Chapter Seventeen: A Phoenix Arrives with Elegant Bearing, Directly Expressing My Immortal Way

  "Is this what it feels like to fly?"

  Riding on the back of a crane, listening to the melodious cry of the crane, after the initial tension, I couldn't help but release my hands grasping the root of the crane's wings, opening my arms as if embracing the floating clouds in the sky, feeling carefree and joyful.

  "Flying with you is a completely different feeling."

  "Riding on a crane is even more so, if relying on one's own strength to fly into the sky, I wonder what kind of feeling it would be?"

  Ning Feng closed his eyes and savored the gentle breeze caressing his face, surrounded by swirling clouds, as if he was about to float away like an immortal, ascending directly to the Ninth Heaven.

  After the Fu Yao conference, Tian Yunzi brought his new disciples to fly up to the Tianyun Peak in the same way, but at that time, Ning Feng's mind was tense and he didn't feel the thrill of soaring through the sky and entering the blue sky.

  At this moment, sitting on the back of a crane, the thrill of flying is infinitely magnified. Ning Feng feels that relying on his own strength to take off and enter the blue sky makes him feel an unprecedented sense of anticipation and longing.

  Another crane's cry, still with a hint of excitement.

  "Huh?"

  The wind whispers in my ear, and after removing the sound of the crane's cry, I can still vaguely hear the "ding ding dong" of the piano melody, and feel the subtle hand on the strings, as if directly plucking the heartstrings.

  "This melody seems somewhat familiar."

  Ning Feng opened his eyes and found that the immortal crane had flown down slowly, looking around as if searching for something.

  Below, a large familiar building, was the outer gate of the Sun God Palace where he had lived for three years.

  "It's her!"

  "Chen Ximicro."

  Ning Feng slightly hesitated and recalled that he had only heard this piano piece once, which was at Chen Xiwei's place, and it had never been mentioned outside.

  The sound of the zither is like flowing water, directly bringing Ning Feng into the memories.

  "What's the name of this nice song?"

  Ning Feng walked out of the woods, shaking his head and asking.

  "Who allowed you to eavesdrop!"

  Chen Xiwei glared at Ning Feng and walked away with Yaoqin in her arms.

  "This was originally my training ground."

  Ning Feng shouted at Chen Xiwei's back: "You haven't told me what song it is yet?"

  "I won't say."

  Chen Ximiao's back trembled slightly, and the clear and pleasant voice seemed to add a hint of desolation: "You know it's useless anyway, after all..."

  "...and I won't play again from now on."

  ……

  Because it was a tune played by Chen Xiwei, and also because of the desolation of that moment, Ning Feng had a deep impression of this melody.

  He was just thinking of consulting with Brother He about whether they could land here, when the Immortal Crane suddenly dived towards the direction where the music came from.

  That attitude is not a phoenix seeking a phoenix, but a bird returning to its nest. Ning Feng was startled and hurriedly grasped the root of the immortal crane's wing again.

  Fortunately, he had this move, and the next moment, the immortal crane led people directly into the forest behind the mountain.

  In front of it, the crane's huge body was suspended directly from the tree, "Boom boom boom" a few sounds, one person and one crane hurriedly dodged, and fell together to the empty ground in the forest.

  "This..."

  The young man stood up, brushing off the leaves on his body with a bitter smile, and shrugged at the girl playing the zither in front of him.

  The girl's piano music didn't stop, but in the middle of it, a string vibrated and suddenly broke. The girl's slender hands rotated, using the remaining strings to continue the melody intact.

  I don't know if it was the crash that woke me up or the tremolo sound, but after Xianhe got up in disarray, he looked at Ningfeng and then at Chen Xiwei, seemingly very embarrassed, flapped his wings as a greeting, and then flew away with a "whoosh".

  Xianhe walked away, and Ning Feng and Chen Xiwei suddenly became more natural with each other.

  "You used to be so carefree and elegant."

