13 Chapter 13: Lifting the Curse

POV: Feng Baichuan

Baichuan woke up to the noises outside. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was still night which means he hadn't overslept and the people of his village were up and about.

Slowly moving out of the bed, he saw that his wife was still sleeping which made him sigh in relief. Baichuan loved his wife but she was cranky when she woke up.

Standing up, he went to his closet, put on some light clothes before going out to see what was causing that noise. They were a small village and everyone knew each other, so he knew that there were no troublemakers that liked to stay up at night.

Going out of his house, Baichuan saw there were others that were also awake from the sounds. Quickly gathering and talking to them told him that the sounds came from outside the village.

Many thought it was some animal that found their village and he hoped it was, at least that way, they could easily just drive it off. Baichuan truly hoped that it was not a human, that would complicate the situation to the high heavens.

Making their way to where the sound came from didn't take long, they armed themselves with some weapons in case it was an animal. When they reached the clearing a little outside their village, the thing that Baichuan saw would forever be engraved in his mind.

The young master who had saved him from bandits a few days ago was currently sitting on a man kneeling while looking over some people. He could see that many of them had injuries, fresh ones.

The young master noticed them, "Ah, seems like I woke you up with the noise we were making, please forgive me." He gave them a small bow and Baichuan immediately shook his head.

"No, no. Please young master, you don't have to apologize for anything." He saw his fellow village members nodding their heads in agreement.

"Excuse me, young master?" He asked, looking as the young master nodded his head, "Do you mind me asking who these people are?" Baichuan had his thoughts but wasn't going to act on them until the young master gave his own word.

The young master pointed at the injured people, "Those guys?" Baichuan nodded his head.

"Yes young master"

"Yeah, these dudes are bandits, came here to take over this whole village. I was just giving them a piece of my mind on their actions when you folks came along." The young master explained while pointing at the now bandits.

The young master stood up from his human chair, "You don't have to worry though, they won't be able to harm any of you guys anymore." He slowly stretched before looking at the bandits, "Now, I'll give you guys 10 seconds, if anyone is left standing here by then, I'll kill you." The bandits quickly began running for their lives and if he was honest, Baichuan was glad that the young master was so caring for their small village because he didn't want to imagine what someone with less honest intentions could have done.

Shaking those thoughts away, he slowly approached the young master, he wanted to thank him for saving the village but before he could even begin with his thanking the young master raised his hand.

"Before you guys thank me or something, I need to speak with you, Clan Leader." Baichuan gulped, he'd never seen the young master this serious in his short stay with their clan.

Of course, he nodded his head, "Anything that you wish for, young master." The young master nodded his head before beginning to walk away from the village. Giving his fellow villagers a nod, he followed after the young master.

After a minute of walking in silence, Baichuan recognized the path they were taking. It was the path to the temple where the Phoenix Spirit lies, he became more nervous the closer they got. "Er, young master, is there something here that you wish to show me?"

The young master didn't stop but answered anyway, "Yes, I do." The silence took over for a few moments, "Clan Leader, I know about it, why your village is here and how it became the way it is now."

Baichuan froze in his place. How? That's the only question that roamed his mind, how did the young master figure it out? He was positive that no one in his village had told him about it.

"Calm down, Feng Baichuan. No one in your village told me about your little secret, I got it from the source." The young master had slowed his steps down and Baichuan shuddered when he heard what he said.

The source?

That would mean only one thing… He talked to the Phoenix!

"Y-young m-master, did you just say you talked to the Phoenix?" He got out the question slowly, he couldn't believe it. There was a barrier around the whole temple to stop anybody from entering it!

"Yes, the barriers there were easy to make through and I had a talk with the Phoenix, we only stopped talking because the bandits showed up." Even though the young master explained things to him, Baichuan couldn't comprehend what was going on.

He heard the young master sigh, "Look, I know this is all very baffling, it's why I want you to come with me into the temple so that you can see for yourself what I'm talking about." The young master mentioned him to continue walking and he just nodded dumbly.

If this was true and the young master really talked to the Phoenix, that would change things for his clan. They might even be able to finally atone for their ancestor's mistake.

He followed along slowly as they reached the temple in silence, once they got to the door, he saw it with his own eyes. The seal was broken.

"This wasn't the only seal, there was one more seal that I broke too." His head whipped towards the young master, he knew about the seal inside the temple too? Then what he said must have surely been true too, the talking with the Phoenix and everything.

The young master opened the door and got in, "Come now, I want you to speak with the Phoenix. There's something that you need to know about the curse placed on your clan and how you can lift it."

