Is This How It Starts? I Choose To Fake My Death [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 3

“Congratulations to the host for successfully surviving the plot mission, gaining ten reward points, and accumulating a total of twenty points. Please keep up the good work!”

As Shen Ji woke up, before even opening his eyes, he first heard the system’s voice in his mind.

He raised a hand to press against his forehead, rubbing his dull, aching, and swollen temples.

There was a slight, hard-to-distinguish rustling sound beside him. He turned his head to look, only to be momentarily startled by a giant golden egg occupying three-quarters of the bed. This instantly reminded him of his current predicament, and he abruptly flipped over to sit up!

This was bad.

After resolving the drug’s effects, he had actually fallen asleep.

He glanced left and right, failing to find Xie Feng’s figure, and his brows furrowed slightly: “Where is he?”

When he arrived, it had been nighttime, but now the window was blazing with daylight.

Could twenty-four hours have already passed?

The system replied: “Is the host asking about the main villain? He is right inside this egg!”

Shen Ji asked again: “How much of the immobilization time remains?”

“The system paused suspiciously before replying, “When the host and the main villain were doing the mission last night, I was temporarily blocked. By the time it ended, the main villain had already turned into an egg…”

Shen Ji had witnessed far too much of the system’s unreliability last night.

He stopped his movements and asked in a calm tone: “Are you saying Xie Feng is currently free to move?”

The system hurriedly said: “He is undergoing heritage awakening. Rest assured, host, he won’t be coming out anytime soon!”

Hearing this, Shen Ji turned his head back to examine the gleaming golden egg behind him once more, where the shadow of someone sitting cross-legged in the void could indeed be faintly seen.

It had to be said that looking at Xie Feng through the hazy golden light was vastly different from their first encounter.

This face was truly too exceptional and peerless, and his overall aura remained domineering even while meditating. Now that he was concentrating on cultivation and his ice-shard-like eyes were closed, his expression retained only half of its coldness, finally offering an opportunity for a careful look compared to last night—

Thinking of last night, Shen Ji paused.

His consciousness was clear.

The memories of a night of absurdity poured right back in.

Shen Ji pinched the bridge of his nose.

Yesterday, deeply affected by the drug, he had tossed the furious Phoenix Emperor back and forth for nearly the entire night. The dominance on that face usually couldn’t sustain itself for long. Even he felt angry on Xie Feng’s behalf just thinking about it, let alone Xie Feng himself.

Perhaps, however, it was because his role as a cauldron had played a part that Xie Feng broke free from the system’s control halfway through. Fortunately, he was exhausted by it and vainly resisted for half the night without managing to recover.

As for how the other party managed to awaken his heritage by using him as a cauldron under such conditions, he had no way of knowing.

Shen Ji scanned the blurred back and waist within the golden light, a scene that shouldn’t have been recalled flashing past his eyes. His fingers twitched slightly, as even the repeatedly lingered-over tactile sensations felt lingeringly real. Only when he sat at the edge of the bed did he realize he was completely devoid of clothing.

How was he supposed to go out like this?

The system seemed to hear his inner thoughts: “Host, the system inventory still contains a set of beginner defensive gear included in the Newbie Gold Permission Gift Package. Do you need it now?”

Shen Ji said: “I do.”

The system hastily retrieved the clothes on his behalf.

It was a set of light gray-blue fitted martial garments with cuff restraints. The bracers looked like leather, yet their textures were densely fine, and the moment they were worn, a flash of light surged across the entire body before quickly fading away. The outer cloak, black on the outside and red on the inside with a ring of dark cyan soft fur trimming, radiated the exact same faint glow.

The system opportunely introduced it: “The beginner equipment comes equipped with protective talismans from the small world, which can be used to withstand a certain degree of damage.”

Hearing this, Shen Ji also put on the out-of-season cloak in his hand. Curiously, he felt no heat at all.

He asked: “What else is in the beginner gift package?”

Having learned from past experience, he could not entirely trust the system’s claim that he won’t be coming out anytime soon. Moreover, with both arbitrary conditions depleted, he needed to find another way to leave Xie Feng’s Minghuang Palace while bypassing the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s detection.

