Inquiry about immortality

Chapter 2460 Two Gluttonous and Lustful Birds

Just as they were about to leave the valley, Xianying suddenly stopped, turned around and looked back at the way they had come.

Seeing this, Qin Sang's heart skipped a beat, wondering if this guy had noticed something.

The Dharma Body and the Vermilion Bird were currently hiding in the magma, preparing to make their move after the others left.

"What's wrong? Did you overlook something just now?" Qin Sang asked, feigning confusion.

Xuan Ying shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist, you're not interested in this place, are you?"

Qin Sang was taken aback, then realized that Xianying was referring to this secret realm. The place was rich in spiritual energy, had a natural maze outside, and was located deep in the Tianbi Mountains. It was sheltered from wind and sand and was well hidden. With a little care, it could be considered an excellent cave dwelling.

"Fellow Daoist, you wouldn't be..." Qin Sang frowned, "Although this place is nice, it's in the Wind Desert, which has many inconveniences and isn't a place to stay for long. Fellow Daoist, you come from the Wind-Catching Clan, do you lack a cave dwelling?"

Xianying waved her hand with a smile, "It wasn't for me. It's a gift for a friend, just returning the favor. I just remembered, this place is really nice!"

Qin Sang asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist actually has a friend cultivating in the Wind Desert? Is it the same one from before?"

Xianying didn't answer, but wandered around for a while before nodding repeatedly. "This is it! If you're not interested, I'll send a talisman. Please don't reveal this to anyone else."

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist, I will keep my mouth shut!"

Qin Sang readily agreed, but she was secretly making plans.

It seems that Xuan Ying intends to give this place to his friend as a secret dojo.

The identity of Xuan Ying's friend is unknown. If he is also a member of Xuan Ying's clan, it is quite intriguing. Is he a member of the Zhaofeng clan who violated clan rules and was expelled from the clan, or is he a pawn of the Zhaofeng clan infiltrated into the Fengmo region?

There must be secrets hidden in the desert that he doesn't know!

Qin Sang had been somewhat worried before, and now she felt increasingly uneasy, wondering how many eyes were watching her from the shadows.

"Don't be too hasty!"

Qin Sang became wary.

At this moment, they left the maze. Xuan Ying sent a talisman, warmly inviting Qin Sang to visit her cave, but Qin Sang declined.

"I should have been enjoying drinks with you, fellow Daoist, but I suddenly remembered that there is an important matter that cannot be delayed any longer. I will definitely pay you a visit another day," Qin Sang explained.

Now that he had arrived at the Tianbi Mountain Range, Qin Sang planned to cross the mountain and go to the other side to make contact with the half-demon.

“Very well, I also plan to go into seclusion for a while to think about what to do with this phoenix feather,” Xuan Ying said sincerely. “We are kindred spirits, and you have been kind to me. True friends are rare, and there will be many more opportunities in the future!”

"Fellow Daoist, you flatter me," Qin Sang smiled. This charade had to continue. "If you have the chance to deal with those fire lions, don't forget me."

Xianying burst into laughter, feeling extremely happy.

Laughter echoed like thunder through the mountains. Xianying bowed and took his leave, leaving behind the words, "Regarding the matter you entrusted to me before, once the clan has made some progress, I will convey it to you..."

"Good work!"

Qin Sang watched the shadow of the string disappear into the distance. After a moment, her mind stirred slightly, and she immediately disappeared into the shadows, waiting for the Dharma Body and the Vermilion Bird.

……

Lava lake.

With the phoenix feathers removed, the supernatural phenomena became rootless and adrift. The phoenix, which was constantly undergoing rebirth in the flames, suddenly became much more illusory and would likely dissipate completely before long.

A flame detached from the fire, drifting aimlessly before disappearing into the lava. Qin Sang and Zhu Que then appeared.

The magma was bottomless, and coupled with the supernatural phenomena, it was extremely hot. Qin Sang and Xuan Ying suffered a lot when they investigated it.

They had just searched every corner of the place, but hadn't sensed the 'fluctuation' that Zhuque had mentioned. However, Zhuque seemed quite confident, so Qin Sang was curious about what it was.

"Go down!"

Zhuque pointed to the ground, full of confidence.

Qin Sang summoned the Taiyin Spirit Sword, its light enveloping her as she pierced through layers of magma and plummeted downwards at breakneck speed. After a short while, she transmitted her voice, "Almost at the bottom."

"This isn't the real bottom!"

Zhuque shook his head repeatedly, his eyes darted around, and he puffed out his mouth, spewing a ball of Nanming Fire at the rocks below the magma.

The flames spread across the surface of the rocks, melting the magma. Under the scorching heat of the Nanming Fire, the rocks not only did not melt, but gradually revealed a bluish-gold luster.

"This is……"

Qin Sang was surprised to find that these rocks held a hidden secret that neither he nor Xian Ying had discovered.

After a while, a bluish-gold stone wall appeared in front of them.

