84. Phoenix Nirvana
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"Fatty! Fatty! Come out!"
Ma Hongjun, who had just returned with a bun in his mouth, heard the familiar voice and nickname. His chubby face instinctively twitched as he approached cautiously and asked, "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
Xiao Wu was taken aback and quickly turned around, complaining, "Can't you all walk without making any noise?"
Then she seemed to remember something and handed over two jade boxes to him. "He gave these to you and Oscar."
Ma Hongjun looked at Xiao Wu, who bounced away, with a perplexed expression. His sister-in-law's actions seemed random and without any explanation. Was it really appropriate?
"I know nothing about this! It's just two words and items handed to me, and then she left," Ma Hongjun lamented. He weighed the jade boxes in his hands helplessly and entered the male dormitory in front of him.
Without any regard, he pushed open the wooden door, which made a piercing sound, awakening the dazed Oscar. Ma Hongjun handed the steamed stuffed bun to Oscar, who hadn't eaten yet, and went to the table, placing the two jade boxes he held on it.
"What's this? Something delicious?" Oscar asked with a mouthful of bun.
As Oscar inspected the two jade boxes more closely, he exclaimed in amazement, "Fatty, you've hit the jackpot! These are made of pure jade, right?"
Although the Golden Soul Coin was the common currency on the mainland, there were always some items that held universal value, such as jade, soul tools, and soul bones. Generally, the better the craftsmanship and the more powerful the function, the more expensive they were. The two jade boxes in front of them appeared seamless, and their value was self-evident.
Ma Hongjun speechlessly patted away Oscar's greasy hand. "I just wanted to touch the buns after grabbing them. If the jade boxes are dirty, I won't be able to afford to compensate you." After a few teasing remarks, Ma Hongjun explained, "Sister-in-law said the boss gave them to us."
Upon hearing this, Oscar raised his eyebrows, quickly dried his hands, flipped through the two jade boxes, and handed one to Ma Hongjun, gesturing for him to open it first.
Speechless, Ma Hongjun didn't know if it was another prank by his sister-in-law, but as he saw the crooked handwriting on the box, his expression gradually turned serious.
"To Ma Hongjun."
"Phoenix Nirvana."
Just these few words made Ma Hongjun's body covered in goosebumps. Such calligraphy was definitely not something his sister-in-law could produce. After silently staring for a while, Ma Hongjun raised his hand, wiped his hands hastily as if remembering something, carefully saved the label, and opened the jade box.
Inside, he found a thin jade tablet with a letter on it. Picking up the letter solemnly, Ma Hongjun ignored Oscar, who had come over at an unknown time and stopped laughing. He opened the envelope, took out the letter paper, and began to read.
"I hope Hongjun will read this personally.
In my youth, I heard a story.
It was a conversation between an old man and a young girl.
Although I would prefer not to borrow other people's dialogue, I believe it is very suitable for this situation.
A long time ago, there was a phoenix nest on a mountain, and it contained two phoenix eggs. One day, an earthquake occurred suddenly, causing one of the phoenix eggs to roll out of the nest and fall into a chicken farm in the valley.
After a few days, a beautiful phoenix hatched from the egg. However, this phoenix grew up believing it was a chicken, as it was raised among them. One day, while playing in the chicken farm, it looked up and saw a magnificent phoenix flying in the sky.
The phoenix sighed, 'How I wish I could soar in the air like them!'
Its little friends mercilessly laughed at it and said, 'You were born a chicken, and you're so ugly. How could you ever fly like a phoenix?'
From then on, every time it tried to fly, the chicks would taunt, 'You can't fly!'
Eventually, the phoenix began to believe that it couldn't fly. It carried on this way until it died of old age, never having flown.
This story teaches us that destiny can be like a phoenix falling into a chicken coop.
If you dream of becoming a true phoenix, don't give up.
Perhaps, you are a phoenix!
That concludes the story.
You have three options before you.
Take your current cultivation level and gamble on absorbing the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower. This will likely purify the evil fire within your body and transform your martial soul into a fire phoenix.
Gamble with your life and absorb the Fire and Apricot. This fairy grass is incredibly powerful, surpassing the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower by far. However, it is challenging to subdue.
Choose not to gamble and continue your gradual practice.
Reminder: Keep the box upright; the one on the left contains the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower.
The letter ends here.
Lu Yuan has left his pen, so there's no need to return it."
Unlike most people, Lu Yuan always spoke his mind and wrote what he wanted to say. He disregarded formats and rules. Apologies, but he had an unruly temperament from birth, and especially during this healing period, that temperament had reached its extreme. Although his bad traits were eliminated, this independent thinking persisted beyond his bad traits and survived by chance. However, at this moment, no one paid attention to the letter's failure to meet specifications.
Both Ma Hongjun and Oscar couldn't help but shed tears. Every word in this letter didn't directly mention Ma Hongjun's current situation, yet it continuously resonated with his inner sorrow. Was he a phoenix? Yes, he was.
Born in a small village, his martial soul underwent a mutation and transformed into an evil fire phoenix.
But is he truly a phoenix?
No, he isn't.
From the beginning to the end, his martial soul remained the evil fire phoenix, lacking the nobility and power of a true phoenix!
Though he stubbornly refused to accept it, the truth of being a "grass chicken" had taken root in his heart. No one had come to help him prove that the evil fire phoenix was not a mere chicken. Gradually, he began using self-deprecating humor as a defense mechanism.
Until he encountered the boss for the first time. Despite knowing the flaws in his martial soul, the boss displayed no hint of dislike or pity in his eyes. Instead, he encouragement him and showed a firm belief in his future.
"Am I actually a phoenix?" Ma Hongjun muttered to himself, his expression filled with confusion. But then, his gaze fell upon the label once more—"Phoenix Nirvana."
"It's time for the phoenix to be reborn!" he convinced himself.
And with that, he burst into laughter.
Without hesitation, he folded the letter, carefully placed it back into the envelope, and gently lifted the thin jade tablet.
As if triggered by some mechanism, a shimmering silver light appeared briefly but was swiftly engulfed by an intense wave of heat.
The temperature in the room began to rise rapidly.
In just a moment, Oscar felt a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead. Ma Hongjun had summoned his evil fire phoenix, which seemed to help alleviate some of the overwhelming heat. Yet, even with the presence of his martial soul, Ma Hongjun's complexion grew darker.
The heat emitted by the two lifeless fairy grasses couldn't be quelled even by his evil fire phoenix, leaving him only able to protect Oscar to some extent.
How powerful were these two fairy grasses?
And his boss had managed to obtain and seal them within the jade boxes.
How vast was the gap between them?
Ma Hongjun didn't want to dwell on this meaningless question, for he knew that this was the only opportunity the boss had given him to catch up!
If the boss was the divine dragon in the heavens, then for his evil fire phoenix to follow suit, it had to evolve into a pure-blooded phoenix, even if it couldn't reach the level of a divine phoenix!
He never had this chance before.
But now, the boss had bestowed it upon him!
If he failed to seize it, he would be unworthy of continuing to follow that heavenly dragon!
"Oscar, go ahead and make your way to the dean and Teacher Zhao," Ma Hongjun instructed, handing the scorching jade box to Oscar. He then pushed Oscar out the door and closed it tightly.
Failure was not an option. There were better options available, so why would he settle for being a chicken?
He was a phoenix!
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