In the world of martial arts, one works tirelessly to attain enlightenment.

Chapter 176, Getting Back at Themselves

Shuttle, deck.

Lin Ran returned carrying the shrunk-down, one-meter-tall fiery bird.

He noticed Zhou Yu's gaze and felt it was a bit strange.

"What's wrong?"

"Captain, you... have really unique tastes."

Zhou Yu couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Ran was stunned for a moment, then her face darkened, and she threw down the Fiery Bird and walked towards Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu's smile froze instantly, and she involuntarily took a step back. Then, her waist tightened as Lin Ran hugged her. She then realized that Xuezi being too big wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Lin Ran clearly felt that Zhou Yu's body was tense at first, and then gradually relaxed under his slow probing. It was soft and elastic, different from Nangong Yu's softness, but equally comfortable.

Until Yan Lingfei and the Spirit Master walked out of the cabin looking dejected.

Yan Lingfei's pupils dilated: "Captain! You actually stole some food!"

Zhou Yu's face immediately turned red as she pushed Lin Ran aside and straightened the clothes that were hanging wide open.

Lin Ran touched the corner of her mouth, still savoring the moment, and flicked Yan Lingfei's forehead.

"Why are you out so early?"

"It failed."

Yan Lingfei immediately wilted and took the egg from the Spirit Master's hand.

The Spirit Lord also frowned deeply; the two of them together had failed to get an egg to recognize them as their master!

Lin Ran took the egg and immediately sensed a faint but very arrogant consciousness within it.

Lin Ran opened her hand, letting the egg float in the air. A seemingly ordinary red flame appeared in her palm, which she placed to the left of the egg.

Then he grabbed the dying but not immediately dead bird and placed it on the right.

Pointing at Yan Lingfei, he said to the egg,

"Claim yourself to her, or I'll roast you. I'm only saying this once."

The active consciousness inside the egg suddenly quieted down. It tried to reach out to the Crimson Bird for help, but received a weak response. This only worsened the Crimson Bird's injuries, and it almost fainted.

Egg gave in and moved closer to Yan Lingfei.

Snapped!

"Where did your arrogance go?!"

Yan Lingfei slapped the egg to the ground, making the consciousness inside dizzy and disoriented. Then she kicked it at the Spirit Lord, who stepped on it and kicked it several times before kicking it back to Yan Lingfei.

After playing with it repeatedly for a while, the consciousness inside the egg was about to explode, but it suddenly sensed Lin Ran's calm gaze and immediately became obedient, even asking Yan Lingfei if her foot hurt.

Before long, the consciousness inside the egg became like a candle flickering in the wind, as if it would dissipate at any moment.

Yan Lingfei then temporarily let it go. With Zhou Yu's help, she completed the harsh contract against the egg, adding Zhou Yu's curse to it.

Yan Lingfei presented the egg to Lin Ran because Lin Ran said she wanted to hatch the bird ahead of schedule.

"Brother Lin, can these hatch ahead of schedule?"

"The incubation process is just a matter of accumulating energy; once enough is accumulated, it will hatch."

Lin Ran caught the egg and infused it with fire elemental energy.

Suddenly, bright red lines appeared on the eggshell, gradually spreading to the entire eggshell, then brightened and dimmed and continued to flash for a while.

Click!

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the red patterned area, and a fluffy little head poked out, its large, golden-red eyes meeting Yan Lingfei's gaze.

Yan Lingfei was stunned.

"Is that all?"

"Just simple incubation."

Lin Ran shrugged, tossed the hatched Fiery Bird to Yan Lingfei, then picked up the larger Fiery Bird and infused it with fire spirit energy to help it recover from its injuries. The Spirit Lord came to help.

Before long, the Crimson Bird recovered from its near-death state.

Lin Ran took out a large pile of fire crystals to speed up the recovery of the Fiery Bird.

At this moment, it was quiet and still, without a trace of its previous arrogance and haughtiness.

One or two hours later,

The Phoenix's wounds have fully healed, pale golden feathers have grown back on its body, and its tail feathers have regained their luster.

Although it is only one meter in size, it still retains its majesty, but has added some cute elements.

After observing for a while and confirming that the Crimson Bird was fine, Lin Ran called Yan Lingfei over.

"Whoever bullied you, I'll take you back to fight them all."

"good!"

Yan Lingfei's eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately pointed out several locations.

Lin Ran glanced at the Fiery Bird.

The latter flapped its wings and, after leaving the deck, reverted to its original length of 100 meters.

"Get on the vehicle, no, get on the bird's...back."

Lin Ran waved his hand and put away the flying shuttle.

Standing on the broad back of the bird, the group felt as if they had stepped from a cruise ship onto land, finding it surprisingly stable.

The main body of the Crimson Bird, excluding its tail, is over 100 meters long, about 70 to 80 meters long, and 20 to 30 meters wide at its widest point, enough to seat about ten people.

Lin Ran sat down and patted the bird's back.

"Let's begin, starting from the first position."

The fiery bird remained silent, then with a flap of its wings, it instantly transformed into a streak of crimson light.

Lin Ran's eyes lit up; indeed, taming the Crimson Bird was the right choice.

In terms of speed alone, it's at least five times faster than a flying shuttle!

It is even more stable and has a certain combat capability; it is not just an ordinary decorative object.

Lin Ran stroked his chin, the evolutionary path from the Fiery Bird to the Fire Phoenix appearing in his mind.

The thought lingered for a while, then Lin Ran noted it down and stored it deep in her memory, deciding to think about it again later.

The speed of the Fiery Bird eventually stabilized at about seven or eight times that of the shuttle, and it took only half a day to reach the first location pointed out by Yan Lingfei.

Yan Lingfei observed for a while and found the location.

"There's an inhabitant race in that valley. I wanted to trade some resources with them, but they tried to steal them from me!"

"Let's go down and take a look."

The fiery bird descended and plunged straight into the valley.

Before long, the creatures in the valley discovered the Fiery Bird, and several figures immediately flew out to block its path.

They look like humans, but they have no ears or noses, no hair, and their skin is the color of red crystal.

"Azure Empyrea, what race is that?"

"...The Firefowl? I've never paid them any attention."

A soft, magnetic voice echoed in my mind, making me feel like she was easy to bully. Moreover, her human form was that of a mature, older woman.

Lin Ran: "...Is this your true voice?"

"Um."

Lin Ran: "Alright, let's call them the Fire People. What's the strongest one's cultivation level?"

"Fifth tier".

Lin Ran: "Only fifth rank, so weak."

The fire-human creature opened its mouth and spoke.

"￥#%……"

Lin Ran: "..."

It is not the universal language of the heavens, but judging from the aggressive aura they exude, reasoning with them is clearly futile.

Lin Ran commanded the fiery birds to continue their journey into the valley.

This disregard angered several Firefowl.

Instantly, a fire-man took out a bow and arrow, nocked the arrow, and shot it with fluid and captivating movements.

However, the arrow was weak and was engulfed by a ball of golden flame before it reached Lin Ran, and then burned to ashes.

The Firefowl were unusually furious and drew their bows and arrows, ready to draw them.

Lin Ran sat cross-legged on the back of the Fiery Bird, opened his right hand, and a ball of pale golden earth spirit energy appeared in his palm, which transformed into the shape of small spears, which were then shot out and flew towards the Fire Clan.

The Fireman, who had just drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, froze instantly. Before the arrow could be fully drawn, it was pierced through his forehead.

(End of this chapter)