The system replied: “The Newbie Gold Permission Gift Package contains a total of two arbitrary conditions within the rules, a thirty percent discount on point mall purchases, a set of low-tier beginner defensive gear, three Peiyuan Pills, three Huichun Pills, ten points, and ten spiritual stones. The relevant permission duration is three months, while the redeemable items have no time limit; the host owns them permanently.”

Shen Ji stood up and took a few steps forward, picking up the Phoenix Pill from the ground: “Points Mall?”

Before losing consciousness last night, the system had mentioned insufficient points to perform teleportation, which should be related to this mall.

As the words fell, a translucent panel labeled “Points Mall” materialized out of thin air.

The system continued its introduction: “Mall items are divided into two major categories: items and consumables. With the system activated, the beginner page of the mall is unlocked, and the host can use points to redeem items at any time.”

Shen Ji looked at this panel.

The default page was on the item category section. The Peiyuan Pills and Huichun Pills from the beginner package were ranked in the first row, followed by lists of talismans, formations, weapons, equipment, and cultivation techniques, offering everything one could imagine.

The only drawback was that the vast majority of redeemable labels were grayed out, indicating insufficient points to redeem them.

In the upper right corner of the panel was the point balance: exactly 20 points.

Shen Ji casually flipped through a few pages before switching to the other tab, consumables.

Hampered by the fact that Xie Feng, this ticking time bomb, was still nearby, he did not waste time checking carefully and quickly found the teleportation mentioned by the system.

Fixed-point Teleportation (Elementary): Short-range teleportation.

The system considerately marked the discounted price above the original price of 25 points: redeemable for 17.5 points.

Without hesitation, Shen Ji made the selection directly.

The system chimed in: “Elementary fixed-point teleportation successfully redeemed. Do you wish to use it?”

“Use it,” Shen Ji said as he turned back to look at the bed, his heart skipping a violent beat!

On the mattress surface, the glowing giant egg was silently cracking, and its top portion had already transformed into brilliant golden dust particles converging inward.

Xie Feng, sitting cross-legged within it, was enveloped by brilliant golden light, making him appear even more ethereal and celestial. The deep silver-gold phoenix shadow between his brows slowly faded, yet wave after wave of oppressive momentum surged forth like a tide, arriving with extreme fierceness!

The moment Shen Ji turned his head back, a sliver of golden light pierced through beneath Xie Feng’s closed eyelids as he slowly opened his eyes.

He stared at Shen Ji, the killing intent in the depths of his eyes masked by the dazzling golden light, yet still perfectly clear.

“Confirming use, please select coordinates—” The system was synchronized with Shen Ji’s perspective and let out a shrill scream at this: “Host! The main villain is awake!!”

At the exact moment of its scream, Xie Feng inside the golden egg raised a hand to form a hand seal, and the primordial flame seed nailing toward Shen Ji moved fast enough to leave afterimages!

The erupting murderous aura closed in instantly, and Shen Ji’s pupils contracted violently.

He had no time to overthink: “Coordinates unrestricted, teleport immediately!”

The system yelled: “Understood!!”

The next instant, the silver-melting flame seed capable of everything pierced straight through the mortal’s chest.

Yet the flame did not disperse; instead, it continued straight ahead, slamming explosively into the thick golden wall of the bedchamber!

The ground shook.

The exploding silver flames collided with the wall, producing a deafening, teeth-setting roar!

Even this Minghuang Palace, boasting top-tier defenses, trembled violently under the Phoenix Emperor’s wrathful strike.

The golden protective barrier condensed from pure spiritual energy had entirely converged back into Xie Feng’s body. His cold, merciless silver eyes stared at the direction where Shen Ji had vanished, and after a moment, he drifted up from the couch unhurriedly.

With a slight spread of his hands, a resplendent golden robe materialized out of thin air, slowly covering his entire body from top to bottom.

“Cauldron, mortal,” Xie Feng walked forward step by step, his calm tone brimming with the chill of an approaching storm, “I will surely tear you to pieces.”

As his words fell, a divine sense imbued with bone-chilling coldness pierced outward from his body, taking on a tangible form as it transformed into a soaring silver phoenix that whirled and charged toward the sky!

A piercingly loud, resonant phoenix cry broke through the clouds, carrying an irresistible pressure that swept across the entirety of Minghuang City in the blink of an eye.

“Fixed-point teleportation successfully used. Teleportation location: Minghuang City Outer City, East District.”