“These broken stones are unimportant,” Suzaku smiled mysteriously, looking at an inconspicuous crack in the stone wall. “Hurry up and go in from here!”

After a brief exploration, Qin Sang confirmed there was no danger, then slipped through the crack and found that the space inside was very narrow, like a crevice in the rock that followed the contours of the mountain.

Upon entering this place, the entire area is ablaze with fiery red light, filled with extremely pure flame power. Even more surprisingly, there is a familiar aura of the Phoenix Clan here.

'Shuh! '

Their eyes were immediately drawn to a few golden points in the flames, and they were surprised to find that it was a spirit tree!

This spirit tree is only two people tall, with lush branches and leaves. The leaves are shaped like maple leaves, and the thick roots climb the stone wall. From the roots to the crown, the tree is fiery red, like a pillar of fire.

Beneath the leaves, the fruits of the spirit tree are hidden, shaped like tender dates, and are golden in color!

The aura of the Phoenix Clan emanates from this spirit tree.

"hiss!"

Zhuque realized something and said resentfully, "This guy swallowed the phoenix blood and directly became a spiritual root of heaven and earth!"

Qin Sang suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

Not only that long feather, but also phoenix blood was spilled here, but for some reason it seeped into the ground and was absorbed by this spiritual tree, causing it to transform.

The spiritual roots of heaven and earth are rooted in the heavens and earth, and are not bound by the land and rivers. Qin Sang looked at the roots of the spiritual tree, and sure enough, they were not truly rooted here; there was still a layer between them and the stone wall.

As expected of Phoenix Blood, it can actually transform a spirit tree into a spiritual root of heaven and earth!

It's hard to tell what kind of spirit tree it was before, but since it absorbed phoenix blood without burning itself, it must have been a strange tree. It's a pity that it didn't give birth to a tree spirit, but given some more time, it might just become a spirit.

This is an immense blessing for this spiritual tree. Even in the spirit realm, spiritual roots of heaven and earth are extremely rare. Each spiritual root of heaven and earth is born from the essence of heaven and earth and the blessings of the heavenly way. They are often born by chance and are difficult to replicate. Therefore, most of them are unique.

Qin Sang examined the spirit tree, then looked at its fruit. Seeing that the fruit was not yet ripe, she frowned slightly and said, "It might still be in time to cut it down and refine the phoenix blood."

Zhuque was somewhat tempted, hesitated for a moment, and licked her lips. "Forget it! I'll keep it; I'll always have spiritual fruits to eat in the future."

Qin Sang was surprised, not expecting this guy to be able to resist the temptation, though he might also be just craving something sweet.

This tree has been transformed by the blood of the phoenix, and the fruits it bears in the future may all carry some characteristics of the phoenix blood. Preserving this spiritual root of heaven and earth is the best way to ensure a long-term future, but it is unknown how long it will take for the fruits to ripen.

"From now on, let's call it the Phoenix Blood Tree!"

Next, Qin Sang began to relocate the Phoenix Blood Tree.

He channeled his true energy, enveloping the Phoenix Blood Tree, and carefully separated it from this world. He treated each leaf and root with utmost care, and gave special attention to the fruit.

The Phoenix Blood Tree swayed gently, disturbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, causing the void to tremble, and even the mountain itself to shake slightly.

Qin Sang was very careful and asked Zhuque to help calm the surrounding flames. He didn't want to damage the environment around the Phoenix Blood Tree, because this place would become the cave dwelling of Xuan Ying's friend, and he didn't want Xuan Ying to discover it later and cause a rift.

As Qin Sang moved, the roots of the Phoenix Blood Tree gradually loosened, drifting like willow catkins, and the leaves became dull and somewhat listless.

Finally, a layer of blue light spread across the surface of the Phoenix Blood Tree, completely enveloping it.

"That's it..."

Qin Sang activated the Thousand-Pound Ring and carefully sent the Phoenix Blood Tree into the small cave.

He had already found a suitable place in the small grotto-heaven, placed the Phoenix Blood Tree there, and watched it take root and gradually recover its vitality. However, whether it needed more time to recover or the small grotto-heaven was too small, the Phoenix Blood Tree did not look well.

Suzaku regretted it a little. Staring at the fruit of the spirit tree, she said fiercely, "If you don't taste good, I, Suzaku, will chop you down!"

The message had already been sent, and they could not stay here any longer. They decided to leave immediately and eventually made it out of the valley to reunite with the original body.

……

"Finally, it's turned over."

Qin Sang stood atop the cliff, gazing at the dusky sky.

He was now on the eastern side of the Tianbi Mountains, where the scenery on both sides was almost identical. Unaware of the path, he had to find his way on his own, which took considerable effort even for someone of his cultivation level, but thankfully he escaped unharmed.

'Shuh! '

Qin Sang leaped up and vanished in a flash of light.

Luckily, they found a gang of wind thieves in just a few days.

