but he's first at fanning the flames!

Soon, a blank sheet and a pen were taken from his bag.

The pen tip touched the paper, Su Ming pondered briefly, and began to write with a flourish!

【Na Lan Ranran, look up at the sky!】

【Can a phoenix associate with sparrows?】

【The path of cultivation, rugged and bumpy, love and longing, are merely dust on the Dao heart!】

【Your future lies beyond the Nine Heavens clouds, not in this petty entanglement!】

【If you wish to claim the summit, you must first cut off attachments!】

【He no longer matches your pace!】

After writing, Su Ming picked it up and looked.

Finally, he added another line—

【Let go of obsession, and the Great Dao is attained!】

Then, he pressed the paper directly onto the 【Phoenix Altar】 that radiated a fiery red glow.

"Go forth, proud phoenix!"

Buzz—!

In an instant, the altar emitted a gentle suction, the paper turned into specks of starlight and vanished without a trace.

Immediately after, a Light Curtain thunderously unfolded before Su Ming!

Within the Light Curtain was a scene of another world.

In the exquisitely carved boudoir, sandalwood incense wafted.

Na Lan Ranran, in a plain dress, sat upright before the mirror, yet her expression was sorrowful.

She clutched a Jade Pendant tightly in her hand.

It was the Token she and Xiao Huohuo had exchanged years ago.

"Huohuo… why did you…"

She murmured to herself, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.

Outside the Gate, the family elder's cold urging came.

"Ranran, the family's decision has been made; do not persist in your stubbornness!"

"The Xiao family now no longer merits an alliance with the Na Lan family!"

Na Lan Ranran's delicate body trembled, and she closed her eyes in pain.

And at that moment!

Outside the window, a feather glowing with flaming Red Light drifted in lightly.

"Hm?"

Na Lan Ranran snapped her eyes open and saw the feather.

The feather landed on the table, its radiance instantly condensed and turned into a slip of paper.

The scene left her uncertain and trembling, and she opened the slip with a shaking hand.

Then, her delicate body jolted suddenly.

"Phoenix… how could it associate with sparrows…"

She murmured, and the bewilderment in her eyes vanished.

The phoenix bloodline within her began to pulse!

"I understand!"

She rose, casually crushed the Jade Pendant into powder, and pushed the Gate open without looking back.

"Let's go, to the Xiao family!"

"Break off the marriage!"

The Light Curtain vanished.

Su Ming stood where he was, his scalp tingling.

"It really can't be blamed on me…"

He suddenly felt a bit guilty—what was that about?

"Hm?!"

"Where is the feedback from my altar?"

After waiting a long while, the Phoenix Altar remained as quiet as before, with no movement.

"Do we have to wait until the Karma on both sides ends before a unified feedback arrives?"

Su Ming felt a stir in his heart, as if he understood.

Then he turned his gaze to the dim, cracked Heavy Ruler Altar on his right.

"Next, the main act begins!"

Su Ming took a deep breath, and his hand lifting the brush trembled slightly.

Then…

Blood of the second grade, burn!

【The tiger falls on the plain, its waist unbroken, only awaiting the wind to rise and howl over mountains and rivers!】

【Do not mock the youth with tattered clothes; one day the dragon will pierce the phoenix!】

【In the future you stand atop this world, beneath your feet will be ten‑thousand‑foot white bones!】

【Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not despise a poor youth!】

Having written these few lines.

Su Ming himself felt a surge of hot blood rushing toward the Heavenly Spirit Cover.

"Snap!"

The paper was slapped by Su Ming onto the Heavy Ruler Altar.

Boom!

This Karma Light Curtain arrived this time even more violently than before!