Xiaoxiao saw Wei Jie’s incorrigible appearance and could only push his body away forcefully: “Have you forgotten your current condition? You still dare to fool around with me!”

Because he had lost his heart blood, Wei Jie couldn’t lose any more vital essence while his qi hadn’t recovered. So at this time, teasing this young lady he had coveted for so long was asking for trouble.

It had been the same last time in the valley—originally intending to tease and play with her, but in the end Wei Jie was the first to be consumed by burning desire, unable to advance or retreat!

The torment of having a beautiful body laid out before him, yet being unable to taste it, was truly too agonizing. Before his injuries were completely healed, he’d better not endure such suffering again.

So after lingering, reluctant kisses, the two of them ended up lying face to face, reading together.

These ancient texts were collected by the Wei family over many years.

After all, the Wei family, having glimpsed heavenly secrets and been trapped on Qilao Mountain like prisoners, always sought methods of escape, so they collected ancient texts from everywhere to see if there were any solutions.

Xiaoxiao flipped through them left and right, finding no descriptions of that divine being who had opposed Lord Gu Yan.

However, on a yellowed page, she saw a familiar image—a phoenix circling on a parasol tree.

Though the page was old and somewhat faded, Xiaoxiao immediately recognized it as a dark phoenix.

Below this illustration was a line of fine, small characters: “Fallen Blood Phoenix, not born of heaven and earth, good and evil undivided, righteousness and evil unclear, capable of devouring immortal souls, a variable of heaven, must not appear in the world!”

Such text, like the legends, mercilessly condemned the black phoenix to the path of evil demons, as if everyone wanted to eliminate it!

Xiaoxiao remembered the murals discovered behind Ghost Stone Cliff. In that ancient battle between two gods, this black phoenix seemed to have been driven to devour Lord Gu Yan, but in the end was subdued by Lord Gu Yan, its soul sealed in the Eternal Valley.

If this were true, the Fallen Blood Phoenix, painted as utterly evil, was just a lustful bird that forgot its nature of devouring immortal souls after being bewitched by male beauty.

Moreover, that little black phoenix she saw in the Phoenix Secret Realm of Eternal Valley had done no evil deeds, yet suffered bullying from its kind—truly pitiful!

The two of them lying together, reading like this was a rare moment of leisure.

However, unlike Xiaoxiao, who focused on reading, Wei Jie read somewhat absent-mindedly, spending most of his time staring at the girl in his arms.

Occasionally, he would even undo Xiaoxiao’s collar to see how the colorful phoenix mark on her neck differed from the one in the tree.

Xiaoxiao had now witnessed Wei Jie’s shameless side and knew what he was thinking. She just smiled and pinched his nose, turning to tug at his collar in return.

The disciple was more generous than his master—after all, his chest had developed thick and strong, not afraid of being seen at all.

He didn’t even need Xiaoxiao to undress him; he removed his outer robe himself and lay sideways on the couch, supporting his head with one hand.

His thick black hair was scattered across the pillow, his shoulder lines smooth, chest muscles solid, abdominal muscles defined, and narrow waist gathered within the open robe. With sword-like brows, purple eyes, straight nose, and subtle smile, revealing slightly pointed canine teeth—an attitude of “take me as you will”…

At this moment, the light in the room was dim and hazy. Every inch of golden light and shadow falling on this devilishly charming man from the window carried endless seductive meaning…

Xiaoxiao felt her nose growing warm as she watched, yet couldn’t bear to look away. She thought absent-mindedly: If Lord Gu Yan was also this enchanting, no wonder he could bewitch the Blood Phoenix into losing its true nature and falling into mortal ways…

But she didn’t know that in Wei Jie’s eyes, the sight of the eighteen-year-old girl with flushed cheeks, biting her lips and gazing at him tenderly, was even more unbearably arousing than a naked body laid out before him.

In the end, Wei Jie was the first to lose patience, pulling Xiaoxiao over to entangle lips and teeth with her.