"Are you a tiger-man?"

Qin Sang sized up the bandit leader who was crawling at her feet. This guy had a body like iron, big hands and feet, a tiger's head and a human body, and a tiger's tail like a steel whip on his back. He was very domineering.

Of course, in front of Qin Sang, his domineering attitude turned into flattery.

"Reporting to the senior, I have heard from my ancestors that I do indeed have the bloodline of the striped demon tiger."

Qin Sang nodded and continued to ask, "Is this your original form?"

"My true form is unsightly and might frighten you, senior," the bandit leader thought anxiously, and quickly rolled on the ground to reveal his true form.

Upon seeing the bizarre and grotesque monster before her, Qin Sang's eyes flashed with a strange light.

No wonder the demon race also regards half-demons as monsters. People thought that half-demons would have the advantages of both races, but the reality is cruel. The tiger-man in front of us has parts of both human and tiger randomly pieced together like building blocks.

Can you imagine a human face spread out on a huge tiger's head, with skin that looks like it has vitiligo, and tufts of tiger hair on the left and right?

Looking at the incongruous organs all over the bandit leader's body, Qin Sang thought to herself that there were such oddities in the world.

In comparison, the tomb dweller was considered good-looking.

"I... I am actually not bad looking. My parents are not highly skilled, so when they performed the blood transfusion, they could only simply adjust my bloodline. Otherwise, I could be even more handsome," the bandit leader said with some distress. He transformed back into human form and sighed, "It's all because of the bloodline in our bodies. Even if we cultivate to the Transformation Realm, we still have to spend a lot of energy adjusting it."

Qin Sang had long heard that half-demons possessed the bloodlines of both humans and demons, making it difficult to reconcile them, and transforming into human form was even more difficult than for demons.

His gaze swept over the group of uneasy wind bandits, who could be described as 'beginning to take human form'.

"You seem to be looking for something?" Qin Sang asked.

The bandit leader spoke frankly: "Recently, a rumor has been circulating in the Wind Desert that an ancient ruin is about to emerge. It is said to be related to the phoenix. Many bandits have heard the rumor and are searching for the ruin everywhere. The news has already spread outside, and recently, there have been more and more experts in the Wind Desert."

Qin Sang was secretly surprised. The demons to the west had not made any moves, but she did not expect that there would already be rumors here.

Was it caused by that long feather, or did more phoenix feathers and blood fall here?

Thinking of this, Qin Sang was intrigued and asked in a deep voice, "What information have you all found out?"

The bandit leader hurriedly handed over a jade slip. "Rumors have been flying everywhere lately. Overnight, it seems that ancient cave dwellings are about to emerge everywhere, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. I have recorded them all and selected a few that seem credible. I am preparing to verify them one by one."

As Qin Sang scanned the area with her divine sense, she discovered all sorts of outrageous rumors. The ones this guy had marked were slightly more reliable, but they were still all just baseless speculations.

He has already verified that two of the locations are fake, and is now preparing to go to the third.

Qin Sang pondered to himself, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Since he had nothing else to do, he figured he might as well go and investigate. Obtaining the phoenix feathers and blood would be even better. Even if it was all just rumors, it would still attract the wind bandits, allowing him to take the opportunity to subdue a group of them.

Having replanned their route, Qin Sang led the Wind Bandits to their next destination.

Listening to Feng Dao recount the customs and traditions of the half-demon world, Qin Sang realized that the identity she was best suited to disguise herself as was actually that of a half-demon.

He was originally a human, but through cultivating the "Heavenly Demon Refining Form" technique and fusing with the bloodline of the Azure Phoenix, he grew a pair of phoenix wings, making him a genuine half-demon, and a beautiful one at that!

With Qin Sang joining them, they moved quickly and soon arrived at the next location, where they encountered several half-demon cultivators searching for something.

After searching and confirming it was a rumor, they rushed off to the next location. Along the way, more and more rumors surfaced, leading Qin Sang to suspect that someone might be taking advantage of the situation.

After spending more than half a month eliminating all suspected locations, they didn't even see a trace of the ancient ruins. However, Qin Sang took the opportunity to subdue several groups of wind bandits, so the trip was not in vain.

While subduing the last band of wind pirates, a new rumor surfaced, seemingly with some credibility. It claimed to have discovered a mountain range scorched by Phoenix True Fire, and the story was quite detailed and convincing!

On the way, Qin Sang discovered that treasure hunters were rushing towards the location from all directions. He moved with incredible speed, arriving near his target in just one day, only to find that a considerable number of cultivators had already gathered there.

As the light of his escape landed, Qin Sang concealed his aura and sped towards the mountain range that had been scorched by the Phoenix True Fire. At this moment, a commotion suddenly arose in the distance, and a group of furious cultivators seemed to be chasing someone.

Immediately afterwards, the cultivators shouted angrily, "It's those two gluttonous and lustful birds! Catch them quickly, don't let them get away!" (End of Chapter)