Jieyou’s face turned bright red in an instant, spreading from her cheeks to her earlobes. Her little secret hidden in her heart was exposed by Jiuge in public. Even though she had a thick skin, she couldn’t help clutching the hem of her clothes, her earlobes so hot they could fry an egg. She dodged her eyes, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

  Fortunately, no one paid attention to her embarrassment—both Xiao Bai and Miss Jiu had their thoughts hit by Jiuge. They stared at the floating light ball in unison, their eyes extremely focused, even holding their breath, fearing they would miss a single word of the answer, their hearts filled with their own doubts.

  "It’s better not to ask for now, so you won’t regret it later and waste this precious opportunity." Jiuge changed the subject abruptly, switching to the main topic immediately, her tone returning to the previous solemnity. "You can focus on the task first. Three thousand miles to the northwest of here, an unknown force is secretly mining an unguarded silicon crystal mine. I sensed it through the earth’s veins. Go eliminate those people and connect the mine vein to me, and your first task will be completed. After the mine vein is connected, you can come here anytime to claim your reward. Any questions?"

  Jiuge seemed not to care much about the little episode just now, and there was even a hint of imperceptible disdain in her tone: "Does a question have to be about the life and death of humans, or the grand questions like ‘where do we come from, why are we here, where are we going’ to be called a question?"

  Jieyou pouted, her cheeks still flushed with lingering redness, feeling a little unhappy in her heart: This Jiuge is so cold and unreasonable! Even if her question was not profound, there’s no need to mock her so directly!

  But Miss Jiu, who was more experienced and knowledgeable, quickly pulled herself together and used her mind to inquire about the task details from Jiuge: How many people are there on the other side? What is their strength? Are there any ambushes or dangers on the way?

  Xiao Bai also couldn’t contain his eagerness. His sword blade buzzed and trembled, with sword energy faintly leaking out. Obviously, he was also eager to know the enemy’s combat strength, their special skills, and the specific defense of the mine.

  Jiuge responded slowly, telling them the situation one by one: It turned out that those secretly mining were a group of spies sent by Huixian Mansion, accompanied by a group of strong miners, secretly mining silicon crystal mines, trying to seize the energy inside to pave the way for their plan to extract the original power of the Return Crystals.

  "Is the task reward just one chance to ask a question?" Jieyou muttered softly, secretly calculating in her heart: Traveling thousands of miles to kill people and seize the mine, just for one chance to ask a question—it’s too troublesome! It’s not worth it at all!

  But on second thought, Jiuge had vaguely mentioned before that the place three thousand miles to the northwest is rich in thousand-year-old Ling Grass—those in full bloom. Eating it can make one stay young forever, with an ageless face. At the same time, it also produces a rare type of papaya. Eating more can... can enhance the bust!

  The last two words were whispered by Jiuge so softly that only Jieyou could hear them, but they were like a small stone, instantly stirring up a thousand waves in her heart.

  "Warriors, let’s go——!"

  Jieyou was instantly ignited with fighting spirit. All her hesitation and dissatisfaction disappeared without a trace. She raised her arms and shouted loudly, nimbly flipped over, and re-mounted the back of the red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers flying in the sky, her eyes full of expectation and motivation.

  At this moment, on the ground, around the pit that was originally a pond and now turned into a wind tunnel, there were already crowds of people, dense and noisy!

  There were local mountain villagers who came to watch out of curiosity after hearing about the celestial disturbance; there were wandering knights who had a sharp sense of smell and detected opportunities here; there were alchemists who traveled thousands of miles, hoping to find opportunities for cultivation; there were treasure hunters who specialized in seeking rare treasures, coveting the exotic treasures under the pit; and there were also some conspirators with ulterior motives, lurking in the crowd, waiting for an opportunity to act.

  Among the crowd, there were spies from Huixian Mansion, disciples of the Wenshi Sparrow Sect, and many loose cultivators. They all detected the violent celestial disturbance in this area, and immediately rushed over using teleportation techniques and flying techniques, fearing they would miss a great opportunity and end up empty-handed.

  But facing this bottomless, dark and deep pit, no one knew what dangers were hidden below. Going down was like walking into a tiger’s den. So even though everyone was covetous, no one dared to take the lead rashly. They could only gather around the pit, watching and testing each other.

