In a quiet valley, lush spirit plants of all sorts covered the land.
Once, thousand-year-old flowers had bloomed here, and while many of them had been picked and their numbers thinned out, as the centuries went by, a new batch of spirit plants had grown.
They weren’t as old, mostly several hundred years old, but they at least enriched the landscape.
Xian Tao liked this valley. Whenever she was bored, she would come here to take care of the plants and keep the little firebird girl company. While Tang Jie had taken a sliver of the Vermillion Bird’s soul with him, the Vast Wilderness Continent was too far away for the Vermillion Bird’s will to transmit information frequently. Thus, in the end, she relied on Xian Tao’s companionship, and the two had become good friends.
Today, as usual, she came to the valley, grabbed a flower, and shook it.
All of the plants were under the influence of the formation, and the Vermillion Bird would sense if they were touched and come out to protect them.
Xian Tao had never picked the plants, but using it as a means to notify the Vermillion Bird saved a lot of time. A firebird appeared in the sky with a brilliant cry, and then it transformed into a girl in red robes who descended to the valley. She turned to Xian Tao and happily said, “Miss Xian Tao, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting forever.”
Xian Tao covered her mouth and chuckled. “‘Forever’? My last visit was only three days ago!”
The Vermillion Bird replied, “It’s so boring all by oneself. All I can do is wait for you to come and relieve my boredom. That damn Tang Jie never comes back. So long as the last trial is still undone, I can’t be free.”
Xian Tao giggled again. “The master has always known to act appropriately. He will come when it’s time to come. You don’t need to panic.”
The Vermillion Bird smirked. “I’ve been watching him. He seems to be having a lot of fun playing outside and has long since forgotten about me.”
Just as she said this, she suddenly shuddered as if she had sensed something.
A resounding voice called out, “Even if I forgot about you, I wouldn’t forget about the Martial Lord’s final legacy!”
The Vermillion Bird immediately transformed into a firebird and cried out, “Tang Jie!”
Three people flew out from the distance: Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi.
He had just arrived to the hidden realm through the teleportation formation when he heard the Vermillion Bird’s comment, so he had naturally replied.
“Young Lady!” Xian Tao also grew excited when she spotted Xu Miaoran. Although Xu Miaoran had already been married off, in her eyes, Xu Miaoran would always be the still-unmarried Young Lady.
“Tang Jie, so you still know to come back!” Reassuming human form, the Vermillion Bird placed a hand on her hips. While she spoke like a jilted lover, she had grown much more mature compared to before.
Tang Jie laughed as he flew over. “I’m only late by a year, but you’re so anxious that you’ve turned from a bird into a monkey. You’ve already endured ten thousand years, so how come you can’t endure a few hundred days?”
The Vermillion Bird turned red in the face. “That’s different. This girl was still ignorant back then and couldn’t feel the passing of time, so ten thousand years was like a single day. Now that I’ve returned to normal, a day like this might as well be a year.”
Tang Jie praised, “From how you speak, it’s clear that you’ve made a lot of progress, which I must thank Xian Tao for.”
Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran descended and began to speak with her servant.
Tang Jie didn’t delay, knowing that the Vermillion Bird was anxious for her freedom. “I came back today to challenge the last trial. Do you know where it is?”
The Vermillion Bird replied, “It’s simple. I’m the last trial. If you defeat me, the last level will be unlocked, and at the same time, I will gain my freedom.”
“‘Defeat you’?” Tang Jie was startled, and then he bitterly smiled and shook his head. “You should have told me that earlier. If I had known, I could have opened up this place a hundred years ago, before I set off for Vast Wilderness.”
The Vermillion Bird jumped up in agitation. “Don’t underestimate this bird! You aren’t invincible just because you managed to defeat the Jewel Immortal Sovereign while you were only at Deification. I am still the descendant of a Sacred Beast, born having entered a Dao, and this Primordial Chaos Volcano has even further empowered me in the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements. I’m on a different level compared to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. If I used my full strength, you would definitely have been no match for me, and even now, you won’t win so easily.”
Tang Jie waved his hand. “If that’s the case, this one will go back and practice for another eight hundred years before coming back.”
He turned to leave.
The Vermillion Bird anxiously called out, “Hey, hey, what are you leaving for?”
She was so frantic that everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
Only then did the Vermillion Bird realize that Tang Jie was teasing her, and she viciously glared at him.
Tang Jie knew that it was time to stop joking, saying with a smile, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s begin.”
He threw a punch at the Vermillion Bird.
One hour later, the flames in the sky dispersed, the light of the spell arts faded, and peace returned to the world.
Tang Jie pulled back his fist and sighed. Truly, she was one of the Four Sacred Beasts, far more powerful than he had expected. The Southern Divine Fire directly attacked the Divine Soul, and she had two Dao Arts. The Yin Yang Dao Art allowed her to shift her flames between Reality and Illusion, which made the strikes of her Southern Divine Fire unpredictable and difficult to defend against. Her Five Elements Evasion Art allowed her to avoid the vast majority of attacks and come in and out wherever she pleased, and she further had the power of the Primordial Chaos Volcano. In terms of power, she truly was far above the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.
It was no wonder she had claimed that the past Tang Jie was no match for her, and she had been completely correct. To defeat her, Tang Jie had even used the combination of his Realm of Insight and Law Speaking.
Of course, she had still lost in the end, three strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog leaving her black and blue.
Even so, this bruised beauty let out the most excited cheer of her life. “I lost! I finally lost! I’m free!”
With this yell, an immense energy erupted from the Martial Lord’s hidden realm.
In the distance, a mountain shuddered and then split into two!
A golden statue slowly rose out of the earth.