Chapter 45: The Birth of the Vermilion Bird

A cry of a phoenix echoed across the firmament, causing all beasts to submit in allegiance.

Needless to say, the Elephant-Phoenix Derivative and the Azure Luan tribes were deeply shaken, though the impact was much smaller on descendants of divine beasts like the Ink Qilin tribe. The witch doctors of various tribes frantically cast divination lots, yet every single result pointed to the exact same outcome: "The Divine Phoenix has been born."

Hearing the phoenix cry and sensing Chi'er's return, Feng Yu led Qiyue out of the cave. In the distance, a streak of red light was hurtling toward them. Sensing a hint of danger, Feng Yu instantly transformed into a fiery phoenix and flew up to meet it.

[Feng Chi, stop! Stop right now!] Feng Yu shouted anxiously.

Overjoyed to see his father meeting him, Feng Chi was confused when he heard his father telling him to halt. What was going on? He came to a stop, tilted his head, and looked at his father for an explanation.

Only then did Feng Yu get a clear look at Chi'er's current appearance. The color of the phoenix feathers remained unchanged, yet they appeared more vibrant and fluid, resembling flowing magma. His stature was like a scaled-down version of Feng Yu's own beast form, a size larger than before his baptism. At the top of his head grew nine crown crests, while nine phoenix tails fanned out in different directions from his rear, each feather eye resembling a cluster of blazing flames. His phoenix eyes were even more striking, looking just like the most dazzling rubies radiating wisps of golden light. Gazing into them felt as though one's soul were being sucked in, threatened with being burned down to absolute nothingness. This was the Divine Phoenix, the Vermilion Bird!

Suppressing the wave of awe in his heart, Feng Yu slowly explained, [Chi'er, your beast form is of a higher tier than your father's. If you draw near your mother, my protective aura will not be able to shield her. Therefore, until you learn to fully control your beast form and your divine flames, you must not come close to us.]

[How can this be? Sob, sob... Do you not want me anymore?] Chi'er began to weep.

"Chi'er, what nonsense are you spouting? We are your father and mother; how could we possibly not want you?" Qiyue, having just arrived on the scene, naturally overheard their exchange and scolded him with a smile.

[But Father said that if I get close to you, I will hurt you.] Chi'er said with a wronged expression.

"If the protective aura isn't strong enough, then Chi'er can simply share a portion of your own protective aura with your mother," Qiyue said, feigning anger.

Hearing this, Feng Chi's eyes lit up. He turned his head toward Feng Yu and asked, [Is that allowed?]

[Uh, I have never heard of such a thing.] Feng Yu said sheepishly.

Qiyue removed the guardian stone from her neck and said to Feng Chi, "Come, Chi'er, drop a drop of blood onto this stone and swear the oath of protection before the Beast God."

Chi'er cared little about losing a few drops of blood; he cared far more about the warmth of his mother's embrace. Furthermore, protecting his mother was an obligation that naturally befell him as a son.

[Very well!] The sharp quill at the tip of Feng Chi's right wing sliced across his left wing, causing a few drops of blood to fall onto the guardian stone. [The Beast God is my witness. Here and now, I, Feng Chi, vow to protect my Mother alongside my Father.]

A flash of red light swept across, and Feng Chi's blood was absorbed into the guardian stone, forming a simple, elegant pattern along its edge.

At this moment, Feng Yu resumed his human form, took the guardian stone back to staunch the bleeding on Feng Chi's wing, and stared intently at the newly formed pattern on the stone. "I never imagined this would actually work."

"To be honest, I wasn't certain it was feasible either," Qiyue said with an embarrassed smile. "However, I felt that restricting the guardian oath solely to romantic protection was far too narrow-minded. Why shouldn't filial protection be possible?" she countered.

Feng Yu returned the guardian stone to Qiyue and said, "Indeed. We simply hadn't encountered this situation before. This is the very first time an offspring's bloodline tier has surpassed that of their father. That must be why your prolonged coma back then was most likely caused by Chi'er's powerful bloodline."

