Chapter 77
The moment Si Lan jumped into the Glazed Purification Furnace, he transformed into his true form, a “wild pheasant.” The ferocious flames leaped up, setting his brown feathers ablaze.
Engulfed in flames, he appeared as if he were bathing in fire, yet his expression remained calm and composed. Through the wildly dancing flames, he looked at Ju Zhu, who stood in the distance.
Ju Zhu also revealed her true form as a divine phoenix, deliberately fanning the flames towards Si Lan with her wings. She gazed at Si Lan and mocked, “You really are just a wild pheasant! Just like your mother, a lowly, despicable creature!”
Perhaps it was due to the intense fire, but Si Lan’s eyes turned blood-red. He slowly moved his wings, and as the burnt brown feathers fell away, they revealed a strange silvery glow beneath.
There seemed to be something hidden within the glow.
Ju Zhu suddenly felt uneasy. If he were truly just a wild pheasant, he would not be able to survive in the Glazed Purification Fire. Could he be a divine phoenix?
Then…
A sense of unease inexplicably arose in Ju Zhu’s heart. She tried to leave the furnace by flapping her wings, but the next moment, Si Lan charged at her.
In an instant, he was right in front of her. Before she could react, he thrust his hand into her abdomen and grasped her phoenix core.
She was immobilized by a spell, unable to move.
“For your crimes, death is too lenient. But, rather than kill you, it seems more cruel to turn you into the very thing you despise the most—a wild pheasant.”
Fear filled Ju Zhu’s eyes, and she let out a long cry, as if trying to send a message outside. But she didn’t know that Si Lan had already set up a barrier in the furnace the moment he entered.
No one outside could see or hear what was happening inside, nor could they come to her rescue.
Previously, she had lost a significant portion of her cultivation when the God of Pity took away the divine array on Mount Guyue. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so powerless in front of Si Lan. If her phoenix core were taken away, her cultivation would be completely destroyed!
She would become an ordinary “bird.”
Facing Ju Zhu’s desperate gaze, Si Lan slowly extracted the golden phoenix core.
Intense pain spread from Ju Zhu’s abdomen, causing her tail feathers to tremble uncontrollably. She hadn’t expected Si Lan to be so bold as to attack her here.
She was a princess of the Divine Phoenix Clan!
“I’ve heard that consuming a phoenix core can greatly increase one’s cultivation.”
Hearing this, she let out a frantic scream, cursing, “I should have killed you back then, just like your mother!”
He sneered, “It seems that keeping your tongue serves no purpose.”
Ju Zhu panted, her eyes trembling as if she had seen something terrifying. Despite her pride, she couldn’t bring herself to beg for mercy and continued to threaten Si Lan, “How dare you! I am a princess of the Divine Phoenix Clan. If anything happens to me, do you think you’ll be able to live peacefully?”
Si Lan was unfazed by her threats. With his fingers wrapped in flames, he passed them over her mouth, pulling out her tongue. Blood gushed from her mouth, rendering her unable to speak.
At that moment, the silver glow on Si Lan’s body slowly dissipated, revealing his form burned by the Glazed Purification Fire. His massive wings folded behind him, with layers of golden feathers and emerald green edges glowing faintly.
His long tail feathers swayed without wind, and the phoenix eyes on the tail tips flickered in the flames.
Ju Zhu’s horrified gaze slowly moved to Si Lan’s face, realizing that his appearance had changed. His eyes were now deep and narrow, with a red spot at the corner of his brown beak and green feathers like a gem on his forehead. He looked like a phoenix, yet not quite.
Ju Zhu didn’t know who he was, but she now understood that he was certainly not a wild pheasant.
She only knew that a phoenix could undergo rebirth in the Glazed Purification Fire, unaware that other beings could do the same.
She saw her reflection in his eyes slowly change, from the golden feathers of a phoenix to the lowly black feathers she despised. Her once sharp eyes turned dull and round, and her beak lost its luster, becoming a sharp black beak.
Her tail feathers were gone, replaced by two dull grey wings on her back.
She… she had become the wild pheasant she despised!
She completely broke down, making strange sounds from her throat.
