Chapter 327: Fire Dragon Phoenix Feather

Wild winds swept snow, cold piercing to the bone.

He Pingsheng walked slowly forward.

This Water Dragon Gully differed from the previous two; the Water Dragon was not at the gully's end, but in the middle.

Thus, to secure a position for the next Fire Dragon Gully's opening, one must still travel farther ahead to reach the very end of this Water Dragon Gully.

Behind He Pingsheng followed Su Zhenzhen.

"Many are watching me," He Pingsheng said calmly as he walked. "If they strike later, I fear you'll suffer by association—why not leave me for now?"

"Once I retrieve the Black-and-White Yuan Lotus in the final Earth Dragon Gully, we can reconsider our deal."

"Agreed!" Su Zhenzhen nodded.

She added, "But, Brother Xu, wait a moment!"

He Pingsheng stopped and looked at her.

In a flash, Su Zhenzhen pecked his cheek.

He Pingsheng frowned slightly.

Su Zhenzhen laughed cheerfully. "Don't misunderstand, young lady here has a divine ability to identify people by their aura—so I won't lose you in the Earth Dragon Gully later, I'll just memorize your aura now!"

"I'm off!"

A blue Daoist robe, tossed wildly by the gale, slowly vanished into the snow and ice.

He Pingsheng wasn't worried Su Zhenzhen would be followed—this woman was no ordinary cultivator.

With her methods, nine out of ten cultivators in this secret realm couldn't match her.

Watching Su Zhenzhen's figure disappear into the blizzard, He Pingsheng continued forward.

Half a day later, he reached the very end of the Water Dragon Gully.

During his journey, he had swapped his red 【Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor】 for the Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor, and his appearance had changed as well.

Now, even if someone sought to trouble him, they wouldn't recognize him.

Wait.

Half a day later, the Fire Dragon Gully's sealing array surfaced, and a black vortex opened above it.

One by one, the crowd leapt inside.

He Pingsheng was no exception.

Beyond the high mountains lay the Fire Dragon Gully.

Within the Fire Dragon Gully, fiery elemental energy filled every corner.

Like the Water Dragon Gully, plant life here was scarce; when seen, it was invariably third- or fourth-grade spiritual herbs.

Of course, He Pingsheng had claimed none.

Too many people.

According to the map left by Princess Wei Chuan, this Fire Dragon Gully held few heavenly treasures—only at its very end was there a Fire Dragon.

Upon the Fire Dragon, rule-force and fiery spiritual power surged and danced, a magnificent sight.

Yet the Golden Core giant serpent had said this Fire Dragon was born from a bloodline phoenix.

What was a bloodline phoenix?

Simple: it was not a true phoenix.

Merely a flying beast bearing phoenix bloodline, inheriting some of the phoenix's divine abilities—essentially a distant branch of the true phoenix.

Legends said phoenixes were ancient divine beasts of the Spirit Realm, even the Immortal Realm—impossible to exist in the cultivation world.

The cultivation world held no phoenixes, nor qilins, nor dragons—none of these ancient beings.

Yet at the very center of this Fire Dragon Gully, a phoenix egg very likely existed.

Like true phoenixes, bloodline phoenixes were beings neither of death nor life; their demise was called Nirvana, and after Nirvana, a phoenix egg formed.

Of course, this was merely the giant serpent's speculation.

Whether it truly existed, He Pingsheng had no way of knowing.

But one could try.

The question was whether the Five Elements Poison-Resistant Treasure Pearl could carry him to the Fire Dragon's core.

Probably not.

After all, with the Ice Dragon, he couldn't approach closer than three zhang.

Likewise, unless some miracle occurred, He Pingsheng would also stop three zhang from the Fire Spirit.

…

He Pingsheng made no effort to race ahead.

He simply walked slowly at the rear.

No rush.

After all, few could enter the Fire Dragon itself.

After two days of walking through the Fire Dragon Gully, He Pingsheng reached its very end.

A Fire Dragon surged skyward, nearly a hundred zhang tall.

But this height was not fixed.

Every few dozen breaths, a massive wave of flame erupted outward from the Fire Dragon.

As the wave blasted out, the Fire Dragon's height dropped sharply to just over twenty zhang.

These ejected waves consisted of countless flame rules and fiery spiritual power.

They did not vanish forever—once they reached a hundred zhang away, the Fire Dragon's immense force pulled them back.

When all the flame waves returned, the Fire Dragon's height surged again, reaching nearly a hundred zhang.

Between each ejection and retraction of this flame tide, a special thing was sometimes flung out.

It was called 【Phoenix Feather】.

Phoenix Feathers were extremely light.

If uncollected, they would be swept back into the Fire Dragon by the next wave.

If picked up, they were priceless.

For Phoenix Feathers contained flame rule-force and were excellent material for forging.

Fan-like artifacts forged from them could even reach the level of magic treasures.

Of course, not every flame tide produced a Phoenix Feather.

The probability was minuscule.

Often, hundreds of tides passed without a single one appearing.

Besides relying on fortune, one could obtain 【Phoenix Feathers】 another way:

Enter deep into the Fire Dragon—just as one collected 【Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow】 and 【Ice Source Jiazi Dew】—and forcibly retrieve the Phoenix Feathers from within.

But again, it was no easy feat.

"Thirteenth Imperial Prince has entered!"

"Heavens! The Thirteenth Imperial Prince possesses a Fire Spirit Root!"

"Of course he does! He not only has a Fire Spirit Root—he's a pure single Fire Spirit Root, an extraordinary talent with boundless fortune!"

He Pingsheng listened to the surrounding cultivators' chatter, then turned his gaze.

He saw the Thirteenth Imperial Prince himself walking into the Fire Dragon.

Behind him, two guards followed in.

He Pingsheng was puzzled—where had the Thirteenth Imperial Prince gotten those two top-grade Saural Fruit?

Had his subordinates obtained them?

At that moment, the Ninth Imperial Prince snorted coldly, activated his internal Fire Spirit Power, and stepped inside as well.

He Pingsheng did not rush in.

He wanted to observe first.

His spiritual sense surged outward, penetrating deep into the Fire Dragon's domain.

Alas, like the Ice Dragon, his rule-force control had no effect here—his spiritual sense was useless.

And this place was worse than the Ice Dragon: the Ice Dragon's depths were transparent, visible to the eye.

But the Fire Dragon was all flame—blocking not only spiritual sense, but sight as well.

Thus, no one within a hundred zhang could see what lay inside.

The Thirteenth and Ninth Imperial Princes vanished into the Fire Dragon, lost to all sight.

Neither seen nor sensed.