Baichuan froze again, they could lift the curse placed upon them? The only way to do that is if the Phoenix Spirit was willing to forgive them. "Young master, if what you say is true, does that mean that the Phoenix Spirit…?" He couldn't even continue the sentence, they had lost hope after 1000 years.

The young master seemed to understand him anyway, "That will depend on you, Clan Leader."

He gulped at that, does this mean that if he doesn't impress the Phoenix Spirit, they might be forever cursed.

He needed to put on his best act and make sure to impress the Phoenix Spirit no matter what!

"You ready to go in?" The young master asked and Baichuan shook his head.

"No, I am not." They both had a little laugh but he knew that he really wasn't ready. He didn't have the time to think about things though as the young master began walking inside the temple and he followed with him, trying his best to tidy his clothes.

This was the moment that the life of his clan would be determined, he needed to make sure to be on his best behavior and impress the Phoenix Spirit.

—

POV: Song Yun

[You're terrible at acting mysterious]

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a bad actor, water's wet. More news on 11.

But I at least got Baichuan to the Phoenix, now we just need them to talk and the Phoenix to lift the damn curse.

[Still, don't trust that Phoenix too much now, I have this feeling that it's not being all truthful with us]

Really? I couldn't really tell.

[Yeah but you should also be aware that sparing the lives of those bandits isn't going to do you any good, they'll now try to take revenge through this village after you're gone]

Oh, you don't have to worry about that, I know what I'm doing. Kind of.

[Oh? And what are your plans?]

It's simple. Get the Phoenix Clan to begin cultivating and let them become strong, use the bandits as training dummies for when the Clan goes live hunting. They need to learn to kill real people, no matter how unpleasant it is.

Besides, the Phoenix Clan needs to learn how to defend themselves.

[Well, it's a simple plan but quite effective. Though aren't you going to ask the Phoenix Clan to join your sect?]

Oh, I will, just not now. I'm not gonna take advantage of desperate people.

[Aren't you just nice?]

Hey, I'm just being a decent human and I don't want to feel like an ass. Taking advantage of desperate people is just not the way to go about it.

"Young master? Is this where the Phoenix Spirit is?" I looked back at Baichuan. He's clearly nervous about meeting the Phoenix.

Why am I not telling him that the Phoenix will just lift the curse without him needing to actually do anything of note? Because it's fun seeing him be this nervous when in the end, it's not gonna be something dangerous.

I nod at him, "It is, it's inside that room where you'll talk to the Phoenix Spirit." I walk inside the room and wait there for him to walk in. Though he doesn't even do that even after a good minute.

"Anytime now," I called him before seeing him stumble inside while looking around curiously. The room goes dark on the third step he takes in, making me wonder if the Phoenix is doing this on purpose.

Baichuan immediately kowtowed on the ground. Ugh right, those things are a 'must' here.

I can understand the paying respect part, I really do and even find it a good thing to do but the kowtowing not so much, but I'm not about to shit on someone's culture.

The Phoenix's eyes come out and I watch as Baichuan is rooted in his place. "So, after one thousand years, one of those with the Phoenix blood finally comes to talk with me." The Phoenix voice resounds in the room we're in.

"Honorable Phoenix Spirit! This one's name is Feng Baichuan! I hope you are willing to listen to this one's plight!" He began shouting like it's going to be the end of things, while also trembling a lot. Holy shit, why is he so afraid?

"Easy now, child. You need not worry, the reason you were called here is for the chance to help free your clan of my curse." The Phoenix began talking and I began wondering how it would do that. Some type of trail? Or just talking with each other?

[I believe a trail would be the most efficient to these types of situations]

Well, we'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

"I shall have you take a trial to show me your character. Should you pass the trail, the curse on all of your clan shall be lifted and you can cultivate normally once again." The Phoenix's eyes shined for a moment before they died down. "Now, I shall know your character well, Feng Baichuan."

Oh, so it was a trail. "What kind of trail did you make him take?" I ask the Phoenix next to me.

There was a silence for a moment, "The trail he took is usually reserved for those who wish to get my blood. It will show me the true character of people and how they view power."

That really explains nothing but I'm not going to force details if it's not going to talk. Though that does remind me of something, I quickly pull out my notebook from my storage ring.

I had a small goal that I wanted to come true, I kind of forgot about it for a little while there. Here it is.

{Talk to a Divine Beast}

And Check.

The trail didn't take long, just a few minutes before. Though from the hopeful expression on Baichuan's face, I take it that he did good and probably passed.

