Desolate Era: Hatching a Phoenix at the Beginning

Chapter 155 The Second Zhurong

The Immortal Phoenix didn’t reply. Instead, it looked at Ye Chen with a rather vigilant gaze, making Ye Chen suspect that it would shoot out a ball of flames at any time, then turn around and fly away in the chaos.

Not only the color of its eyes and its aura, even its personality had completely changed… Ye Chen was certain that this Divine Phoenix was definitely not the one he had been keeping since the first day he came to the Primitive World.

However, he was already cautious enough. After the Immortal Phoenix entered the secret chamber, he had never looked elsewhere. Therefore, the Immortal Phoenix being swapped could only have been done by the fragment of the fake Spirit Pool at the end of the secret chamber.

However, behind the fake fragment was the real fragment of Zhurong’s Spirit Pool. The color of the eyes of the “Immortal Phoenix” in front of him was also the same as Zhurong’s.

“You aren’t Zhurong, are you?” Seeing that the other party didn’t reply, Ye Chen could only continue to start a conversation proactively.

“What has it got to do with you whether I am or not?” the “Immortal Phoenix” asked.

“Didn’t you just admit it?” Ye Chen mocked in his mind.

He looked at the Immortal Phoenix in front of him. Although the other party was stubborn, its actions weren’t as calm and arrogant as what it said. Instead, it secretly turned its eyes to observe the surroundings. After a while, it seemed to have sensed something wrong. It lowered its head to look at its body and was immediately stunned.

“Friendly reminder, you’re currently occupying the body of my Immortal Phoenix. It’s a growth-period Immortal Phoenix. Do you have any clue about this?” Ye Chen kindly reminded Zhurong and opened the data panel to check.

The values of the Immortal Phoenix didn’t change much compared to before. Its Mystic Abilities were still the same. It didn’t have the tendency to disappear or become another Divine Beast. However, its condition was stated after its name that said, “In deep sleep.”

The system notification made Ye Chen feel relieved. At least, he didn’t have to worry about whether the Immortal Phoenix had been possessed after being killed.

However, among these normal numbers, he saw a completely unusual one.

[Zhurong)

[Race: Human-Faced Bird]

(Rank: Divine Beast]

[Maturity: Growth Period, Adult]

[Innate Mystic Ability: ?]

[Attack: 9,869,400 (?)] [Defense: 9,473,000 (?)] (Master: Ye Chen]

Perhaps because of the timely rehabilitation training, Zhurong’s values had been constantly increasing, much faster than the other Divine Beasts. Almost every time he opened the data panel, its numbers would increase tens of thousands.

However, it was a top Divine Beast that leveled up again after all. Ye Chen didn’t pay much attention to it at first.

However, the situation this time was completely different from before. Compared to last time, Zhurong’s values had increased by more than a million. It was about to recover to the strength of the Ten-Million Level.

This speed was too fast.

Other than that, the most obvious unusual thing was maturity.

In Zhurong’s data column, two stages of maturity appeared, which were the growth period and adulthood.

Adulthood was the maturity of Zhurong after it successfully reached Nirvana. However, it was also in the growth period as the “Immortal Phoenix” in its current abnormal state.

However, the Zhurong that possessed the Immortal Phoenix had a very bad personality.

Seeing that Ye Chen was talking to it, it snorted and spoke bluntly.

“To be able to bring this kind of Divine Beasts here, are you showing off to me that you guys broke through our ancestor’s Sun Celestial Heavens?”

The Sun Celestial Heavens was located in an foreign realm on the Sun. It was the hideaway of the Immortal Phoenixes and the Human-Faced Birds. It was one of the few foreign realms that had never been opened before. Ye Chen had heard of it.

Before Ye Chen could ask anything, Zhurong spoke again. This time, its tone was filled with pity.

“It’s a pity that this young beast’s mind has been occupied by me for some reason. Its body probably can’t withstand it anymore… However, it’s better than being in your hands. Listen carefully, if you want me to be of use to you, don’t dream…”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Ye Chen covered his face and quickly interrupted. “What are you thinking? Can you listen to my explanation?”

“What’s there to explain? I’ve already been separated from my body and locked up here for hundreds of years. How would I not know the thoughts of you humans?” Zhurong refused to yield as it continued speaking in a mocking tone.

“That’s why I said you misunderstood.” Ye Chen looked helpless. He could only raise his voice at Zhurong. “I’m just an innocent person trapped here. The person who imprisoned you has been dead for decades. I heard your cry for help in the golden feather and came to help you get out, alright?”

These words really stunned Zhurong

“Golden feather?” Its eyes were filled with doubt. “I’ve always been here. How did you hear my cry for help in the golden feather? Has my main body already succeeded in reaching Nirvana, which is why you have my feather?”

Upon hearing this, Zhurong, who originally wasn’t willing to talk, immediately became calmer. It seemed like it would now listen to Ye Chen, but it still maintained its basic vigilance.

“You are indeed Zhurong… Yes, I succeeded in helping your main body reach Nirvana.” Ye Chen took a deep breath and summarized the actual situation.

“It gave me a golden feather with cultivation arts. After that, I was trapped here and wanted to learn the cultivation arts in the golden feather, but I discovered your cry for help from inside. We couldn’t hear it clearly, so I asked my Divine Beast to come here and release Spiritual Energy to contact you. Then, it was sucked on that thing and was possessed by you.” He finished speaking in one breath and asked again, “Are you aware of this situation?”

“It’s probably because it released too much Spiritual Energy. In the past, those people always wanted to persuade me, so they set up a sacrificial ritual. After releasing the Spiritual Energy of mutated beasts to awaken me, they let me possess the bodies of the mutated beasts for negotiation…” Zhurong sighed. “My Mystic Abilities will crush their bodies and eventually turn them into ashes. Therefore, I’m sorry but your mutated beast can no longer return.”

Ye Chen opened the data panel and took a look.

The Immortal Phoenix was still in deep sleep.

“Are you sure?” he asked doubtfully. “Has there never been an exception?”

Zhurong looked at him strangely.

“There have never been any exceptions… Wait.” Zhurong looked at its current body and suddenly revealed a look of surprise. “This body hasn’t collapsed. What’s going on?!”.

“My Immortal Phoenix can be considered your disciple. It learnt your Art of Zhurong and is also one of the important beasts that helped your body reach Nirvana successfully. It might be because of this that it can withstand it.”

Facing Zhurong’s surprised expression, Ye Chen waved his hand and decided to forget about his other questions.

“Let’s not waste time. The sooner we finish talking, the sooner you can return its body to me. Now tell me, do you know the way of destroying this array?”