Nameless Region Chapter Sixty-Six: The Phoenix's Distant Song Echoes Through the Night

Zhou Xuanhong returned to the small wooden house outside the Sect Leader’s Peak. He saw that his cottage was now completely obscured by two-meter-tall Vitality Rising Grass. With a wry smile, he summoned two flying swords from his storage pouch, used them to cut down all the grass, bundled it up, and stored it away.

This batch of Vitality Rising Grass was inferior to the previous ones, as it hadn’t been watered with blood for half a year, leaving its internal life force insufficient.

“I’ll have to ask Little Sun and Little Moon for some monster essence blood. Best if it’s from mid-stage Foundation Establishment beasts. I wonder how those two monsters are doing with their cultivation—should be at mid-stage Foundation Establishment by now, right?”

Stepping inside, Zhou Xuanhong sat cross-legged. His aura trembled, and his cultivation broke through to the second layer of Foundation Establishment, as naturally as water flowing downhill. Having lingered at the peak of the first layer for half a year, this breakthrough was only to be expected.

Opening his eyes, he assessed his own strength. Though his cultivation was only at the second layer, his soul had reached an astonishing level; through repeated tempering over the past six months, his soul far surpassed his cultivation, comparable to the great circle of Foundation Establishment. With the Grand Evolution Technique, he could even contend with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators!

After spending half a year on the fourth floor of the Library Pavilion, Zhou Xuanhong had no more desire to train and left the Sect Leader’s Peak on his flying sword, heading to his usual meeting place.

There, Kong Xiaori was preparing dinner, with Kong Xiaoyue assisting happily at his side. Zhou Xuanhong hesitated to disturb their cheerful atmosphere.

Yet someone else arrived before him—a figure by the stream, none other than Xu Yuhan. She looked exhausted, her brow furrowed as she propped her cheeks on her hands, staring blankly at the ground.

Zhou Xuanhong sat beside her, smiling. “Senior Sister Xu, what’s wrong? Lost in love again?”

“Ah!” Xu Yuhan was startled by his sudden voice. Seeing Zhou Xuanhong, she pouted playfully, “Why do you always appear out of nowhere? And just look at you—so untidy! Your hair’s so long, and your beard’s a mess!”

Zhou Xuanhong paused, swept his body with his divine sense, and laughed. “Didn’t notice, honestly. Can’t help it—my body’s still developing on its own. I’ll be able to control it better at twenty-five.”

At that moment, his black hair was half-tied, half-loose, reaching down to his thighs, with a scruffy beard on his chin and upper lip—a rather disheveled appearance.

“Give me a moment, I’ll tidy up.”

Xu Yuhan grinned. “Ahong, let me help! I bet you’ll look great!”

He declined with a shake of his head. “Thank you, Senior Sister, but it’ll only take a few breaths.”

With that, a flying sword shot out. Using his powerful spiritual sense, he trimmed his hair to three inches above his waist, donned a vertical Taoist crown, and adjusted his azure robe till it was spotless. His face was clean-shaven, his features unremarkable except for a pair of eyes flecked with golden light.

“Hmph, so stingy!”

Zhou Xuanhong ignored her mock annoyance and offered congratulations instead. “Congratulations on reaching late Foundation Establishment, Senior Sister. The Golden Core path is within reach!”

Xu Yuhan snorted. “You’d better work harder. Little Sun and Little Moon are already at the fourth layer. You’ll have to call them Senior Brother and Senior Sister soon!”

Zhou Xuanhong shook his head. “You’re joking, Senior Sister. Among friends, cultivation shouldn’t define seniority, right, Little Sun?”

Kong Xiaori rolled his eyes. “Right, right! I agree with Brother Zhou at the second layer of Foundation Establishment.” He deliberately emphasized “second layer.”

Zhou Xuanhong only smiled, unfazed by their teasing. Cultivation could not be rushed. He still didn’t know when Xu Yuqi would attempt to seize his body, but now was certainly not the time. If his cultivation broke through too quickly, it might provoke an early attempt, which would be disastrous.

After dinner, Kong Xiaori handed a batch of chilled and dressed Vitality Rising Grass to him. “This batch may not be as potent, but the flavor should be good—not so fishy.”

Kong Xiaori said proudly, “Doesn’t matter if it’s fishy or not. In my hands, everything becomes a delicacy.”

Leaving the stream, Zhou Xuanhong set off for Mandarin Duck Peak to visit Xu Yuan—though in truth, he was mainly there to meet Luo Tun.

Having broken through to the Golden Core stage, Luo Tun had become the Disciplinary Elder of the Form Evolution Sect, replacing Liu Su and taking up residence on Azure Spirit Peak. Nevertheless, Luo Tun often slipped into Mandarin Duck Peak with his old personal disciple’s token, lingering affectionately with Xu Yuan, practicing dual cultivation and exploring the mysteries of life’s origin.

“Zhou Xuanhong here to pay respects to Senior Sister Xu!”

A graceful figure descended. “Come with me.” It was Chen Yan, now Xu Yuan’s disciple, and once Zhou Xuanhong’s betrothed.

“Long time no see,” Zhou Xuanhong greeted.

Through diligent training, Chen Yan had recently advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, just one layer below Zhou Xuanhong, which left her somewhat disappointed. Zhou Xuanhong had entered the Form Evolution Sect at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, yet after more than half a year, his cultivation had only improved a little, making her lose much of her previous expectation for him.

“We have nothing to do with each other now. Let’s just be strangers.”

Zhou Xuanhong replied casually, “We were never close, so there’s nothing to lose. Let’s go.”

Entering Xu Yuan’s private abode, as expected, Luo Tun was there.

“Yan’er, you may go.”

