Chapter 164 Vermillion Bird, is a girl.

Gui Xu is a tightly-knit organization, or rather, an organization that has naturally become tightly-knit under the erosion of long years. At the very bottom are the Gui Xu Wanderers, who are further divided into several ranks, with the highest level being similar to that of a steward, responsible for commanding ordinary Gui Xu Wanderers.

Above them are the Guardians, powerful Gui Xu members who are stationed in specific worlds. Each one possesses power within the scope of myths, with the powerful status of being called Mountain Gods or River Gods. Slicing waterfalls with a single strike, carving through mountains with a wave of the hand, withstanding missiles with their physical bodies, and shattering mecha with iron fists are routine operations.

The Guardians determine their rank based on the level of the worlds they occupy. The more abundant their resources, the more powerful they tend to be, and their ranking among the Guardians is correspondingly higher. This process is called [Ascending the Heavenly Ladder], and at the very top of the ladder, below the Gui Xu Overlord, are the existences who truly stand above all others in the truest sense.

The Four Great Guardians. Their titles are based on the Four Spirits, remotely referring to the constellations of the Zhou Tian Star Domain. It seems that in the Gui Xu Overlord's design, when everything finally settles down, the great ravine of the East Sea will be the center of all the heavens and realms, the Great Wilderness and the Seas. The Four Great Gui Xu Guardians will transform into the Azure Dragon of the East and the Black Tortoise of the North, commanding all the worlds in their respective directions. At that time, the Four Spirits will guard the Gui Xu Great Ravine hidden beneath the East Sea.

And the Gui Xu Overlord will then place his hands on the hilt of his long sword, leaning on that black sword, his eyes deep and calm, overlooking the strong of all the heavens and realms submitting before him, submitting at his feet. What a domineering scene, what a magnificent scene. But this grand blueprint collapsed before it could be fully realized.

It's like Helian Bobo during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, who built a city called Tongwan City. He also stood on this city, looking far into the direction of the Central Plains, leaning on his grassland-style scimitar, and proclaiming as heroically as every heroic figure, "Unifying all with one, unifying all nations!"

Then his opponent was Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei, who had burned down the Garan Dojo and trampled mountain temples with his horses. And so Tongwan City was gone.

Gui Xu follows a similar trajectory. It is currently in a state of hibernation. Wei Yuan is now in a state of excitement, full of fighting spirit. He immediately sent a message to the Qilin, asking it to invite the Vermillion Bird to the human world to "be a guest." He is now thinking about resolving the matter of Gui Xu, and then going to rescue Houtu, and then fulfilling his agreement with Jue.

This time, in the Tu Shan clan, it should be his turn to take the initiative.

Great and proud Gui Xu Overlord, please sacrifice yourself a little for my future. I will miss you.

When I get married, I will offer you incense. Don't worry, the first incense of that day will be yours!

Wei Yuan reached out and touched his cheek. The touch of the girl's lips still lingered slightly. He looked at the morning light in the sky, stretched, and suddenly felt refreshed. He looked at the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion, where the sound of morning chanting could be faintly heard. The purple energy spread across the sky. He laughed loudly, did not go to the Celestial Master's Mansion, but took a step, his sleeves filled with wind and snow, and headed towards the museum.

And the black cat was in the arms of the old Celestial Master, watching the wind and snow fall. Watching the great sun rise again, the golden morning light shone on the white snow on the rock wall, reflecting it like a dragon shaking its scales. When the sun rose, it lazily stretched.

Standing up, shaking off the snow on its black fur, its eyes were as bright as two gems. First, it licked its paws, then licked the old Celestial Master's hair. Finally, it looked at the soul-guiding incense in front of the Celestial Master. Seeing that this soul-guiding incense was still burning unhurriedly, and the remaining length was enough for a very long time.

Only then did it nod with satisfaction. Its tail was slightly cocked up, forming a very soft S-shape. Its front paws gripped the ground, and then it stretched. It yawned and began its daily patrol of Longhu Mountain. It had been in Longhu Mountain hundreds of years ago, during the era when a Taoist in Jiangnan Road rode a green dragon into the palace and killed Jiajing. Over these hundreds of years, it had watched one small Taoist after another enter the mountain, the small Taoists became old Taoists, and the old Taoists were finally buried in the soil, unable to scratch it with their skinny palms anymore. Time and time again, its world was in this mountain.

