Chapter 134: Making a Run for It

Feng Ke'er knew full well that her cultivation level was far inferior to that of Goddess Nuwa, so she dared not risk her life by rashly challenging the formidable power of the Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light.

However, she believed she could hide within her spatial orb and utilize the second stage of the Universe Shift to move the Vermillion Bird out of the pillar before making her escape. The second stage of the Universe Shift had automatically unlocked when she successfully advanced to the Void-Transformation stage. While she had practiced it to perfection within the confines of the spatial orb, moving external objects across space was a first. She had no idea what the odds of success were, which was the very reason she had been hesitating.

Practice proved that the Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light was even more sinister than it appeared. Visually, the pillar merely encased the Vermillion Bird's body, yet it seemed to be an organic part of the creature itself. No matter how hard Feng Ke'er tried to shift him, the pillar followed—if she moved him east, the pillar shifted east; if she moved him west, it followed west. Even the prison cell itself seemed to be in motion. She could not shake off the pillar, and the prisoner remained firmly centered within it.

How devilish!

Feng Ke'er was drenched in sweat, and her efforts had even disturbed the semi-conscious Vermillion Bird. As one of the four capable lieutenants under the command of the Heavenly Lord of Seven Nights, he quickly realized the issue originated beneath his wings. He tucked his head under a wing, and his previously dull, lifeless eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance.

"Who? Who is hiding in there?" With his spiritual power sealed and his consciousness locked, he could not communicate via divine sense and was forced to whisper, his voice strained.

Feng Ke'er immediately froze, clutching her pounding heart, holding her breath and steadying her mind, not daring to move a muscle.

"I can sense your presence," the Vermillion Bird persisted, not easily fooled. "If you do not respond, I shall scream. If that half-serpent demoness is drawn here, do not blame me." Beneath his wing, the desire for survival burned intensely in his four-pupiled eyes.

Well, truth be told, he had ended up in this miserable state all because of her... Feng Ke'er gave a cold snort. "Shut up, you useless thing! Why did the Lord send such a waste of space as you?"

One of their own! The Vermillion Bird trembled with excitement, yet he clamped his wings tightly over his mouth, not daring to make another sound.

She had not expected this red-feathered bird to be so easily deceived. Feng Ke'er felt a surge of secret joy and began her experiment in earnest. "Hey, try spreading your wings and see if you can extend them outside the light pillar."

The Vermillion Bird hesitated for a moment, but he complied, spreading his wings as wide as he could. As expected, the Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light expanded several times in size, still perfectly encasing him.

"Very good. Now, try to tuck your wings in," Feng Ke'er commanded via divine sense.

His four-pupiled eyes flickered, and the Vermillion Bird obediently folded his wings against his body.

"Just like that. One, spread them; two, tuck them in. Follow my lead: one, two, one, two..."

Although the Vermillion Bird did not understand the purpose, he followed her instructions diligently. The Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light pulsed, thickening and thinning in rhythm with his movements. While Feng Ke'er used one nascent soul to direct the bird, her other nascent souls kept their eyes peeled, staring intently at the pillar—there was no such thing as a perfect defense in this world. Everything had a flaw. She refused to believe she couldn't find a crack in the Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light.

The commands grew faster and faster.

If this had been in the past, such physical exertion would have been nothing! But in his current state, how could the Vermillion Bird endure such torture? Within a quarter of an hour, he was clearly unable to keep up with the rhythm. He gasped for air like a broken bellows, yet he continued to cooperate to the best of his ability. He had no choice; trapped in a desperate situation, if he did not cling to this last straw, he would surely die.

Not bad, he was a smart fellow. Feng Ke'er finally found him somewhat agreeable.

Hard work pays off. After over half an hour of exertion, the moment the Vermillion Bird spread his wings, Feng Ke'er finally caught a glimpse of a flaw in the pillar.

"Vermillion Bird, move!" There was no time to lose. She formed a hand seal, pointed toward the ground, and shouted.

In a flash, the Vermillion Bird recognized the voice—it was her, that wretched woman, Feng Ke'er!

*No—you bitch, let's die together!* His feathers stood on end, and he opened his mouth to scream, but before he could make a sound, it was filled with a blast of icy wind. In the blink of an eye, the Vermillion Bird broke free from the Immortal-Suppressing Pillar of Light.

A successful strike!

"Shift!" The opportunity was fleeting. Feng Ke'er decisively leaped out of the spatial orb, knocked the bird unconscious with a palm strike, grabbed one of his wings, and teleported one kilometer downward—the limit of her range for a single jump.

She chose to flee downward because she knew nothing of the situation on the mountain and where Feng Fuxi was being kept to stabilize his soul. She couldn't risk accidentally teleporting herself right in front of Goddess Nuwa. However, one thing was certain: the Goddess lived at the peak. Therefore, heading straight down was the only logical choice.

A second later, they were plunged into an endless void of darkness.

