“Help! Grand Elder, Daddy… save me!”

　　The sharp shriek of a girl suddenly pierced the peaceful gathering place of the Hentian clan, and the terrifying howl of wild beasts rose up alongside her voice, leaving numerous people surprised. A collection of extremely powerful spirit senses swept out before a few grand elders’ voices called out, “Stop, you evil creature!”

　　A few silhouettes flew out from the shadows of the clouds after their call. These old cultivators had been in seclusion within the Hentian clan for who knows how many years, and right in front of them was a half-human, half-bird monster pressing a delicate girl beneath its body. Its eyes were scarlet and filled with viciousness, and these old men didn’t dare to be careless; they immediately attacked, causing a few powerful forces to slam against the monster and push it fifty or so feet away.

　　The monster didn’t come back after being sent flying; instead, its mind cleared a little and it started to yell, “Please spare my life…. Esteemed Seniors, I… I, the venerated youth, know I am in the wrong….”

　　“Venerated youth… you’re the venerated youth?” The Hentian clan’s gathering spot wasn’t particularly large, and an event like this was more than enough to alert the entire clan and countless numbers of clansmen. People rushed from all directions, even including the clan master and Head Exalt. Fang Xing lived not too far away and was naturally not an exception; he’d ridden atop his dragon to arrive here nice and early enough to watch it all, but even he was surprised. When he first saw this half-man, half-bird creature, he thought some peril beast had wandered down from some mountain to get inside the clan. How was it the venerated youth? What exactly was this guy?

　　After a moment of dazed surprise, the clan master angrily shouted, “Venerated Youth, what manner of monster are you? Hurry and reveal your true form!”

　　Rumble !

　　A few elderly cultivators in various types of clothing all flew out from seclusion and hovered in mid-air to guard the area.

　　“True form?” The venerated youth seemed a bit shocked as well and held up his hand in confusion. It was only then that he realized his hand was no longer shaped like a hand, but was now a wing covered in fiery-red feathers. It was all very strange, and fear quickly set in as he looked down, causing him to realize he’d unintentionally shown parts of his original form during his earlier confusion. Although he hadn’t completely lost his human form, it was clear something wasn’t right.

　　‘I’ve actually shown my original form?’ The venerated youth didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All the effort and hard work he’d put into it for the past year, was it all truly going to be destroyed in this one moment?

　　“Seize him!” an elderly cultivator suddenly shouted. “Let us see exactly what this thing is!” With a wave of his palm, his hand expanded to a few dozen feet and slammed down towards the venerated youth.

　　This group of old men were also very shocked. This creature wasn’t even of the same race, so it must have had other intentions. This was the gathering place of the Hentian clan, so how could such a thing manage to get inside? No one knew what its true purpose was, and none of these old guys had managed to discover this beforehand. If he hadn’t been exposed now, who knew what kind of great disaster it would have brought to the Hentian clan? The entire clan might have even been annihilated!

　　Rumble !

　　When one person acted, everyone else followed. Not a single one planned on letting the venerated youth escape, but it was at this moment that the venerated youth let out a few mad laughs and suddenly straightened his back—he didn’t need to pretend anymore. He shook his wings and an endless amount of fire began to seep into his body, causing his power to increase by several times.

　　He was in the early-Golden Core Stage, and although he did seem to be a little stronger than ordinary Golden Cores, it wasn’t by too much, but the fiery intent he displayed now was nearly enough to match an ordinary late-stage Golden Core. The fire from his body was of particular note; it turned the area within ten feet of him into a fireball and dissolved all spells and attacks aimed his way.

　　Swoosh ….

　　While everyone watched in a daze, a red light suddenly shot out from the sea of flame.

　　“What is that bird?” Fang Xing was also surprised. The venerated youth’s original form was actually a red bird the same size as a horse, with a long body that was sleek and full of beautiful feathers yet covered in an indescribable malice. When the bird turned its neck, it looked directly towards Fang Xing who was riding atop the head of the dragon.

　　The cultivators were frightened by this bird’s appearance, and someone shouted out, “Vermillion Bird… it’s actually a Vermillion Bird!” A peril beast that existed only in legends had appeared before their very eyes, causing the grand elders to nearly forget to attack.

　　The Vermillion Bird sent a sharp glare at Fang Xing while speaking in the voice of a human. “A plan I had fully in my grasp was ruined by your hands….” Its words were filled with an endless amount of hatred and viciousness.

