Chapter 136: As free as I am, I have no peers!

On the Sun Star, beneath the Fusang Tree.

Three black-feathered little birds were playing and roughhousing on the tree branches when suddenly the heavens shook and the earth trembled; the Fusang Tree shuddered repeatedly, startling the three little birds into clinging tightly to the branches, fearful of being flung off by the shaking...

Not long after, the shaking ceased, and the three little birds finally breathed a sigh of relief, then began to chirp-chirp and discuss.

But just as the shaking had barely stopped, an inexplicable sense of connection welled up in the hearts of the three little birds, leaving them bewildered yet curious:

"Are they other younger siblings?"

"You're stupid, with such a strong feeling, it must be older siblings!"

"I don't want any other older siblings!"

"You..."

"Number Two bird stared blankly:"

"We weren't born from fire essence, were we? How could there be elders..."

"Overly sentimental?"

Jiao Ming spoke calmly, his tone devoid of fluctuation, like a pool of dead water.

"I say it is, and that's that!"

"Because I'm also a member of those ordinary myriad spirits, like this wild grass!"

"You're the clever one!"

"What's the big deal about sacrificing a little!"

Zu Feng couldn't understand where she had gone wrong.

Number One bird's mind burst with wild ideas, utterly shocking his two younger brothers; the two younger birds stared at each other in blank dismay:

"Believe it, or not?"

The Number One black-feathered bird thought for a moment, then guessed with a mind bursting with wild ideas:

"I guess... it's an elder!"

"But what do you mean by that?"

Zu Feng really wanted to give him a good scolding—she herself hadn't achieved the Dao, and she wouldn't allow others to achieve it either—where did you come from? So overbearing!

"Huh?"

Zu Feng stared blankly at the pale, frail young man, unable to believe her own guess, while her heart grew ever more bewildered and shocked:

Smack!

Number One bird ruthlessly slapped the younger brother upside the head with his wing, shouting:

It's a pity that he is no longer that ignorant little bird who chirps out eggs and mates with closed beak; he has endured too much and has witnessed all of Zu Feng's brutal deeds.

Jiao Ming suddenly laughed, feeling relieved.

Huh?

Zu Feng froze, then instinctively snorted in contempt:

"Ordinary myriad spirits?"

"Ordinary myriad spirits that can trounce the innately divine?"

"Ordinary myriad spirits that can enlighten all beings through their bloodline?"

"Ordinary myriad spirits that are the first in the Primordial Wasteland to break through to the next realm?"

"Ordinary myriad spirits that can use that sun-like strange fire to burn to death the Ancestor Dragon and Ancestor Qilin?"

"Don't joke about the Primordial Wasteland!"

Zu Feng was about to mock his joke, but then she hesitated, because she recalled Jiao Ming's true form just moments ago.

If she remembered correctly, although Jiao Ming's true form was a bit overly huge, making it hard to recognize.

As a result, even if the three of them exhausted themselves trying to awaken their spirits, they still fell far short of expectations; achieving the Dao seemed hopelessly distant, and they were on the verge of collapse.

Number Three bird:...

Southern Wasteland.

Both sides fundamentally had nothing to argue about; one side's perfect theory sounded to the other like utter nonsense—worse than dog droppings...

"Elder?"

Number Two bird:...

The Red Bird's form flickered, and a young, frail-looking man took its place—this was none other than Jiao Ming.

"Because..."

Meanwhile, the sun gradually dimmed, revealing that pitiful-looking crimson giant bird.

That is, I fundamentally have no peers!

Zu Feng is not a peer; she is a self-proclaimed noble, innately divine being who regards all living things as mere weeds.

She has already given up resistance...

Zu Feng was also seeing Jiao Ming's human form for the first time; she could hardly imagine that this frail-looking man before her was none other than the very sun that had just, in a violent frenzy, burned to death the Ancestor Dragon and Ancestor Qilin.

The largest of the black-feathered little birds scolded the two younger brothers; under the sister's sternness, the two birds who had been bickering fell silent...

"Hongjun?"

After a brief exchange, Hongjun still maintained firm control, always ready to deliver a killing blow to interrupt her possible self-detonation.

To awaken spiritual wisdom, you want to be first; to build civilization, you also want to be first—are you here just to smash everyone's rice bowl?

But what they couldn't bear most was that, after Jiao Ming enlightened the myriad spirits, he didn't turn on them to slaughter each other...

Jiao Ming's face was pale; after consecutively slaying the Ancestor Dragon and Ancestor Qilin with sheer force, he was basically spent, making it hard for him to muster enough magic power to slay Zu Feng.

"I want to die with full understanding."

However, she didn't dwell on it much, but instead got straight to the point and asked:

"When did we three offend you?"

Jiao Ming suddenly laughed for no reason:

"What do you want to ask?"

