19: Chapter 19 Reunion

"Su Fan…" "Su Fan…" A soft call came from beside his ear, as if from a bottomless abyss, striking directly into the depths of his Soul.

Su Fan wanted to wake up, but his head throbbed as if splitting, and his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand catties, unable to open.

He struggled to regain consciousness, trying to recall what had happened. However, there was only Chaos in his mind.

"Su Fan…" "Su Fan…" That gentle, calling voice still lingered in his ear. He struggled to focus his mind, intending to see clearly who was calling him.

Gradually, his vision became clearer. He seemed to see a beautiful silhouette sitting upright in front of him.

He tried his best to see the other person's face, but could only see a blurry patch of light and shadow.

"I… should be dead, and then… exited from the simulation, right?" Su Fan thought subconsciously, "That's fine too; returning to the real world is fine. The call I heard just now must have been an auditory hallucination. It sounded a bit like Senior Ji's voice…"

"But that was just a simulation, just an NPC…" Thinking of this, Su Fan finally opened his eyes, his vision shifting from blurry to gradually focusing…

"Senior!?" Su Fan was shocked!!! Because he discovered that Ji Yao was sitting right in front of him!!

His consciousness was clear now, and his eyes were wide open. Who else could the woman in front of him be but Ji Yao?

She had only changed into a white robe, making her look even more ethereal with Immortal Qi, both beautiful and cool.

But… wait! "I didn't die?" "How could I not have died?" Su Fan was very puzzled. Clearly, his Golden Core had been pierced; he should have perished, his Dao dissipated. How could he not be dead? He couldn't figure it out.

"What? You want to die that much?" A familiar voice sounded in his ear. That's right, that's the vibe! Cold and indifferent, yet carrying a hint of inexplicable concern.

Su Fan finally confirmed that he really hadn't died, and the person in front of him really was Ji Yao.

On Ji Yao's stunning face, she appeared expressionless, but in reality, her eyes were red, and she said with three parts of apology: "When we parted last time, I was greedy and left one more thing with you, which is why you were used by others. They wanted to find me through you…"

"Senior, what do you mean by that?" Su Fan didn't quite understand.

He only remembered that those old bastards were preparing to torture him, and after thinking it over, he simply chose to commit suicide. After piercing his Golden Core, he seemed to lose consciousness… He had originally thought he was dead. But he didn't expect to wake up here…

Wait… where is this? Su Fan looked around and discovered this was a cave. Huh… isn't this the previous cave? How did he end up back here?

"Senior, what exactly is going on? How… did we return to this cave?" It must have been Senior who saved him. Su Fan thought to himself.

Ji Yao didn't rush to answer him, but instead reached out and searched his body for a while. She seemed unable to find what she was looking for, so she fixed her beautiful eyes on him: "Where is my thing?"

"What thing?" "That handkerchief." "Oh, it's in my Storage Pouch…" "Where did you put your Storage Pouch?" "At the sole of my foot… cough cough… help me up, I'll get it myself…"

Due to his shattered Golden Core and severe injuries, Su Fan couldn't sit up. Ji Yao extended her slender, fair wrists, just about to use Spiritual power to help him up via the Void Realm, but immediately, she still reached out directly and helped Su Fan up through physical contact.

Su Fan retrieved the Storage Pouch from the sole of his shoe and took out the purple-gold silk handkerchief.

This was the item Ji Yao had left with him after wiping his sweat during the last Alchemy session.

Actually, Ji Yao had thought about asking for it back later, but at the time she thought, this young man is not bad, perhaps they could form a connection in the future, getting him to help with Alchemy or something. Who would have thought it would lead to so much trouble, and almost get him killed…

Su Fan didn't fear death; she had already sensed this last time. However, what shocked her internally was that the group including Old Ghost Bing attempted to find her through Su Fan, and Su Fan… would rather choose to commit suicide than let their conspiracy succeed…

This was the first time she had ever met someone who protected her so firmly… At this moment, the look she gave Su Fan couldn't help but carry a few more shades of an indescribable, complex emotion. Recalling that divination, "Three thousand years old, marriage; the groom is in Liuyun," which meant marrying at three thousand years old and finding a husband in Liuyun Kingdom, could it be… the person she was looking for was right before her eyes?

