Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Ancient Phoenix Phoenix Fortune

The rest needed time to ferment.

Lin Zhao had more urgent matters.

She told Ning Wen Gui to come find her at her lodging at the appointed time, then left the auction house without delay.

She went to the largest inn in the You Lan Imperial Capital, booked the best private room, and made sure no one would disturb her. Even then, she carefully set up a soundproof Barrier Domain as Granny instructed before she dared begin.

When Granny’s lingering soul appeared, Lin Zhao watched the little chick ripple and stretch until it became a white-haired old woman.

Lin Zhao stared, startled. “Master… you can take human form?”

Granny shook her head with a bitter smile. “Only because your Phoenix Fortune has nourished me. I can maintain it for at most about two hours a day. Enough to refine the Phoenix-Extreme Spirit Raising Pill.”

Lin Zhao hesitated, then asked, “If I had more Phoenix Fortune… would your soul grow stronger too?”

Granny nodded. “Do you think this old woman took a disciple just because she was bored for ten thousand years? Right now, it only strengthens my soul. But if one day your Phoenix Fortune becomes complete and your pill refining reaches mastery… you might even be able to truly revive me.”

Lin Zhao’s pupils tightened.

Reviving a Soul Form? She’d never heard such a thing.

“Soul Forms can be revived?”

Granny chuckled. “It may be impossible for other Soul Forms. But Granny is lucky. I met a little girl like you.”

Then she brushed the topic aside, pulled herbs from the Spatial Ring, and began refining.

Lin Zhao watched Granny grow more and more transparent as golden flames rose in her hands. Only then did Lin Zhao realize that taking human form wasn’t as easy as Granny had made it sound.

At first, Lin Zhao had wanted to reclaim her stolen Phoenix Fortune for vengeance.

Now she had another reason—one she couldn’t ignore.

For Granny. And for herself.

The easiest target was the Phoenix Fortune on Chen Luo Luo at Yun Ding Peak.

She had to take first place in the clan competition.

Then, as a South Sea Academy student, she could return to Yun Ding Peak and reclaim what was hers. Even the Ten Thousand Swords Sect wouldn’t dare move against her lightly.

South Sea Academy held overwhelming status on this continent, and its most famous reputation was how fiercely it protected its own.

It was said a First-Tier Sect once killed a South Sea Academy student who was out training for the sake of a treasure. South Sea Academy sent a late-stage Spirit Transformation expert and wiped that sect off the map.

Three days later, a famous First-Tier Sect was gone.

From then on, students of South Sea took pride not only in graduating, but in serving South Sea Academy afterward.

Before Lin Zhao could enter, she needed to raise her cultivation to great perfection Foundation Establishment. Only then would she have confidence in the grand competition and not be relegated to the bottom among new students.

Granny’s voice cut in. “Watch carefully.”

The golden flames in Granny’s hands took the shape of a Hong Hu, sweeping up the herbs for the Phoenix-Extreme Spirit Raising Pill. Under the burn, the herbs turned into pure streams of essence and flowed into the pill cauldron.

“This flame is a phoenix scion flame passed down by the elders of my clan,” Granny said.

“A sub-flame?” Lin Zhao stared, stunned at the heat rolling off it—far hotter than any fire a normal fire-attribute cultivator could summon. “So this isn’t the true source?”

Granny shook her head. “Radiant Phoenix Sacred Flame isn’t something just anyone can possess. At the very least, Granny doesn’t have the status.”

With one hand, she formed seals and sent intricate arrays of sigils into the cauldron, smooth and flowing, like a dance that made Lin Zhao’s eyes ache trying to follow.

A faint pill fragrance began to drift out.

Granny’s voice remained steady. “Pill refining requires more than talent. You need immense soul strength to control fierce medicinal properties. You must study pill seals to grant pills different effects. A true pill-refining master can use the same ingredients to create thousands of different pills. In all of that, mastery of formulas and comprehension of pill seals are indispensable.”

Lin Zhao clicked her tongue. No wonder even the Lin Family had only one Fifth-Grade healer—and sometimes that healer didn’t even give face to the family head.

As for Granny’s grade, Lin Zhao didn’t ask. But Granny’s faint, knowing smile when Lin Zhao once mentioned the Lin Family’s Fifth-Grade healer told her enough.

“Today is only an introduction,” Granny said. “Your path is still long.”

With a flick of her fingers, three round, lovely red pills floated out of the cauldron.

Granny exhaled—and her form popped back into a little chick, stamping tiny feet. “Now take them.”

Lin Zhao held the pills like treasure. “How do I take them? All at once?”

The chick looked disgusted. “If you want to die, go ahead.”

Lin Zhao quickly put two away.

“The Phoenix-Extreme Spirit Raising Pill can help you advance without backlash,” Granny said, voice turning serious. “But during that time, the training you endure will be beyond what ordinary people can imagine.”

She paced the table on tiny feet. “Phoenix-Extreme means squeezing out the last shred of potential your Phoenix Fortune gives you. Everything you’ve been through has tempered your mind and body enough, but you’ve always ignored your own potential.”

Lin Zhao listened, heart steadying.

“You were born with Phoenix Fortune,” Granny continued. “And yours is Ancient Phoenix Phoenix Fortune—the one among all Phoenix Fortunes that comes closest to the Heavenly Phoenix’s fate. That is the ancient Heavenly Phoenix’s recognition of your potential. Ancient Phoenix Phoenix Fortune has only a single fraction left, yet it can still help you survive after being pushed to death’s edge.”

Lin Zhao’s pulse jumped. For a moment she wondered if Granny had seen through her rebirth.

But Granny went on, tone shifting into something reverent. “Heavenly Phoenix Phoenix Fortune—Dao without end, body without perishing.”

Lin Zhao forced herself to breathe.

Ancient Phoenix Phoenix Fortune… could it be tied to her rebirth?

No wonder Chen Luo Luo had used every method to steal it.

Lin Zhao swallowed. “Ancient Phoenix Phoenix Fortune… how is it different from other Phoenix Fortunes?”

Granny snorted. “Of course there’s a difference. There are countless kinds of Phoenix Fortune. Even wild-chicken fate luck counts as one. But one Phoenix Fortune is not comparable to another.”

She lifted her beak like a proud elder. “Outsiders think the strongest is Heavenly Phoenix Phoenix Fortune, yet they don’t realize—no one in this world can be born with Heavenly Phoenix Phoenix Fortune!”