Chapter 139: The Phoenix Returns Once More

In the morning, Fang Xian took Ye Hongxiu deep into the back mountain and had the Tiger King summon the fiercest beasts in the forest. He wanted Ye Hongxiu to choose one as a pet.

“Husband, is this Blood Pact Dan really that powerful? It can directly turn fierce beasts into obedient pets?” Ye Hongxiu was shocked after learning how to use the transformative divine armor Fang Xian had given her, along with a Blood Pact Dan.

“Yes. You pick a pet now. After seven days, give it the Blood Pact Dan, and it will obey you obediently. The Dan also benefits the pet; it might even break through racial limits and reach a higher level in the future,” Fang Xian nodded.

Soon, with the Tiger King’s roar, several fierce beasts appeared before them: a giant green-scaled python as thick as a water bucket, a slender leopard, a snow-white wolf king, and a black bear over two meters tall.

“Good heavens! There are so many fierce beasts deep in the back mountain, and we never encountered them before! If the Tiger King hadn’t called them, we wouldn’t have known,” Ye Hongxiu exclaimed.

“Look among these beasts—do any catch your fancy?” Fang Xian asked, his gaze flickering between the leopard and the white wolf, guessing she wouldn’t favor the python or the black bear.

Sure enough, Ye Hongxiu quickly focused on the leopard and the white wolf. As Fang Xian expected, she disliked the bear and the python but hesitated between the leopard and the wolf.

“Choose one, and leave the other for Sister Feng,” Fang Xian said with a smile. The last Blood Pact Dan was given to Feng Jiutian to tame a young tiger, so now they had enough to tame another pet.

“I’ll choose the leopard. Sister Feng likes white clothing, so let her have the white wolf,” Ye Hongxiu decided quickly. Fang Xian nodded and told the Tiger King to bring the leopard back in seven days.

At this moment, the leopard had yet to awaken to its new fate and was unaware it would soon become Ye Hongxiu’s pet. After the Tiger King sent it away, it vanished swiftly into the forest, moving silently and climbing trees with ease. Watching it disappear, Ye Hongxiu’s fondness grew stronger.

Fang Xian instructed the Tiger King to send the white wolf king to Phoenix Ridge in a few days before returning to the mountain stronghold. Although he did not visit the mountain base, he stopped by the military camp to provide guidance.

That evening, Zhu Jiuzhong personally arrived at Qingyun Stronghold to discuss many matters with Ye Qingyun and Fang Xian. Fang Xian handed over a large number of Strong Foundation Pills and some Body Forging Pills to them for training the strong warriors in the stronghold.

Fang Xian had already given the Strong Foundation formula to three mountain strongholds to cultivate young talents. Since the pills were more effective than the formula alone, he was no longer concerned about the formula leaking.

Though Fang Xian had only been gone a few months, the atmosphere in the strongholds had changed dramatically. Combined, the three strongholds now boasted four Master Realm experts, fifty to sixty first-class masters, hundreds of second-class experts, and thousands of third-class warriors.

Even within the Martial Guard Army, there were still no Master Realm experts, only five or six first-class masters, dozens of second-class experts, and just over a thousand third-class warriors, with the rest being ordinary soldiers of no rank.

Thus, the number of warriors and experts in the three mountain strongholds roughly equaled that of any of the four major border armies, each with around 300,000 troops.

Of course, the strongholds had fewer soldiers—just over twenty thousand combined—and about seventy to eighty thousand commoners. The emergence of so many warriors and experts from such a small population was largely thanks to Fang Xian.

Especially after implementing Fang Xian’s training methods, the soldiers’ quality rapidly improved, their willpower strengthened continuously, and their overall strength grew substantially—changes visible to the naked eye.

Currently, the strongholds continued to instill in their soldiers the fundamental ideological education imparted by Fang Xian: train diligently, defend the stronghold, protect your family.

This was the foundational political education. It was unrealistic to expect these soldiers to think about broader ideals like protecting all the people of the world; their motivation had to start with their own families.

Once this habit was formed, future political education would be easier to accept, and with their leadership, the entire population of the stronghold would follow suit.

On the afternoon of the third day, Fang Xian and Ye Hongxiu parted reluctantly but did not take the main road. Instead, they rode the Fire King through dense forest to Phoenix Ridge, where they happened upon Liu Wu, the second-in-command, patrolling the back mountain.

“Brother Fang, you’ve returned! Jiutian mentions you every day,” Liu Wu said joyfully upon seeing Fang Xian.

“Brother Liu, you’ve made great progress recently. Are you near the peak of first-class now?” Fang Xian asked as they walked side by side toward the stronghold.

“It’s all thanks to you, Brother Fang. Without the Body Forging Pills you made for us, we wouldn’t have improved. But I feel my foundation is still lacking; I’m probably stuck at first-class peak,” Liu Wu sighed.

“Don’t lose heart, Brother Liu. I’m researching pills to help first-class peak warriors break into the Master Realm. I’ve made some progress. Focus on building a solid foundation, and once it’s firm, I guarantee you’ll see higher realms,” Fang Xian encouraged with a smile.

“Really, Brother Fang? Then I’ll wait eagerly for your good news,” Liu Wu said, reinvigorated, determined to train harder if Fang Xian had such methods.

“Rest assured, this is my specialty,” Fang Xian nodded.

They soon reached Phoenix Ridge, where Feng Ling had already been informed and came out with Feng Jiutian to greet them. A half-grown tiger carried Feng Jiutian, already exuding some majesty.

“Father!” Seeing Fang Xian, Feng Jiutian swiftly leapt down from the young tiger and rushed into his arms.

Fang Xian quickly embraced him with a smile. “Let Daddy see—Jiutian has grown taller and stronger.”

As he spoke, he infused mysterious energy to examine Feng Jiutian’s body, leaving some energy inside to nurture his health.

Feng Jiutian had been comatose for half a year, his bodily functions greatly diminished. The day Fang Xian saved him with the Life-Extending Pill, he began using mysterious energy to help restore him over many days. Now, combined with the pill’s effects, Feng Jiutian’s health was fully recovered and had even improved, making future martial training far more effective.

However, Feng Jiutian was only about two or three years old and wouldn’t start foundational martial training until five or six. For now, he was learning to read and playing with the young tiger, enjoying the joys of childhood.