44: Chapter 44 Fire Mother

Xiang Tian pressed Feng Huowu's small hand against his chest. Feeling the delicate touch against his palm, he deliberately furrowed his brows.

"Where are you injured?" Feng Huowu snorted coldly.

"How can you say that!" Xiang Tian held her hand down with a straight face, letting her feel his heart pounding wildly. "Don't you realize my heart is about to jump out?"

Feng Huowu rolled her eyes and pulled her hand back. "Isn't that normal? If it stopped beating, you'd be dead already!"

"It's different!" Xiang Tian leaned in a step closer, his tone feigning deep affection. "It's because you make my heart flutter that it's beating so hard."

"Boring!" Feng Huowu's cheeks flushed slightly as she turned to leave. "Go away. If you have nothing to do, hurry back to the Haotian Sect!"

Xiang Tian immediately scrambled off the bed and trotted after her. "Don't be in such a hurry to chase me away. We've at least had 'intimate contact,' the least we can do is say a proper goodbye, right?"

"Stop following me!" Feng Huowu was so annoyed by his pestering that she wished she could slap him away.

Just then, a hearty female voice called out, "Yo, who has made my precious daughter so angry?"

A middle-aged woman wearing a fiery red robe walked over quickly. She resembled Feng Huowu by seventy percent, possessing a graceful temperament and an air of authority between her brows.

"Mother! No one made me angry." Feng Huowu was taken aback, quickly restraining her anger, her tone softening.

Xiang Tian's eyes lit up; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! He immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in a salute to Mother Feng, and said in a booming voice, "Greetings, Mother-in-law. Your son-in-law, Xiang Tian, pays his respects!"

"Oh?" Mother Feng raised an eyebrow, examining Xiang Tian with great interest before looking at Feng Huowu. "Xiaowu, is this your Dao Companion? Why have you never told Mother about him?"

"Mother! Don't listen to his nonsense!" Feng Huowu's cheeks turned bright red instantly. She hurriedly grabbed Mother Feng's arm. "He's just a little hooligan who came to claim the Phoenix blood. I'm going to chase him away right now!"

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave." Mother Feng raised a hand to stop her daughter, her eyes growing even more interested. "Little guy, tell me, what is really going on between you two?"

Having lived for so long, she could see the truth at a glance.

If her daughter truly hated this boy, given her personality, she would have attacked him long ago; she wouldn't just be chasing him away with words.

Xiang Tian cleared his throat and recounted the "accident" in the blood pool with added embellishments. Of course, he emphasized how he and Feng Huowu had been "unable to control their feelings" and that "what was done could not be undone." Finally, he didn't forget to emphasize that he had fallen in love with Feng Huowu at first sight and would marry no one else.

After listening, Mother Feng was not angry at all; instead, she laughed from ear to ear. "Good! Good! Since what is done cannot be undone, let's just go with the flow! Xiang Tian, why don't you join our Luo Feng Valley as a son-in-law?"

"Uh?" Xiang Tian was stunned. This plot development was wrong! He just wanted to smooth things over, not join the family as a son-in-law!

"What? You're unwilling?" Mother Feng's face darkened as she put her hands on her hips. "You want to run off after eating your fill? The daughters of our Luo Feng Valley are not to be bullied so easily!"

"Mother-in-law, I really didn't mean that!" Xiang Tian hurriedly explained. "I am a Disciple of the Haotian Sect. Having been out for so long, I have to go back to report!"

Feng Huowu also hurriedly chimed in, "Mother, just let him go! Men should go out and adventure; what does it look like for him to stay in Luo Feng Valley all the time?" She was genuinely afraid that if she stayed with Xiang Tian any longer, this little hooligan would do something even more outrageous.

"Adventure?" Mother Feng glanced at her daughter. "At the very least, you have to have a child before he leaves! What's wrong with wanting to hold a grandchild?"

"Mother! What are you saying!" Feng Huowu instantly turned red and buried her head in Mother Feng's embrace.

"Ahem!" Xiang Tian coughed twice and said with a straight face, "Mother-in-law, having children is a matter of fate; it cannot be forced."

"I don't care!" Mother Feng was firm. "I must hold a grandchild this year! Otherwise, neither of you will take a single step out of this courtyard!"

After saying this, she pushed Xiang Tian and Feng Huowu into an exquisite small courtyard without further discussion.

With a "bang," she closed the gate and set up a Restriction, leaving with a giggle. "Work hard! Mother is waiting to hold a grandchild!"

In the courtyard, Xiang Tian and Feng Huowu stared at each other, the atmosphere awkward to the extreme.

"Listen, in this courtyard, you are not allowed to touch me!" Feng Huowu broke the silence first, her tone icy.

Xiang Tian, however, smiled. "Huowu, do you want to be locked up by Mother for the rest of your life?"

"How is that possible?" Feng Huowu frowned.

"Why not?" Xiang Tian walked up to her. "You don't understand how persistent a woman who wants a grandchild can be. As long as you don't have a child, she won't let you out. And as long as you don't go out, you have to face me, the 'little hooligan' you hate. Instead of that, why don't we have a child? Once that's done, we can go out together. You go back to Luo Feng Valley to be the Valley Master, and I go back to my Haotian Sect. We won't disturb each other. Isn't that better?"