Once Chen Yan had left, Luo Tun came forward and threw an arm around Zhou Xuanhong’s shoulders, laughing, “Long time no see, Junior Brother Zhou. How goes your study of the secret art?”

“I’ve succeeded,” Zhou Xuanhong replied. “But my talent was lacking—it took me half a year to master it.”

Xu Yuan was surprised. “You truly mastered it completely? Even I haven’t grasped all its nuances. Half a year is impressive. It took me years and I still hadn’t succeeded back then!”

Zhou Xuanhong was astonished. “Senior Sister, you learned this secret art too?”

She nodded. “I also practice the Form Evolution Method, so it was necessary.”

He then asked, “And you, Senior Brother Luo?”

Luo Tun shook his head. “I practice a dual cultivation method—a blend of body and technique. The Grand Evolution Technique isn’t suitable for me. The Sect Master once urged me to study it, but I refused.”

At this, Zhou Xuanhong smiled faintly. Xu Yuqi’s schemes were clear—Luo Tun was hard to control, but with his relationship to Xu Yuan, controlling Xu Yuan was as good as controlling Luo Tun.

“Senior Brother Luo,” Zhou Xuanhong said, “don’t be fooled by my second-layer cultivation. With the Grand Evolution Technique, even though you’re at Golden Core, I can still affect you!”

Luo Tun grinned. “Let’s see the power of our sect’s secret art!” With that, he activated his spiritual shield.

Zhou Xuanhong’s eyes shone with golden light. His divine sense expanded, his soul force surged forth, ignoring the spiritual shield, and forcibly established a Derivation Flow channel with Luo Tun.

In that instant, Zhou Xuanhong saw several powerful magical treasures suppressing Luo Tun’s sea of consciousness. He also glimpsed scenes from before his arrival—Luo Tun and Xu Yuan “playing” with two beautiful corpse puppets—and caught fragments of Luo Tun’s murky thoughts.

Luo Tun was completely unaware that Zhou Xuanhong was peering into his sea of consciousness, instead observing the Derivation Flow with great interest. “Impressive! I’m almost a whole major realm above you and still got caught. Not bad! Any other tricks?”

Zhou Xuanhong shook his head, withdrew the flow, and spread his hands with a wry smile. “That’s all. Your soul is much stronger than mine; I can only interfere a little, not harm you. If this technique could let me fight across a major realm, it’d be too heaven-defying.”

Luo Tun laughed. “Still impressive. If we were at the same level, your Grand Evolution Technique would be a huge headache for me—soul attacks are my weakness.”

Zhou Xuanhong teased, “Not entirely a weakness, since Senior Sister Xu is so strong in that regard. Together, you’re invincible among Golden Cores. By the way, Senior Sister, I feel something strange about this Derivation Soul Seal. Is it just me?”

Xu Yuan was puzzled. “Strange? In what way? I think it’s fine. Junior Brother, since you’ve mastered the Grand Evolution Technique, did you discover anything else?”

Zhou Xuanhong shook his head with a laugh. “Maybe it’s just my imagination. By the way, Senior Brother Luo, how did the Vitality Rising Grass I gave you work out?”

Luo Tun slapped him on the back with a sly grin. “Fantastic! Your Senior Sister could hardly handle it. It’s been half a year, so you must have more—give me some!”

Zhou Xuanhong laughed and handed over the batch that Kong Xiaori had prepared. “These have been processed by Little Sun—delicious! But Senior Brother Luo, you know I need those formation jade slips…”

Luo Tun quickly stowed the grass in his storage ring and produced thirteen jade slips. “Of course! I’ve been collecting these for you all this time.”

Zhou Xuanhong nodded in satisfaction, putting the slips away. “In that case, I’ll take my leave. Oh, Senior Brother Luo, Senior Sister Xu, I have a poem for you:

Phoenix birds call in the distant night,
Phoenixes walk the waters, phoenixes drink.
Mandarin ducks should regret wading the streams,
Phoenix birds call through sleepless nights.

With those words, Zhou Xuanhong didn’t wait to see if they understood the poem’s hidden meaning. He stepped onto his sword and left Mandarin Duck Peak. His hints were subtle—this was the only way to warn them about the Soul Derivation Seal.

He had no other choice. Xu Yuan was a direct descendant of the Xu clan and had held the upper hand in conversation from the start, allowing him to probe her and Luo Tun’s attitude toward the Soul Derivation Seal, and whether they knew if Xu Yuqi was still alive.

Every word was a step toward uncovering these secrets. It seemed Xu Yuan was unaware of the seal’s hidden dangers, though perhaps she was concealing the truth, or simply didn’t care.

This led to his second question—had Luo Tun also cultivated the Soul Derivation Seal? Through the Grand Evolution Technique’s probing, Zhou Xuanhong saw no sign of the seal in Luo Tun’s sea of consciousness. But he did discover something even more intriguing—Luo Tun’s identity was extraordinary!

How could an ordinary Golden Core elder’s sea of consciousness contain so many powerful treasures? Impossible. Coupled with earlier thought fragments, Zhou Xuanhong guessed that Luo Tun was likely a genius from a major power, sent here for training.

“Interesting. More and more interesting,” Zhou Xuanhong mused as he left.

After he was gone, Luo Tun and Xu Yuan pondered the poem. After a long while, they guessed from the words “walking the waters” that it probably pointed to the word “Derivation,” but the exact meaning remained elusive.

“This junior brother grows more mysterious by the day. Never mind, let him be. Yu’an, let’s continue—tonight I’ll battle you three thousand rounds!”

Xu Yuan rolled her eyes. “Earlier you suspected him, now you call him ‘little junior brother’ so warmly?”

Luo Tun chuckled, pulling Xu Yuan into his arms. “With his corpse puppets and spirit herbs, I’m happy to call him brother!”