Shen Ji’s vision blurred, and the breathtaking crimson-gold grand palace transformed into ordinary blue bricks and gray walls.

He pressed against his chest, which had nearly been pierced through by the flame, laughing softly amidst lingering fear.

Watching the person he wanted to kill vanish right before his eyes, he wondered what kind of expression Xie Feng must be wearing right now.

“Host, the original body’s plot has successfully concluded, and the conditions for unlocking the unique main storyline mission have been met. Do you wish to receive it?”

Main storyline mission?

Shen Ji reined in his smile and asked indifferently: “What mission?”

The system stated: “It is like this: the story in which the host resides has an ending that deviated from the initial setup. Specifically, because the main villain was too powerful, the price to defeat him was simply too high, directly resulting in the final battle ending with the main villain merely falling into an eternal slumber, while the male lead Xuan Chen, who should have unified the five realms, ended up with an unknown fate and whereabouts, and the female lead Luo Ning, who should have lived happily, waited in desolation for a lifetime. This ending was evaluated as a severely rushed finale, arousing strong reader dissatisfaction. The significance of our Emergency Rescue Division’s existence is to correct all errors and guide development back on track. Therefore, the task the host needs to execute this time is to help the male and female leads completely defeat the final villain Xie Feng without altering the storyline’s trajectory, thereby bringing about a fulfilling ending.”

After listening to its lengthy discourse, Shen Ji simply asked: “Do I look like someone capable of defeating Xie Feng to you?”

The system was prepared for this answer and fluently recited, “The hosts selected by the Emergency Rescue Division are all geniuses carefully handpicked from across the boundless worlds. I believe the host can definitely accomplish this!”

Shen Ji glanced around: “It’s useless for you to believe this; the key is whether I believe it.”

The system: “…………”

Shen Ji had already turned and walked into the crowd of people.

The range of short-range teleportation was truly not far enough, as it hadn’t even managed to get him out of Minghuang City.

The narrow alley chosen by the system was completely empty, but right behind it was the main street, where the noise sounded unusually lively.

Today must have been some sort of special occasion, as the outer city district was deserted of residents because everyone was out.

The main street was packed to the brim with people, or rather, various demons transformed into human shapes, and enthusiastic discussions could be heard everywhere.

This actually made things convenient for Shen Ji.

With a massive crowd and mixed auras, at least it was harder to be discovered.

He tightened his grip around the Phoenix Pill in his palm.

Envoy Feng’s warning from yesterday still rang in his ears.

This pill could mask his mortal aura, and within Minghuang City, which was filled with beasts and birds, utmost caution was required.

Fortunately, having his clothes ripped apart by the system shortly after entering the door last night left him bare against Xie Feng with no opportunity to disguise his aura, and Xie Feng wasn’t familiar with it either; otherwise, he wouldn’t have failed to find him.

“Oh god!”

An exclamation interrupted Shen Ji’s thoughts.

Before he could look toward the source of the sound, he felt an irresistible, overwhelming pressure drop heavily upon him!

The entire long street fell into instant, dead silence.

Everyone faced the same direction, collapsing onto the ground simultaneously like cut wheat, trembling as they prostrated themselves.

Shen Ji had no choice but to follow suit, dropping to one knee with his weight poised lightly on the ground.

Shielded by the full-body cloak, no one noticed his non-conformity.

He raised his gaze toward the distant horizon everyone was paying homage to.

It was Minghuang Palace.

Even across a vast distance, one could see that in the midair of the celestial palace-like pavilions, a gigantic silver phoenix phantom pierced through the clouds and mist, circling the palace as it flashed gracefully amidst the magnificent golden light, dazzling in posture.

The higher it flew, the heavier and more oppressive the rolling pressure from above became.

Everyone on the street was gritting their teeth and bitterly enduring the nearly unbearable burden upon their bodies, not daring to utter a single syllable of dissatisfaction.

A mere aura alone easily suppressing the beasts of an entire city demonstrated Xie Feng’s deterrence clearly.

Abruptly, Shen Ji’s left hand trembled slightly.

The originally warm Phoenix Pill seemed to respond to this imperial pressure, suddenly igniting with a layer of distorted firelight.

Frowning, he forcefully endured the searing, fiery pain in his palm without relaxing in the slightest.

To leak his trace at this moment and fall into Xie Feng’s hands would leave only a single dead end.

