With Xiao Mengyao reaching the bottleneck of her cultivation, the time had finally come to choose the place where she would attempt her breakthrough.
Ye Ping’an hesitated for a long while before ultimately deciding to take her to the place where the protagonist of the original story had achieved their great leap forward.
After all, the other locations were far too dangerous. The crucial thing was that Xiao Mengyao was still young.
If she couldn’t handle the pressure and died… it wouldn’t just mean the end of the future Ye Ping’an had grasped—he also genuinely couldn’t bear to watch her die.
Their destination this time wasn’t too far from where the protagonist Feng Aotian had once trained. Still within the Feng Clan’s domain, it was a place known as Mount Qifeng—Roosting Phoenix Mountain.
The Feng Clan—just by hearing the name, one could guess their connection to phoenixes. And indeed, the legend was true.
They said that long ago, a phoenix once roosted at Mount Qifeng. The Feng Clan had established their base there because of it.
Though generations had passed since then, and no one knew for certain whether the Feng Clan still bore any real relation to that phoenix, there was no denying that the protagonist Feng Aotian was a direct descendant of that sacred bird.
How was that possible? It all traced back to the mystery surrounding her missing parents.
Because—well—she was the protagonist. Anyone familiar with stories like these knew the drill: tragic past, noble bloodlines, lost parents who would one day become important plot devices.
Feng Aotian didn’t stumble upon her destiny by luck. No, her encounter with fate began the moment she awakened the Wind Blood Constitution.
That same day, a dormant wisp of the phoenix’s soul—left behind from its past—awoke and began following her silently, becoming her guide.
This wisp played a pivotal role throughout the protagonist’s journey—rescuing her from countless life-or-death situations, offering wisdom and strength, and quietly worrying itself sick over her reckless behavior.
It even tried, several times, to correct the protagonist’s… preferences. But sadly, not only did it fail, it ended up falling for her.
Eventually, Feng Aotian—riding high on charisma and charm—conquered the very being meant to guide her.
That wisp of the phoenix’s soul, once a respected elder and mentor, became her devoted and ever-present little wife.
Of course, while Feng Aotian’s story was billed as a “yuri harem,” her harem was composed entirely of beautiful girls. No housewives. No NTR. Just pure, elegant chaos.
As for the phoenix itself—it was a being of such high-tier existence that a single drop of its blood could spawn an entire race.
So while Feng Aotian was technically descended from the Feng Clan’s ancestor, it was merely a faint bloodline connection.
Judging by the fact that the protagonist managed to win her first blood from the phoenix, it was obvious: this divine bird, regardless of her seniority, was still a virgin.
And so, time flowed quietly.
***
Five months later, with all preparations complete, Ye Ping’an set off once more with the goal of helping Xiao Mengyao achieve her breakthrough.
Their destination: Mount Qifeng—the place he’d debated over for so long.
Same formation as before: Xiao Mengyao stood in front, controlling the flying sword. Ye Ping’an stood in the middle, controlling Xiao Mengyao.
And behind them, as always, Ningyue gripped the three of them tightly to keep everything steady.
But half a year of growth had changed things. Ningyue had once easily wrapped her arms around all three of them—now, even with twisting and squeezing, she was struggling.
At this rate, they’d have to rethink their flying formation soon.
Though Ye Ping’an had adjusted to the setup over several trips, he still couldn’t help the stir of emotion every time he felt the warmth pressing against him from behind.
Every journey became a battle between focus and temptation.
Sometimes, he even felt like he was about to awaken.
Compared to their previous trips, this one was longer and more distant—though still within Feng Clan territory.
Ye Ping’an wasn’t sure how long this breakthrough would take, or even whether Xiao Mengyao could successfully reach the thirteenth layer of Qi Refinement.
So before leaving, he’d already informed Ye Lingtian and Shen Mengting of his plan.
The two were already used to Ye Ping’an’s frequent disappearances and didn’t question him much.
What Ye Ping’an didn’t know, though, was that not long after his departure, Ye Lingtian also set off on a journey—heading to a different destination, but still within the Feng Clan’s domain.
Mount Qifeng. A name that had echoed through the clan for generations.
Every Feng Clan member had heard of it. Many had ventured there, hoping to find traces of the mythical phoenix or uncover some divine treasure.
But they all returned empty-handed. No treasures. No lingering aura of the phoenix. Nothing.
Worse yet, the strange heat inside the mountain’s caves had left many explorers gravely ill, their bodies weakened and spirit drained.
As time passed, fewer and fewer dared approach Mount Qifeng. Eventually, the area became deserted, overgrown, nearly forgotten.
By the time Ye Ping’an and the girls arrived, after several days of travel, the mountain looked… utterly ordinary. No grandeur. No mystical glow. Just another peak among countless others.
Xiao Mengyao and Ningyue exchanged puzzled glances.
This?
This was the great place that would help someone break through to the thirteenth layer of Qi Refinement?
To Xiao Mengyao, it didn’t matter. Her senior said to go, so she went. She didn’t know what the thirteenth layer really meant in the cultivation world.
But Ningyue—Ningyue knew.
It meant breaking free from the natural limits of the human body. It meant boundless potential. It meant earning a seat among the truly powerful.
Most of all, it meant a person’s chances of attaining immortality were ten percent higher than others’.
Ten percent. That might not sound like much—until you remembered that for most people trying to transcend their tribulations, the odds of success were less than thirty percent.
Some would do horrific, unforgivable things just to boost their chances by half a percent.
So for someone to hit the thirteenth layer of Qi Refinement… that was monumental.
Even back in Ningyue’s own family, only her father had ever achieved it. She herself had never dared to dream of it under normal circumstances.
But now? If Xiao Mengyao could truly break through here—just as the young master claimed—then perhaps… perhaps she could too, one day.
Ye Ping’an, unaware of the two girls’ swirling thoughts, simply stared at the mountain before him, recalling the original novel’s descriptions.
Traditionally, phoenixes roosted in wutong trees—hence the phrase “Phoenix roosts in the wutong.”
The reason this phoenix had once stayed here was because it had died here—and been reborn.
It had undergone nirvana.
That single rebirth had left a lingering aura behind. A powerful, spiritual pressure born from death and transformation.
The kind of force that could push a cultivator past their limits—just like breaking through from the twelfth to the thirteenth layer of Qi Refinement required a fundamental shattering of one’s inner vessels.
And the overwhelming heat that weakened ordinary explorers?
It wasn’t a trap.
It was the phoenix’s will of rebirth—a remnant of nirvana.