Chapter 56 – Fire Wings

After sensing the power of the fourth phoenix feather, Chi Qiong transformed into an angry little bird and hurtled himself at the trolley like a projectile.

No one could sense the descent of the phoenix feather more acutely than Chi Qiong. Guided by instinct, he flew over, instantly tearing through the barrier between the virtual and the real.

This time, Yun Xiguang didn’t let Chi Qiong enter alone. He reached out, gently pinched the slightly raised tail feathers of the small bird, and followed closely behind.

With Azure Dragon here, even if Hai Ruobo was in the sanatorium , there was no way he could defeat the combined forces of Azure Dragon and the Golden-Winged Great Peng. Yun Xiguang had no need to worry about the situation in the sanatorium ; all he needed to do was focus on keeping up with Chi Qiong.

Instantly passing through the spatial tunnel, Yun Xiguang was the first to catch the scent of damp earth upon reentering reality.

As the nation’s premier Spiritbond Academy, the education provided at Zhuzhao Spiritbond Academy went far beyond mere textbooks. The academy offered many practical courses.

The content of these courses was to familiarize students with various environments.

Teachers would lead their students across typical natural regions both domestically and abroad, including deserts, grasslands, oceans, wetlands, hot springs, snow-capped mountains, polar regions, equatorial zones, tropical rainforests, and more. Outsiders might think the students were simply on a tour, but only the teachers and students of Zhuzhao Academy knew that these students weren’t just sightseeing — they were surviving under extreme conditions.

Each practical course required the students to survive for ten days in such natural environments.

Of course, for these minors, the academy wasn’t overly harsh. They were informed of their destination before departure and allowed to prepare supplies.

After all, the purpose of the practical courses was to acquaint the students with various natural environments, not to send them to their deaths.

Despite such thorough preparation, life was still miserable for the students in environments devoid of cell phone networks and urban conveniences.

The school did allow students to collaborate on the practical courses, and most of these young people supported each other through the trials.

Yun Xiguang, however, was always alone.

Not only was he solitary, but he also always tried to venture beyond the safety zone demarcated by Ji Xuan, pushing further into unknown territories.

He was cautious and hadn’t encountered any natural disasters head-on, but his nose had caught the scent of many things.

He had smelled the sandstorm before it arrived, the ice and snow before an avalanche, the sulfur before a volcanic eruption, and the wind and rain before a tsunami.

For some reason, whenever Yun Xiguang was on a practical course, they would always encounter a bit of natural disaster. And it was always Yun Xiguang, who had left the safety zone on his own accord, who discovered these disasters.

It could be said that Yun Xiguang’s solitary actions had saved the class many times.

However, the clique led by Yun Xinglei didn’t like Yun Xiguang. Yun Xinglei even spread rumors that Yun Xiguang was a Heaven-Crushing Solitary Star, claiming he was a curse to heaven, earth, and his parents, and that anyone who approached him would suffer. They believed the constant disasters were due to Yun Xiguang’s presence in the group.

The students, educated in modern ways, didn’t blindly believe Yun Xinglei’s words, but they did find Yun Xiguang somewhat ominous. Few took the initiative to befriend him, and Yun Xiguang was content in his solitude.

In response to this phenomenon, Ji Xuan even specifically asked Bai Ze to make a prophecy for Yun Xiguang, hoping to dispel the rumor of him being a Heaven-Crushing Solitary Star.

Bai Ze’s prophecy, however, was that “Yun Xiguang has very good luck.”

“Good luck?” Ji Xuan recalled Yun Xiguang’s past and felt that the term ‘good luck’ couldn’t possibly describe this child.

But Bai Ze’s answer was, “It wasn’t he who brought the disasters; his arrival merely allowed people to detect them earlier. Yun Xiguang is a lucky person. If he encounters any disaster, it must be to avoid a greater one. Without Yun Xiguang, none of the students in this year’s class might have lived to see their eighteenth birthday on the day of Awakening, the day they become Spiritbond Masters.”