However, after fooling around, Wei Jie found himself trapped in a cocoon of his own making. When hot blood surged downward and he became somewhat impatient, symptoms of losing heart blood arose, and he suddenly became powerless all over, collapsing onto the bed with a thud.

This was the same as that day in the valley—whenever his desires arose, he would collapse powerlessly.

Xiaoxiao was left somewhat breathless from his kisses, even feeling a bit of lingering disappointment.

But seeing Wei Jie’s tense, handsome face, looking quite unwilling, she couldn’t help but giggle and comfort her good disciple: “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. No matter how much Ling’er asked me before, I never said you couldn’t perform…”

This thoughtful explanation struck at the iron-blooded pride of a man.

When Wei Jie’s fingers regained some strength, he grasped Xiaoxiao, gripping her soft nape, and ground his teeth: “When I’m better, you’ll see if I can perform!”

Having made this vow, Xiaoxiao took advantage of Tang Youshu bringing Wei Jie medicine to escape with a smile, adjusting her collar.

Tang Youshu had previously very tactfully reminded Xiaoxiao that the master shouldn’t get close to women now, otherwise, if this bit of vital essence was lost, it might not be replenishable.

Xiaoxiao’s scalp prickled, hearing this, her face hot enough to fry eggs. She didn’t let Tang Youshu continue, only hastily promising to keep a distance from Wei Jie.

Tang Youshu was quite embarrassed to bring this up, but he had worked so hard to give his master a second life. If the master died from depleted vital energy while entangled with Xiaoxiao in bed, would he have to rearrange everything and rewrite another sect manual?

How would this autobiographical manual record such events? After all, a generation of Demon Lords dying from “saddle wind” would be truly difficult to embellish!

In the courtyard, Princess Yongning and Yu Ling’er had also found some entertainment.

It turned out the homeowner had previously performed magic tricks in the market. Two wooden boxes in the courtyard contained magic props.

Princess Yongning had always been curious about such arts, pestering the homeowner to learn the secret of “sword swallowing.”

The homeowner, delighted after receiving a pair of jade bracelets from Princess Yongning, took out a spring sword from a wooden box. Pressing the spring, he retracted the sword into the hilt and demonstrated on the spot.

Only then did Princess Yongning understand: “So the sword-swallowing act I saw at the Mid-Autumn Festival was like this! I even generously rewarded that performer with a gold ingot! It’s so simple!”

Yu Ling’er coolly remarked from the side: “You didn’t just lose a gold ingot—now you’ve lost another pair of bracelets! Magic tricks are all deception. Want to see a living person transform into a fox? Just give me another pair of jade bracelets and I’ll teach you how to make a fox appear from a wooden box!”

Princess Yongning didn’t know Yu Ling’er was from the fox clan. Hearing this, she expressed disbelief and immediately put up a gold lock as collateral, saying this time she would spot the flaw.

Yu Ling’er made a great show of bringing an empty box, then seriously performed a fox dance before jumping into the box, closing the lid, opening it, closing it again, opening it again.

As a result, amid Princess Yongning’s amazed exclamations, that gold lock was also swindled away by the little con artist.

Xiaoxiao laughed, watching them play and tease for a while, then returned to her room. After reading for a bit, she began meditating cross-legged.

She had originally intended to return the fox clan’s spirit stone to Yu Ling’er, but Tang Youshu said that after her recent demonic possession and awakening of the phoenix guardian spirit, the demonic energy and phoenix guardian spirit’s aura in her body were quite unbalanced.

The fox clan’s spirit stone could stabilize both demonic nature and phoenix power, so until they found a way to remove the demon pearl and Five Phoenix, that spirit stone should remain with Xiaoxiao.

Yu Ling’er also agreed. Xiaoxiao was the fox clan’s benefactor—if this spirit stone could preserve Xiaoxiao’s life, both she and the fox clan were willing to lend it to Xiaoxiao.

These three completely different powers had now achieved some delicate balance in Xiaoxiao’s body. When she regulated her breathing and sat quietly, she could even feel the three forces competing and struggling within her body, finally merging again at her spiritual platform.