"A coma was certainly probable, but remaining unconscious for such a long time was likely due to failing to replenish sufficient nutrients during pregnancy, which damaged my body. The healing effects of the holy spring water were gradual, taking a full three years to restore me," Qiyue surmised as she carefully put away the guardian stone.

"What will happen if you get pregnant again in the future and fall into another coma?" Feng Yu asked worriedly.

A blush spread across Qiyue's face as she replied, "If I fall unconscious again, just boil all kinds of nutritious soups to feed me, juice the fruits for me to drink, and fulfill my every need if I require anything." She felt her life was full of unexpected twists; if another such accident happened in the future, she saw no reason to torture her own body, and she certainly couldn't let anything harm her child. Once was more than enough.

Feng Yu silently committed her words to heart. It was impossible for the two of them to have only a single child like Feng Chi, and such a contingency had to be guarded against.

"Feng Yu, now that Chi'er has recovered, shouldn't he transform now? Bring out the medicinal herbs," Qiyue said, turning her thoughts to the matter of Chi'er's transformation.

[Transform? Mother, is it like this?] Enveloped entirely in red light, Feng Chi watched as the radiance faded after two minutes. Standing before them was a plump, unclad, exquisitely sculpted chubby baby, about the size of a one-year-old child in modern times.

"Wow! So adorable!" Qiyue scooped Chi'er up and planted a resounding, affectionate kiss on his cheek. Feng Yu looked on with overwhelming jealousy; he wanted to be kissed as well.

Chi'er turned bright red, feeling terribly shy from his mother's enthusiastic embrace. "Mother, why are you kissing me like that?"

"Um, Feng Yu, do the little beastmen of your tribe all possess the ability to speak the moment they transform?" Qiyue asked in bewilderment. She recalled that the little beastmen of the Luanyu tribe could only speak in human form once they reached the age of one.

"The little beastmen in our tribe only learn to speak after they are a year old." Feng Yu was equally clueless as to why this was happening.

"Chi'er, has your bloodline inheritance awakened?" Qiyue asked with a serious expression.

Hugging his mother's neck obediently, Feng Chi replied, "It has awakened. The primordial Phoenix God gave birth to five children: the thunder-elemental Jiufenghuang, the fire-elemental Vermilion Bird, the metal-elemental Jiufeng, the wind-elemental Azure Luan, and the ice-elemental Honghu. All of these five-colored divine phoenixes possessed nine tails. As the bloodline has gradually thinned over generations, phoenixes born with elemental abilities have become increasingly scarce. I have awakened the complete, unadulterated fire-elemental bloodline of the Vermilion Bird. The lineages of other divine beasts share a similar state to that of our phoenix clan."

"Chi'er, are you saying you are the Vermilion Bird, the Divine Phoenix?" Feng Yu stared at his son in astonishment. Everything Chi'er described was absent from the oral traditions passed down through generations in their tribe.

"Father, I am the Vermilion Bird. As for 'Divine Phoenix,' that is merely a respectful title bestowed by later generations upon those original five phoenixes. Therefore, I am simply the Vermilion Bird." Their little Feng Chi remained remarkably modest.

"Given that Chi'er managed to transform successfully without the aid of medicinal herbs and can speak in human form right away, it is undoubtedly due to the power of the Vermilion Bird's bloodline. We need not worry," Feng Yu concluded with finality.

"Very well, now that Chi'er is back, let's go. Mother will wrap some dumplings for you. I found plenty of chives earlier, and chives and pork filling are Mother's absolute favorite for dumplings. With you away, I had no heart to make them. Feng Yu, go and mince the meat filling." Reassured and relieved, Qiyue carried Chi'er toward the nearby stream to harvest chives.

By the time the mother and son returned with the chives, Feng Yu had already minced over fifty catties of meat filling. "Wait, why did you mince so much meat? How long is it going to take us to wrap all this?"

"It's fine. You teach, and I'll wrap. Otherwise, how could it possibly be enough for a single meal for our father and son duo?" Feng Yu answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.