Tomb raiding: A mere 20 is nothing!

"Honey, you're kidding, right?"

Molina remained skeptical of the Phoenix proposal.

Pelléas also thought it was unreliable. His pupils shifted: "How about we use a fake to deceive everyone, to pull off a complete cover-up?"

"With your abilities, making a fake rock shouldn't be difficult. I think it's safer to exchange the fake rock for a real meteorite. What do you think?"

Phoenix: "Feasible."

"The meteorite has been located." Pellias continued his analysis: "There is still a more crucial and troublesome problem left—how do you kill the Heavenly Dao? It's not as simple as just winning; your strength must far surpass that of the Heavenly Dao itself."

He's right.

Killing the Heavenly Dao means slaying the gods.

Killing a local deity is not that simple.

The phoenix became much more dejected: "Before I fell into slumber, I was no match for the Heavenly Dao at all, and I couldn't even withstand a single blow from it. The Heavenly Dao simply couldn't kill me."

"Now, the world has changed, and I have entered the mature stage. I have also inherited the purest wisp of primordial power condensed by the clan, and my cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds."

"Even so, my struggle against the Heavenly Dao can only be a 30/70 split—the Heavenly Dao gets 70%, and I get 30%. To completely destroy the Heavenly Dao, this ratio must at least be reversed."

After hearing the phoenix's frank confession, the number of people who were depressed increased from one to three, and they sighed to each other.

Phoenix: "Difficult."

Molina shook her head: "Too difficult."

Pellias shook his head: "The road to Shu is harder than ascending to heaven."

If you speak in an overly literary style, you'll instantly attract the attention of two other people/birds.

Molina frowned: "Are you under some kind of dark magic?"

"No, no, no." Pelléas shook his head frantically, chuckling, "I've been reading some Eastern books lately, and they seem quite fitting for this time of year."

The situation is clear: this problem is beyond the scope of the curriculum and there is no solution.

The phoenix was the first to stand up, shake its feathers, raise its long neck, and with an extremely proud posture, it made the loudest retreat.

"Let's put the killing of the Heavenly Dao aside for now. Since the meteorite route is viable, let's get our hands on the meteorite first."

Molina & Pelléas: "..."

He truly deserves the title of a master who fights and loses repeatedly but never gives up; his mentality is exceptionally good.

Molina smiled and couldn't help but ask, "What if we get all the meteorites and the teleportation array is finished, but we're just missing this crucial element?"

"That's all we can do."

The phoenix stared intently at the end of the darkness, where a colossal bronze gate stood, separated from the world, and had not seen the light of day for countless years.

"It doesn't matter if I can't kill the Heavenly Dao. I have an immortal body and can fight the Heavenly Dao forever. But this cage has imprisoned me for hundreds of millions of years. It's time to go out and see a new world."

Having said that, Molina and Pelléas stopped talking and chose to respect the Phoenix's decision.

The phoenix exhaled a long breath, and a wisp of solid white mist, carrying one of its tail feathers, drifted through the air before slipping through the crack in the door and disappearing in a flash.

The main body and the clone could share a field of vision, and the phoenix saw many new things it had never seen before.

Strange-shaped houses, all sorts of people... it felt novel and took in the sights along the way.

Everything is different now.

After the initial novelty wore off, it gradually stopped its journey. There was no place for it in the new world, and it couldn't feel a trace of familiarity.

It crouched down and tentatively placed its hand in the water.

Cool and soothing.

When did the devastating flood I remember recede? It has become so gentle.

Just as it couldn't resist getting closer, its wrist was suddenly grabbed.

???

Someone touched it?

No one should be able to see it.

Could it be the will of Heaven?

The phoenix suddenly looked behind it, its whole body tensing up, full of aggression.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The man quickly took half a meter back, explaining apologetically, "I noticed you didn't look well, and you'd been standing on the beach for a long time, so I thought you were going to..."

The words "seeking death" were promptly censored.

"If I have offended you, I apologize." He repeated.

It's no wonder he overthinks things.

Who is this perfectly fine girl who stands silently on the beach from morning till night, her face full of melancholy and sorrow, as if she has been abandoned by the whole world?

Reason told him he shouldn't meddle in other people's business.

but--

Perhaps it was because they shared the same fate; he had no way out in his life and didn't want to see the innocent girl also head down a dead end.

Out of consideration for the difference between men and women, he smiled politely and pushed the wheelchair a little further away.

"May I ask where your family is?"

"..."

Did he hit the nail on the head?

He couldn't help but think that it was indeed easy for underage children to have suicidal thoughts when they had conflicts with their families.

He took a deep breath. He was a stranger to him and could only offer a few words of advice: "Child, you are still young. Live well. Nothing is insurmountable. Nothing is more important than life."

"Heh." The phoenix suddenly laughed.

Is the child calling it?

A person with crippled legs, a deathly pale face, whose life is about to end and who won't live more than a few days is advising it to live well?

How ridiculous.

It calmly states the facts.

"I won't die, I have no family."

He had no time to question the unusual self-reference "I" and felt even more guilty about the following sentence.

His words reopened old wounds.

A sense of helplessness washed over him. He didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only bow his head again and say, "I'm sorry..."

The phoenix felt no emotion, but it was more patient with this human who could see it.

"What's your name?"

"Zhang Haixia." The three words came out of his mouth.

The person involved was shocked after he finished speaking. His identity was extremely sensitive, and he was usually very cautious. How could he have blurted out his real name to a strange girl without thinking?

The phoenix nodded after hearing this.

It had no time to waste on others; it remembered there was a small meteorite in the nearby sea.

As I turned around, I inexplicably felt something pulling at me.

The source of power is men, but men are far removed from it.

Oh ~

It's probably a matter of cause and effect.

Having figured it out, it turned away helplessly, walked up to the man, looked down at him, and suddenly said, "Zhang Haixia, would you like to be part of my family?"

Zhang Haixia looked completely bewildered.

Ignoring the man's expression and thoughts, Phoenix finished speaking and turned to leave.

This was just an unexpected incident.

It doesn't matter whether the man agrees or not, since he'll be dead soon anyway; the ultimate question is where the soul goes after death.

If they are truly destined to be together, they will meet again.