The already-formed inner core was nourished by the three spiritual powers, faintly transforming into a golden core and beginning to condense toward the Nascent Soul stage…

Her cultivation talent wasn’t as good as Wei Jie’s, but in the most difficult aspect of cultivation—opportunity—she was full of fortune.

Achievements that many great powers took centuries to cultivate, Xiaoxiao had stumbled into through accumulated chances and fortune, achieving them in confusion.

The moment the golden core formed, Xiaoxiao could feel an unprecedented lightness filling her limbs and bones. This was the moment when mortals approached the divine realm, and also the motivation that comforted cultivators to continue toward the immortal world.

No wonder so many people were willing to abandon wives, children, and family affection for ultimate cultivation, giving up everything they once treasured. This feeling of transcending the mundane was truly addictive.

So, how had Wei Jie originally resisted such temptation and shattered his divine essence?

After experiencing the allure of ascension, Xiaoxiao came to admire Wei Jie. This man, after becoming demonic in his previous life, could be cold-hearted toward gods and Buddhas alike.

In this life, he was equally merciless toward himself…

Soon, she again followed the swirling spiritual energy into a state of ethereal meditation.

When spiritual breath flowed, it was like hearing babbling brooks beside her ears. This vibration that seemed to harmonize with spiritual veins attracted Xiaoxiao’s consciousness to float up and down as if drifting in water.

A fiery red mark slowly appeared on her forehead—it looked like two yin-yang fish about to close together.

At this moment, Xiaoxiao felt her body light as she walked up Ghost Stone Cliff’s steps to the palace hall.

A man stood beneath the palace pillars. His body still bore many fire burns, and his snake scales had turned black after being subjected to true fire, looking even more sinister and terrifying. However, this color matched well with the small, pitch-black, crow-like fat bird in his hands.

Seeing this scene, Xiaoxiao was certain she had fallen asleep while meditating and was dreaming about Wei Jie’s previous life.

This cold-faced man covered in black scales was exactly the Demon Lord who had just emerged from the Phoenix Secret Realm with a little black phoenix!

He seemed to be writing a letter, but after writing several versions, none satisfied him. Crumpled paper was scattered all over the floor.

That fluffy bird kept causing trouble, sometimes pecking at the ink stone, sometimes rubbing against the brush in the man’s hand.

The man, annoyed beyond measure, simply ordered someone to bring an iron cage, wanting to throw this little crow—no, little black phoenix—inside.

But even if ugly, it was still a phoenix, naturally proud. How could it enter an iron cage?

The little black bird squawked in protest, refusing to be caught, and dove headfirst into the man’s long hair to hide.

The man’s face, already half-covered in snake scales, turned iron-blue as he said coldly: “If you don’t go in, I’ll wring your neck!”

But the little black bird hid behind his neck, pitifully pecking at the scales on his neck with its pointed beak, then flatteringly rubbing his cheek with its fluffy body, completely unafraid of the terrifying man as a demon king.

You must know that at this time in his previous life, Demon Lord Wei Jie was already notorious. Even disciples serving him dared not lift their heads to look at him directly.

Yet this stupid little bird treated the Demon King as its bird mother, acting coquettishly and intimately with signs of courting death.

The man’s purple eyes showed restraint after restraint. Finally, he helplessly pulled it out from behind his neck. Not caring whether it could understand, he said flatly: “If you won’t live in a birdcage, do you want to sleep in my bed? Don’t think you’re the same kind as me. Remember, you’re different from me—just a feathered beast…”

The little black phoenix didn’t know it was being scolded, only comfortably closing its eyes and curling up in the man’s scale-covered palm.

It greatly loved the abundant demonic energy emanating from the man, because such demonic energy was the black phoenix’s favorite food. Sleeping on the Demon King was like a cat lying on a pile of fish or a dog sleeping among meat bones—even dreams were filled with abundant harvests and no worry about food or clothing.