No, she couldn’t let anyone see her like this!
If anyone saw her, she would rather die.
But Si Lan chose this moment to open the furnace lid and throw her out.
Outside, the gathered immortals gasped in shock at the sight of her.
“Is… is this wild pheasant the Demon Lord?”
“This isn’t the Demon Lord, this is… Oh my…”
Before the person could finish, the immortals realized that the blackened wild pheasant was Princess Ju Zhu.
How could the haughty princess of the Divine Phoenix Clan, who looked down on all other beings, become a wild pheasant?
Ju Zhu used her wings to prop herself up from the ground, her body trembling. She looked around before running towards the Divine Mother, seeking justice.
Just then, the furnace lid was pushed open again, and Si Lan emerged, his red robes and black hair untouched by the Glazed Purification Fire.
Haowei, seeing Si Lan unharmed, finally relaxed his tense expression.
The immortals looked from Si Lan to Ju Zhu, unsure what to say.
The one accused of being a wild pheasant had walked out of the Glazed Purification Fire unscathed, while the proud Divine Phoenix Princess had become the wild pheasant.
Ju Zhu crawled to the Divine Mother, pointing to her abdomen and mouth, then to Si Lan, crying and begging for justice.
The Divine Mother looked troubled and asked, “Ju Zhu, what happened?”
Seeing that the Divine Mother didn’t understand, Ju Zhu used her wings to write on the ground: “Phoenix core taken.”
“You mean, he… he took your… oh no, chicken core?” the Divine Mother corrected herself.
Hearing “chicken core,” Ju Zhu trembled with anger, her black feathers shaking, making her look even worse. She endured the pain and wrote “phoenix core.”
As long as they could find her phoenix core in Si Lan’s body, it would prove she was a divine phoenix.
The Divine Mother looked at Si Lan with difficulty, and Si Lan stepped forward to explain, “When I entered the Glazed Purification Furnace, I saw her engulfed in flames, suffering immensely. Her throat was burned, so I cast a spell to save her, but she accused me after coming out.”
The “wild pheasant” on the ground glared at Si Lan with venomous eyes, wishing she could tear him apart, but her fury could only remain in her eyes.
Si Lan used the haughty gaze she once had to coldly look at her and said, “If that’s the case, let the immortals examine my spiritual core to see if I have swallowed her phoenix core.”
“Ah, you’re such a reasonable child,” the Divine Mother sighed, turning to the immortals, “The Emperor and I won’t examine him, lest we be accused of bias. How about you all take a look?”
The Immortal Lords exchanged glances. One of them, who had a good relationship with the Phoenix Clan, stepped forward, apologized to Si Lan, and then probed into Si Lan’s spiritual void.
Si Lan’s spiritual void seemed weak, like someone recovering from a severe injury. His internal energy was chaotic, but there was no trace of the Phoenix Pill.
The Immortal Lord shook his head.
Upon seeing this, Ju Zhu became indignant, flapping her wings and making a hoarse cry. Other Immortal Lords then checked Si Lan’s spiritual void again, but the result was the same.
Now, the crowd’s gaze toward Ju Zhu became somewhat peculiar.
She kept accusing others of being wild chickens and of eating her Phoenix Pill…
Why did she seem so insane?
Just then, Si Lan spoke up, “Ever since I entered the Glazed Clean Furnace, she has been rambling on, accusing me of eating her Phoenix Pill and even claiming I ripped out her tongue…”
“Although I have conflicts with the Phoenix Clan, I wouldn’t do such things.”
The hall fell into a silence so deep you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
An Immortal Lord suddenly spoke up, “I heard that not long ago, God of Sorrow retrieved the divine array, claiming that a descendant of the Phoenix Clan had used despicable means to deceive him. Those means involved… sucking the blood of Princess Fangyi.”
“Do you think she might have sucked Princess Fangyi’s blood to transform into a phoenix?”
“I’ve heard of such dark arts, they are very sinister.”
For Ju Zhu, the most precious thing was her lineage, and now it was being questioned by so many. She couldn’t accept it.
She wasn’t a wild chicken.
She didn’t want to turn out like this.
All of this… was Si Lan’s fault!