“So it’s actually bad luck for these students, and Yun Xiguang helped them detect the disasters early?” Ji Xuan asked.

Bai Ze nodded.

Ji Xuan then asked, “What about Yun Xiguang’s parents…”

Bai Ze interrupted Ji Xuan. “Heaven’s secrets shall not be revealed. I dare not make predictions about this matter; you shouldn’t pry.”

Ji Xuan obediently refrained from asking further, but he had his own speculations.

He believed that what had happened to Yun Xiguang’s parents must have been much greater than the annihilation of this year’s entire student body, so great that even Yun Xiguang’s luck couldn’t help them avoid the disaster.

For this reason, Ji Xuan was even less inclined to let Yun Xiguang become a Spiritbond Master. He paid special attention to Yun Xiguang’s academic performance, hoping that Yun Xiguang could attend a good university and live a peaceful life.

But let’s return to reality. Based on his years of experience with practical courses, Yun Xiguang realized they might have landed in a swamp even before passing through the spatial tunnel.

The smell he detected was characteristic of a swamp.

The moment he emerged from the tunnel, Yun Xiguang held Chi Qiong in one hand while pulling out a lighter with the other. He pressed down firmly and whispered, “Fire Wings.”

As the lighter ignited, the flames transformed into two massive fire wings that adhered to Yun Xiguang’s back. They carried him and Chi Qiong out of the spatial tunnel in a gliding motion before suspending them in mid-air.

The transition through space induced a slight dizziness. Yun Xiguang shook his head, suppressed the discomfort, and swiftly surveyed his surroundings.

In hindsight, his decision to fly was correct.

The exit from the Illusory Reality was a bubbling swamp, which resembled boiling water with continuous bubbles popping on its surface. Each bubble that burst released a pungent odor of strong acid corroding objects.

If someone had unwittingly stumbled into the Illusory Reality, their legs would be consumed by the swamp the moment they stepped out of the tunnel. They would quickly be dissolved by the swamp, dying silently and unnoticed.

Yun Xiguang noticed a peculiar tree at the edge of the swamp. It had countless branches hanging down, devoid of leaves but adorned with vine-like branches. These branches occasionally dripped with liquid.

The liquid would fall into the swamp. If it happened to land on dead grass or branches, white smoke would rise, corroding those items.

The strong acid in the swamp was dripping from this tree.

The tree loomed over the swamp, covering most of its surface.

Fortunately, Yun Xiguang wasn’t flying too high and didn’t collide directly with the tree. It was also fortunate that the wings on his back were made of fire. In a gliding posture, the fire wings almost completely enveloped his body. Even if the strong acid dripped onto them, it would instantly evaporate upon contact with the fire and burn away.

If it were flesh and blood, like bird or bat wings, encountering such strong acid, even if they could fly, the pain would cause them to plummet. They would likely be unable to escape the fate of being devoured by the acid swamp.

Yun Xiguang looked up and saw half-melted birds entwined on several branches of the tree. Seeing the remains of these birds, Yun Xiguang realized that the tree was carnivorous.

These branches could probably actively attack prey.

They hadn’t attacked him because they feared his fire wings.

This was truly a deadlock.

“Chirp~ Chirp Chirp~ Chirp” Chi Qiong wriggled from Yun Xiguang’s hand into his sleeve and then emerged from the collar, gazing at Yun Xiguang’s fire wings. His melodic chirping sounded like singing, clearly expressing his delight in Yun Xiguang’s fire wings.

Yun Xiguang was also displaying his newly developed skill for the first time in front of the little spirit bird.

Over the past two months, besides learning the moves taught by Chi Qiong and striving to master how to utilize the spiritual energy within the phoenix feathers, Yun Xiguang hadn’t given up on his research into Heavenly Fire.

Yun Xiguang always believed in the last words left by his parents and was determined to study the Heavenly Fire to its utmost limits.