The man looked down at the little fat bird sleeping without defenses. In the end, he didn’t throw it in the cage, only ordering someone to bring cotton to form a temporary nest, placing it beside his hand. Then, accompanied by the little bird’s snoring, he continued grinding ink and writing.

Xiaoxiao’s spirit floated in mid-air, clearly seeing from the side what he was writing—a reply to Wei family’s grandmother. Beside the desk was also a letter from the Wei family.

The letter roughly contained a condemnation of Wei Jie’s willful entry into demonhood and defiance of heaven.

After writing another letter, the man silently read it for a while, then tore it up and scattered the pieces.

Xiaoxiao silently sympathized, thinking how lonely and sad he must be at this moment…

She stepped forward, wanting to embrace this rigid figure from behind, but when her arms reached out, they passed through the man’s body, unable to hold him…

The man silently gazed into the distance, not knowing what he was thinking.

Just then, the bird on the table somehow woke up. After tilting its head to look at the man, it fluttered its little wings and used its pointed beak to pick up the torn letter pieces one by one, trying to piece them back together.

Seeing the little crow’s actions, the man couldn’t help but laugh coldly, talking to the feathered beast about thoughts he didn’t want others to know: “What? You think I should reply? It’s useless. I’ve entered demonhood and am the Wei family’s shame. Grandmother writes only to fulfill her final responsibility as an elder. Why should I reply and put her in a difficult position?”

The little crow disagreed with the man’s words, still working hard to piece things together while chirping as if urgently trying to comfort him.

The man snorted and asked, “You think grandmother doesn’t hate me?”

The bird nodded, then happily hopped about, found a peanut from the plate on the desk, and brought it to the man’s mouth.

It seemed to be enthusiastically showing approval, indicating the man was the best person it had ever seen, so everyone should like him.

The man was amused by the bird’s human-like behavior, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting, because of the snake scales, even his smile looked quite fierce, so the smile was fleeting like a flash in the pan.

He said coldly again: “You don’t understand. Being human is much more complex than being a bird. It’s not simply divided into good and bad people.”

This time, the bird tilted its neck, seemingly disagreeing with the man’s words.

In its view, being human was simple and joyful. You didn’t have to sleep in birdcages and could wear clothes of various beautiful colors, unlike its constant black feathers.

Thinking this, it pecked some cotton from the nest and hung the white cotton balls on its black down, making itself look whiter.

The man was again amused by the vain little fat bird. He extended a finger to rub the little crow’s fluffy head, saying thoughtfully: “I was born human, but don’t find being human joyful. You’re a feathered beast yet everywhere show human intelligence… Heaven is unfair, making you reincarnate wrongly. You should have been human. But since you want to be human, shall I give you a name? With your small eyes and small beak… let’s call you Xiaoxiao…”

Saying this, he picked up a peanut and teased the bird’s beak: “Xiaoxiao, good girl, open your mouth…”

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao immediately objected!

Giving a bird a name was one thing, but with so many names like Cuicui and Yingying available, why did he have to choose the homophone “Xiaoxiao” of her name?

She expressed her displeasure and wanted to step forward in protest, but her arm suddenly hurt as if someone was pulling her up.

At the same time, a voice even noisier than a crow kept calling in her ear: “Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao…”

Xiaoxiao suddenly opened her eyes to find the man who had been covered in black scales in her dream was now smooth-faced and incomparably handsome, crouching before her and shaking her arm.

Wei Jie had originally seen Xiaoxiao meditating and didn’t want to disturb her. But later he heard his little master snoring, apparently having fallen asleep again.

This cultivation method of practicing halfway then falling asleep was Sect Leader Cui’s unique skill.

Wei Jie was long accustomed to it, so he called out to Xiaoxiao: “You’ve been meditating for quite a while. Want to eat something?”

Xiaoxiao was somewhat dazed from sleep, looking at Wei Jie blankly and asking: “Eat what?”

Wei Jie brought out a small bowl of fried peanuts: “The food will be ready soon. If you’re hungry, have some peanuts first?”

