A Phoenix's Cry, Soaring Through the Nine Heavens

Gu Xian'er's body was surging with an increasing amount of energy, and the aura she was emitting grew more ferocious by the moment.

Even Xuan Wudao's face changed drastically; something about this situation seemed terribly amiss!

Just as Xuan Wudao was about to turn and leave, he found himself stopped by a barrier that Da Huang had set up.

“Damn it, this is bad!”

“Da Huang!”

Chen Chang'an called out to Da Huang, and with a flash of his figure, he disappeared from Huanhua Pavilion.

Seeing Chen Chang'an bolt, Xuan Wudao froze for a split second before following him out in a hurry.

“Damn, you sure reacted fast,” Xuan Wudao muttered cynically as he stepped outside.

“That's what you call teamwork.”

Meanwhile, Da Huang had also dashed out of Huanhua Pavilion after reconfiguring the barrier.

“What about the people inside?” Xuan Wudao asked Chen Chang'an, visibly concerned.

“Just now, for a fleeting moment, when the barrier lifted temporarily, a powerful aura surged out.”

“I imagine most people there aren't foolish enough to stick around and continue enjoying the festivities, are they?”

“Hmm… hard to say.”

It wasn’t long before people inside seemed to notice something was wrong and started fleeing the pavilion. Among them, the first to run were the women who had been serving Xuan Wudao and Da Huang earlier.

In mere moments, the entirety of Huanhua Pavilion was deserted, save for Gu Xian'er.

“What just happened? That was terrifying—it felt like I couldn’t breathe,” one man said on his way out.

“I felt it too. Isn’t Huanhua Pavilion just a regular brothel? Could there really be a hidden expert lurking in this place?”

“No idea, but there’s no point in sticking around for wine and revelry today. This feels ominous.”

“Agreed, agreed. Let’s disperse and regroup some other time.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Most had chosen to leave, and at that moment, the owner of Huanhua Pavilion wore an expression of pain and frustration. While she very much wanted to curse someone out, she didn’t dare. Offending the type of people you shouldn’t offend could mean far more than a ruined business—it could very well cost her life.

She was truly a case of someone swallowing bitter medicine without complaint, helpless to voice her grievances.

“Old Chen, what do you think is going on?” Xuan Wudao asked, furrowing his brows. “If all that energy concentrates fully within the barrier, can Gu Xian'er’s body even handle it?”

“This…”

Chen Chang’an wasn’t sure either; after all, this was the first time he’d encountered a situation like this.

“I don’t know if her body can withstand it,” he replied.

“But I can tell you one thing—my barrier might not hold out much longer.”

Da Huang, who had been silent till now, finally spoke, and his eyes revealed deep shock.

Da Huang’s barrier about to collapse?

This was surprising indeed. Da Huang was a ninth-ranked Beast King, the ruler of the Forbidden Forest. His strength was overwhelming, and if it weren’t for certain unspoken rules in the Tai Xuan Realm, Da Huang’s power might not necessarily pale in comparison to Mu Yunyao’s.

Yet despite his formidable strength, his barrier was nearing the edge of collapse?

“Brother Da Huang, surely you can’t be serious,” Xuan Wudao exclaimed.

“Even I can’t break through your barrier, but now you’re telling me the energy inside Gu Xian’er is about to overpower it?”

Xuan Wudao’s expression was one of shock and disbelief; he couldn’t quite accept what he was hearing.

Despite his unrivaled talent and thousands of years of cultivation, was he truly inferior to a mere girl?

Besides, was the ninth-grade Phoenix Immortal Herb capable of containing such immense energy?

Though this phenomenon was as rare as a treasure in the mortal world, was it truly this absurd?

“I’m not joking. This energy is powerful—it’s about to break through the barrier.”

“However, this is just a barrier I set up casually. I didn’t expect the energy in Gu Xian’er’s body to be this strong.”

A casual barrier? That does explain the possibility of it being broken through.