The system seized the opportunity: “Host, look! You violently violated the main villain, and the main villain will never let you go in this lifetime. Aren’t you going to find an escape route for yourself?!”

The censored word was exceptionally grating and even diverted Shen Ji’s attention: “Don’t phrase it so harshly. This was legitimate self-defense.”

Given last night’s situation, the one forced was either Xie Feng or him. It certainly couldn’t have been him.

Refusing to give up, the system analyzed for Shen Ji: “The male and female leads are the people with the highest chance of defeating the main villain. If the host doesn’t go find them to team up, how will you escape the main villain’s pursuit! Moreover, the reward points obtained upon successfully executing missions can be exchanged for items to completely alter your appearance. That way, the main villain will find it even harder to locate the host!”

Shen Ji perked up slightly: “Like what?”

The system immediately opened the Points Mall, automatically flipping to one of the items.

Perfect Disguise (Elementary): From the inside out, a complete rebirth.

Shen Ji glanced at the price.

Original price 70 points, discounted price 42 points.

His balance was 2.5 points, though the fraction was enough.

The system struck while the iron was hot: “Only by doing missions can you earn points. Once you redeem the Perfect Disguise, your entire appearance from head to toe will transform into someone else entirely, and even the main villain won’t be able to identify you. Host, what are you hesitating for!”

A disguise even Xie Feng couldn’t identify?

Hearing this, Shen Ji could not help feeling tempted, and he did indeed hesitate.

In truth, the plot of the book was very simple.

The carefree and mischievous female lead, Luo Ning, had been blessed with supreme fortune since childhood, accidentally flying into the immortal realm by sheer luck, where she was saved by the passing male lead, Xuan Chen. The two thus formed a bond. Even though their relationship experienced twists and turns, they still developed mutual affections for each other. Later, in the process of resolving various troubles, the two gradually discovered that the villain, Xie Feng, was ignoring the peace pact signed in ancient times dictating that the five realms must remain mutually uncommunicative and non-interfering. He was secretly shattering the seals on the passages between the various realms, intending to violently unify all five realms.

Since the mortal world was the central hub of the five realms, once a war broke out, it would bear the brunt of the impact, making devastation unavoidable. Neither the male nor female lead could allow such a thing to happen, and thus they embarked on the path of opposing the villain.

The entire novel began from the perspective of the female lead, Luo Ning. Hailing from the mortal world with no parents, she had grown up picking herbs in the mountains with her uncle. On one accidental trip up the mountain alone, she happened to run into Xie Feng forcibly opening the immortal-mortal passage. At that time, she was near the passage, and bathed in the rich immortal Qi, she was lifted directly to the immortal realm by colorful auspicious clouds, becoming the sole undocumented resident of the immortal realm.

The system’s main quest was to help the male and female leads defeat Xie Feng, which meant finding them in person.

Shen Ji had no channels to reach the immortal realm, and the probability of cultivating and ascending in a short time was pitifully low, leaving him no choice but to use the same method to become the second undocumented resident in the immortal realm.

In other words, to execute this mission, he had to go to the place where Xie Feng had opened the passage.

The reason for his hesitation was that risking danger to search for people in a place frequented by Xie Feng carried a very high probability of meeting an untimely demise before even achieving success.

At that moment, the all-suppressing divine sense finally dissipated.

The silver phoenix, split into eight, tore through the high sky, sweeping past the tops of everyone’s heads in an instant. Dragging long silver threads behind it, it deployed a massive silver barrier across the entire sky above Qishan, rapidly turning the place into a completely sealed prison.

Shen Ji’s unrelaxed heart sank further.

Xie Feng’s determination to kill him was steadfast.

Being forced to stay in Minghuang City meant his whereabouts would be exposed sooner or later.

He got up, tossed the Phoenix Pill back into his collar, and just as he was about to continue forward, his footsteps suddenly paused, stepping sideways to dodge a sudden, fierce gust of wind from behind!

The system realized belatedly: “Host, someone is ambushing you!”

A layer of cyan-gray runic patterns, virtually imperceptible to the naked eye, flashed across Shen Ji’s shoulder, causing the flames carried within the fierce wind to slide harmlessly away.

Someone starting a fight in the middle of the street was likely a common sight to the passersby on the road, who uniformly bypassed the area by a margin of one meter.

