Ten minutes ago, Lonely Spirit Ridge had been completely turned into a sea of golden flames. Even now, Lonely Spirit Ridge was still burning with residual embers. Ling Chen’s whole body, from head to toe, was in burning pain from the embers... Although now, Lonely Spirit Ridge could not be called Lonely Spirt ‘Ridge’ anymore, as there were no longer any mountain ridges.

The place Ling Chen was rushing to now was where Xi Ling was. He believed that she should still be at that place... as for the War Demon Beast, even if it was at the Mysterious God level, the flames from before were certain to have roasted it to cinders. The searing heat gradually became less intense, but this did not allow Ling Chen to relax at all. Rather, it increased his urgency. Qi Yue had said that if the last embers extinguished, Xi Ling’s life force would be completely extinguished as well, and would not be able to be revived.

The colour of the flames changed from gold to a crimson-golden colour, then to a pure crimson colour. Gradually, the crimson flames became a crimson-yellow colour. The changing of the colours of the flame revealed the gradual decline of its power and intensity. Finally, after searching for what seemed like an eternity, Ling Chen reigned in the Cloud Stepping Mare. In front of him, countless little tongues of flame formed a giant circle. In the middle of the circle was the exhausted red fire bird, huddled on the ground.

However, in her current state, her crimson feathers had lost all of their flames, as well as their golden hue. Her wings hung limp on the ground, her head hanging downwards. Hearing a noise, she slightly raised her head. As she saw Ling Chen, her lifeless eyes flickered with a dim flame.

Ling Chen dismounted the Cloud Stepping Mare and called it back. Stepping over the little tongues of flame, he walked towards the little bird that had almost lost its life for him. In the surrounding area, there was not a trace left of the War Demon Beast. Not even a bit of the dark energy remained.

“caw~~~”

Seeing Ling Chen walk closer, the red fire bird let out a weak little chirp. She didn’t want to die, but facing the War Demon Beast, using this move was her only option. Ling Chen squatted down in front of her, and gently placed his hand on her feathers.

“Xi Ling, I never thought that you would be the beautiful bird that I released. Looks like the heavens determined our fates to be intertwined. I saved you in the past, but that was out of the spur of the moment. I never thought that... in order to save me, you would be willing to sacrifice your life. In your eyes, I am only an incredibly weak human being, but you... are one of the five divine beasts of the Forgotten Continent, renowned and revered by all living creatures. Although I set you free, you using your priceless life in exchange for my safety deeply moved me. This is the first time I’ve felt such emotions since I came to this world. You helped me understand that Saint Destroyer beasts are not necessarily all arrogant and condescending, but rather can be even kinder and purer than humans.”

The red fire bird powerlessly flapped its wings, and gently chirped, as if it wanted to say something. Ling Chen smiled, and continued to speak, “You don’t need to be surprised, your real identity is actually very easy to guess. The ten ancient demon beasts greatly fear a being that is able to use golden flames. Before, when the War Demon Beast began to tremble while looking at you, I started to have my suspicions. After you released the golden flames, I was able to confirm my suspicions... You’re the divine beast with the greatest attacking power out of the five divine beast, the divine beast that was said to have perished already – Golden Crow! But in truth, you hadn’t perished- you were imprisoned under Lonely Spirit Ridge until now.

Ling Chen stretched out his arm, within his hand were the seven Flaming Black Grass that Xi Ling had given him, “Xi Ling, we can talk about everything else later. To be honest, your true identity doesn’t matter me at all. I only remember the promise that little sister Xi Ling ‘forced’ on me... If she could bring me the Flaming Black Grass, I would have to keep her by my side. Wherever I go, I would have to take her as well. Now, Xi Ling has given me the Flaming Black Grass, so now is the time for me to honour my promise. I’m willing to keep Xi Ling by my side from now on, and wherever I go, Xi Ling will come as well. So if Xi Ling is willing to follow me, come with me wherever I go, alright? Of course, if one day Xi Ling wants to leave, no matter what reason it is, I won’t stop you. I promise I won’t try to control or possess you, ok?”

The temperature that had been falling suddenly rose again. Xi Ling slightly lifted her wings up, and bit by bit raised her head. Ling Chen could see that within her crimson coloured eyes, there were droplets of tears forming. Ling Chen gently stroked the red fire bird’s body with his hands, the looked into her eyes, showing her his sincerity and determination.

“Chirp... Chirp~~~”

The red fire bird’s remaining doubts and internal conflict faded away. The sounds she made became louder and higher in tone. The weakness in her cries had instead been replaced with joy. She didn’t know where the strength came from, but she was suddenly able to fully spread out her wings. At the same time, an orb of fire shot out from her wings towards Ling Chen.

Ling Chen did not try to dodge the fire orb, instead allowing himself to be covered by it.

Being enfolded within the fire orb, Ling Chen did not feel any pain, but rather felt indescribably warm and comfortable.