  After a round of arguments and discussions, the crowd finally made a greedy and cruel rule: Once a treasure appeared, no matter who the holder was, everyone would join forces to kill them, seize the treasure, and then divide and share it. No one was allowed to monopolize the rare treasure!

  As soon as the words fell, a sharp-eyed person suddenly pointed at the bottom of the pit and exclaimed in surprise: "Look! What’s that?!"

  Everyone followed the sound and looked. At the bottom of the pit, a brilliant colorful light shot up into the sky. A red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers flying in the sky was flapping its wings and soaring upward. Its colorful feathers shone brightly in the dim pit, showing the dignity and luxury of a divine beast!

  The red-crowned phoenix only existed in ancient legends. It was an ancient divine beast, symbolizing auspiciousness and good fortune. Now it actually appeared in front of them alive—it was a rare treasure that could ward off evil spirits and bring blessings. If they could capture it, whether they tamed it or took its feathers and inner core, they could gain endless benefits!

  Everyone gasped in unison, and greedy flames instantly ignited in their eyes. Everyone stared at the red-crowned phoenix with fiery eyes. They exchanged glances quickly, then tacitly bent down and formed an impenetrable encirclement around the messy pit, firmly blocking the exit of the pit, leaving the red-crowned phoenix with no chance to escape.

  "It’s actually the red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers flying in the sky! The legendary ancient divine beast! Just one look is a great blessing. Now we have a chance to capture it—what are we waiting for?!" Someone couldn’t help roaring, his tone full of excitement and greed.

  In an instant, everyone rolled up their sleeves, looking excited. They all took out their magic treasures—there were glowing flying swords, talismans emitting strange auras, and weirdly shaped artifacts. Everyone was brewing their strongest moves, waiting for the red-crowned phoenix to fly out of the pit, then swarming up to capture it.

  This place was not like Yiyun Valley. There were no rules here. When encountering rare beasts and fairy artifacts, there was only one word—snatch! For the sake of treasures, they would not hesitate to fight fiercely, even kill without mercy. Kill! Snatch! Kill! The law of the jungle was the survival rule here.

  At this moment, Jieyou, who was slowly rising in the pit, was still immersed in her own little joy. She happily imagined the fragrance of the thousand-year-old Ling Grass, the taste of the papaya, and the expected effect. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but raise a sneaky smile, completely unaware of the danger above her head.

  As the red-crowned phoenix continued to rise, the light from above became bigger and bigger, like a bright full moon, dispelling the darkness in the pit, indicating that they were about to reach the ground.

  The red-crowned phoenix flapped its wings and rushed upward, its whole body shining with colorful feathers. It took Jieyou and jumped out of the pit exit in one leap!

  But what greeted them was not the expected blue sky, white clouds and gentle breeze, but an overwhelming attack that could devour people!

  Immortal-binding ropes danced wildly like spirit snakes, densely winding towards the red-crowned phoenix and Jieyou; the branches of the demon-catching tree stretched wildly like devil’s claws, rushing forward with sharp cold air; black magic locks shot like arrows, glowing with eerie cold light; even more cultivators summoned heavenly thunder. In an instant, thunder rolled, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, sand and stones flew, and the wind howled. The momentum was so powerful that it seemed to move mountains and fill seas, destroying heaven and earth!

  Jieyou was caught off guard on the phoenix’s back. Without any preparation, her body stumbled, almost falling off the phoenix’s back. Her shoulder was tightly wrapped by an immortal-binding rope, which勒得 her painful and unable to move.

  She stabilized her figure and looked up. There were people everywhere, all with ferocious faces, their eyes full of greed and cruelty, looking determined and ready to die. Obviously, they were determined to capture the red-crowned phoenix, and even planned to get rid of her, the rider, together.

  This was the first time Palace Master Jieyou went down the mountain to practice. She had never experienced such a dangerous scene. Now trapped in the encirclement, she couldn’t help but panic, her mind went blank, and she didn’t know where to start, even forgetting to summon Xiao Bai.

  The red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers flying in the sky had its wings tightly bound by several magic treasures, hindering its movement, but it still hovered steadily in the air without the slightest sign of falling. In its eyes, there flowed a cold light, and its expression was abnormally calm. Faced with the overwhelming attack, it had no intention of fighting back at all, as if everything in front of it had nothing to do with it.