With the assistance of the phoenix feathers, the Heavenly Fire behaved like a tiny, docile chick, allowing Yun Xiguang to explore it however he wished.

When it came to the originators of fire control, the Phoenix Clan naturally came to mind. Yun Xiguang consulted many records about phoenixes and conceived moves like Fire Wings.

Privately, Yun Xiguang had also experimented with this move when Chi Qiong was asleep. He knew that Chi Qiong was the strongest fire controller, and he worried that the little spirit bird might find his fire wings lacking in proficiency. He wanted to perfect the move to a hundred percent success rate before revealing it to Chi Qiong.

Unfortunately, out of every ten attempts, one or two would fail, falling short of perfection. Therefore, Yun Xiguang never had the chance to show it to Chi Qiong.

Now, seeing the fire wings for the first time, Chi Qiong emitted sounds of excitement that he had never produced before.

Although it was still the chirping of a fledgling bird, his voice now carried a hint of ethereal quality, imbued with a sacred aura.

More strongly conveyed, however, were feelings of affection and joy.

Feeling the happiness of the little spirit bird, Yun Xiguang secretly rejoiced that the fire wings had succeeded this time. He reached out to stroke the plump side of the little bird, softly saying, “I’m glad you like it.”

Chi Qiong was obviously fond of it, more so than golden hair or a large gold chain. He continuously chirped happily.

Surrounded by affection, Yun Xiguang inexplicably felt a little embarrassed.

At the same time, Yun Xiguang also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Dyeing his hair blond was fine once in a while, but constantly doing so was really detrimental to his hair. Although his hair looked golden and lustrous now, the ends had already begun to split. When he combed his hair in the morning, strands would break off, leaving a mess of small hair fragments on the floor. Hair bleaching and dyeing were indeed quite damaging.

The large gold chain was also too heavy, weighing down Yun Xiguang’s neck. He often wondered if he would develop cervical spondylosis someday.

But the fire wings were different.

Yun Xiguang could carefully control the fire without letting it damage mission items. If Chi Qiong liked it, he could even roll around in the fire wings.

With the fire wings, he could create a fire circle necklace for Chi Qiong to see, which was definitely better than a large gold chain.

Of course, these were all future possibilities. The current priority was to find the fourth phoenix feather.

The environment here was so perilous, surely it was to prevent anyone from intruding or accidentally entering the Illusory Reality and discovering the true form of the Weaver Ant. That’s why such a place was chosen.

“Have you found the phoenix feather?” Yun Xiguang reminded Chi Qiong.

Only then did Chi Qiong remember his task of finding the phoenix feather.

To him, the most important thing was to regain his own strength. As for what the Heavenly Laws chose to do, they could go ahead and do it, as long as they didn’t exploit his power.

But he hadn’t expected that the fourth phoenix feather was right in front of him. Distracted by Yun Xiguang’s fire wings, he had temporarily forgotten about finding the phoenix feather. This was truly a case of losing sight of priorities… No, losing focus on people… No, that wasn’t quite the right phrase either. Ah, his vocabulary was too rich; he searched for a while but couldn’t find the appropriate word.

Chi Qiong gave up trying to find the right word to describe his current state. He dismissed his wandering thoughts and concentrated on locating the phoenix feather.

Soon, he sensed the presence of the phoenix feather on that strange Carnivorous Tree.

“Chirp!” Chi Qiong lifted his small wings, indicating the direction to Yun Xiguang.

Following where he pointed, Yun Xiguang spotted a massive white “cocoon,” tightly bound in the middle by the Carnivorous Tree’s branches.

The cocoon was wrapped in white threads, which seemed to have the ability to resist the strong acid, allowing it to remain intact on the tree.

These white threads were clearly the silk of the Weaver Ant.

The trolley connecting to the sanatorium was right there, and so were the Weaver Ant’s true form and the fourth phoenix feather.