My Crazy Upgrade System

This light was not from completing a mission, but from fulfilling an oath. Elder Luo’s eyes lit up at the realization. It truly was an oath that had brought him here.

"So you made an oath?" Elder Luo asked in surprise.

"Yes. Yan’Er’s mother didn’t trust me at the time, so I had no choice but to make an oath," Yi Tianyun said with a helpless shrug.

"That’s true. We’ve had some... conflicts with the human race." Elder Luo was a bit embarrassed. He then looked at Yan’Er and said, "You call her Yan’Er?"

"Yes. Her mother called her Yan’Er. I don’t know her real name," Yi Tianyun replied with a faint smile.

"Yan’Er..."

Elder Luo’s eyes lit up again. "Can you tell me, in detail, what happened?" he asked.

Yi Tianyun nodded and recounted the general course of events. Upon hearing the story, Elder Luo’s expression twisted in anger. "So she hid in the Mortal Realm... No wonder I couldn’t find her, no matter how hard I looked back then..."

"What exactly happened for things to turn out this way?" Yi Tianyun didn’t know the whole story, but he was certain that this wouldn’t have happened unless she was being hunted.

A Phoenix’s Life Force is incredibly resilient. They can withstand any injury as long as it isn’t absolutely fatal and impossible to recover from. For her to have died just like that meant she must have suffered a truly vicious attack.

"I’m not sure. At the time, Huang’Er left to search for a Spirit Medicine and then vanished. We couldn’t find her anywhere." Elder Luo’s face filled with remorse. "If only I hadn’t let her go off on her own... This tragedy would never have occurred..."

A profound sense of self-blame washed over him, and his eyes grew bloodshot. He had assumed she was still alive, just living somewhere else. This sudden news was a devastating blow.

In that instant, Elder Luo seemed to age several years. He stumbled, his body swaying unsteadily.

"Elder Luo..." A nearby guard rushed to support him.

"I’m fine..." Elder Luo heaved a deep sigh, his heart filled with a mixture of emotions as he looked at Yan’Er.

"Grandpa, are you okay?" Yan’Er peeked out from behind Yi Tianyun, unable to stop herself from asking. Her eyes, too, were filled with concern.

Although she had no memories, the connection of their Bloodline made a wave of sadness well up inside her.

"I’m fine, child..." Elder Luo managed a faint smile, but his eyes remained full of sorrow. He looked up at Yi Tianyun and said, "It seems Yan’Er only wants to stay with you. I’ll arrange a place for you both to stay for now. Bringing Yan’Er back makes you an honored guest of our race. We must extend our finest hospitality."

Elder Luo gestured to the guard. "Take them to Qingya Residence. Arrange for them to stay there."

"Qingya Residence? But isn’t that..." The guard started to object, but a glare from Elder Luo silenced him. He nodded meekly. "Very well. I’ll take them there at once."

"The two of you should get some rest. It must have been a long journey. I’ll come find you after I’ve taken care of a few things." Elder Luo glanced at Yan’Er one last time. He was overjoyed to see her, but since she wouldn’t approach him, he had to let it go for now.

Besides, he had too much to deal with at the moment. Family matters would have to wait.

"This way, please." The guard’s attitude was respectful. They were always deeply grateful to those who helped the Phoenix Race.

Following the guard, they navigated a series of winding paths. Along the way, many Phoenix Race People cast curious glances at them, their surprised eyes sizing up Yi Tianyun, and even more so, the little girl beside him.

’How did a human get in here?’ More importantly, Yan’Er was a complete stranger; none of them had ever seen her before.

The population of the Phoenix Race wasn’t large. With their formidable cultivation, they could easily memorize not just a thousand faces, but even a hundred thousand. A powerful cultivation base came with an equally powerful memory; how else could they master so many profound concepts?

As the Phoenix Race People sized him up, Yi Tianyun surveyed his surroundings. Fire Phoenix Trees were everywhere. Even the houses were built primarily from their wood, creating a beautiful, fiery-red landscape.

The Spiritual Power here was also dense, but more importantly, it was suffused with the Fire Attribute. Spiritual Power is normally Attributeless, meaning any constitution can absorb it. With the air so full of Fire Attribute Spiritual Power, however, anyone with a Fire Attribute Constitution would receive a major cultivation boost.

This was Phoenix territory, so naturally, it was saturated with Fire Attribute Spiritual Power—an ideal cultivation environment for them. But for someone with a Water Attribute Constitution, cultivating here would be a nightmare. Their cultivation speed would plummet, making it worse than training outside.

’Looks like there are quite a few people here...’ Yi Tianyun had assumed their numbers would be small; after all, as a Divine Beast Race, they were supposed to be Rare. But judging by the endless stretch of houses, there had to be at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of them.

Yan’Er, too, gazed around with curiosity. This place made her feel safe, and she was curious to know why.

Soon, they arrived before an elegant courtyard. It was enclosed by a delicate fence, with small, beautiful flowers planted along its edge. Inside stood a simple house that looked uninhabited but was spotlessly clean. There wasn’t a single fallen leaf in the yard.

"This will be your residence. Feel free to make yourselves at home," the guard said, gesturing for them to enter.

Yi Tianyun nodded and led Yan’Er inside. The guard didn’t leave, instead remaining outside to stand watch over them. In truth, he was monitoring them. Even though Yi Tianyun had brought Yan’Er back, they were worried he might wander off.

Letting an outsider roam freely in their home was a bad idea. If he were to stumble into a restricted area, the consequences would be severe.

Yi Tianyun knew his place. Besides, this place was teeming with powerful experts. He wouldn’t wander around aimlessly unless he had a death wish.

’This place is certainly unique. It’s simple, but the overall design feels very comforting.’ A glint flashed in Yi Tianyun’s eyes. He didn’t need to guess. This cottage had to be the house where Luo Huang lived before she died, which meant Elder Luo was her father!

"Daddy, I think... I’ve been here before," Yan’Er said, her little brow furrowed in concentration.

"Go on, have a look around," Yi Tianyun encouraged her, hoping she would remember more if she explored the cottage.

’She must have still been in Luo Huang’s womb, so she has some faint, residual memories of this place.’ It really was true what they said: cultivation begins in the womb. The Divine Beast Race was just that formidable—receiving fragments of inherited memories and beginning to grow strong even before birth.

He sat down in a nearby pavilion and watched with a faint smile as Yan’Er ran into the house. He knew this was merely a brief respite. A great battle would soon be upon them.

He knew about Ming Chen, and he knew the Phoenix Race had its own problems. To face the Celestial Nether Divine Kingdom, he needed a powerful ally.