Legend of the Great Sage

e.” Li Qingshan produced a toothy grin.
Before he had entered the crater of the volcano, he had divined with the spirit turtle.
There was danger, but it was also hiding an auspicious omen, which was why he entered the phoenix’s nest.

Of course, divination could only be used to forecast the general situation.
Matters still lay in the hands of people.
Even in the face of almost certain death, there would still be a chance for survival, and no matter how great an auspicious omen was, seeking death would still result in death.

Feng Xiwu stared at Xiao An, slightly surprised.
When regular people found out they had been trapped, it was virtually impossible for them to accept it so calmly, not to mention when their companion had dragged them down.
They would grumble a bit at the very least.
Something like that did not seem to exist between them.

He asked, “Are you cultivation companions?”

“What’s it got to do with you?” Li Qingshan answered.

“So be it.
As long as you can hatch the egg, I don’t care about anything else.
Please focus a little.
Don’t be distracted!”

“Nope, this pose is far too ugly.
I have to change it.” Li Qingshan leapt onto his feet and sat down with his legs crossed instead, hugging the egg in his arms and wrapping the phoenix wings around him.

Feng Xiwu realised that Li Qingshan was not a weak-willed person who would put up with abuse, and he also felt a hint of guilt for forcefully trapping him here.
As long as he did not destroy the phoenix’s embryo, he could do as he pleased.

Xiao An leaned against Li Qingshan and said in thought, “How long will it take to hatch this phoenix’s embryo? A few years or an entire century?”

Li Qingshan was taken aback.
He had not considered this question.
A few years were fine, but if it really did take an entire century, then he would be in trouble.
He could not help but cast a questioning gaze towards Feng Xiwu.

“Since it’s a phoenix of eternal life, even spending over a century to hatch it is nothing.
That’s actually too short.
In my opinion, it’ll take a thousand years at the very least!” Feng Xiwu stood with his arms behind his back as he shook his head.

“Oi, big bro, you better not be joking around!” Li Qingshan cried out in alarm.
If he emerged a thousand years later, all of his old acquaintances would probably be dead already.
By then, what Academy of the Hundred Schools? Probably even the Great Xia empire would have gone up in smoke.
He soon remembered that this phoenix’s embryo had spent at least ten millennia in Feng Xiwu’s possession, and even he was unable to hatch it.
A shadow was cast over his heart.

“Is a thousand years very long?” Feng Xiwu was very surprised.
A single slumber of his could last a thousand years.

“Of course! I’m not even a thousand years old right now- no, I’m not even a hundred years old!” Li Qingshan roared.
Suddenly, he discovered that their concepts of time were worlds apart.

Even the most ordinary wutong tree could live for over a thousand years, let alone a divine wutong tree, one that had grown up with the phoenix of eternal life on top of that.
He had witnessed the changes of the world.
To him, even the Great Xia empire that had been founded several thousand years ago would not have existed for very long.
That was why virtually everyone treated him as an inanimate object.

“You’re not even a hundred years old!? Your cultivation has actually progressed so quickly? That’s unbelievable.
Even among humans, there aren’t a lot that can achieve that.
Are you really a daemon? Sigh, no wonder you’re so rough and crude! You’re still too young!” Feng Xiwu cleared his throat.
“Small knowledge is no match for great knowledge, nor is a short lifespan a match for a long one.
How do we know this is so? The mushroom that sprouts in the morning and dies by evening doesn't know the difference between night and day.
The locust doesn't know the difference between spring and autumn.
These are examples of short lifespans.
For me, spring and autumn each lasted eight thousand years.
That is an example of a long lifespan.”

“Don’t get all poetic with me.
It’s impossible for me to stay here for a thousand years.
Even a century won’t work.”

“Do you think I like you? If you can hatch the phoenix’s embryo right now, I’ll let you leave immediately!”