"Feng Baichuan, you have passed my trail and now, I shall make do on my word. You are free from this curse!" A big light emitted from the Phoenix, one strong enough to make me shield my eyes. Thankfully, it was over quickly and I opened my eyes to blink away the spots.

"Now go, tell your clan about this news as they are finally free." Baichuan stood up with a stupid expression on his face, even so the happiness in his eyes couldn't really be hidden. Another thing I noticed is that the flame mark that was on his forehead is now gone.

Our eyes made contact and I waved him off, "Go on, your clan probably wants to know why the flame mark on their forehead is gone now. I'll follow you soon, I'm just gonna have a word with the Phoenix Spirit before that."

That was enough to get him going, running towards the exit as fast as he could. Great, now I can talk to the Phoenix privately. There were a few more things that I wanted to know.

I turned so that I was facing the Phoenix directly, "Just a few things that I wanted to know before going," I tell it.

"Go ahead and ask. I shall try to answer to the best of my ability."

That was actually my first question, "Why are you being so helpful? Don't get me wrong, I love that you're helping me but it doesn't really make any sense. Why are you giving me knowledge that can be considered secretive?"

It didn't make sense, there is helpful and then there is just a motive.

The eyes blinked before I heard a deep sigh, "I see. It seems like I was getting a little too open with my intentions. I shall be honest with you, as that seems like the best way to get what I want."

That had me blinking. I didn't actually think that it would be so honest, it looks like whatever the Phoenix wants, it wants it to happen? Or something along those lines at least.

"You do not have to worry as what I want is not something that will harm you in any way. But I shall give you some background to help you understand the situation." I nodded my head at that. Context is always great.

The black room changed to a battle between three beings. One red, one yellow and the last one being orange. "Long ago, three rivals had a fight between them. The Phoenix, Golden Crow and the Vermilion Bird, those three later on would land on this planet when they had exhausted themselves. The Phoenix, deciding that it was fate that led her to land on this planet, left behind 2 legacies."

The image changed to the 2 Phoenix Spirits left behind. "As you can see, I was left behind in this forest while the other Phoenix was left behind in a country." I could see the other Phoenix Spirit being approached by people. Though I'm not sure on the time frame, it should have been at least a few hundred thousand years before it was found.

"We were connected, every Phoenix Spirit was. It is why I could tell what was happening in the God Realm. But, things went wrong somewhere along the line, the other Phoenix Spirit that was left here became corrupt from the humans it had to deal with and soon enough, it became 'sentient'."

I don't like the sound of that, I know enough to figure out where this next bit is going. "Sadly, that was also enough to make it ignore the Phoenix's orders and break the link off. In fear that I would come after it, the Phoenix Spirit attacked me. In the end, I wasn't strong enough and almost died, so I broke off my own connection and made an image of my dying while I hid away."

Yep, that's about what I thought. Though that brings up the question, "Why did it attack you? No wait, a better question would be, why did it ignore the original Phoenix's orders to begin? Was there something in there that it didn't want to do?"

The image changed to what I believe to be the Divine Phoenix Empire, "From what I have been able to understand, the Phoenix Spirit was corrupted by the surrounding humans, it wasn't able to keep the emotions it sensed out which led to its downfall."

Ah, humans, corrupting everything and everyone.

"This doesn't answer what you want from me though," I tell it.

"Now, for the thing that I wanted to ask of you." The room changes again, this time showing a young girl and the Phoenix Spirit. "The other Phoenix Spirit has chosen its successor, in the form of that young girl. I wish for you to find her so that I too could see if she has what it takes to become the true successor of the Phoenix."

Find her huh, that's not such a bad thing to request. Though with her being the Phoenix successor, she should be heavily protected by the Phoenix Empire. It might be a headache to get to her but it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

"So, you want me to bring her to you, right?" I asked the Phoenix for clarification.

"That is correct, yes." With the Phoenix confirming things, I already had a good 2 ideas on how to bring that girl here. Though I'll have to hash things out before even making an attempt contacting her.

"Well, I can try getting into contact with her later on." Now that I know what the Phoenix wants from me, I can honestly relax a bit more. But, this will have to wait until I'm back from the God Realm.

I have a solid way of getting there now, teleportation. I would just need to make sure that I arrive at an inhabited planet with sane people on there. The language I'm not so worried about because the language is the same where you go because the creator was lazy.

"What happens if that successor dies before I meet her?" This is a cultivation world after all, that worry isn't so unfound with how this world behaves.

