Burnt Rock Central Park.

A gentle breeze swept by, the man-made lake's sparkling surface reflecting a pleasing golden hue.

On a bench by the lake, a young man sat quietly.

He wore an off-white sweater and brown trousers, head lowered, fully engrossed in a thick, black leather-bound book in his hands.

The winter sun lazily bathed the youth, casting a faint golden glow onto his semi-long, satin-like black hair and his fair, handsome face, creating a serene and beautiful scene akin to an oil painting.

"...When It senses the end of Its life nearing, It carries fragrant twigs and leaves in Its beak to build Its last nest in the silent mouth of a volcano.

At the moment of death, It unfurls Its wings, taps into the power of the volcano, ignites the nest, and is reborn in the orange flames, once again escaping the call of the Netherworld...

Some say the Phoenix dwells in the Palace of the Sun, perched on a throne of gold, each feather shimmering with an eternal radiance.

Others propose that It roams the world in the form of a poet, cradling a golden harp, Its mouth filled with melodious and captivating songs.

Yet others claim Its image is engraved on the thirty-seventh pillar of the Demon God, Its wings pitch-black, each flap drowning a world in dark ashes..."

Lu Yuan closed the book, but his eyes still flickered with various myths and information about the Phoenix.

Narrowing his eyes and looking up at the sun, he shifted his gaze and found a girl holding a sketchpad on the lawn not far away, sneakily looking at him.

Lu Yuan smiled at her, then lowered his head to continue his thoughts.

It had been two weeks since he returned from Penglai.

His life was ordinary these days, as peaceful as the winter lake before him.

Yet he could still occasionally feel surges of commotion from the outside world.

Out of habit, Lu Yuan opened Yellow Bear's internal forum.

At a glance, most posts were about the Legendary Level Secret Realm—Ash Mountain.

The official opening of Ash Mountain, one of the nine Legendary Level Secret Realms, was almost two weeks ago. Its popularity had not waned but rather showed an increasingly fervent trend.

Every opening of a Legendary Level Secret Realm requires a huge amount of manpower and resources. Given the immense difficulty of exploring such realms, each exploration process extends over a long period. The duration can be as short as half a year, or as long as three to five years. It seems that another group of the Secret God Group has been drafted recently; even Song Cong and Zhou Ling have apparently gone...

Lu Yuan's ivory fingers gently slid across the cover of the black book in his hand, his eyes flickering as he pondered silently.

Frankly, he wanted to go too. The Phoenix Feather, priced at a staggering one billion in the Merit Shop, had always caught his eye. This Phoenix Feather was said to originate from the Ash Mountain Secret Realm. There were only two in the whole world: one in the Sum Country and the other in the Distant Star Federation. Because it is related to the immortal Phoenix from legends, Ash Mountain is the most frequently opened of the nine Legendary Level Secret Realms. Everyone coveted the potential secret of Immortality it might hold, but so far, no breakthrough research results have emerged.

"Xiao Rui said the two Phoenix Feathers in existence may not be real Phoenix feathers at all," Lu Yuan recalled. "Because these two feathers were just two unidentified mysterious feathers obtained from Ash Mountain; the name 'Phoenix' was forcibly attached to them. The exploration of Ash Mountain hasn't exceeded ten percent so far, so the probability of them being fake feathers is very high."

Thus, it's even more necessary for me to go there myself... Lu Yuan mused.

He didn't think he was more capable than all the members of every Extraordinary Organization combined. But... what if? What if his luck was astonishing and he found a real feather? He still has a Feather of the Hundred-Eyed Dark Crow in his stomach, and as the saying goes, 'universal gravitation, Pythagorean theorem...' What if there's some sort of mutual attraction between different feathers? This sort of thing was truly unpredictable. He had been studying myths and information about the Phoenix every day lately, preparing for this. However, entering the Secret Realm wasn't something he could do just because he wanted to.

Lu Yuan had tentatively asked Yu Wentong a few times but was refused each time. He was told that the casualty rate inside was very high at the moment, and he should wait a little longer.