Shen Ji also retreated rapidly, blending into the shadows of the narrow alley.

Ever since arriving in this world, his luck had consistently been poor.

To encounter this kind of accident at a juncture when he was being hunted down, nothing could be more unlucky.

The man followed closely behind, demanding flatly: “Where did you get the Phoenix Pill in your hand!”

Hearing this, Shen Ji’s gaze shifted slightly, but his feet did not stop.

It seemed the other party was not yet aware of the inside story, which was for the best, indicating his situation wasn’t completely terrible.

The man watched him struggle on his feet with cold eyes, sneering: “Brat, ever since His Majesty released his divine sense to trigger the Phoenix Pill, I could smell the bloody stench on you. A lowly mortal dares to break into Minghuang City, yet you still refuse to submit!”

This person was willing to sustain injuries just to disguise himself and enter the city; he must be harboring ulterior motives.

Furthermore, the fire of a mere Phoenix Pill could scorch him slightly, meaning his cultivation was low and not worth mentioning, relying merely on a protective magical treasure to block a blow or two. If he could take him down single-handedly, wouldn’t that count as a merit?

The system also said anxiously: “Host, based on the comparative cultivation data of both enemy and friendly sides, our probability of winning is extremely low. It is recommended not to resist, lest you anger him, and instead find an opportunity to follow the planned route toward the East City Gate!”

Amidst its words, a stream of fire shot straight toward Shen Ji’s back!

Shen Ji narrowed his eyes, leaning against the wall to dodge the distorted fire shadow.

He raised a hand to grip the wrist of the other’s attacking hand, which was as fast as a whip. Pulling the person close, he stepped inward and drove his elbow upward, striking the throat with a tricky angle and a swift, ruthless execution.

Before the man could react, a sharp pain struck beneath his neck, a faint bloody taste immediately blooming in his mouth, and his expression turned abruptly gloomy.

He channeled his energy to break free from Shen Ji’s restraint, gritting his teeth to form hand seals.

Cyan runic patterns surged all over Shen Ji’s body, yet he was still shaken back a step by the lingering wave of spiritual energy before stabilizing his stance. He kicked off the ground with his right foot to steady himself, then re-energized himself to step forward for close-quarters combat.

He was well aware of his current disadvantage.

The gap in cultivation could not be bridged, so he had to finish the fight quickly.

As for the system’s suggestion.

Judging from the ambush just now, he did not think giving up resistance was a good idea.

The man was extremely unaccustomed to physical combat. Once again closed in upon by Shen Ji with bizarre footwork and struck heavily on the jaw with a brutal palm strike, he staggered backward, tilted his head to spit out a mouthful of blood, and his expression grew even uglier. Wings sprouted from his back with a flap, and he cursed hatefully: “You dare hurt me?!”

His wings differed from the Envoy Feng he had seen; large patches of gray were mixed with mottled, miscellaneous colors, dull and lusterless, with only faint tongues of fire trailing at the tips.

The system screamed in pleasant surprise: “Host, he is a Green Phoenix! A Green Phoenix only possesses a single inner core, right in the middle of the wings on its back!”

Shen Ji glanced over.

The man could not hear the system’s warning. As his words fell, he swung his arms to draw the phoenix fire from his tail feathers onto his claws, glaring malevolently at Shen Ji.

Shen Ji raised his arm to parry. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a ring of bright fire emerging on his arm. Before he could process it, the man’s fiery claw prints surged forward!

The attack infused with the Phoenix Clan’s flame seed was faster and sharper than before, not only piercing through the defense clinging to his clothes but also leaving several deep lacerations across both arms.

The system emitted a very short, light sound, autonomously halting its panicked cries.

Yet the man looked doubtfully and suspiciously at the fading firelight on Shen Ji’s arm: “Phoenix fire? How is that possible!”

Shen Ji’s expression remained unchanged as he pressed forward.

The man had no time for doubt, sneering as he looked at the blood seeping out beneath Shen Ji’s firelight, and flapped his wings once more.

Shen Ji shifted positions to dodge his sharp claws. His injured left hand brushed past the arm the man failed to retract in time, firmly locking onto the other’s nape, and he ruthlessly forced him down to drive his knee upward!

The man still had the taste of blood in his mouth, and memories of his ruthless methods were fresh. He hurriedly reached back to block, while the wings on his back instinctively tucked inward in an attempt to suppress him.