His words were reasonable and his logic clear. Feng Huowu was actually momentarily speechless, feeling that it did make sense.

A smirk curled on the corner of Xiang Tian's mouth. "See, I was right, wasn't I? You'll be mine sooner or later; it's all the same whether we have a child sooner or later."

"I suspect you're fooling me." Feng Huowu's eyes were guarded.

"How could I be fooling you?" Xiang Tian immediately wiped the smile off his face, his expression becoming serious and solemn. "I genuinely want to help you escape Mother's 'imprisonment' and fulfill her wish at the same time. It kills two birds with one stone; why not?"

Feng Huowu hesitated. She really didn't want to be locked up here forever, and she certainly didn't want to face Xiang Tian every day.

After thinking for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, I'll consider it for a few days. During this time, you are not allowed to appear before me, and you are not allowed to come within a step of my room!"

After saying this, she turned and walked into her room, slamming the door shut with a "bang" and leaving Xiang Tian alone in the courtyard.

Xiang Tian shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes, and began to investigate the changes within his body.

This Phoenix blood was truly extraordinary. It not only allowed him to Breakthrough to the Second Stage of the Supernatural Realm but also granted him two powerful skills.

Phoenix Slash and Phoenix Flame!

With a thought, he turned his right hand into a blade. Infusing it with his Spiritual Qi, a scorching red crescent-shaped Saber Qi instantly condensed and slashed toward the rockery in the center of the courtyard. "Phoenix Slash!"

"Boom!"

The power of the Saber Qi was immense. It slammed heavily into the rockery, instantly splitting it in two and causing even the Restriction set by Mother Feng to tremble.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this power is freaking strong!" Xiang Tian clicked his tongue.

Next, he raised his hand and struck out with a palm. A raging red flame ignited in his palm—it was none other than the Phoenix Flame!

The flame landed and instantly spread. The flowers and plants in the courtyard turned to ash the moment they were touched by the fire.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad. This flame not only has a high temperature but can also continue to burn, making enemies wish they were dead!" Xiang Tian nodded. Just as he wanted to test other uses, the door was suddenly pushed open violently.

"Xiang Tian! What are you doing?" Feng Huowu ran out furiously. Looking at the burned flowers and plants in the courtyard and the split rockery, she trembled with rage. "You destroyed all the flowers and plants I carefully cultivated!"

She rushed forward and began punching and kicking Xiang Tian.

Feng Huowu was now at the Middle Stage of the Martial Emperor Realm. Even without using her full strength, she still beat Xiang Tian until his face was bruised and swollen, leaving him screaming in agony.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I didn't mean it!" Xiang Tian scurried away, clutching his head.

Having finally managed to break free, Xiang Tian struggled to crawl up from the ground when a System notification suddenly rang in his mind.

[Host, it is detected that your vitality has been halved. Please heal your injuries as soon as possible!]

"Holy crap! Am I going to die?" Xiang Tian was terrified.

[Host, rest assured, your vitality is still within a controllable range, but if you are beaten up like this again, there may be a life-threatening risk.]

"Damn you! This woman really wants to beat me to death!" Xiang Tian was on the verge of tears and took a deep breath.

He opened the System panel to check:

Name: Xiang Tian

Gender: Male

Physique: Strong+

Aptitude: Yellow Rank Low Grade Spiritual Root

Cultivation: Supernatural Realm Second Stage

Cultivation Technique: Huntian Technique (Profound Rank)

Skills: Immaculate Sword Art (Sword Intent), Soul Locking Hand, Phoenix Slash, Phoenix Flame

Weapon: qingling sword (Opening Stage)

Treasures: Nine-Petal Golden Lotus (Yellow Rank), Healing Pearl, water-calming bead

Pet: Bai Yu

face-slapping points: 930

Lucky Draw Attempts: 1

"There's actually one more lucky draw attempt!" Xiang Tian's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "System, how did I get this lucky draw attempt?"

[Starting from the Supernatural Realm, the Host can obtain a lucky draw attempt for every major Realm Breakthrough.]

"Oh? It works like that!" Xiang Tian was secretly delighted and asked again, "Then if I perform Dual Cultivation with a woman, can I also be rewarded with a lucky draw attempt?"

[Host, have some shame! Dual Cultivation is for your own pleasure; you still want a reward?]

"Holy crap! What kind of way is that for a System to talk?" Xiang Tian was displeased. "I suspect you aren't an AI at all, but someone controlling you from behind the scenes!"

This tone, this sarcastic remark—it looked like a real person no matter how he viewed it.

[Want to know my identity? Then hurry up and level up!]

He suspected that the young girl image of the System was her original appearance.

Of course, this was just his blind guess; everything would only be known when his cultivation was high enough.

Originally, Xiang Tian thought that after learning two skills, he would be terrifyingly strong. Unexpectedly, he was beaten by Feng Huowu until he was on the verge of a breakdown.

It was too frustrating.