Lu Yuan sighed lightly and got up from the bench, black book in hand.

The girl on the distant lawn who was sneakily drawing him saw this and quickly stood up, abandoning her sketchpad and running towards him with her cellphone.

Lu Yuan quickened his steps slightly and vanished like mist over the grass, leaving the sketching girl standing bewildered where she was, questioning if this silent encounter was just a dream on a winter morning.

Exiting the park, the blaring sounds of car horns echoed in his ears.

Lu Yuan walked leisurely along the long street, his eyes flickering faintly as he called up another file.

"...The Feathered Serpent God, the supreme god in Azk mythology who controls the changes in the sky and airflow... He rules the Morning Star, invented writing and books, and enriched the world. He also represents death and destruction..."

[The God who rules the sky

I offer you the purest evil

Carve my chest with a blade of wind and morning dew

My liver and gut arranged in the shape of feathers

Please grant your faithful follower a new heart

Their skin will turn to greenish-red smoke under this power]

Lu Yuan had once acquired a mysterious stone slab, believed to contain the "Treasure" of a past Evil Emperor, from three individuals of the Evil Martial Association: Guardian Xiang, Guard Ying, and one other. A transparent, winged, snake-like creature, which had reached the Walker Level of power, had even been released from the stone slab.

Lu Yuan deciphered the text on the slab. After the battle in Penglai, when he gained total control of the Evil Martial Association, he combined this with the information revealed from the slab's text and confirmed it.

The so-called "Treasure of the Evil Emperor" was actually related to a legendary supreme treasure called the "Heart of the Feathered Serpent." It is said that the Heart of the Feathered Serpent is hidden within the Legendary Level Secret Realm Sky Evil. The Evil Emperor of the Evil Martial Association before the last one is suspected to have accidentally discovered another entrance to Sky Evil... Now that everyone's attention is on the Ash Mountain Secret Realm, it would be the best time for me to explore Sky Evil alone...

Lu Yuan was making calculations in his mind.

Exploring alone, though it meant he would keep all the rewards for himself, also meant he would have to bear the risks of confronting the terrifying dangers of a Legendary Level Secret Realm alone. Ash Mountain has been under exploration for two weeks, and casualty rates are said to be high; even a Flying Bear General had to undergo Reforging. If he, with his modest abilities, were to go inside, it wasn't even a question of whether he could acquire the Feathered Serpent God's heart, but whether he could even make it out alive. Besides, the specific location of this entrance is still being searched for.

Lu Yuan had already dispatched almost all the Evil Martial Association members under his command to locate it.

At this moment, he truly felt the benefits of having a private army. Otherwise, he would have to use Yellow Bear's resources for such matters, and there would be no way of keeping it secret.

Lu Yuan stopped under a bus stop sign, timed it perfectly, and got on a bus that had just arrived.

Twenty minutes later, he got off at the stop near his home.

Then, he leisurely walked towards his house.

The outcome of the battle in Penglai, from an outsider's perspective, was merely the death of a Great Grandmaster, one of the Penglai Five Elders, reducing the Penglai Five Elders to the Penglai Four Elders. The era of Heaven Lord Wu Chao had also completely passed. But only Lu Yuan knew that Penglai's glory was no more. Although on the surface it was still under Pure Martial autonomy, in reality, Penglai had fallen completely under Yellow Bear's control. The Pot Heaven Secret Realm was turned upside down by the people Xiao Rui brought; not only did they copy all the information Wu Chao left there, but they also completely sealed the Pot Heaven Secret Realm. However, they were rather generous on one point: everything inside was converted into equivalent Merit points as a reward for Lu Yuan "conquering Penglai." He was even allowed to keep some things he wanted. Originally, Lu Yuan was quite eager for Merit points. However, after hearing what Xiao Rui said on Martial Saint Island and talking with Yu Wentong afterward... Lu Yuan was now also part of the tangled and confused crowd.

