Chapter 152: The Neurotic Little True Phoenix

"Why have you suddenly become unreliable?"

Anxiety began to stir in Mengchen's heart; he could clearly sense that even if the five of them joined forces, they would be unable to contend with the little Zhenhuang before them.

Suddenly, the Zhenhuang blocking their path spoke up: "I told you not to run, didn't you hear me?"

Her words, heard by the five of them, did not elicit any response.

"Hey! Little bald-head! You coward, I'm talking to you!"

Receiving no reply, the Zhenhuang swung a giant wing and pointed at Mengchen, stopping just short of calling out his name.

At this moment, the four others cast their eyes toward Mengchen, looking bewildered, secretly wondering in their hearts how exactly he had angered the Zhenhuang to make her pay such special attention to him alone.

"Whoosh..."

In just this fleeting moment, the massive Zhenhuang's entire body surged with towering flames and began to shrink rapidly.

Finally, a woman in red emerged from the fiery glow, looking truly extraordinary.

She appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, her eyes like the brightest stars in the night sky, her figure graceful and shapely, dressed in a long, fiery-red robe that was quite stunning; a bright red phoenix-tail flower birthmark between her brows made her even more unique and charming.

At this moment, Mengchen, Heizi, Xiyao, Yuechan, and the Tianhu girl all stared in astonishment.

Amidst the swirling red mist, the woman raised a finger and pointed at Mengchen, saying: "You! Come out and fight me!"

"She really has her sights set on me!"

Mengchen's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but feel resentful; with so many people here to fight, why did she have to pick him?

Come to think of it, he had only taken a couple of extra looks at her true form earlier—that shouldn't be enough to make her fixate on him like this! Mengchen sensed the terrifying strength of this little Zhenhuang, so he felt it was best not to fight if he could avoid it.

"Big sister, please spare me! There are so many experts in the Array Formation Realm here for you to fight; I'm just a small Inscription Realm cultivator, not even enough for you to practice on. I think... let's just forget it!"

A smile curled on the woman's lips as she said: "Do you take me for a fool? I chose you because I know what I'm doing. I suspect that among the Array Formation Realm cultivators here, not one is your match."

Hearing this, Mengchen's brow tightened; truth be told, he did indeed believe that below the Array Formation Realm, he was invincible.

But this... how did she know? Could it be that she had been observing in the shadows and had figured out his secrets? "Come! Fight me. If you can satisfy me, I will pass on the supreme true technique of my Zhenhuang clan to you," the woman's voice rang out again.

"Zhenhuang Technique!" Hearing this, the Tianhu girl and the other three were all intrigued.

The Zhenhuang Technique was legendary! The ultimate mystery of the True Phoenix Precious Technique was Nirvana—to be reborn and become stronger through one Nirvana after another, immortal through nine deaths.

Mengchen's heart stirred; the temptation of the Zhenhuang Technique was indeed very attractive and made him quite moved.

But for her to bring it up like this undoubtedly cast suspicion that she was luring him into a fight.

Could he agree to this?! Absolutely not!

Her strength was overwhelming; he feared he would be finished off by her before he even got the Zhenhuang Technique.

The Zhenhuang Technique was very tempting, so Mengchen mimicked her style, threw out his own bait, and began to negotiate: "How about this? I'll give you the Kunpeng Technique, can we not fight?"

He took the initiative to bring out the Kunpeng Technique to test her, to see if she would be tempted; if she was, there would be a chance to trade for the Zhenhuang Technique.

After listening to Mengchen, the woman pondered for a moment, then said somewhat reluctantly: "Actually! That works! But... I just feel like something is wrong somewhere."

"Damn it! I'm giving you the Kunpeng Technique for free and you still think something's wrong? Are you an idiot?" Mengchen grumbled to himself, though it wasn't truly for free.

"Wouldn't you be at a loss this way? I haven't even taken you as my master yet and I'm already receiving your technique? Wouldn't that be undeserved?" the woman muttered.

These words left Mengchen completely bewildered. Good grief, she's even considering things for me? I really thank you! But... how could this possibly lead to the word "master"?

This also left Heizi and the others astonished.

"Master? Who would dare take you!" Mengchen thought to himself.