Xiaoxiao stared at the peanuts brought to her mouth and shouted: “I won’t eat them!”

Wei Jie was startled by Xiaoxiao’s shout, because she usually loved eating peanuts. This plate was specially requested from the homeowner’s wife!

After shouting, Xiaoxiao realized she had been affected by the dream. She stretched lazily, grabbed a handful of peanuts, and told Wei Jie about her dream.

Wei Jie raised his eyebrows. He had long heard Xiaoxiao say that in his previous life, he had brought a little black phoenix out of Eternal Valley.

However, he found it hard to imagine that after entering demonhood, he would keep a natural enemy that fed on demons by his side.

That black phoenix was an ominous creature of heaven and earth, disliked by all gods, born into confusion, completely different from the other five phoenixes. No one could explain how it came to be.

In this life, the phoenix nest was empty, and that black phoenix was nowhere to be found. Except for that tuft of black down in the Phoenix Secret Valley, there was no trace of this black phoenix having come to the world.

However, according to Tang Youshu, this little black phoenix had once prevented Wei Jie from killing his grandmother, but ended up severely injured and unable to survive, later disappearing without a trace.

Xiaoxiao thought of the little crow’s cuteness in her dream and the black-scaled man’s unexpressed affection for the little bird, and couldn’t help sighing again.

After that man’s demonic nature erupted, if he discovered he had accidentally killed a beloved pet he had raised for so long, he would probably be heartbroken and sad too.

Thinking this, Xiaoxiao felt Wei Jie’s previous life was too pitiful—no father, no mother, misunderstood and disliked by Wei family relatives. Finally raising a little stupid bird through gardening, only to meet such an end.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help hugging Wei Jie’s neck and comforting him: “When we have time, shall I buy you a parrot?”

Wei Jie laughed, not knowing where Xiaoxiao’s thoughts had wandered. He was already busy thinking about his master’s food, clothing, and shelter—where would he have time to raise birds?

If she wanted to raise something, she might as well help him have a baby to raise in the future.

Next, everyone sat together for dinner.

They had been staying here to endure the three days after the red moon. Now they only needed to wait a few more hours until dawn to get through it.

By then, they could escort Princess Yongning back and, with the crown prince’s secret agents’ assistance, expose the truth of the fake King of Changshan’s usurpation, freeing Princess Yongning from that troublesome marriage.

Thus, everyone was killing time. At the dinner table, Princess Yongning was still pestering Yu Ling’er, wanting to buy the secret technique of making a living person transform into a fox.

Yu Ling’er refused to tell, and was rolling her eyes to tease the princess when she suddenly screamed: “Oh my, Princess, why is your hair on fire?”

The others eating looked up—indeed! A strand of Yongning’s hair had suddenly burst into strange purple flames.

But the princess, who had been chatting and laughing moments before, now sat motionless, letting the flames burn.

Tang Youshu knew she was under a spell—someone had taken her hair and was remotely controlling her from somewhere!

The instant the flames on her head extinguished, Princess Yongning had already leaped into the air, flying straight toward the window behind her.

Xiaoxiao flew out to intercept, standing before the princess and asking: “Princess, where are you going?”

Tang Youshu urgently reminded from behind: “Xiaoxiao, don’t stop her. She’s under a puppet spell—be careful of tricks!”

Indeed, just as Tang Youshu spoke, Princess Yongning suddenly struck out with her palm toward Cui Xiaoxiao.

The princess had martial arts skills, plus she had studied under many masters and learned quite a few miscellaneous techniques.

Now she attacked recklessly, immediately going for Xiaoxiao’s fatal pressure point on the head.

In the time it took Xiaoxiao to dodge, Princess Yongning leaped up and quickly jumped out of the courtyard.

Princess Yongning ran extremely fast, and the remaining four people also vaulted over walls to chase after her.

However, after being hit by the puppet spell, Princess Yongning seemed to have wind beneath her feet, impossible to catch up with.