As Xuan Wudao and Da Huang were talking, the barrier Da Huang had set up was suddenly shattered.

An overwhelming surge of energy shot up into the sky.

In an instant, the energy rippled out, affecting an area spanning hundreds of miles.

A phoenix cry resounded across the heavens! Its dazzling form soaring through nine skies and dancing atop nine layers!

A colossal phoenix silhouette soared into the sky directly from within Huanhua Pavilion.

This scene left everyone in Langya utterly dumbfounded!

People everywhere looked up at the phoenix illusion in the sky, completely shocked and bewildered.

What on earth was happening?

In Langya, there were no powerful mystical beasts—let alone a phoenix, a divine creature that had long been believed extinct.

What exactly had just occurred?

“Holy crap! Chen Chang’an, you lucky dog!”

“Your maid is no ordinary person!”

“A Nine-Tier Phoenix Herb is already incredibly rare and can transform someone’s physique, but it could never produce results like this.”

“Gu Xian’er herself must have some profound connection to the phoenix; otherwise, this would never have happened.”

“You—how the hell are you so impossibly lucky?”

Xuan Wudao couldn’t help but feel envious. He’d heard that Gu Xian’er had become Chen Chang’an’s apprentice, but he hadn’t taken it seriously. He never even considered that Chen Chang’an would accept a disciple.

If it had been him in Chen Chang’an’s place, he wouldn’t even have agreed to her being a servant—bringing a woman along was just too much trouble.

Who could have thought that this seemingly unremarkable Gu Xian’er would have such astonishing latent potential?

“You don’t get it. This is called good karma being rewarded,” said Chen Chang’an with a faint smile.

“Good karma?”

Xuan Wudao glanced at Chen Chang’an with disdain. This guy might not qualify as a vile scoundrel, but a genuinely good man? Did he even deserve that title?

Bah! He’s nothing close to a ‘good man’!

“This disturbance is bound to alarm everyone in Langya.”

“If the Lin family finds out that Gu Xian’er has really risen from a commoner to a phoenix, what would their thoughts on the matter be?” Xuan Wudao asked, grinning.

“They’d better keep their thoughts to themselves. Otherwise, even Lin Xiangliu won’t be able to save them,” Chen Chang’an replied in a calm tone.

“Hahaha! After three thousand years, you seem to have changed your temperament a bit.”

“The Chen Chang’an of old? You always upheld peace above all. What’s changed?” Xuan Wudao asked curiously.

Back then, he upheld peace only because he had no ability to fight back.

If he weren’t agreeable, wouldn’t he have just gotten beaten up on a daily basis?

He might not have died, but still, wasn’t that just plain embarrassing?

At this moment, the illusion of the phoenix circled majestically in the sky for a while before descending back into Gu Xian’er’s room.

Immediately afterward, that astounding energy dissipated, and tranquility returned once more.

“Is it over?”

“Could it be that Gu Xian’er has awakened the legendary Phoenix Celestial Physique?” Xuan Wudao asked curiously.

“Phoenix Celestial Physique? Are you familiar with this kind of power?” Chen Chang’an asked.

"I’ve heard of it before. Rumor has it that the last person to awaken the Phoenix Immortal Physique lived around fifty thousand years ago."

"That figure was remarkable back in their day. But it was such a long time ago that the records are sparse. These days, hardly anyone even knows their name anymore."

"If she truly possesses the Phoenix Immortal Physique, your maidservant is destined to reach the Great Emperor Realm in the future."

"A maidservant at the Great Emperor level? Chen Chang'an, you’ve hit the jackpot!"

The more Xuan Wudao spoke, the more envious he became. By the end, he was practically grinding his teeth, wishing he could beat Chen Chang'an to a pulp.

How could this lucky bastard have such absurd fortune?

"Gu Xian'er is coming out. Let’s ask her directly to find out if it’s really the Phoenix Immortal Physique!"