The Phoenix Blood Fruit served no other purpose, but for healing wounds it was remarkably effective—as long as a single breath remained, the Phoenix Blood Fruit could bring the dying back from the brink. In this regard, it was remarkably similar to the Undying Elixir.
Fan Wu and the others stared wide-eyed. Though they were exalted Sacred Spirits, when had any of them ever laid eyes on a peerless treasure like the Phoenix Blood Fruit? They were completely stunned.
But before long, the expressions of the three Sacred Masters fell once more, especially Luan Feng's—her delicate face was filled with regret and unease.
Because judging by the current situation, even after her bloodline awakening, this descendant of Tian Xing still regarded Yang Kai with extreme importance. Otherwise, why would she have summoned a Phoenix Blood Fruit from within the Blood Gate to heal his wounds? That was truly a staggering waste of a precious resource.
Yet when Yang Kai had been humiliated and brutalized by Shi Huo earlier, the three of them had merely watched coldly from the sidelines without lifting a finger to intervene. The result was that Yang Kai had been reduced to this wretched state—and who knew whether this descendant of Tian Xing would settle accounts with them afterward?
Luan Feng especially—Ruoxi had slapped her own face right in front of her, begging her to lend a hand and help Yang Kai, yet Luan Feng had remained unmoved, not even harboring the notion of stopping her. The result was that Ruoxi had beaten one side of her face until it swelled, and the blood at the corner of her lips still hadn't dried.
Had she known this would happen, she could have given Ruoxi some face and stepped in to save Yang Kai—surely that would have earned his gratitude. But instead, she had stood by for fear of offending Shi Huo.
That was the gratitude of a descendant of Tian Xing!
Now look at the situation. Shi Huo was dead, his very Origin Force stripped away. Her earlier misgivings had become nothing but a joke, and now she could only live in dread.
For the first time in her life, Luan Feng understood what it felt like to be consumed by regret, her mouth filled with bitterness. If given another chance, what did it matter if she had offended Shi Huo?
"Sir, please heal your wounds first!" Ruoxi urged when she saw Yang Kai sitting motionless with the Phoenix Blood Fruit in hand.
She had followed Yang Kai all these years—when had she ever seen her sir in such a sorry state? Her heart ached, and deep within, a towering fury burned. The chief culprit, Shi Huo, had been slain by her hand, but the three who had stood by and watched were equally despicable.
Yang Kai nodded and placed the Phoenix Blood Fruit in his mouth, swallowing it whole.
Though the fruit was extraordinarily rare, it was a token of Ruoxi's sincerity, and he naturally would not refuse it.
A sweet, clean flavor bloomed across his tongue, and in the next instant a surge of heat radiated from his abdomen outward to every limb and bone. It permeated his flesh and skeleton, rapidly mending his injuries.
Yang Kai was secretly astonished. Though he had long known the Phoenix Blood Fruit was a holy healing fruit, only now, having actually consumed and experienced it, did he grasp just how heaven-defying this spiritual fruit truly was.
Rumors said that with but a single breath remaining, a single Phoenix Blood Fruit was enough to restore a person to full vitality. It seemed those rumors were entirely true.
"Sir, what shall we do about those three?" Ruoxi whispered quietly through a transmission, turning her gaze toward Fan Wu and the other two, who stood frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle.
The moment her gaze fell upon them, the three of them felt their hearts clench. They swallowed involuntarily—those ice-cold eyes truly unnerved them. They had no idea what this descendant of Tian Xing was planning.
"What do you want to do?" Yang Kai asked instead of answering.
"Kill them all!" Ruoxi's eyes turned frigid.
Yang Kai let out a bitter laugh, knowing that she was seething with fury this time and had no intention whatsoever of letting Fan Wu and the others off.
"But I'll follow Sir's lead," Ruoxi added. "If Sir wants them dead, I'll kill them."
Yang Kai considered for a moment. "The power you used to kill Shi Huo—that wasn't your own, was it?"
Ruoxi nodded slightly. "I borrowed the strength our ancestor left behind in the Blood Gate. My own power is nowhere near enough to contend with them."
"What's the drawback of using that power?" Yang Kai pressed. Power that didn't belong to one's own cultivation couldn't be wielded with effortless precision. At the end of the day, Ruoxi was still only a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. Suddenly gaining the power to slay a Sacred Spirit—it couldn't come without some cost.
Ruoxi was silent for a while before answering honestly. "It puts a strain on my body."
"Then forget it," Yang Kai said with a faint smile.
"But Sir..." Ruoxi seemed unwilling to let the matter rest.
Yang Kai said, "They did stand by and watch earlier, but that's human nature—they committed no unpardonable offense. In the end, they didn't actually do anything to me. Shi Huo's death is enough. Besides, Luan Feng had tried to stop you before—I owe her a favor."
Ruoxi bit her crimson lip, then gave a barely perceptible nod, conceding to Yang Kai's reasoning.
"Sir says we don't kill them, then we don't kill them. But at the very least, we need to put the fear of God into them—otherwise they'll think we're easy targets!" Ruoxi gave a soft huff, rising slowly to her feet before Yang Kai and sweeping a cold gaze toward Fan Wu and the other two.