In a frenzy, she rushed towards Si Lan, wanting to perish together with this “culprit.”
Fortunately, Haowei cast a spell, stopping her in mid-air, causing her to fall to the ground and cough up blood.
Seeing this, Si Lan hurriedly stepped forward to help Ju Zhu up, saying, “Though she is at fault, it does not warrant death.”
The Immortal Lords thought Si Lan was too kind-hearted and gentle, speaking up for someone who had wronged him so much.
However, they didn’t hear what Si Lan whispered in Ju Zhu’s ear.
“You must live well, as a wild chicken.”
He had once thought of killing her to avenge his mother, but later realized that for the noble Phoenix Princess, turning her into a humiliated wild chicken was perhaps the cruelest revenge.
Haowei then spoke, “Divine Mother, she may be spared the death penalty, but not the living one. Her repeated false accusations today are a crime. She should be sent to the Tribunal.”
Si Lan said, “In her current state, she might not survive the Tribunal. It would be better to exile her to Flat Top Mountain.”
Flat Top Mountain was where the wild chickens resided.
Ju Zhu’s eyes widened, struggling with her wings, casting a pleading look at the Divine Mother. She didn’t want to go to Flat Top Mountain, which was full of dirty, ugly wild chickens.
Seeing no response from the Divine Mother, she turned her gaze to Qu Yu and the other Phoenix Clan members.
Qu Yu and the others were bewildered, not understanding why she had suddenly turned into this black chicken.
They feared that if Ju Zhu was truly a wild chicken, the heavens would punish their entire clan for deceit. Yet, they also feared she had been wronged and wanted to defend her, but seeing the whole hall seemingly accepting Ju Zhu as a wild chicken, they dared not speak.
“You can continue being your wild chicken princess at Flat Top Mountain,” Si Lan whispered the final words into Ju Zhu’s ear.
Full of humiliation, Ju Zhu stretched her claws, trying to grab Si Lan but failing, and was exiled to Flat Top Mountain with an expression of unwillingness.
The Phoenix Clan, terrified, knelt down to beg for forgiveness. The Divine Mother and Haowei did not punish them harshly, only confining them to the Phoenix Clan’s territory for a hundred years.
After this commotion, the delayed binding ceremony finally began.
Those Immortal Lords who had previously disliked Si Lan now looked at him with complex expressions.
Although Si Lan had never revealed his true form, his emergence unscathed from the Glazed Clean Furnace proved he was a divine phoenix, not a wild chicken.
In fact, even if he were a wild chicken, neither they nor the Divine Mother would care. His identity as the Demon Lord was more problematic.
But the Divine Mother, adhering to Ju Zhu’s words, conducted the test, leading to the revelation that Ju Zhu was a fraud.
In hindsight, it seemed as if Si Lan and the Divine Mother had conspired against the Phoenix Clan.
Si Lan didn’t care about the Immortal Lords’ gazes. His thoughts were on finally avenging his mother. He muddled through the ceremony, etched his and Haowei’s names on the Stone of Eternal Life, toasted with the immortals, and finally had some alone time.
While Haowei stayed in the hall with the other immortals, Si Lan drank the celebratory wine alone, mumbling, “Mother, you can rest in peace now. My identity remains hidden, and no one will dare harm me anymore.”
He sometimes thought Yu Wuxia’s words were true; there was no fairness in this world. At least between him and Luo Hui, he felt he could never repay what he owed her.
As a child, Luo Hui had shielded him from all storms, but she died before he grew up.
For Luo Hui, what had she gained from him in this life?
So unfair indeed.
Drunk, he muttered incoherently, “Mother…”
Haowei opened the door and heard the word “Mother” before Si Lan’s mutterings trailed off.
His words were slurred, and Haowei couldn’t understand him. Approaching, he saw the celebratory wine had been finished, the jug on the floor, a cup tipped over on the table, its contents precariously close to spilling.
Haowei lifted Si Lan from the chair, and Si Lan muttered again, “Mother.”
Haowei knew that today’s events must have reminded him of unpleasant things from the past. After placing him on the bed, he gently untied his outer robe.
