IMC Chapter 59

Lan Qing was not particularly concerned about Fu Qing’s appearance assessment. His focus was entirely on the issue of how he had become the father of a dragonling.

Yinzi, oblivious to the shock he had caused Lan Qing, was busy diving low to catch an unknown magical beast as a snack. Jinzi, on the other hand, made a few calls, but Fu Qing did not translate this time; instead, he directly defended himself, “I’m not your father!”

Jinzi refused to believe this, giving a few more low calls. Clearly, unlike Yinzi, Jinzi thought that Fu Qing, who also raised a dragonling, should be their father.

Fu Qing, who was already struggling with raising one dragonling, firmly rejected again, “You’ve got the wrong father. I’m Fu Qing, not ‘Father’.”

After being rejected repeatedly, Jinzi felt a bit wronged but quickly came up with what he thought was the reason for the rejection. He flew low and caught two more grasshoppers, which he tossed onto the head of Lai Fu, Fu Qing’s dragon.

This way, the food that both the father and mother had would be the same, so the father wouldn’t be angry.

In fact, after receiving the two grasshoppers, Fu Qing did not continue to deny his role. He realized that having a dragon like Jinzi, who provided gifts without needing to be cared for and even called him ‘Father’, was quite beneficial.

Thus, whenever Jinzi called softly, Fu Qing not only didn’t reject but occasionally praised, “Hmm, good son, well done.”

Shu Bao couldn’t help but look at Fu Qing with some surprise.

Fu Qing shrugged it off, “What’s the matter? Your dragon made the mistake.”

Shu Bao nodded, “Lai Fu, I want to eat grasshoppers!”

Lai Fu immediately responded cheerfully and quickly dived down to catch some grasshoppers.

Fu Qing, feeling a bit regretful: “…” I forgot that my dragon isn’t very smart either.

After two days of flying, they finally reached their first destination: the Sea of Fire Trees.

The Sea of Fire Trees covered a vast area, located to the south of the tavern. There was no need for a specific path; as long as they kept heading south, they would inevitably encounter the Sea of Fire Trees.

True to its name, the Sea of Fire Trees was a forest that emitted a fiery red glow in the darkness. Even from a distance, its blazing brilliance was visible.

The three dragonlings, being Lava Fire Dragons, were not afraid of high temperatures or fires. They could also provide a protective barrier for the three people on their backs.

When the three dragonlings landed at the edge of the forest outside the Sea of Fire Trees, Shu Bao finally felt the impact of the dazzling fire forest.

The Fire Trees were about a hundred meters tall, with trunks roughly as thick as seven or eight people embracing each other. The trunks were straight with few branches, and instead of leaves, they bore flower buds similar to those of a magnolia tree in spring. These buds were the source of the forest’s radiant glow.

Each tree had several of these buds, which extended continuously like small lanterns hanging from the treetops. The forest also housed many creatures, most of which were unaffected by high temperatures and flames.

“Let’s go in,” Lan Qing said. “If we avoid the blooming fire blossoms, there’s generally no risk of spontaneous combustion.” With the sight of the Fire Trees, Lan Qing’s apothecary talent activated some basic knowledge about them.

Upon hearing the term “spontaneous combustion”, Shu Bao and Fu Qing halted their movements. In perfect unison, they moved to stand behind their respective dragonlings.

The three dragonlings immediately stood tall, ready to clear the path for their parents.

Lava Fire Dragons had an excellent sense of fire, so the paths they chose were naturally the safest.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, Shu Bao noticed that the soil beneath them was gradually turning red, as if it had been scorched by the forest’s intense heat.

Soon, Shu Bao realized he had spoken too soon. The deeper they went into the forest, the soil changed from red to a dazzling array of colors, reflecting the light from the Fire Tree blossoms and creating a dreamlike atmosphere.

The fantastical scene even made Fu Qing stop in his tracks. He crouched down to examine the soil, noting, “It’s glass sand. The high temperatures and the unique nature of the Sea of Fire Trees’s soil must have caused this phenomenon. However, it seems this sand isn’t valuable.”

Lan Qing, being practical, had already taken out a glass bottle and began collecting the sand. “It may not be valuable, but it looks nice. We can take it back to the tavern for decoration.”

Seeing this, Shu Bao went over to help and filled two large bags for himself, intending to take them back to the tribe for the people to play with.

Fu Qing wasn’t interested in worthless items and searched the surrounding area. Fortunately, he found two magical plants: a Flame Tiger Skin Ganoderma and a Warm Earth Wick Grass. According to Lan Qing’s estimate, the former was worth 80 silver coins, and the latter 30 silver coins.

Such high prices even tempted Shu Bao. He abandoned the sand collection and started searching the forest for magical plants.

After finishing with the sand, Lan Qing noticed that his two teammates were almost on their hands and knees searching. He helplessly reminded them, “A phoenix feather is worth 10 gold coins, and a mature Fireseed is worth 1 gem coin, which is 100 gold coins.”