  Ning Feng smiled and walked forward, listening to the music with one ear while sizing up the girl in front of him and their surroundings.

  This clearing in the woods was exactly where he first heard this tune.

  The girl in front of her had a slightly damp hair, stuck to her round face, losing some of the elegance, but gaining a few points of purity and charm, as if she had just taken a bath.

  Chen Xiwei lowered his head, as if still focused on the piano piece, and his voice came through the gaps in the melody:

  I returned to the outer gate to collect things and saw the jade zither, so I casually played a tune.

  She explained too much, from beginning to end, covering every aspect, and the more Ning Feng listened, the more colorful his expression became.

  He smiled slightly and said with a smile: "Tune up a Ning Lang Gu Ma?"

  "Clang!"

  Chen Ximiao's hands pressed down on the strings fiercely, and she raised her head in anger.

  Even with a furious face as red as blood, her round and naturally lovely face still can't give people the feeling of being intimidated.

  "Hmmph!"

  She snorted softly, took a deep breath, and her slender fingers danced across the strings again, changing the subject.

  "Your heart's great wish, under the radiant light of the Great Sun God, has transformed into a fierce and intense vital energy, bringing life to its most extreme and vivid expression. I have watched it and felt deeply moved."

  "It's just..."

  Chen Xi glanced at Ning Feng with a hint of disdain and said, "Your great wish sounds too ordinary."

  "Is it normal?"

  Ning Feng shrugged his shoulders, listened to the piano music with his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth, as if thinking about something.

  Normally, on other topics, Chen Ximeng would respond casually and wouldn't argue with him.

  Today, for some reason, Ning Feng had a feeling of pouring out his heart, or rather, on this topic, he didn't want to echo anyone, not even Chen Xiwei.

  "Buddhist gate, seeking is for the next life"

  Confucianism, what is proven is one's own learning.

  The Demon Gate, reborn in destruction.

  Only my immortal way is cultivated in this life, it is of this world, and it is now.

  The gentle breeze suddenly stops, with arms outstretched, the remaining moonlight and dawn wind are gathered into his embrace.

  "What is this life?"

  "I once wandered in the spiritual realm, lost in the deep mountains, and saw a giant land tortoise lazily crawling out to bask in the sun, its body enormous, with a lifespan of thousands of years."

  Ning Feng spoke of his experiences in the Soul Realm, and Chen Xiwei couldn't help but focus his attention.

  "At the time, I was extremely hungry in my stomach, so I slaughtered the old turtle. The turtle shell became a pot, the turtle blood mixed with wine, and the turtle meat filled my belly. Finally, I even used the cracked turtle shell to divine an oracle, unfortunately, it didn't come true."

  Ning Feng spread his two hands out in a gesture of regret.

  Chen Ximiao burst out laughing, and the sound of the guqin almost became disordered.

  Killed a thousand-year-old tortoise to make turtle stew and eat meat with wine, then used the tortoise shell to divine and still wanted to hit it on target. Do you think the vengeful spirit won't disperse? Hmm?

  "Look, even tortoises in the mountains can live for a thousand years."

  "What's the point of living a long life, what's the use of not seeing or hearing anything, if one doesn't have a carefree and unrestrained life? If there isn't a life that can't be bound by heaven and earth, that can't make all people under heaven envy, that can't make everyone know, then what's the point of cultivating immortality?"

  "Again, longevity and far-sightedness are nothing more than being on a par with the turtles in the mountains, the ignorant wood and stone."

  The two arms of Ningfeng stretched out even wider, the gentle breeze slowly entered this empty space in the forest and suddenly stopped, as if even the wind knew to avoid something.

  "In my mind, the fairy way is that heaven and earth cannot block my eyes, and heavenly heart cannot control my heart. Drinking the most intense spiritual wine, eating the most exquisite and beautiful food, doing the most exciting and thrilling things..."

  "The most intense life is the one that makes me worthy of being born into this world."