Then he hurriedly put on a smiling face and said: "I'm not at a loss! Even if I were, it doesn't matter, as long as you're happy."

"If... if...?" Suddenly, Mengchen began to stammer.

"If what?" the woman asked, looking at Mengchen. "Heh heh..." Mengchen secretly rejoiced; things were proceeding as he had envisioned. It seemed there was a real chance to trade for the Zhenhuang Technique.

"If you feel that I'm at a loss, why don't I also give you the Jiuyou Ao divine ability, and then you give me the Zhenhuang Technique? Wouldn't that work? We can treat each other peacefully, both get the true techniques, wouldn't that be better?"

"Hmph!"

Just as Mengchen finished speaking, he heard the woman suddenly let out a cold snort, which made him freeze instantly, his heart panicking.

The woman glanced at Mengchen and said: "Someone like you, who thinks of using precious techniques to resolve disasters the moment you face a little pressure, how could you be worthy of being my master?"

This left the group even more bewildered, and Mengchen even more so, his heart bitter: "It's over, it's over, I've run into a lunatic. This Zhenhuang couldn't have had her brain damaged by the eggshell when she was born, could she?"

"You... did you get it wrong? Mistake the person? How could I possibly be your master?" Mengchen whispered cautiously, fearing he might anger this crazy Zhenhuang.

"Oh! That's right! We're not even remotely related," the woman nodded as if she had just realized.

She thought to herself: "Indeed! For now, it's just a guess; he might not necessarily be the person Mother spoke of."

Afterward, her expression suddenly turned stern again, and she said: "Hmph! You're just lucky that I don't have any ill intentions, otherwise I would definitely have staged a scene of killing you to seize your techniques."

Hearing this, Mengchen smiled brightly, gave a thumbs up, and began to flatter her.

"The Ten Fiends Zhenhuang, with vast divine abilities and peerless power, naturally would not stoop to such base acts. Nor would you need to study the true techniques of others."

"However..." Yet, just as Mengchen finished, her expression changed again.

Looking somewhat suspicious but also reluctant, she said: "It seems that's not impossible! Alright then! Give me the Kunpeng Technique and the Jiuyou Ao true technique!"

As she finished speaking, her expression was no longer reluctant; instead, she looked at Mengchen with a haughty air and held out her palm, demanding the true techniques.

"Uh..."

The constantly shifting expressions of the little Zhenhuang before them left Heizi, Xiyao, the Tianhu girl, and Yuechan stunned.

Mengchen cursed inwardly: what kind of person is this! Could she be playing the fool to catch a tiger, deliberately acting like an idiot to trap him?

But he still had his wits about him; his purpose in bringing out the precious techniques was to trade for the Zhenhuang Technique, not because he was cowardly or afraid to fight.

Right now, he hadn't even seen a hair of the Zhenhuang Technique, so how could he easily hand over his own precious techniques?

Her strength far exceeded his; if she went back on her word, he truly would have no way to deal with it.

He had worked hard to come here to seek opportunities, not to hand them out to others.

"I'm trading two true techniques for one of yours; shouldn't you be the one to hand yours over to me first?" Mengchen said solemnly.

"Oh! That seems to make some sense!"

The woman listened, nodded after a moment of thought, and whispered.

"Fine! Then follow me!"

After she spoke, the woman transformed back into her Zhenhuang form, though this time her size was only as tall as a human.

She flapped her wings and flew forward; seeing this, Mengchen unleashed his Kunpeng Wings and followed, without the slightest hesitation.

Because he knew that if this little Zhenhuang truly meant them harm, there would be no need for such trouble.

In any case, he could neither defeat her in a fight nor escape, and as for whether it was a trap, he would only know after stepping into it.

Tianhu Shaonü, Heizi, and Xiyao followed after seeing Mengchen go.

Yuechan hesitated for a moment, but considering that she might be able to share in the Zhenhuang technique, she felt the risk was worth it and followed closely behind.

"Splash..."

After the little Zhenhuang flew above the magma lake where the Wuchen Honglian was located, she dove straight in, stirring up thousands of waves of magma.

Mengchen, Heizi, and the others stopped in their tracks; gazing at the boiling, scalding magma, their expressions grew grave, for the terrifying temperature of this magma was not something they could withstand.

(End of chapter)