Chapter 89

The two words of atonement were like the roar of a golden bell in the sky.

Shang Youqing's eardrums were buzzing, and the whole person seemed to be nailed in front of the sacred tree of Lingmen. There was no way to defend himself.

And he was unwilling to admit the last two words.

The fingertips under his sleeves were all covered with blood marks from pinching himself, and the bright red blood beads stained the pure and flawless sleeves, rustling in the wind.

"I--"

Shang Youqing raised her head slowly, and the words rolled around in the depths of her throat and came to her mouth sluggishly.

However, just as she opened her mouth.

The back of the high-level Nine Heavens Spiritual Gate, so thin that it seemed like it was about to fall at any time, was firmly supported from behind.

Shang Youqing's shoulders stiffened slightly, and she wanted to turn her head to look over, but the warm palm pressed on her shoulder, preventing her from looking back.

Then, the compassionate voice of the priest sounded above her head.

"Since Heaven knows the Phoenix isn't entirely to blame, why should it accuse her of such a grave sin?"

Shang Youqing murmured hoarsely. "Father..."

The priest gently patted her shoulder, hushing her.

Shang Youqing pursed her lips and lowered her head, feeling even more embarrassed.

She felt completely unseemly.

This would have been a perfectly normal matter for anyone, but because the other half of the two phoenix chicks had dragon blood flowing through their veins—a fact that was strictly enshrined in the laws of Heaven and could not be tolerated.

Therefore, she must kneel here and endure the cold, disciplinary judgment.

She had fully prepared herself, ready to accept whatever punishment awaited her.

But now, she was asking the priest to follow her into unseemliness.

The priest, always revered by the Nine Heavens, had come here for her.

There was even a very real possibility that her mistakes would jeopardize his past achievements.

Shang Youqing heard the celestial voice echo coldly through the falling golden leaves.

"Shang Que, Heaven understands your desire to protect the Phoenix, but wrong is wrong. You should understand the principles that the Phoenix doesn't."

The priest calmly waved his sleeve, and a phoenix token, formed from divine feathers, adorned the branches of the sacred tree.

"While it was wrong, it was also my fault for failing to discipline her properly. Please, Heaven, forgive her for her youth."

Shang Youqing looked up in disbelief as she watched the priest hand over the phoenix token, which summoned the divine power of the birds of heaven and earth. Her hands went numb, and her vision blurred.

The sacred tree above her was silent for a long moment before the heavenly voice finally descended.

"Phoenix, Heaven grants you a chance to atone."

Four golden leaves slowly fell before Shang Youqing's knees.

Each leaf was engraved with the form of a spiritual weapon in a golden shimmer.

...

Cheng Huang, sprawled outside the spiritual gate, was snoring soundly in the cloud. He caught the scent of the priest and opened his eyes to see him descending the long steps, carrying the Phoenix on his back.

Cheng Huang, unaware of what had transpired at the Lingmen Gate, saw Fenghuang unconscious on the priest's back, tears streaming down her face, her hands dangling from the priest's neck, both stained with blood. Concerned

, he approached. "Father, what happened to Fenghuang?"

The priest tilted his head slightly, gazing at the tear-stained, pale face lying beside his shoulder. He whispered, suggestively, "She's badly injured."

Back at the Kunlun Mountain Temple, Shang Youqing lay in bed for two full days before fully waking.

Moreover, after waking, unlike her previous passive treatment, Shang Youqing took the initiative to change her dressings daily. She no longer curled up her battered tail feathers in self-loathing, but began to groom them neatly and force herself to practice going back to flight.

Every day, she would switch back to her true form and fly down Kunlun Mountain over and over again.

Cheng Huang followed closely, fearful that Fenghuang would be shattered to pieces if she wasn't careful.

When Shang Youqing first started flying again, she would stumble and fall onto the rocks on the cliffs. She wouldn't let Cheng Huang come to pick her up, insisting on climbing up from the broken cliffs and flying again.

Every day, she'd fall and bruise herself, then return to the courtyard to change her medicine.

The priest saw it all, but didn't stop her.

One day, Shang Youqing had just returned from flying across Kunlun Mountain and had just switched back to human form and returned to the courtyard when the priest happened to be in the pharmacy, boiling some medicine. As soon as she entered, he handed her a bowl of medicine.

"Drink the medicine."

Shang Youqing took it and drank it in one gulp, then said to the priest, "Father, I'm going down the mountain."

The priest washed the bowl slowly, "No hurry, rest for a while."

Shang Youqing walked around to the priest with a stern face, "I'm in a hurry."

"There's no use in being anxious."

"Father, my tail feathers have recovered, and my heart meridians have also recovered."

Shang Youqing wanted to release his spiritual power to the priest, but the priest shook his head and smiled, "Xiaoqing, Father knows what you are thinking, but this matter requires long-term consideration."

Shang Youqing was silent for a moment, and couldn't help but stretched out his hand to stop the priest's action: "During the time of recuperation, I have been thinking about going down the mountain every day. Father, I am not impulsive, I am really prepared."

Hearing this, the priest lowered his eyes and paused, and finally raised his eyes again, "Have you thought about it?"

Shang Youqing nodded calmly.

The priest stared at her for a while, sighed helplessly, slowly wiped his hands, turned and walked towards his room, "Come with me."

The priest took out a translucent spiritual bracelet from the treasure house, held Shang Youqing's hand, and put it into her slender wrist, "I should have given this magic weapon to Xiaoqing when she went through the adult molting period."

Shang Youqing looked down in a daze. The spiritual bracelet on her wrist was made of warm jade, and through the clear bracelet surface, one could clearly see the condensed moonlight and spiritual energy inside, and the fairy mist was lingering, as if there was a pure world in the bracelet.

"Father knows you won't be able to return easily this time. The spiritual bracelet will protect you if necessary. Remember not to remove it without permission."

Shang Youqing's throat was thick with a clog. He silently embraced the priest, closed his eyes, and rested his head on his shoulder. After a long pause, he managed to speak. "I know it's all my fault. I've implicated you, Father. I'll return as soon as possible and retrieve your Phoenix token from the Heavenly Dao."

The priest lowered his head, patted the little Phoenix on the back, and smiled softly. "Father trusts Xiaoqing."

Shang Youqing packed his belongings, bid farewell to the priest, and left Kunlun Mountain with Cheng Huang.

"Phoenix, where should we go first?"

"To find the descendant of Feng Bo Yu Shi and borrow something from him."

According to the information on the first golden leaf, the spiritual artifact was currently in the hands of Feng Bo Yu Shi's descendant.

However, that descendant hadn't yet completed his cultivation and was stationed on a southern island.

Before Shang Youqing and Cheng Huang went to find him, they had carefully researched his identity in the human realm.

Cheng Huang transformed back to his youthful appearance and got the data file, which made his eyes sparkle.