Indeed, the two teammates immediately ceased their ground-level search. Shu Bao firmly stated, “We must not forget the purpose of this trip. Let’s find the phoenix first.”

“Agreed.” Fu Qing had already started moving ahead.

Thus, the three continued their journey deeper into the forest. Along the way, they collected some unique plants and minerals from the Sea of Fire Trees and hunted a few red-skinned pigs. They all agreed that the pigs, which looked as if they were already braised without cooking, would undoubtedly be delicious.

Although their haul was plentiful, they still hadn’t seen any sign of the phoenix. Shu Bao even began to doubt whether the phoenixes in this world looked different from what he knew, frequently glancing at the birds flying through the forest.

Seeing the bird, the three dragon cubs initially thought their mother wanted to eat it, and they frequently flew over to catch a few.

After walking for a while, the team decided to rest. Starting a fire in the Sea of Fire Trees was highly dangerous, and the temperature in their current location was already very high. Shu Bao had no desire for anything hot and immediately took out a pile of chilled fruits from his system space and began to eat.

These fruits were prepared by the high priest and were all very fragrant and sweet.

As the tavern owner, Lan Qing naturally had plenty of supplies. Fu Qing followed suit, also pulling out many fruits of various types, indicating that his base in the real world was quite far from Shu Bao’s base.

The three of them exchanged their food and started a fruit feast.

They had planned to rest after their fruit meal, as they had traveled a long way today. However, a distant phoenix cry quickly caught the attention of the three and their dragon companions.

The phoenix cry was very pleasant and resembled the phoenixes Shu Bao knew. Shu Bao was instantly intrigued; although he hadn’t seen a divine dragon in this world, encountering a divine bird was still exciting.

The phoenix’s cry grew louder, seemingly approaching them rapidly.

Fu Qing stood up, alert and looking in the direction of the sound. Shu Bao reminded Lan Qing to prepare the feather loss potion and use it on the phoenix at the first opportunity.

Lan Qing, having no knowledge of phoenixes in his original world, knew they were quite famous in the Chaotic World. According to tavern patrons, they were extremely formidable birds. Coupled with Fu Qing and Shu Bao’s admiration and praise for the phoenix, Lan Qing naturally remained vigilant.

The three dragon cubs, after a few seconds of watching, lost interest and diverted their attention, resuming their playful antics.

Soon, accompanied by a strange rumbling sound, the phoenix appeared before them.

Shu Bao and Fu Qing were puzzled by the source of the rumbling until they saw what the phoenix in this world looked like. They were immediately stunned and stood there in shock.

Lan Qing looked at the enormous bird with a long neck, nearly ten meters tall, and continued to praise, “It’s indeed very majestic! Truly a divine bird from your homeland!”

Fu Qing and Shu Bao’s expressions immediately twisted. The phoenix before them was not a celestial being descending from the heavens but rather a large bird that appeared to have come from the ground.

In Shu Bao’s world, there was a bird that ran on the ground: the ostrich. The phoenix before them looked remarkably similar to an ostrich with its long neck and strong, tall body.

However, there were differences as well. This phoenix did not have the long legs of an ostrich and was completely bare except for three feathers on its head, resembling the tuft of feathers on a peacock’s head.

Seeing that Shu Bao and Fu Qing were silent, Lan Qing had to continue awkwardly complimenting, “The divine bird from your world has three feathers! Worth 90 silver coins!”

Shu Bao finally reacted, shaking his head repeatedly, “Stop making things up. The phoenix in our world doesn’t look like this!”

The phoenix, unable to understand what the three were saying, scanned its surroundings before focusing on the pile of fruit. It did not advance recklessly, as it was wary of the three large dragons rather than the humans.

The phoenix circled the area twice, occasionally stretching its long neck and emitting a call. The crisp phoenix cry, coupled with its strange appearance, was difficult for both the mouse and butterfly to accept.

The three dragon cubs were very interested in this sudden appearance of a huge snack but were instructed by Shu Bao and Fu Qing not to act impulsively.

While the phoenix was testing the boundaries of the three dragon cubs, Lan Qing had already dripped the prepared feather loss potion onto the pile of fruit.

Seeing Lan Qing’s actions and then glancing at the phoenix with only three pitiful feathers, Shu Bao felt that their side’s actions might be somewhat cruel. However, it was acceptable as their snake companion had a hair-growth potion ready.

At Shu Bao and Fu Qing’s signal, the three dragon cubs stepped back. The phoenix finally approached the fruit pile and began to eat. Although its appearance was unimpressive, it ate incredibly quickly, and within moments, half of the fruit pile was consumed.

As the phoenix continued to peck at the fruit with fervor, under the gaze of six pairs of eyes, the three feathers on top of its head fell off in unison.

The phoenix paused its pecking, staring blankly at the fallen feathers in front of it. After a long while, it emitted a heart-wrenching cry.

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