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All eyes were fixed on the clump of black fog on the periphery, seemingly drawn by a force that prevented it from dissipating beyond a certain extent.

"This is too eerie, isn’t it?" Yun Xiao felt that this had surpassed her realm of understanding. But then again, given that she herself was an abnormal existence, she had to admit that there were many unimaginable things in this world.

"Help me!" Gu Xiaoxi’s ears were filled with the tender voice of a child, which was strange since she seemed to be the only one who could hear it.

"I think we should wait until noon for the black fog to thin out before we observe further!" Gu Xiaoxi pondered and concluded that this was the safest method.

The thicker the black fog, the more dangerous the area signified.

"Let’s head back first and have a few hazmat suits sent over.

We can investigate later. This place is so peculiar; we must get to the bottom of it," Ai Xiang felt that they had to address the problem they had discovered rather than ignore it and wait for things to get out of hand and become too late to solve.

Quan Shaoqing and the others were anxiously waiting on the mountain. It wasn’t long before they saw Gu Xiaoxi and her group return.

He immediately approached, taking Gu Xiaoxi’s hand, and asked anxiously, "Are you all alright?"

"We didn’t even get close to the mist, but one thing is for certain, the Purple Mist’s toxins are too strong," Gu Xiaoxi said with a cool expression.

Ai Xiang stood at the top of the cliff, her face grave as she looked at the heavy purple fog, "Shaoqing, send the hazmat team over. Have them bring hazmat suits and oxygen tanks. Now that we’ve discovered it, we can’t let this become a disaster.

The world can no longer withstand any further turmoil. "

Over the past few years, both the economy and the populace had barely stabilized. They had to nip this threat in the bud.

Quan Shaoqing had already called for help and also dispatched a security team.

By noon, the black fog had already faded, leaving only the purple mist. By afternoon, even the purple hue had weakened significantly, turning into a thin, translucent fog.

At that time, the troops had gathered, ready to explore and see for themselves.

Since there was a large number of them, Young Master Quan personally commanded the operation, surrounding half of the valley with the temporary force.

Everyone donned their hazmat suits and then split into two teams to enter the purple fog.

The valley wasn’t very large, only five hundred meters in radius. They walked from one end of the valley to the other and found nothing.

Inside, they could only see a sea of purple mist, their feet treading over a landscape of scattered rocks and deadwood with nothing out of the ordinary.

Gu Xiaoxi was surprised; the voice she had heard in the morning had disappeared upon getting closer.

"There might be a space here harboring demons," Quan Shaoqing stated firmly.

"We can’t find any clues. Shall we go in again? Maybe we missed something important. This time we’ll bring flashlights and search carefully," Gu Xiaoxi suggested. If it was something easy to find, surely someone would have discovered it by now.

"Now, while the Purple Mist is at its weakest, we have to investigate quickly. If we wait for the mist to thicken into black, even with hazmat suits, we may not be able to enter or return safely," Ai Xiang said, her face more serious than it had ever been.

He looked at the sea of fog before him, a dark light flickering in his eyes.

"Then let’s go in again!" Under Young Master Quan’s command, they proceeded.

They redressed, fully equipped, and entered the purple fog zone.

Quan Shaoqing kept holding Gu Xiaoxi’s hand, making her follow closely beside him as they slowly walked inward.

Gu Xiaoxi held her breath, moving forward cautiously.

She had never seen such an eerie place. From where did this purple mist originate? The ground was bare, unlikely to be the source of the mist - it was more reminiscent of a force emitted by something imbued with divine power.

Suddenly, her foot struck a stone platform. Instinctively, she let go of Quan Shaoqing’s hand to touch the platform, not expecting that in the next second, her vision would flicker, the purple mist vanished, and what appeared before her was a vast expanse of fiery sea.

Gu Xiaoxi startled and stepped back anxiously, only then realizing she had entered a strange space. Flames blazed beneath her feet without a trace of heat.

"Where is this?" Gu Xiaoxi wondered aloud in panic.

"Save me!"

A childlike voice rang out, and Gu Xiaoxi alertly pricked up her ears to listen; it was the same voice she had heard in the morning.

She walked slowly toward the source of the voice, confusedly treading over the sea of fire beneath her feet.

In the center of the flame-riddled space, there was a bird with strikingly vibrant and entirely red plumage.

Each of its shimmering feathers was ensconced in flames, but its feet were chained by a very fine chain to a stone platform.

"Are you the one talking?" Gu Xiaoxi asked cautiously, while her nervous breathing became irregular.