It was familiar with every plant and tree here, including which fruits were particularly sweet and which flowers were particularly fragrant. When the black cat walked to a mountain cave, it suddenly stopped.

Then the fur on its hindquarters bristled, its eyes widened, and then it exerted force with its claws, like an arrow shot out, darting into the mountain cave. After a moment, a meow of extreme doubt and surprise startled the sparrows that had gotten up early to hunt for insects, causing them to flap their wings and fly up, uncertain and suspicious.

And the black cat was even more surprised and doubtful than the sparrows outside. How strange. It was really strange.

The black cat shook its head, its face full of confusion. The old Taoist was still sleeping, so how could one jar of the hidden spirits suddenly be missing?

Could it be that someone secretly drank alcohol last night?

That shouldn't be…

It licked its paws, and after thinking about it, it couldn't figure it out. It just sniffed with its nose and smelled the sweet scent of White Rabbit Cream Candy, so it stretched out its cat paw and engraved the words on the back of the stone tablet on the side of the Yaoyue Pavilion: [Today, Longhu Mountain lost a jar of spirits.]

Wei Yuan rushed back to the museum. Before even entering, he had already sensed the fiery and domineering power of flame, burning fiercely, yet completely different from the solar fire of the Great Sun Golden Crow. It had a kind of inexplicable grand feeling. The Vermillion Bird of the South, one of the Four Spirits, and also the type among the Four Spirits that was quite balanced in terms of combat and defense.

Even through the restraints set up in the house, Wei Yuan could sense the surging heat wave.

Wei Yuan reconsidered how he should persuade the Vermillion Bird of the South. It would be best to persuade it and even win it over to exist as one of the combat forces of the human world. As a last resort, he would first suppress it, and then use the Transformation of the Fetus to change his appearance, borrow a wisp of the Vermillion Bird's aura, and step into Gui Xu.

Wei Yuan recorded in his mind everything the Qilin had given him about the Vermillion Bird's personality, hobbies, and taboos.

Then he opened the door, only to be surprised that the Vermillion Bird was not in the living room. This perhaps meant that the Vermillion Bird was being entertained in the quiet room, but the point was that the Qilin itself was also in the living room. Wei Yuan looked strangely at the direction from which the vast true fire aura existed, and said, "Why are you here?"

"Why am I here?"

"Of course I have to be here?"

The Qilin seemed even more puzzled than Wei Yuan, and said, "If I'm not here, how can I remind you, Brother Yuan?"

"Remind me?"

Wei Yuan frowned and pointed to the direction where the scorching aura was, and said, "If you're here, then is that Vermillion Bird alone in the quiet room now?"

"Oh, oh, Brother Yuan, are you worried about your treasures? Haha, don't worry, don't worry."

"The Vermillion Bird isn't like Baihu, a guy with an unpredictable personality, it won't cause a big mess at this time." The Qilin waved his hand knowingly, and said, "Besides, it's not alone there."

"The Master is also there." Wei Yuan paused even more.

"The Master?" The Qilin nodded solemnly: "Yes, that's why I wanted to bring him here. Brother Yuan, you asked him to come here, you should also want to persuade him, right? Although from a short-term goal, it's to obtain his identity, enter Gui Xu, and then destroy the Gui Xu Overlord's advancement ceremony.

"But from a long-term perspective, it's always better to have one more friend than one more enemy. If we can turn him to our side, it's equivalent to adding another high-level combat ability to the human world, and the potential loopholes in the war against Gui Xu will also be reduced by one link. If we combine the two, it will be a multiple of benefits."

The Qilin's back straightened, his expression solemn and serious, just like when he was doing assessments under the Master's door. But the words he said made Wei Yuan feel like vomiting blood.

"But, Brother Yuan, do you have the ability to persuade the Vermillion Bird to defect?" He paused, and then gave the answer: "Obviously, you don't."

