Chapter 608: Phoenix Bird's Nirvana

Chapter 608: Chapter 617: Phoenix Bird’s Nirvana

Wen Qingye swept his gaze over the contents and immediately discovered countless Primordial Stones inside the Sumeru Mustard Seed. A careful count revealed a full one hundred thousand Top-grade Primordial Stones. Besides the stones, there was also a large quantity of Magical Artifacts. These were scattered about and were all either King Grade or Emperor Grade; there didn’t seem to be any Spirit Grade ones among them.

In a corner, Wen Qingye discovered a box and a cup—the Glazed Cup.

It was common knowledge that the Glazed Cup was a vessel for holding extremely precious liquids. Floating inside was a layer of crystal-clear fluid, as transparent as pure water, emanating a faint, almost imperceptible aura of life. This was precisely the fabled Jade Liquid.

Jade Liquid ranked forty-fourth among the Waters of Heaven and Earth. It contained a vast amount of Essence. After consuming it, a Martial Artist could rapidly absorb this Essence to raise their cultivation, making it an exceptionally rare treasure.

Wen Qingye immediately took out the box, but Xiao Zuilan was busy fiddling with the Golden Pages in her hand and paid no attention to what he had retrieved.

He slowly opened the box. Instantly, a scorching wave of heat surged out, and Xiao Zuilan, who was at his side, couldn’t help but stand up and look over.

When Xiao Zuilan saw what was inside the box, her eyes widened in shock. “This… To think there’s a treasure like this in here!”

Inside the box lay a single red feather. It was a deep crimson, glowing with a strange red light. A jade-white shaft ran through its center, its veins so clear they seemed to carry a flow of peculiar flames.

“This feather’s color is so pure, without a single impurity. Truly remarkable.” Xiao Zuilan quickly suppressed her shock and shot Wen Qingye a casual glance. “Give me this feather, and I’ll give you a set of Low-Level Immortal Grade Body Refining Martial Arts. What do you say?”

Immortal Grade Body Refining Martial Arts were considered the most precious of their kind. A Low-Level Immortal Grade technique was often as valuable as a Mid-Level Immortal Grade martial art of another type.

To get this feather, Xiao Zuilan was actually willing to part with Immortal Martial Arts. An ordinary person hearing her offer would have been stunned and would have scrambled to make the trade. After all, the entire Eastern Profound Domain possessed only a single Immortal Technique, which was kept in the Taiyi Pavilion.

Yet, the way she spoke made it sound as if an Immortal Technique was some trivial object. What she didn’t know was that the person standing before her was no ordinary man—it was Wen Qingye.

She was deliberately trying to trade for the feather under a guise of indifference, but Wen Qingye was as cunning as they come. How could he fail to see through her little trick?

Wen Qingye looked at the red feather in the box and smiled. “This feather is quite beautiful. I think I’ll keep it. It would make a nice piece of jewelry for my wife.”

Hearing this, Xiao Zuilan grew anxious. “But what I’m offering is Immortal Martial Arts—and a Body Refining one at that! It won’t be long before your current technique reaches its limit and you hit a bottleneck. You’ll need a High Level Body Refining Martial Arts to replace it, and mine is a perfect fit! I absolutely love this feather. How about you let me have it?”

“I’ll pass. This feather is so beautiful… if you like it this much, my wife is sure to love it even more. I’d better keep it for her.” Wen Qingye shook his head, a wistful look in his eyes.

Watching Wen Qingye’s rapt expression, Xiao Zuilan cursed inwardly, ‘This Little Ghost is a hopeless romantic. Damn it! If I’d known a divine object like this was inside, I never would have let him have it!’

After that, no matter what Xiao Zuilan said, Wen Qingye refused her with the same excuse.

Wen Qingye glanced at the expressionless Xiao Zuilan and chuckled to himself. ‘If even she can tell this feather is special, how could someone with my eye for treasure possibly miss it?’

‘Damn it all! If I tried to take it by force right now, I’m not confident I could even stop this Little Ghost from getting away.’

Xiao Zuilan watched Wen Qingye put the box away, kicking herself with regret.

At that moment, Wen Qingye looked up at Xiao Zuilan. “Well, since we’ve both achieved our goals, I believe it’s time for us to part ways.”

Xiao Zuilan nodded unwillingly, then looked at Wen Qingye and made one last offer. “A set of Mid-Level Immortal Grade Body Refining Martial Arts. How about it?”

Wen Qingye shook his head again. “No thanks. I think the feather is very pretty. I’ll just keep it for myself.”

Seeing how stubborn Wen Qingye was, Xiao Zuilan felt her heart sink, but there was nothing she could do. She felt a little better only when she remembered that she had, at least, already obtained the most important item she’d come for.

Xiao Zuilan gave Wen Qingye a long, hard look, then suddenly broke into a dazzling smile. “Fine. In that case, we’ll meet again someday. You’d better take good care of that feather, you hear? Who knows if you’ll still be around the next time I see you.”

“Sure. The green mountains will remain, and the clear waters will…”

“Alright, alright, I’m leaving,” Xiao Zuilan said, waving her hand dismissively. She was furious that she hadn’t gotten the feather.

With that, the Purple Rhyme Brocade in Xiao Zuilan’s hand flew out with a WHOOSH. She stepped onto it and shot off toward the northwest without a backward glance.

‘Still heading northwest? Where could she be going?’

Wen Qingye watched Xiao Zuilan’s back until her figure vanished from sight, only then did he retract his gaze.

“Ugh, I was about to burst from holding that in!” Qing Ruo’ai floated out, stretching languidly. “That vixen looked like she was about to make a move. If you weren’t so capable, she probably would’ve just turned on you and taken everything.”

Wen Qingye chuckled. “Xiao Zuilan may be vicious and ruthless, but she’s also very clever.”

Qing Ruo’ai seemed to remember something, and her expression turned serious. “Oh, and you’d better keep that feather safe,” she said to Wen Qingye. “I saw how desperately that woman wanted it—she was even willing to trade an Immortal Technique for it. That thing must be an incredible treasure.”

Wen Qingye’s expression grew solemn, a sharp glint in his eyes. “Of course it is. This feather is most certainly a treasure. I’d wager even Xiao Zuilan doesn’t know what it truly is. Otherwise, she never would have given up so easily.”

Qing Ruo’ai gasped. “Then what in the world is it? She misjudged its value and was *still* willing to offer an Immortal Technique for it? And a Mid-Level Immortal Grade one, at that?”

“The feather of a Phoenix Bird!”

Wen Qingye said, enunciating each word with great weight.

Qing Ruo’ai stared at Wen Qingye in astonishment. “A Phoenix Bird? You mean the male counterpart to the Ancient Phoenix? That’s impossible… Legends say that a Divine Beast like the Phoenix only leaves behind a single feather when it undergoes Nirvana. Don’t tell me this is…”