Shen Ji immediately halted his momentum, already prepared as he delivered a vicious palm strike straight onto the man’s undefended back.

To ensure foolproof success, he exerted all his strength, pouring every shred of spiritual energy left in his body into that single palm without holding back a fraction.

The man never expected an outsider to know the vital weak point of the Phoenix Clan.

Realizing his inner core had shattered, the contempt on his face transformed into a despair mixed with hatred and anger. Combined with the agony of severed meridians, it twisted his complexion pale, and a mouthful of heart’s blood gushed out.

Shen Ji’s descending right knee drove upward once more.

The man recovered his wits and roared in bitter hatred, forcefully shattering his wings to detonate a powerful surge of energy that abruptly blasted Shen Ji, who lacked spiritual energy support, flying backward!

Shen Ji slammed heavily against the gray wall of the narrow alley, clutching his chest as he hit the ground, a trace of blood slipping from the corner of his lips. However, paying it no mind, he stood up upon seeing the man’s movements, immediately tore off his cloak, and hurled it forward.

The man was using his final shred of strength to form a hand seal pointing toward the sky.

Before the look of relief could fully surface on his face, he was completely engulfed by the flying shadow from above, and his signal was intercepted before it could even be sent out.

Before the man could turn his head back, he only felt a pair of cold hands silently press against his jaw, followed by a sharp pain across his neck. He stared with wide eyes as he toppled straight to the ground.

Not until the man lost his breath did the system dare to speak up: “…Host, the Huichun Pill in the beginner gift package can heal injuries.”

The main street was bustling with roaring noise.

The narrow alley was quiet and cool as water.

The shadows of the gray walls severed the bustling clamor of Minghuang City, acting precisely as a protective camouflage for all abnormal movements.

Shen Ji’s breathing sounded particularly heavy in the silence.

He coughed twice, spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood, and pressed a hand against his aching, oppressed chest. Swallowing down the three pills provided by the system in succession, he rapidly recovered his physical strength, immediately dragged the corpse into a corner, stripped off the clothes to change into them, and made a brief disguise.

Amidst these movements, a token and a storage Qiankun bag dropped to the ground.

The token was made of dark iron and carried considerable weight in the hand. Carved on the back was a lifelike, spread-winged phoenix, while the front bore the single character “Guard”.

The system recognized it: “It’s a City Guard Token. Minghuang City has City Guard Phoenix Guards patrolling, with varying statuses. The outer city district is mostly manned by Green Phoenixes, collectively called Green Phoenix Guards, handling some miscellaneous chores that others can’t be bothered with.”

In other words, it was a municipal administration work ID.

Shen Ji proceeded to pick up the Qiankun bag.

Since its owner had perished, the restrictions on the Qiankun bag had dissipated. He probed his divine sense into it using the original body’s memories, seeing worthless miscellaneous items piled inside; a yellowish-brown orb was carefully placed by itself, and he casually retrieved it.

Upon seeing it, the system was overjoyed: “Terrific, host! This is a mount bead! With it, traveling will be much more convenient!”

When sleepiness met a pillow, it was indeed a fortunate event.

Shen Ji put it back into the Qiankun bag, hanging it at his waist alongside the token. After a moment of thought, he executed a Fire Incineration Spell to clear away the corpse and bloodstains on the ground before turning around to slip out, rapidly leaving the scene.

The system didn’t dare to speak, quietly terrified.

The host’s pre-mortem profession seemed terrifying.

How could he handle destroying corpses and eliminating traces so skillfully and calmly?

Having witnessed the entire process, it felt even more obedient than before.

Observing Shen Ji’s actions, it subconsciously buttered him up self-taught: “Host, you’re amazing! Although the Green Phoenix is the weakest among the phoenixes, it’s still an upper-tier bloodline in the Three Spirit Realms. You only had that bit of spiritual energy sent by the main villain, yet you actually managed to kill him!”

From the book, Shen Ji also understood that the phoenix clan had a total of four branches.

The Primordial Golden Phoenix bloodline, ranking first, had already gone extinct before Xie Feng appeared; the transcendent Scarlet Phoenix lineage ranked second; the Colored Phoenix, possessing weak bloodline heritage, ranked second to last; and the absolute bottom tier consisted of the Green Phoenixes, who were numerous in quantity with thin primordial power.