Setting the Vermillion Bird down, Feng Ke'er dove into his sea of consciousness, drew the Green Lotus Sword, and ruthlessly severed the memory of the past few moments. Heaven has the virtue of fostering life; upon leaving, she restored the original barrier.

"Vermillion Bird, go!" With another Universe Shift, she transported the unconscious bird outside to serve as a smoke screen. She absolutely could not let Goddess Nuwa discover her true escape route.

"Shift!"

She followed the mountain face, teleporting four more times toward the base of Kunlun Mountain, descending over four thousand meters in one go. The peak of Kunlun Mountain, where Goddess Nuwa resided, was about five thousand meters high. Feng Ke'er had noted that the prison cell was located on the back side of the main peak, at an altitude of about forty-five hundred meters. If all went well, she was now five hundred meters beneath the surface of Kunlun Mountain.

Even if the White Jade Divine Drum were powerful, it couldn't scan hundreds of meters underground, right? But safety first... she wiped the sweat from her brow and nimbly dove back into her spatial orb.

This was a classic case of being hidden in plain sight! Goddess Nuwa’s cultivation was unfathomable; she would surely sense it the moment the Vermillion Bird left the pillar. Once she realized he was gone, she would immediately initiate a search with the White Jade Divine Drum. Heaven only knew the search radius of that artifact!

After the series of actions, Feng Ke'er was drenched—partly from nervous sweat, and partly from the rapid depletion of her spiritual power. She had exhausted more than half of her reserves, though she could certainly pull off another three to five teleports if necessary. However, she was not confident she could escape the drum’s surveillance.

If detected by the drum, given her current cultivation, she would never escape the palm of Goddess Nuwa. Feng Ke'er cherished her life above all else. As long as there was the slightest alternative, she would not gamble with her own existence.

*Pop, pop, pop.* Her hands flew, sealing her seven meridians and eight vessels. She sat cross-legged. Every cultivator had a unique spiritual fluctuation, and both the White Jade Divine Drum and divine sense searches tracked these fluctuations. If her spiritual energy were sealed, there would be no fluctuation. The concealment talisman worked on this principle, generating a wave opposite to the cultivator's, rendering them undetectable. Of course, the two fluctuations were different, and if a cultivator’s level exceeded that of the talisman maker, they could tell the difference. Goddess Nuwa’s level was so high that the concealment talisman in the Phoenix Jade would naturally fail to deceive her. That was why Feng Ke'er had to seal her own energy.

However, spiritual fluctuations were like a normal person's breathing; they could not be sealed for long. With her current cultivation, three days and three nights was her absolute limit. Any longer, and the spiritual energy within her would run wild, leading to bleeding from the seven orifices and damaged meridians at best, or a descent into demonic madness at worst. If she didn't release it in time, the violent energy would strike her nascent soul in the dantian, and within a few hours, she would suffer the same fate as Feng Fuxi.

Could she hide in the spatial orb? Certainly not. To a cultivator of higher rank, the spatial orb was as transparent as a glass ball. Any diligent search would reveal it. That was why she had gone through the trouble of hiding the orb inside the hollow feather of the Vermillion Bird earlier.

Just then, she felt pure earth-elemental spiritual energy bubbling up from beneath her. Could it be? Was her luck that incredible? Was there an earth-crystal deposit nearby?

Feng Ke'er’s heart began to pound again, this time with excitement. Because she possessed pure earth-elemental energy within her, if she practiced breathing and exhaling only that, she could use the surrounding earth energy to mask her own spiritual fluctuations.

In other words, she didn't need to seal her energy completely.

She unsealed the Qihu acupoint below her collarbone and began to regulate her breath using the earth-elemental energy. After one complete cycle, her spiritual power recovered to ten percent of its normal level. Compared to her ice and fire energies, the earth energy was stronger than the unrefined gold and wood energies within her, but it was still her weakest attribute. This was her current peak capacity.

Still, she wasn't planning to fight; she only needed to find minerals, so this little bit of energy was enough.

Pressing her hands to her brow, Feng Ke'er focused her divine sense deeper into the earth. Sure enough, about a hundred meters below, it sparkled like a starry night sky. There was a massive deposit of earth crystals! And fifty meters below that pile of crystals lay the spiritual vein of Kunlun Mountain!

"Shift!" Truly, Heaven never closes all doors! Feng Ke'er was ecstatic and teleported into the gap between the earth crystals.

She sprawled out, limbs spread, panting as she lay in the crevices of the crystals. Only then did she truly relax.

Well, if she wanted to, she could stay here for a lifetime. Unless Goddess Nuwa came down personally, no artifact could possibly detect her presence!

Outside, just as Feng Ke'er had anticipated, Goddess Nuwa and the One-Eyed Dragon had found the Vermillion Bird. Seeing the wretched creature lying on the ground unconscious, the One-Eyed Dragon flew into a rage. He flicked his sleeve, and a cold stream of water shot out, splashing directly onto the bird.

"Ah—" The Vermillion Bird awakened.