Chapter 43: Chapter 43
A gentle voice echoed from somewhere beyond the swirling mist, bringing the towering shadow to an abrupt standstill.
Ethan moved forward cautiously, keeping his senses sharp and letting his hands flick the chill haze away from his path. What materialized before him was both strange and wondrous.
A bird, less than one foot tall but with a bearing of majestic dignity, waited at the center of a pale circle where the cold did not dare intrude.
Its feathers shimmered an iridescent blue, each individual plume rippling like a liquid flame in the morning light. Its neck was long and graceful, eyes a deep, luminous red that seemed to reflect the promise of ancient power. Powerful talons dug into the frostbitten soil, while its tail curled and flared in patterns both alluring and dangerous.
Ethan let his Heaven-piercing Mind Eye quietly probe deeper. Immediately, he was struck by the bird’s internal power—a violent, swirling fire of blue flame, not just energy but an awakening of true bloodline might.
The sensation was like peering into the molten heart of a newborn star.
A jolt of greedy hope flickered in Ethan’s heart.
If I could absorb even a fragment of that blue flame breath... my Divine Flame Bodybuilding technique would leap forward!
Before he could probe further, the clear voice called again—closer this time.
"Ashira, I told you not to wander! Come back here."
Out from the pale haze stepped a girl who seemed woven from fairy tales and moonlight. Her skin was flawless, luminous as polished jade. Long, silver hair rippled down her back like a fall of stardust, nearly reaching her knees. Amethyst-touched eyes glimmered with an intelligent gentleness—a crystalline clarity that seemed to pierce both darkness and deceit. Her features, petite yet refined, were as delicate as the spring’s first flower.
She wore a flowing dress edged in white and purple silk, the fabric adorned with the faintest trace of phoenix and lotus motifs. Upon her feet were tiny crystal shoes, twinkling with each measured step. There was an effortless refinement in her bearing—a weightless nobility, more like an elf-princess than any ordinary cultivator.
Ethan couldn’t help but marvel.
Her beauty was not just surface-deep; it radiated from some unspoiled wellspring within.
The girl approached and offered Ethan a graceful bow of apology, her silver hair fluttering like silk.
"Forgive us for disturbing you, Senior Brother."
He managed a reassuring smile.
"No harm done. I’m Ethan. May I ask who you are, Junior Sister?"
"My name is Liana," she said with a voice gentle but clear, like the first raindrops of spring.
"This is my spiritual pet, Ashira—she’s a Blue Phoenix."
Ethan nearly stumbled backward in surprise. Phoenix?
Ancient stories, half-forgotten from dusty tomes, fluttered through his mind.
The phoenix was an immortal beast of legend, a symbol of rebirth and unparalleled might. When matured, a blue phoenix was not just a beast, but a force—rivaling the very summit of Mahayana human cultivators. The power in such a bloodline beggared imagination.
Yet, this young Ashira was clearly only a juvenile—a tiny drop of power compared to her titanic adult potential.
He kept his tone measured, concealing his awe.
"Such a spiritual pet... I’m amazed, Junior Sister Liana. But why bring her into the ancestral tomb?"
Liana stroked Ashira’s feathers anxiously.
"She’s been behaving strangely. She keeps running towards places where the cold air is densest. I tried everything to calm her, but nothing works for long."
Ethan let his Heaven-piercing Mind Eye sweep across both girl and beast. Immediately, he sensed the unique resonance—the flames within Ashira were churning, dense, and roiling. She was on the cusp of awakening, her pure bloodline struggling to truly manifest.
He pieced together what was happening.
The blue flame within her is at the verge of condensing from beast fire into a higher form—perhaps even the rare innate spiritual fire. But Ashira’s body, still so young, cannot bear the sudden onrush of that scorching essence.
He could see the danger. Without help, Ashira might be overwhelmed by her own awakening and perish, or worse—lose control and devastate the tomb.
He turned his gaze to Liana herself. Her foundation was remarkable: bones clear and slender, meridians flexible yet firm. She radiated the clear light of a Nascent Soul cultivator—no small feat for one so obviously youthful. Her features, though still tinged with childish roundness, hinted at both maturity and an incredible future.
She’s as talented as Seraphina was... perhaps even more so, Ethan thought.
But her ice and water attributes were evidently limited; none of the items in her storage ring were strong enough to truly shield Ashira.
With gentle authority, Ethan spoke. "Junior Sister Liana, your Ashira is in a period of rapid transformation. The ancient fire within her blood is awakening, threatening to burn her from within unless she can find a way to bear it. If you want her to survive, you must help her share this burden—or give her treasures of water or cold to counterbalance the rise of the fire."
Liana clapped her hands in understanding.
"So that’s it! I always wondered why I’d never seen her blue flame in action. It must be only now truly awakening."
She rummaged through her storage ring, muttering anxiously, "Water herb... No, quality’s too low. Cold jade, but only a few years old, probably useless... Three-leaf ice flower, but less than a millennium... not enough, not enough!"
Her slender hands flicked one spiritual plant after another onto the cold stone. All radiated a faint chill—yet none glinted with the overwhelming power needed.
Suddenly, Ashira let out a sharp, resonant cry—her body pitching forward as faint blue flames began to flicker on the edges of her wings. The temperature dropped as the burning power surged, wreathing her in a corona of shimmering azure.
Ethan’s Heaven-piercing Mind Eye caught everything: the flames gathered, spinning ever faster inside the phoenix’s tiny form. Her expression twisted with pain, feathers flaring in a half-formed crown of blue fire.
She was suffering, fighting against the flood within. Only external help—perhaps from a powerful cultivator, or a truly rare treasure—could save her.
Liana’s eyes brimmed with worry. "What do I do, Senior Brother Ethan? I can’t bear to see her suffer..."