　　“Who ruined what? I wasn’t the one who gave you that pellet!” Fang Xing yelled back at the Vermillion Bird, as though trying to explain himself. It was difficult to tell if he’d done it intentionally, but such words were practically an admission in their own right, and the Vermillion Bird’s glare became filled with even more hatred. The flaming intent surged towards Fang Xing and turned into the likes of a fiery cloud that caused even the air to shrivel in its passing, as though it could burn even the empty sky.

　　Roar ….

　　How would the red dragon allow such fiery clouds to even get close to Fang Xing? With a loud roar, it spat out a blue light and dissipated the cloud completely.

　　“Oh f*ck. Hurry up and run!” Fang Xing jumped at this and began urging the red dragon to flee. He didn’t know the details of this Vermillion Bird and actually didn’t want to fight it right now.

　　When the cultivators in the air saw this, some intended to immediately attack, but points of flame rose up around the Vermillion Bird and heat waves crashed outward amidst an extremely eye-blinding light. Once the light faded, it unexpectedly turned out the Vermillion Bird had only pretended to attack and had disappeared from sight. A sudden flash of fiery light appeared dozens of miles away—as though a Teleportation spell had just been used—before it took off at an extreme speed.

　　“He wants to escape….” The grand elders of the Hentian clan also vanished as they performed their own Teleportation.

　　Fang Xing quickly patted the red dragon’s head. “Hurry, hurry….”

　　The red dragon roared and flew forward with a swoosh , but its mind was too disoriented for it to do anything other than use raw physical strength or borrow its extremely sturdy body to swallow the opponent’s spells to reflect back. Its speed was fast, but it didn’t know how to teleport and it was already dozens of miles behind before they even started—it wouldn’t be able to catch up anytime soon. Fang Xing didn’t mind it too much, however; he didn’t really intend to have the red dragon fight that peril beast and simply wanted to go and see what happened.

　　Swoosh ….

　　The Vermillion Bird streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning, and a single movement of its wings allowed it to go as far as a hundred miles. As for the small number of grand elders chasing after it, they’d formed up into a formation and took turns teleporting within the sky to try to catch up.

　　“One should never push another to the brink. For you all to push me so much, are you not afraid you’ll all be consigned to eternal damnation when the nine moons rise?” The Vermillion bird coldly messaged over. All of the grand elders were surprised, and one person even seemed to realize something and immediately called out, “Vermillion Bird, come back, I have something to ask you….”

　　“I know all the questions you want to ask, but it is not yet the time for you all to know!” The Vermillion Bird didn’t have any intention of turning back, and instead it started flying towards a tall stone forest far away. Howls that could shake the entire land could be heard rising up from that stone forest, and inside was actually a sixth-tier peril beast with terrifying battle prowess. Not even the head grand elder of the Hentian clan dared to provoke it, and the group giving chase began to hesitate.

　　The Vermillion Bird used its great agility to evade capture from the peril beast, and it coldly messaged once more, “From the day I was born, the great changes within these Guixu Ruins were predetermined. I shall give you something in advance to help you prepare for it….” A scroll covered in flames flew towards the elders, and the Vermillion Bird flew off with a loud laugh, “Gahaha….”

　　When the elders saw they could no longer catch up, they stopped chasing and helplessly huddled around and look at the scroll.

　　“What did he leave behind?”

　　The Head Exalt studied the scroll closely, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he shared it with the elders. “It seems to be… from the ancient Taishang Daoism. Some kind of secret technique….” He didn’t say anything further, but the elders understood the underlying meaning and were shocked.

　　“That Vermillion Bird’s intentions are definitely not good…” the Head Exalt suddenly declared with gleaming eyes.

　　“As long as it is useful to our Hentian clan, who cares if its intentions are good or bad…?” another elder lightly muttered.

　　A voice suddenly rose up from behind them. “Dear elders, did you catch it?” It was Fang Xing riding the red dragon, alongside the clan master and a group of Exalts with superior battle prowess. Fang Xing was the first to arrive, but the elders became quiet when he drew closer and they saw the red dragon. One of the elder’s flipped his palm to send the scroll into his sleeve as though nothing had happened.

　　“That livestock is extremely sly and its speed is incredible. It has escaped…” the elders expressionlessly replied before they all started flying back to the clan.

　　Fang Xing remained in place in the air and began wondering to himself, ‘Why are all these old guys acting so strangely?’