Si Lan grabbed Haowei’s hand, hiccuped, and said, “You’ve had it really hard, so… hic, mom, let me be your mom in the next life.”
“…,” Haowei was speechless.
After speaking, Si Lan suddenly sat up, hugging Haowei tightly and burying his head in Haowei’s shoulder, as if crying. But when Haowei looked, he saw that Si Lan’s eyes were closed, and his lips were tightly pressed together.
Haowei could only gently pat his back, slowly soothing his emotions.
“Mom…” Si Lan suddenly called out again unexpectedly.
Haowei’s hand paused, feeling as if Si Lan was calling him. That night, he held Si Lan, listening to him constantly call out “mom.”
He never expected his wedding night would turn out like this.
Not only did they not drink the nuptial wine, but he was also repeatedly called “mom.”
The next morning, when Si Lan woke up, he lifted his head to meet Haowei’s eyes and immediately sensed a strong aura of resentment. His mind was a bit blank, unable to remember much of what happened last night.
Supporting himself with his arms to sit up, one of his hands landed on Haowei’s chest, making Haowei grunt and grab his hand.
He tried hard to recall last night’s events, “Last night… did I fall asleep?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Si Lan pondered for a moment and then seemed to understand why Haowei was upset. So he leaned down and kissed the corner of Haowei’s mouth. Just as he was about to lift his head, Haowei held his head, kissing him delicately along the corner of his mouth.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Si Lan explained, “I drank a bit last night. How about I make it up to you tonight?”
Haowei’s eyelids drooped, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, “Tonight, or maybe this morning.”
“The morning isn’t very good… I…”
Before Si Lan could finish his sentence, he was covered head to toe with the quilt. Underneath, Haowei flipped over and pinned him down.
Haowei’s voice was hoarse, “The morning isn’t good either.”
“…,” Si Lan was speechless.
After taking care of everything, Si Lan felt utterly exhausted, as if he had fought a battle, panting lightly with red-rimmed eyes.
Tiny beads of sweat glistened on his small nose, making the tip of his nose look even more delicate and cute.
Haowei rubbed his nose, gazing at him intently, “Si Lan, did you foresee Zhu Zhu’s actions yesterday?”
“Mm—,” Si Lan’s voice sounded moist.
“In the future, if something like this happens, can you tell me in advance? I’m really worried about you.”
“Okay.” Si Lan cupped Haowei’s face, rubbing his nose, lips, and chin with the corner of his mouth, repeating, “Okay.”
Haowei couldn’t help but hold him tightly, wanting their skin to be as close as possible.
“By the way, you haven’t told me how you convinced everyone in the celestial realm to agree to the celestial-demon marriage.” Si Lan asked.
Haowei was silent for a moment. Si Lan became more curious, staring at him intently. Haowei had to cough lightly and say, “I told them I found the Childbearing Pill.”
“?” Si Lan’s face turned pale, “Why did you deceive them like that? What if they find out the Childbearing Pill is fake and I can’t bear a child?”
“Then we’ll just work harder.”
“Work harder on what?”
“On cultivating.” After a pause, Haowei’s voice turned husky, whispering in Si Lan’s ear, “You look like you’re three months pregnant right now.”
“…,” Si Lan was speechless.
Seeing Si Lan’s blushing face, Haowei held back his laughter.
He had lied to him.
He didn’t actually tell the celestial lords he found the Childbearing Pill. Instead, he told them if they didn’t agree to their union, he would marry into the demon realm. Then, the celestial realm would lose a divine empress while the demon realm would gain a demon empress.
Hearing this, the celestial lords, with devastated expressions, had no choice but to agree.
From under the covers, Si Lan’s muffled voice emerged.
“I really can’t bear a child.”
“Let’s try this position, it’s more likely to result in pregnancy.”
The End.
T/N: Alright, that marks the end of the main story. Now for the side stories…. I’m not sure if I want to take a short hiatus before working on those. They are pretty short (except the last one which is about Si Lan’s parents…) Thanks for accompanying me on this journey, I believe this might be the novel I’ve managed to translate in the shortest time, considering it’s chapter length.
Welp, as usual, there is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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