Chapter 780: with translation of chapter title

This is the Feng Clan, our own territory.

Shan Shan entering Cangwu Mountain is for training, not an invasion by outsiders, not a battle against enemies.

She is still young; she needs countless trainings, trials, and tribulations to grow.

She is the new Phoenix Chief, bearing the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the entire Feng Clan.

Now Tang Xun, A Cheng, and her parents help her, but one day she must stand at the highest point, commanding all.

From the moment she was born into this world, she was destined never to be a flower raised in a greenhouse.

Shan Shan is no delicate lady.

Xiao Jiu suddenly realized that intervening now would be wrong.

Reality is cruel; she knows that if Shan Shan fails the trial, she will likely die in the Nirvana Fire Realm.

But if I now charge into the Nirvana Fire Realm and bring Shan Shan out, what will she face next?

How many eyes are fixed on her!

What the clanspeople need is an absolutely powerful Phoenix Chief.

She can be small, she can grow slowly, but she cannot be weak.

Each of her growth steps builds her prestige.

A leader witnessed growing by the clanspeople will have unprecedented cohesion.

Shan Shan must walk out of Cangwu Mountain on her own.

In a split second, Xiao Jiu changed her decision.

The multicolored adult phoenix almost brushed the peak of Cangwu Mountain, then with a sudden swoop transformed into human form and landed back where it started.

Tang Xun rushed over, bewildered: "Xiao Jiu, what's wrong? Even you can't enter Cangwu Mountain?"

Xiao Jiu shook her head, her gaze at Cangwu Mountain firmer than ever: "I can go in, but Aunt, I cannot; if I entered today, I would be destroying Shan Shan with my own hands."

Those words struck Tang Xun like a heavy blow.

Concern leads to chaos.

Liu Junyan ascended and left five years ago; Xiao Jiu has been busy, and Shan Shan has basically been raised in Tang Xun's palms.

If Tang Xun could enter the Nirvana Fire Realm, she would have done so long ago, not waiting for Xiao Jiu to arrive.

She only wants Shan Shan to live safely and healthily, forgetting that the Feng Clan needs a Phoenix Chief who is more than merely alive.

Xiao Jiu's words Tang Xun understood, so she stopped pressing.

She merely turned aside and furtively wiped the tears from her eyes.

Xiao Jiu's hands clenched tightly into fists.

She knew Tang Xun was upset enough to cry, yet she did not go to comfort her.

Her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Cangwu Mountain, her heart rose to her throat, and the mountain's flames painted her eye sockets red.

Parents always plan far ahead for their children.

Xiao Jiu could only silently pray in her heart for Shan Shan, hoping she would be a little braver, then braver still.

Even if covered in wounds, as long as Shan Shan could show her head from the Nirvana Fire Realm, Xiao Jiu would rush over immediately and pull her out.

Time flowed by second by second.

A Cheng divined two more hexagrams for Shan Shan in succession; both omens were unfavorable, and he was anxious, pacing.

The clanspeople gathered in ever greater numbers.

People filled the surroundings of Cangwu Mountain.

At the peak, above the Nirvana Fire Realm, countless birds continually flew and cried, lingering long, as if calling Shan Shan, cheering her on.

At this moment, Tang Xun, like Xiao Jiu, had no energy left for sorrow; all her focus was on the mouth of Cangwu Mountain, praying for that tiny figure to appear.

Suddenly, the tall parasol tree leaning against the mountain swayed without wind, its broad leaves clapping together, making a rustling sound.

A cluster of root-like tendrils quietly extended from the Nirvana Fire Realm, wrapped around the parasol tree's trunk, and struggled to climb upward.

Almost simultaneously, the birds gathered above Cangwu Mountain all flew toward the parasol tree.

They each opened their long beaks, shrieked hysterically, and drops of blood fell from their mouths, watering that small cluster of tendrils.

Witnessing this shocking scene, Xiao Jiu involuntarily recalled what the parasol-tree grandmother had said: the final step of a phoenix's successful Nirvana is a hundred birds crying blood.

Back then, Xiao Jiu did not wait for the hundred birds' blood-crying to lift her Nirvana success; instead she awaited a flock of murderous birds that wished to devour her alive.

But today she personally witnessed this scene!

Besides being moved, she also felt a lingering fear.

If I had not steadied my mind just then and recklessly charged into the Nirvana Fire Realm, this scene would never have occurred.

This is not only Shan Shan's trial, but also a test of my own state of mind.

Remain unmoving, uphold the original heart…

"Changed! The omens have changed! From desperation comes survival—Shan Shan has succeeded!"

As A Cheng's excited words fell, the ground shuddered violently.

Immediately, a fierce wind rose in Cangwu Mountain, the scorching heat wave drove all the birds away; Tang Xun and A Cheng seemed to sense it and at once dispersed the onlookers around the mountain.

"Retreat! Quickly retreat! The farther the better!"

Boom!

Like a volcanic eruption, a splendid figure shot up from Cangwu Mountain, her clear cry ringing through the heavens; flames surrounded her as she danced, never dying, tongues of fire constantly licking the surroundings, as if alive, vigilantly guarding their master.

Xiao Jiu stared intently at that figure soaring freely across the sky.

After this trial, she had grown much; the three feathers on her head had lengthened considerably, and her Feather colors became more varied and more vivid.

I don't know if it's a mother's bias, but Xiao Jiu even felt that Shan Shan's tail feathers seemed a bit longer than her own.

These are all manifestations of her Xiūwéi having risen a great deal.

Shan Shan flew in the sky for a long time, waiting for her to gather the Nirvana flames around her body; when those fire tongues also disappeared, the birds that had previously flown away suddenly flapped their wings and chased after.

They flew happily in the sky, calling.

They were celebrating!

Xiao Jiu turned and buried her head in Tang Xun's embrace, feeling a little choked.

Only at this moment did she personally see Shan Shan emerge unharmed from Mount Cangwu, and only then did she dare to relax.

Suppressed emotions, no matter how she tried to hold them in, could not be contained.

Xiao Jiu thought, if this trial demanded she achieve absolute calm like still water, she would probably fail.

She was enamored of the beauty of the mortal world, she loved these lively, spirited lives.

She was merely an ordinary person.

Tang Xun gently patted her back, comforting: "All right, all right, Xiao Jiu, it's fine; Shan Shan will be back soon, and in a moment seeing you like this, she'll tease you."

Xiao Jiu quickly composed herself, standing upright with red eyes.

Just as she steadied herself, Shan Shan had already transformed into human form, lunging into her embrace, chirping eagerly: "Mom! Mom! Did you see that just now? How great was I? How beautiful?"

Xiao Jiu hugged her tightly, then reached out to rub her little head, sincerely saying: "Shan Shan is the greatest and most beautiful."

Shan Shan said proudly: "Of course! My true feathers, my wing feathers and tail feathers have all evolved in this trial; I feel incredibly powerful now!"

Xiao Jiu laughed helplessly.

This child…… knows nothing of humility, proud as a peacock.

This temperament…… I don't know who she takes after.