Hearing her call, Qingcang felt a pang of mixed emotions.
No matter how powerful his little daughter was, she was still deeply attached to him. Before this expedition, she must be quite reluctant to part with him, right?
But then Yaohua said earnestly, "Father, if I can return safely, will you voluntarily abdicate and let me take over?"
Before her words faded, her elder brothers were in a panic. "Father, what's wrong with you?"
"Oh no, Father has fainted from anger..."
On Dongshan, the Caged Bird Clan was under strict guard due to the rebellion.
A few guards were basking in the sun. A chubby caged bird looked worried. "Hey, are we really rebelling?"
"Of course," said a skinny bird beside it. "The Immortal Realm asks us to pay such a large tribute of food every year. If we don't rebel, we'll have nothing to eat!"
Yaohua stopped at a distance and observed the surroundings.
Alone, she was unable to quell the rebellion of the Caged Bird Clan. This time, the Immortal Realm had specifically sent her to investigate the truth behind the rebellion.
But how could she sneak into the clan?
As she was thinking, she suddenly saw a familiar figure, or rather, a bird figure, emerging from the bushes.
The caged bird was digging the ground vigorously. It found a small potato and happily ate it.
She calmly greeted it. "Long time no see?"
The caged bird was stunned and forced a smile that looked worse than crying. "Little miss, why is it you?"
God knows, it had just come out to look for food!
Half an hour later, the caged bird led her listlessly towards the mountain.
The guards seemed to know it, and their smiles were full of malice. "Xuan Shang, you've gone out to look for food again?"
"Hahaha, this useless one used to be a genius in our clan. Now, since he failed to integrate with the demonic aura, he has been ranked last for a whole month!"
"The clan leader has ordered that the caged bird ranked last will not be allocated any resources. Xuan Shang has to go out and pick up the leftovers!"
Amid the jeers, Xuan Shang's cheeks gradually turned red, but he didn't argue. Instead, he said silently, "Elders, I've treated you well in the past. Please let me in."
After the guards humiliated him some more, they raised their hands. An invisible energy wave spread out, gradually revealing the forbidden formation outside the mountain of the Caged Bird Clan.
This formation emitted wisps of demonic aura and was extremely powerful.
Xuan Shang walked in. Along the way, the caged birds all cast different looks at him. When he returned to his cave, he found everything in a mess. He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. He closed the door and resignedly began to tidy up.
"I didn't expect you to be in such a miserable state in the clan. No wonder you agreed to take me in so easily." With a gentle voice, Yaohua appeared in the cave.
Although she was powerful, she was helpless against the forbidden formation of the Caged Bird Clan. So she had just transformed into a feather and been carried in by Xuan Shang.
Xuan Shang said angrily, "It's all because you branded my soul. That's why I had to come with you."
"Don't be angry, Brother Xuan Shang," Yaohua said with a smile. "Let me ask you, where is the clan leader of your Caged Bird Clan?"
As she spoke, two potatoes appeared in her hand.
Xuan Shang's eyes lit up when he saw the potatoes. "The clan leader is in the Demon Pool on the back mountain, cultivating with the other elders!"
"What is the Demon Pool?" Yaohua couldn't help but ask.
Xuan Shang showed a terrified expression. "The Demon Pool is formed by the demonic aura of the Heavenly Demon."
"You can cultivate with the help of the demonic aura thanks to this Demon Pool, right?" Yaohua continued to ask for information.
The Caged Bird Clan had a weak sense of kinship and didn't value emotions. So Xuan Shang didn't resist much when revealing the clan's secrets.
Soon, she learned the truth behind the rebellion.
It turned out that since the natural disaster began, the Caged Bird Clan had been suffering from the difficulty of finding food. They were not very powerful originally, and they were greedy by nature. They liked to hunt the cubs of other clans, which naturally provoked a lot of hatred. They had no allies either, so they suffered even more in the famine caused by the natural disaster.
At this time, the Heavenly Demon made a deal with them and taught them the method of cultivating with demonic aura.
The Caged Bird Clan was a branch of the ancient evil birds. They unexpectedly fit well with the method of cultivating with demonic aura. Most of them could successfully turn demonic, and their cultivation speed was advancing by leaps and bounds. They quickly developed from a relatively weak clan to the most powerful one in this area.
Every month, the caged birds had to enter the Demon Pool to absorb the demonic aura.
Yaohua thought for a moment. "When will they enter the Demon Pool?"
Xuan Shang hesitated. "Tomorrow..."
Early the next morning, Yaohua transformed into a feather and followed Xuan Shang to the location of the Demon Pool.
From afar, she could feel a lot of demonic aura and couldn't help but feel extremely disgusted.
Xuan Shang seemed to sense something and asked, "Can't you stand it already?"
Although Yaohua had a high cultivation level, she wasn't sure if her concealment technique was powerful enough, so she remained silent.
But Xuan Shang was more certain of his speculation. He couldn't help but feel a little excited. If the whole clan was punished for the rebellion, he wouldn't be able to escape either. This little phoenix had come to investigate the truth. If her strength was weakened because of the demonic aura, wouldn't it be easy to defeat her?
By then, not only could he get rid of the shackles, but he could also enjoy delicious phoenix soup!
As Xuan Shang entered the cave, the demonic aura became stronger and stronger.
Several little caged bird children were sitting here, cultivating in ecstasy. Strands of black demonic aura were being inhaled into their noses.
Although Yaohua had already learned about the situation from Xuan Shang, she was still a little shocked. The children were innocent and easily influenced by the demonic aura. The faster they cultivated, the paler their faces became and the redder their lips were. Occasionally, when they opened their eyes, they looked extremely cruel.
I don't know how long they walked, but suddenly, their vision broadened.
A magnificent underground palace appeared in front of her. The Demon Pool was located hundreds of meters above the ground. There was a level every ten meters, and there were dozens of caves on each level, just big enough for one person to sit and cultivate.
Around the Demon Pool, three caged birds had transformed into their original forms and were crawling there to cultivate.
In the cave on the first level, there was a familiar figure. It was the clan leader of the Caged Bird Clan.
The aura here was extremely powerful. The originally weak Caged Bird Clan had approached the level of the Phoenix Clan in just one year.
Yaohua frowned tightly. It seemed that she had to subdue this clan as soon as possible and send them to the Immortal Realm for trial. Otherwise, the harm caused by the Caged Bird Clan might be no less than that of the Heavenly Demon.
The clan leader of the Caged Bird Clan noticed Xuan Shang. "Come!"
With just one word, Xuan Shang uncontrollably fell to the side of the Demon Pool. The demonic aura here was even more surging, even bringing up howling winds.
The clan leader picked him up with one hand and walked in front of several old caged birds. "This child was originally a genius in our clan, but he has been unable to accept the demonic aura for a long time. Please take care of him, elders."
One of the caged birds lazily opened its eyes, and its gaze was slightly sharp. "Why does this child have the aura of the Phoenix Clan on him?"