I hear the Phoenix sigh, "That is unfortunately not an unfound fear but you do not have to worry, should that happen, I shall take my request back." Okay, great. I'm not bound by some contract or something like that.

I took out my notebook again and quickly wrote down another small goal. No wait, I should probably make a separate thing for missions like this, yeah, that's way better to organize things.

I opened up another page, a few slides away from my goals and wrote down missions. There I wrote down my now first mission from the Phoenix.

"I have been wondering about something, young one." I looked up to the Phoenix while dismissing my notebook back into my storage ring, "Do you not wish to go through the Phoenix trail and get the Phoenix blood?"

Ah, that. Yeah, no thanks. "No, I don't. I'll be honest with you, I don't like the kind of power you'll have over me once the blood of the Phoenix is in me." It's the truth, besides, I can't with a full heart say that I won't kill innocent people in the future, accidental or not.

"That is quite the unique motive. Out of all the 329 participants, all of them thought they could wield this power for good. Of course, only 7 ever passed the trail."

7? Out of 329? What is that? Like 2 percent?

"That is one harsh trail of only 7 ever managed to pass it." You have a higher chance of ADHD then passing this fucking trail.

The room changed to show people, probably all the ones who have taken the trail. "The first and second trail are the easier part, it is in the third trail where these people have failed." People slowly began disappearing until only 7 remained. "Out of these 7, three became the founders of the Phoenix Clan in this place. I am not sure what happened to the other 4 as I never heard of them again."

The plot thickness? I don't think so but I should keep an eye out for another Phoenix Clan.

Though this leaves me curious, "What is the third trail to make it so hard?"

The Phoenix eyes looked at me, "Hmm, I wonder if I should tell you." I shrugged my shoulders, if it doesn't want to, then that's that. I'm not going to fight it to tell me its secrets.

"Usually, I am not so curious about things but I cannot read you, meaning that even if I wished to, you cannot take this trail."

That's news. "What do you mean by not being able to read me?" I ask, the more I learn about things from the Phoenix, the more questions I have. Truly, a slippery slope.

The eyes concentrated on me for a hard second, "The Phoenix trails are set up in such a way that the first 2 trails test you on strength and endurance. The third trial however, is a test of heart."

"Test of heart? Like courage or something like that?" I ask out loud. I've seen stuff like that before, The waterfall that Naruto goes through is one of them. Does the Phoenix operate on the same rules?

"Almost, instead of courage, I test the character of a person. The original Phoenix was a kind creature, it was never wished for its strength to be inherited by those evil and heartless. It is why I cursed the fool who dared to harm those innocent and not repent on it."

Ah hypocrisy, how I love it. So, it's okay for the Phoenix to kill innocents but those that inherit its bloodline shall not. How kind.

Of course, I'm not gonna say any of this out loud, I'm not looking to make enemies with the Phoenix. I don't have the strength for it. Yet.

"So, how does this tie in with you not being able to read me?" I'm pretty sure I know why the Phoenix can't read me but having another person's look can't be bad.

The eyes shook themselves sideways, "Your soul, I cannot see into it. Each time I try to look into it, I only see darkness that feels like it will devour my very being."

So, the same as Ling, huh. I wonder if there is someone who can give me an answer to what happened to my soul or who changed it. But this isn't as important now, that answer will have to wait.

But for now, from what the Phoenix is saying, I can't take the third trial. "If I can't take your third trail, why are you even asking if I want to take it in the first place?" I wasn't going to take the trail in the first place but it has me curious.

"It left me puzzled. Every single person who has laid foot on these grounds has asked to take the trail for the Phoenix bloodline, only you haven't and it was for a unique reason that I have yet to hear from other people."

I wonder if I should go full on cringe on the Phoenix now? I know I already gave it a reason that is good enough but I have this itch to say something completely cringe. Oh, fuck it. I'll go full cringe mode.

"You know," I begin softly, "There was a man who told me something once and I've lived by it since." Slowly, I put my arm forward and in the palm of my hand I lit up a fire. "There is no road to almightiness for those using borrowed strength."

I put out the fire as quickly as I ended that sentence while putting my against the Phoenix. That was a mistake, I should not have said that. I try to fight down my blush while still feeling the Phoenix eyes on me.

Take a deep breath in, a deep breath out. Now repeat. Don't think about the cringe you just put out there.

"Alright, I need to make sure that the Phoenix Clan is doing alright. I'll be back after being done with setting them up for cultivation." I quickly ran away. My mind isn't strong enough to handle this cringe, I need to get even stronger.

But that's for another time, for now, the Phoenix Clan.

—

Chapter 13 End