“Ding... ‘Crimson Spirit’ [TLN: Pinyin: Chi Ling] is willing to accept you as its master, and requests to become your pet. Your life will be the foundation on which it revives its own life force, after which its life and death will be tied to your own life and death. Do you accept?”

“Accept.”

Whoosh...

Flames simultaneously burst forth on both Ling Chen and the red fire bird’s body, causing them to be completely covered in flames. Within the flames, Xi Ling’s remaining life force and spirit were absorbed into Ling Chen’s body, in order for his own life force to assist Xi Ling in her recovery... However, Ling Chen was thoroughly confused.

The name the system had used was clearly... “Crimson Spirit”!

However... she had caused the War Demon Beast to tremble in fear, and her golden flames had reduced the War Demon Beast to begging for its life. She had been imprisoned by the Demon King and the ten ancient beasts... surely she should be the one with the most attacking power out of the five divine beasts, the Golden Crow!!

Why was it “Crimson Spirit”!?

“Crimson Spirit?” Qi Yue’s confused voice also sounded out in Ling Chen’s head.

“Is Crimson Spirit a different name for Golden Crow?” Ling Chen asked.

“No!” Qi Yue said with conviction, “Crimson Spirit is a name that I’ve never heard before. I doubt that it’s another name for Golden Crow. Also...”

“Also what?”

Qi Yue thought for a while, then replied, “When determining that she was the Golden Crow, I always had a bit of doubt in my mind. It was only when I saw the Flames of the Nine Suns when I cast aside those doubts... even though I have never seen the Golden Crow, but there have been many rumours about it. These rumours are known by everyone in the Forgotten Continent. It is said that the Golden Crow’s body is completely gold, and has three feet. Thus, it is also called the ‘Three-footed Crow’. However, the ‘Golden Crow’ that we saw was predominantly crimson red, with a bit of gold. Moreover, it only has two legs instead of three. Though they are both birds, ‘Crimson Spirit’ has the head and tail of a phoenix and the body of a Vermillion Bird, which is completely different to a crow.”

Ling Chen: “..........”

“However, these are all rumours. I’ve never seen the real Golden Crow before, so I can’t confirm if these rumours are true or not. The fact remains though that only the Golden Crow is able to summon the Flames of the Nine Suns. That’s why I thought she was the Golden Crow. If the rumours about the appearance of the Golden Crow are true, then ‘Crimson Spirit’ and ‘Golden Crow’ should be two completely names and beings....”

“But, why is she able to use the Flames of the Nine Suns... and why was she imprisoned by the Demon Beast Clan? I’ve never heard of the name ‘Crimson Spirit’, but she is able to use the Flames of the Nine Suns, so why have I never heard about her before...?” Qi Yue wondered aloud, unable to find an answer.

“Could she be a phoenix or a Vermillion Bird?” Ling Chen quietly asked.

“Absolutely impossible!” Qi Yue firmly answered, “Phoenixes are an extremely ancient race. In the ancient times, the Phoenix Clan was even comparable to the Dragon Clan in terms of power. However, a terrible catastrophe struck, resulting in the Phoenix Clan becoming extinct. From then onwards, no one has ever seen a phoenix, and phoenixes became an existence that only existed in the legends. Apart from the Golden Crow, the Vermillion Bird is the beast with the strongest flame power, and currently resides in the Southern region of the Forgotten Continent. Although its fire power is very strong, but it’s impossible for it to use golden flame. Moreover, the Flames of the Nine Suns are flames unique to the Golden Crow, so even if the Vermillion Bird is able to reach Saint Destroyer level, it still wouldn’t be able to use those flames. Plus, I’ve seen the Vermillion Bird before, so I know they’re completely different.”

Caw~~~

Within the fire, the piercing cry rang out. Crimson Spirit’s head was once again proudly raised. Its previously darkened feathers were once again ignited with crimson clusters of fire. Its eyes shone with a fiery ruby glow.

“Ding... ‘Crimson Spirit’ has successfully become your pet, and has revived its life force with your life force as the foundation. Its life and death will be tied to yours from now on. Please pick a nice nickname for your ‘Crimson Spirit’.”

“Xi Ling.” Ling Chen didn’t even need to think, and immediately chose the name that she had told him.

“Ding... Pet ‘Xi Ling’ successfully named.”

“Ding... Congratulations, your pet ‘Crimson Spirit’ has been listed in the Pet Ranking List in your region as Number 1. System will release a global announcement, do you wish to hide your personal information?”

The revived Xi Ling was ranked even higher on the Pet Ranking List than Xiao Hui!? Could it be that Xi Ling will be a Heaven’s End grade pet?!?

“No need!”

After Ling Chen quickly answered, he immediately opened the Pet Ranking List.

China Region Pet Ranking List:

Number 1: Crimson Spirit: Grade: Heaven’s End, Level: LV0, Owner: Ling Tian.

Number 2: Holy Divine Beast: Grade: Celestial, Level: LV12, Owner: Ling Tian.