As the Crown Princess of the Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan, according to the rules of the Phoenix Clan, she was already three thousand years old and had reached the age where she must marry. Only by marrying could she inherit the throne. Could the person before her be the one pointed to by that divination?

Thinking of this, Ji Yao hesitated for a moment, but still took the handkerchief from Su Fan's hand and removed a strand of golden thread from it. She didn't want this golden thread to be the cause of the young man's death.

Su Fan watched and asked curiously: "Senior, could it be that there is more to this handkerchief than meets the eye?"

"That's right," Ji Yao said, putting that strand of golden thread back into her jade ring. "This is no ordinary golden thread; it is the spirit rhinoceros golden thread unique to my Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan. It is through this golden thread that I can know where you are at any time and find you at any time…"

"No wonder they wanted to follow me. Presumably, this golden thread has some kind of attraction, capable of sensing your general direction, right?" Su Fan suddenly understood. Those old guys had always wanted to find Senior Ji through him; it turned out to be related to the golden thread in this handkerchief. If he had known this, he wouldn't have taken the handkerchief out to sniff it every day. Inexplicably, his face turned red.

Ji Yao seemed to notice his unusual state and squinted her Phoenix eyes, looking at him: "What are you thinking about?"

"Uh… I was thinking, a large group of them wants to deal with you, especially that old man with the ice staff, who seems very powerful. It was him who injured you last time, right? Haven't they pursued us now?" Su Fan hurriedly changed the subject, looking solemn.

Ji Yao smiled: "They pursued us, but don't worry, we are temporarily in a relatively safe place. That person with the ice staff you mentioned—they call him 'Old Ancestor Bing'. Heh, but in my eyes, what kind of Old Ancestor is he? He is just a mongrel abandoned by the Heavenly Dao. So… I call him 'Old Ghost Bing', just a dead man."

"Oh, Senior, can't you beat him?" "Who said I can't beat him? Last time was just me being besieged and ambushed…" Ji Yao pursed her red lips, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

Hearing this, Su Fan felt worried. It seemed she really couldn't beat that old guy…

"Senior, can you tell me about your Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan?" Hearing Su Fan ask this, Ji Yao smiled faintly: "There's nothing much to say. Our Phoenix Clan is not on the Tianxuan Continent, but in the Outer Realms. We have our own continent to live on. I came to your Tianxuan Continent this time to look for something."

"What thing?" "Don't ask." "Oh."

Although her tone was still cold and indifferent, compared to last time, she had clearly let down all her guard this time and said a lot more.

"Senior, can I ask you one more question?" "Speak." "How old are you?" "3000 years."

"Ah? Isn't a woman's age a secret?" "My age is known to the entire Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan; it doesn't count as a secret." "Oh, I understand…" … After a long while.

"How old are you?" "I'm 17." "Then I am 3000 years older than you." "No, only 2983 years older. Senior, is your math bad?" "What math?" "…" …

[Seeming to forget that danger is approaching, your mood is inexplicably very good]

[You can also tell that her attitude has really changed a lot]

[From wanting to kill you when you first met, to this time, rushing from thousands of miles away to save you, she looks aloof and cold, but she seems to have strong principles]

[You died for her once, and she seems somewhat moved; her eyes are red, and you don't know if she has cried…]

[Time passes bit by bit]

[Your cultivation is miraculously recovering bit by bit]

[She tells you that you only pierced your Golden Core, but your Spiritual Root is still there, so your cultivation has dropped to the Foundation Establishment Stage]

[As for whether you can succeed in Core Formation again in the future, it will depend on your own fortune]

[After listening to her talk about some matters regarding the Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan, you ask her, "Do you have nine wings yet?"]

[She tells you that she only has eight wings]

["Why don't you have nine wings?"]

[She frankly says, "We of the Nine-Winged Phoenix Clan need to find a mate and consummate the relationship before we can grow the ninth wing…"]