Unlike those in Minghuang City mostly used to guard gates, Green Phoenixes outside could hold their own.

Facing this current formidable enemy, his odds of winning should originally have been minimal; unfortunately, the opponent was poorly trained, and underestimating the enemy was a major taboo.

However…

“Spiritual energy sent by Xie Feng?” Shen Ji asked, “What do you mean?”

The system said: “Doesn’t the host remember? As a Heavenly Spirit Cauldron, you dual-cultivated with the main villain last night and gained quite a bit of spiritual energy! It’s a pity your Dantian was sealed and you didn’t know how to channel the energy, wasting at least half of it.”

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow.

Dual-cultivating with Xie Feng yielded gains for him as well?

Right, the phoenix fire Qingfeng mentioned earlier should refer to this.

He did not know how to convert the spiritual energy obtained from Xie Feng, so it manifested using the Phoenix Clan’s primordial moves, which was completely normal.

Unfortunately, this kind of shortcut was a one-time deal that couldn’t be replicated, and he likely wouldn’t have the opportunity again.

Just as he was thinking this, unexpectedly, the moment he stepped out of the narrow alley’s perimeter, an order barked down from the sky.

“You! The Phoenix Decree has already been issued; why are you still wandering around alone here? Follow me to assembly immediately!”

The speaking woman frowned, pointing backward.

Behind her, a squad was dressed in the exact same unified gray uniform as Shen Ji, each hanging a City Guard Token at their waist.

Clearly, she had mistaken him for a subordinate.

The system panicked on the spot like a silly dog: “Host, what should we do!”

Without refuting, Shen Ji silently walked to the end of the squad. Recalling his state during the fight, he channeled spiritual energy down into his legs, matching the others to condense his breath and lighten his body, leaping forward until he arrived before the East City Gate.

Throughout the journey, not a single person ahead of him looked back even once.

Unlike the previous Green Phoenix, these phoenixes regarded him as a companion and naturally wouldn’t scrutinize the fact that he was employing Phoenix Clan powers.

The system sincerely buttered up: “You learned how to channel energy just from a single fight! Host, you are truly a genius among geniuses!”

Ignoring its erratic behavior, Shen Ji stood firm within the main troop.

Following closely behind, squad after squad of Phoenix Guards arrived one after another.

Those wearing the gray uniforms of the Green Phoenix Guards stood motionless upon landing, while those with bright, colorful wings hovered in midair, flapping their wings.

Yet from top to bottom, not a single person engaged in idle chatter, sufficiently demonstrating Minghuang City’s strict hierarchy and discipline.

Only a deafening pre-battle mobilization drifted over from the city gate.

“Listen up! This time, searching the entire Qishan outside the city is to hunt down an audacious madman who dared to anger His Majesty! Remember, the Phoenix Decree was personally instructed by His Majesty and absolutely brooks no failure. Once outside the city, obey all orders from the envoy. Anyone who is not of our clan shall be shown no quarter, do you understand!”

The madman lowered his head and averted his eyes, making up the numbers among a crowd of impeccably sincere fake colleagues.

“We obey your command, subordinates!”

The brief dialogue concluded, crimson flames at the city gate surged into the clouds, and the gates swung wide open.

“Move out!”

At that exact moment, those flying in the sky and those running on the ground swarmed out en masse!

Not a single phoenix noticed.

The mortal being hunted down by Xie Feng was mingling right among the Green Phoenix Guards, unhurriedly leaving through the final city gate of Minghuang City.

The system lacked too much stress tolerance. After trembling in fear for a long time and discovering everything was safe and sound, it finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Enduring and enduring, it still couldn’t help probing cautiously: “Host, regarding the mission, what do you think?”

This time, Shen Ji did not hesitate: “Accept it.”

Unreliable though it was, the system’s capabilities were still somewhat dependable.

The Perfect Disguise redeemable with points was the life-saving prop he urgently needed right now.

As for Xie Feng.

Shen Ji stroked the dark iron token at his waist, choosing not to dwell on it deeply.

Never mind. On the day Xie Feng made his move, the book clearly stated he wasn’t in the mortal world. Furthermore, Luo Ning was right near the passage; since she didn’t encounter Xie Feng, it meant that area was a safe zone with no need to overthink.