"Alright, stop arguing!"

Zu Feng spoke with clear logic, for in her worldview, all spirits were merely successive batches of wild grass; she had bestowed this group of wild grass in the wilderness with spiritual wisdom and civil order—was that not boundless merit?!

Isn't it just that one needs enough sacrifices when attaining the Dao?

Gazing at Zu Feng's human form, Jiao Ming momentarily drifted back to the first lifetime when he first saw the hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix:

The same astonishment, the same beauty.

Seeing this, the Blazing Sun, which had originally intended to rush forward and slay it, couldn't help but freeze slightly.

She had always been puzzled; she and the long worms, oxen, and horses had not yet begun to fulfill their Primordial Covenant, when this guy suddenly appeared halfway through.

He is not of her kind either, for he too proclaims himself innately divine and noble; his pity for beings is merely that of a superior toward an inferior, and when sacrificing the myriad spirits, he will certainly not show mercy!

Unbewildered, eradicate evil completely!

Hongjun also had no intention of going easy; more rule-texts drifted down from the Jade Scroll, maintaining control while also preparing to launch the final assault……

Because I, who sought my own kind, have finally understood one thing:

"Wait!"

But he can still self-destruct!

As long as Hongjun can hold Zu Feng in check, the power of his self-destruction is enough to blast this final enemy into nothing.

Only I would feel unfree because of the sacrifice of the myriad spirits.

In front of his two younger brothers, the No. 1 little bird let his imagination run wild:

"The world we live in is everywhere fire, and we are formed from the transformation of fire essence… This shows the world was opened up by a gigantic fire bird!"

Heaven-Blazing, Sea-Boiling Southern Brightness Departing Fire gradually faded, and the constantly flashing divine light of the five-colored tail feathers also slowly subsided.

Gazing at the sun not far away, drawing near to her, Zu Feng suddenly stared blankly, then gave a bitter smile……

Zu Feng transformed into human form, a peerlessly beautiful woman in red robes fell to the ground.

After thinking it over, the Sun decided to continue approaching:

The No. 3 little bird looked foolishly at his older siblings' squabble, thought a moment, and said:

"Really or not, once we can fly out, let's go see for ourselves, shall we?"

Her words left Jiao Ming silent.

Hearing those words, the Sun and Hongjun exchanged a glance.

Good, good, good!

Zu Feng even laughed in anger:

Jiao Ming calmly replied:

"Hmph! You're the clever one!"

To be frank, if Jiao Ming merely wanted to join the three‑person team and attain the Dao together, as long as his sincerity is sufficient, we aren't unwilling to redistribute the benefits.

Right off the bat he launched a preemptive spirit‑activation strike, directly hacking at the root of the 'Bloodline Dao Attainment Method' that the three of them had painstakingly devised!

"I think it's probably not like that……"

"That fire bird surely didn't die after the creation of heaven and earth, so what we just felt was that very creator fire bird; thus it is our elder!"

But why exactly is that?

This…… is just a difference in worldview.

Smack!

The No. 2 little bird finally seized the chance and fiercely slapped it with a wing:

No. 2 little bird: ……

"You slaughter the myriad spirits, depriving me of freedom—this in itself is a provocation."

Smack!

No. 2 little bird had just chirped out his opinion when he was slapped again with a wing.

The woman in red robes suddenly spoke:

"Why?"

But a careful comparison shows that it really is just an ordinary little fire bird from the South Wilderness volcanoes; aside from the huge size difference, there is no distinction—basically it is just scaled up countless times……

For someone like her, no matter how beautiful, it's merely skin deep; underneath lies a ruthless disposition that treats all spirits as mere weeds……

No, buddy, since you won't mutually slaughter and plot Dao with us, what spirit are you activating? What livelihood are you stealing?

You're just bored, right!

"I actually feel that it's neither an older brother/sister nor a younger brother/sister."

Next came the development of civilization, which completely broke through their defenses:

How did an utterly ordinary little fire bird grow to this exaggerated extent?!

"What's wrong with our slaughtering the myriad spirits? How does it impede your freedom? The myriad spirits are just weeds; we are innately divine—when it comes to the great undertaking of attaining the Dao, why should we consider whether the myriad spirits are necessary or not?"

I can't stay in this household any longer!

That's not the case.

Thus Jiao Ming's act of transforming and stepping forward came about; anyway, in his eyes Zu Feng was already a dead bird, and since she wanted to die with understanding, it wasn't impossible to fulfill that……

Jiao Ming came before Zu Feng, and for the first time in two lifetimes saw her human form.

In avian aesthetics, a five‑colored phoenix is naturally beautiful to the utmost; even if she takes human form, by human standards she remains exquisitely beautiful beyond compare.

Could it be that I'm really too arrogant?...

(End of chapter)