"Yes! Please save me!" came the childlike voice, sounding much like that of a toddler. She had never imagined that the owner of this voice would be a Fire Bird.

"Why should I save you!" Gu Xiaoxi did not know whether the creature was friend or foe, especially since that Purple Mist did not seem benign. Considering it was trapped here, it was hard to say whether it was good or evil.

The Fire Bird obviously grew upset upon hearing Gu Xiaoxi’s words, and even though its voice had been weak before, suddenly its wings thrashed with a thump.

Gu Xiaoxi suddenly felt the flames around her growing scalding hot, and in just an instant, she felt as if she was about to be steamed alive.

"Woman, if you don’t save me, you won’t be able to get out either. If you make me unhappy, I will kill you," the Fire Bird said with an arrogant and savage tone. It had shifted in an instant from being weak to being violent.

Sweating profusely and with a cold expression, Gu Xiaoxi could not help but take off her protective suit as it was suffocating her.

After she had removed the cumbersome suit and mustered her courage, she took a closer look at the Fire Bird in front of her; it was indeed very small. It was about the size of a parrot, frail-looking, but the flames enveloping it were terrifying and eye-catching.

"How am I supposed to know whether you are a good bird or a bad one?

What if I save you and you repay kindness with malice?

Better for me to die alone than to harm the lives of thousands of people in the world," Gu Xiaoxi said, arms crossed and with an expression that showed she would not be intimidated.

Standing before it, she scoffed, "If you want to kill me, then kill me! Anyway, if I can’t get out, then you can forget about getting out too."

"Foolish human, release me quickly. I am a divine being!" Seeing Gu Xiaoxi unafraid of its threats, the Fire Bird immediately changed its tune, speaking in a voice that was icily commanding.

Even from a distance, Gu Xiaoxi could feel the supreme pressure and haughty air emanating from its gaze.

A shock went through Gu Xiaoxi’s heart; she nearly found it hard to breathe under the pressure it released and had to resist immediately with her Inner Strength.

Shock was not the only thing she felt; there was also disbelief.

A Fire Bird atop a seven-foot-high platform was actually a divine being?

"Hahaha! You little kid, you’re too funny. If gods are birds, then aren’t we all descendants of bird people?" Gu Xiaoxi couldn’t hold back her laughter. She laughed unabashedly, yet she remained vigilant of the small creature before her.

Clearly, her words angered the Fire Bird again, as the temperature around them immediately soared by several degrees.

Gu Xiaoxi was so frightened that she changed her tone at once and asked, "If you don’t tell the truth, I won’t save you. We might as well have a showdown. The gods among humans are definitely not mere fire turkeys."

"Stinky woman, who are you calling a fire turkey? Let me tell you, I am a Divine Beast!" The high-and-mighty childlike voice was full of disdain.

"You should have said so earlier, a Divine Beast is a Divine Beast, why pretend to be a god? Are you mocking me because I’m less educated?" Gu Xiaoxi retorted disdainfully. If she was trapped here, she was not in a hurry to get out.

She figured the creature before her might be powerful, but since it needed something from her, it surely wouldn’t kill her.

Gu Xiaoxi quickly went over the situation in her mind and came up with a strategy.

She definitely couldn’t save it rashly; she needed to understand the details of this place and get it to talk.

"Foolish human. The gods have abandoned you already. I am your true guardian deity, now save me. Otherwise, you all are doomed." The fiery bird spat out a wisp of flame from its mouth, showing that it was very angry at the moment.

But Gu Xiaoxi wasn’t afraid of it and approached the bird.

She walked around the stone platform and stared into the Fire Bird’s pea-sized eyes, smiling brightly, "So, guardian deity, you’re all tied up like this and still commanding me.

All I know is that everyone is living well at the moment, and you are the only one tied up here.

Besides, you don’t look like a good bird. "

Gu Xiaoxi refused to believe she couldn’t handle even a small bird.

"You...!" The Fire Bird spat out a few more flames, and it took quite a while for it to suppress its anger before glaring at the ignorant and arrogant woman before it, and angrily said, "I am the last Phoenix in this world.

Together with the Nine-tailed White Fox, we are guardian Divine Beasts.

But the Nine-tailed White Fox was betrayed by its own Fox Clan and is now extinct.

The foxes that remain in this world are all part of the Demon Path, vicious beasts practicing contrary to Heaven, wreaking havoc upon the Mortal World, ripping out hearts to cultivate. .."

"Wait a minute, what do all these things you’re talking about have to do with us? The White Fox is dead, so why are you here? And what about those foxes that have fallen onto the Demon Path?" Gu Xiaoxi was confused by its words.