"You only have the ability to beat the Vermillion Bird until its head is broken and covered in mud, and then throw it into the Samadhi True Fire to make beggar's chicken."

"And if you can't do it, Brother Yuan, then I definitely can't do it either."

"But, the Master can!" The Qilin's eyes lit up and said, "Brother Zigong's strategy of making each of the five kingdoms change is already extremely clever, but when placed together with the strategists of later generations, it doesn't seem abrupt. They all rely on the general trend, are eloquent, and use their three-inch tongue to travel between various forces. It's just a clever trick."

"But the Master's persuasion is gentle and mellow. He is upright, does not use any skills, but is extremely sincere, as if he is telling the true and upright principles."

"If we go to persuade him, it will be a battle of swords and shadows, which is to make the Vermillion Bird defect."

"But if the Master goes out, it will directly be turning from darkness to light!" The Qilin was only in awe of Wei Yuan, but he could be said to be fanatical about the Master.

And judging from Zigong's experience back then, the Master naturally possessed extremely outstanding negotiation skills.

Wei Yuan looked at the house and said, "How long have they been in there?"

The Qilin proudly stretched out his hand and gestured, saying, "It's been two hours already. Now, even those who were originally very loyal to the Gui Xu Overlord must be doubting their own position, let alone the Vermillion Bird may not really be so obedient to the Gui Xu Overlord."

The corners of Wei Yuan's mouth twitched. He suddenly felt that the Gui Xu Overlord was so unlucky that he simply needed to burn a few sticks of incense for his bad luck. However, after being seriously injured and reincarnated for reconstruction, he would naturally lose control over his subordinates.

Then the Qilin suddenly hesitated and said, "But, Brother Yuan, are you really not considering it? Perhaps disguising yourself as the Vermillion Bird is really not a good choice. Actually, if you changed into me, it would be fine."

Wei Yuan shook his head: "The more safeguards there are, the more stable it will be. The value of the Dao Fruit is enough to take the risk."

The Qilin sighed and said, "Brother, awesome!!!"

Wei Yuan was already used to the Qilin's startled appearance. He suddenly remembered something, reached out and patted the Qilin's shoulder, and said, "But, the one who told Jue about the engagement was you, kid, right?"

The Qilin did not take it seriously and nodded as a matter of course: "Yes, I saw the sister-in-law, so of course I have to congratulate the sister-in-law first." He noticed the expression on Wei Yuan's face and paused slightly. He suddenly realized and said, "Ah, this! Is this still something that can't be said now?"

Wei Yuan raised his hand to support his forehead, suddenly snapped his fingers, and the Yuan Qi in the void transformed into one Yellow Turban Warrior after another, expressionless, and said, "Throw him out!"

Two burly Yellow Turban Warriors very skillfully and experienced threw the Qilin out.

And Wei Yuan knocked on the door, and after receiving the Master's permission, he opened the door with a gentle smile. At this time, the Qilin's voice seemed to still be echoing in his ears: "Brother, it's really not suitable, do you want to choose another one?"

"Brother Yuan, awesome!!!" Wei Yuan's gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at the figure sitting opposite the Master.

Looking at that figure, who was about 1.6 meters tall, wearing a red coat, with a sweater revealing a shirt collar inside, a haphazard distribution of wine red and light gray squares, wearing a blue pleated skirt, revealing black leather shoes and white ankle socks. Even facing the Master, she was still sitting upright, with her hands clasped inside the coat, revealing only ten fingers.

The fingernails of all ten fingers were manicured with different patterns. She crossed her ten fingers slightly, and exhaled a breath of white air, as if the temperature inside her body was much hotter than the air-conditioned room.

Hearing the movement, she raised her head and turned to look over, and two strands of flame rose in her pair of brown eyes.

Wei Yuan's face froze.

"Vermillion Bird?" The girl in front of him nodded: "That's me, are you the one who wants to see me?"

The smile on Wei Yuan's face seemed to make a squeaking sound like steel rusting and shattering.

He seemed to hear the Qilin's hoarse cry in his ear: "Brother Yuan, awesome! Awesome!!!"

And the room was still quiet, quiet for a long time.

"Vermillion Bird, is a girl."