"Knife-cut noodles! Delicious knife-cut noodles!"

Having not walked far, Lu Yuan heard exaggerated calls coming from nearby.

Lu Yuan emotionlessly turned his gaze.

What came into view was a newly opened knife-cut noodle restaurant named "Rebirth: I'm Selling Knife-cut Noodles in Burnt Rock."

An ordinary knife-cut noodle shop, but it became extraordinary due to its explosive name and its two "uncommon-looking" owners.

Currently shouting at the door was a middle-aged man with a long face, wearing a grey down jacket. He greeted customers with a beaming smile, enthusiastically calling out to passers-by.

Inside the shop, a hawk-nosed old man with a gloomy face, wearing an apron and sleeve protectors, was cutting noodles into the pot with a SWISH SWISH SWISH.

Lu Yuan walked over slowly.

The long-faced middle-aged man at the shop entrance immediately greeted him enthusiastically, "Handsome, fancy some noodles?"

"One serving of stir-fried knife-cut noodles," Lu Yuan said casually and walked into the shop, sitting down at the table furthest in the back.

In no time, both the long-faced middle-aged man shouting at the door and the hawk-nosed old man cutting noodles came over. With their backs to the shop door, they respectfully called out in low voices, "God Emperor."

Yes, that was correct. This explosive noodle shop was indeed opened by the long-faced Guardian Lin and the hawk-nosed Guard Ying of the Evil Martial Association. These two could be regarded as the number one Eagle Hounds under his, the God Emperor's, command. Ever since he returned from Penglai, they had been diligently following him around, saying it was convenient for them to serve him at a moment's notice. Alright then, Lu Yuan thought, having two more bodyguards near home should be good. It added an extra layer of security for his family. So he let the two of them open a small shop on the street as a front to avoid drawing attention. This Knife-cut Noodle Restaurant was thus born. As for why they chose that explosive shop name, Lu Yuan had asked. Their reply was: "God Emperor presides over the God Union; the entire God Union is like it's greeting a fresh start. We two also feel as if we've been reborn..." (Applause!) The way they sucked up to him was truly uniquely creative.

"You, quickly go prepare noodles for the God Emperor!"

After the greeting, the long-faced Guardian Lin immediately urged Guard Ying to cook the noodles, while he himself stood respectfully before Lu Yuan to report the situation.

"...Just received news. Old Lei over there has a lead on the entrance to the Evil Emperor's Treasure. It's said to be within the encampment of a small sect named the Feather God Sect. Old Lei and his team encountered some resistance. But Little Rou is leading people over to provide support; they should be able to resolve the issue soon..."

Ever since latching onto Lu Yuan's coattails, the long-faced Guardian Lin's backbone had stiffened. He now casually referred to the formerly fear-inducing Guardian Lei and Guardian Rou as "Old Lei" and "Little Rou" with great ease.

Lu Yuan nodded and asked about some other matters.

The long-faced Guardian Lin answered each one in turn.

Soon, the apron-clad Guard Ying brought over a large bowl of knife-cut noodles.

Without waiting for Lu Yuan to make a move, Guardian Lin immediately pulled out two chopsticks from the holder on the table, carefully wiped them on his clothes again and again, then respectfully handed them to Lu Yuan.

"God Emperor, please enjoy your meal."

Lu Yuan took a light breath, suppressing his speechlessness.

He nodded and began to eat the noodles.

It had to be said, Guard Ying's knife-cut noodles were indeed excellent. This fellow originally came from the Northern Falcon Claw Sect. After acquiring Evil God Power from a so-called Eagle God Sect, his skills with his hands became even more exquisite. The knife-cut noodles he made were smooth and chewy, and the seasoning was also excellent. It was still early, but Lu Yuan had observed that during normal meal times, their shop's business was quite booming. It was even said that a few days ago, it had quietly made it onto a local Burnt Rock "must-eat" food list, and from time to time, minor internet celebrities would come by with cameras to check in.

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