  After the excitement subsided, Ning Feng calmed down and his tone returned to its usual warmth. He smiled and said, "This is just like when I used to tell you stories a few years ago. No matter what profound truths are hidden in the story, it has to be a good story for you to listen to."

  "My ideal fairy way is also like this, able to make life wonderful, and then talk about longevity and long sight, with the same age as heaven and earth!"

  Accompanied by his words, a loud explosion sounded, and the thunder rolled, as if the heavens were still venting their unspent anger.

  Ning Feng raised his head and curled his lip: "You can't scare me, no matter how many times you say it, it's still the same sentence."

  Chen Ximiao watched his childish movements, shook her head, lost a smile, and focused on playing the zither.

  The sound of the qin turned into a passionate and stirring melody, reaching its climax. Ning Feng listened quietly, as if hearing the flower of life blooming with the most intense passion!

  It was unknown how long had passed, but the sound of the guqin had stopped for a while. The two people who were immersed in the music woke up and smiled at each other.

  "I'm leaving, see you later, we'll meet again in the temple of gods."

  With a gentle breeze, she swung her sleeve and turned to walk away.

  He emerged from the empty space, walked through the forest, his footsteps light and easy. The previous words had poured out of his heart, as if he had said something that made everything clear, and in terms of mood, it was like the sudden clarity of a crystal body, with a sense of sudden ease.

  "The nine deaths mental state seems to have been touched as well."

  "Nine deaths and still I have a heart that delights in it; even if I were to die nine times, I would not regret it. But how can one thoroughly understand this?"

  Ning Feng was about to step out of the forest when he suddenly heard a "rumbling" sound behind him, and the strings of his zither vibrated like a bowstring.

  The next moment, the sound of the guqin came from afar in the forest, playing the same melody, depicting the most dazzling fireworks in the world, so intense that it made people want to throw their heads back and scream with joy.

  Ning stood quietly there, closed her eyes and listened from head to toe.

  As it came to an end, accompanied by that one lingering note, he could even recreate in his mind the scene of her slender fingers gliding over the strings.

  The name of this song is: Phoenix Arrives with Auspicious Signs!

  Chen Xiwei's voice clearly entered Ning Feng's ears.

  Then, there was complete silence.

  "Wow!"

  Ning Feng's face relaxed into a smile, and he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. He heard the faint rustling sound in his ears and knew that Chen Xiwei had already left. In his heart, he silently recited the three words "Feng Lai Yi". After three years, he finally learned the name of this melody.

  "A Phoenix Arrives in Splendid Clothes, I wonder what relationship she has with the Phoenix Arrival in her grand vow?"

  "What a coincidence?"

  Ning Feng shook his head, he didn't even believe this conclusion himself.

  He put it aside for now and stepped into the outer disciple residence of the Divine Palace.

  As he walked along, people kept rushing towards Ning Feng to pay their respects and greet him.

  They were all eliminated, old men among the outer disciples. Every three years, those who failed to enter the Divine Palace's walls and did not want to leave could choose to stay in the outer sect, but they no longer had to specialize in cultivating the Medicine Master Liuli Scripture and could cultivate other techniques instead.

  After years of accumulation, there were indeed many disciples outside the sect who had achieved impressive cultivation. However, regardless of their seniority or level of cultivation, they couldn't help but look at Ning Feng with admiring eyes and address him as "Shixiong" (senior brother) with a bow.

  The Roc rises with the wind one morning, and soars up 90,000 miles straight away.

  After today's Fu Yao conference, the difference in identity between each other is like the difference between clouds and mud.

  Mr. Ning was calm and gentle in demeanor, either nodding or returning the courtesy or chatting, until he saw his own father, Ning Caichen, when a whole incense stick's worth of time had passed.

  "Dad, let's go home."

  Ning Feng rushed forward and supported Ning Caichen who had run out.

  Two men, father and son, went down the mountain, heading towards Chaoyang Town. The sound of their conversation echoed back as they walked away.

  "Are you going back to pack your things?"

  "No, I'm waiting for someone."