Nana Toki traveled with Nesting Phoenix, stopping and starting like gulls riding the wind; by the time they crossed into the Southern Sea domain, days had slipped past.

To dodge trouble, they veiled their faces with a thin gauze, mist drawn over the moon.

They even ditched the Cloudpeak Sect robes they’d come in, shedding that skin for new clothes.

They picked a nearby inn to rest and sort their packs. Still, Nana went downstairs, rooted for news, and asked where Oceanward Tower stood.

She slid the inn boy a token tip, a leaf on running water, and learned Oceanward Tower had lost too many disciples hunting demonic beasts. They were recruiting around the area.

A crack in the gate, she thought. A way in.

Then the thought soured. It felt oily and low. No. Better to walk in with the blade bare.

She wasn’t keen on becoming a witch everyone threw stones at.

Circling back, she pried for details: the tower’s strongest realm, the headcount of disciples. Then she left with Nesting Phoenix, quiet as shadows.

Oceanward Tower’s master, Guo Wentao—Body Condensation Stage, second tier—the beam propping their roof.

His four elders were all Nascent Soul, fifth tier and up. As for the rest…

Their realms barely counted. They were no threat to Nesting Phoenix.

But.

One thing from the inn boy snagged Nana’s mind. The tower kept an Ocean-Subduing Beast, passed down by past masters. Its realm was unclear. From the rumor’s teeth, Nana guessed at least Hollow Void or above.

Messy.

Otherwise, how would a sect like this dare call itself the Southern Sea’s number one?

Just in case, Nana asked the companion at her elbow as they walked toward Oceanward Tower. “Can you beat a demonic beast at Great Vehicle Stage or above?”

The answer was firm. Nesting Phoenix, hooked on Nana’s arm, spoke with a calm face. “No matter how strong, if Luo Luo wants him dead, then he will die.”

…Why does that sound like bragging?

“So by that logic, you’re untouchable in the mortal world?” Nana eyed her, still arm-in-arm.

“Luo Luo can think of it that way.”

…Congrats on your high realm, I guess.

Fine.

Since Nesting Phoenix said so, Nana had no more to ask. She went straight for Oceanward Tower with her in tow.

Worst case, let Nesting Phoenix and the tower’s beast trade beams while she hid in a corner.

Fight, then bolt. Spicy.

“Stop! No unrelated persons beyond this point!”

Oceanward Tower sat by the sea, and a bridge led to the pavilion. Before they’d even reached the building, a few disciples blocked the bridge, spears of salt wind at their backs.

Nesting Phoenix was about to act. Nana caught her with a look.

What are you doing, you dunce? Before we swing, at least let me shout the heroine’s name and smear her a little.

Why’re you in such a hurry to send them to reincarnation!

Nesting Phoenix didn’t know Nana’s game. Her scarlet eyes fixed coldly on the disciples.

Scalps tingled beneath her stare. Their gazes skittered away, as if a big cat had marked them for dinner. Hearts jittered.

“What are you staring at? Keep looking and I’ll dig your eyes out!”

One bold disciple drew his waist sword and pointed at her, trying to scare the woman.

Nesting Phoenix wasn’t the type to flinch. One look—and the disciple’s body whooshed up in roaring flame.

Fire bloomed from thin air and swallowed him whole. The others gaped, frozen, until his screams broke them loose. They snapped out seals to douse him.

The instant their spells touched his skin, a fireblast erupted off him. Boom.

The shockwave nearly tore the gate plaque off its beams.

The disciples in front of Nana hit the ground in a heap, too stunned to even scream, phoenix flame clinging to them like red ivy.

Nana Toki: …

I said don’t act first. Why can’t this girl listen.

“Sorry, Luo Luo. I couldn’t hold back.” Nesting Phoenix squeezed Nana’s small hand, face at a loss.

People are already dead—what can I even do.

Fine. Keep walking.

The ruckus outside pulled the tower’s hornets from their hive. Nana and Nesting Phoenix hadn’t gone far before a crowd of disciples ringed them in.

They hadn’t wronged her. She just wanted to borrow a treasure. Nana didn’t plan to make this hard.

She bowed politely and spoke, clear as a bell. “Honored seniors of Oceanward Tower, disciple Feng Luo Luo of the Cloudpeak Sect seeks to borrow your Soul Pearl. Please grant permission.”

“Outrageous!”

An elder stepped out from the crowd, cane tapping like thunder. His eyes glittered with malice as he glared at Nana. “Cloudpeak Sect and my Oceanward Tower are enemies to the bone. You trespass on our ground today, and you think borrowing the Soul Pearl is possible?”

“How would we know if we don’t try?”

She knew it would never fly. She was only pointing the spear at Cloudpeak.

If they wouldn’t lend, she’d just take it.

Her words fell, and the elder snorted. A crushing pressure surged like a tide and slammed at Nana.

Nesting Phoenix’s gaze cooled. Her right hand lifted, and from her sleeve poured endless fire, flooding toward the elder.

He flinched, ducked, fumbled for seals. In a spark’s span, Nesting Phoenix moved her Spirit Energy again. The sheets of flame gathered in the air, took the shape of a fire phoenix, and dove.

The firebird rose, and the tower’s temperature spiked. The elder’s unleashed aura shattered under its wings.

As wide as a wellhead, the phoenix circled him, its pressure gnawing his heart. A few nearby disciples took one look and collapsed, scorched breath shimmering off their bodies.

If that phoenix hit him, he might not even get the grace of dying fast.

“Cloudpeak junior, mind your manners!”

A full-chested voice boomed from within Oceanward Tower. The sound hit like a drum.

Nana slipped, caught flat-footed. Her blood surged wild. She nearly spat a mouthful on the tiles.

Seeing it, Nesting Phoenix yanked back her power in a rush, turned, and steadied Nana’s swaying body. “Luo Luo, are you alright?”

“I’m fine…”

She wiped the blood beading her lip and stared at the figure in the air above Oceanward Tower, face set.

She hadn’t expected someone at the Condensation realm to wound with sound.

Careless.

“A central-land sect thinks it’s the world’s first under heaven?”

Guo Wentao, master of Oceanward Tower, dropped from the sky like a falling stone, steady and heavy. His gaze prowled like a tiger over Nana and Nesting Phoenix.

“Mere Foundation Establishment, and you dare strut in my Oceanward Tower? Think we’re empty?”

He didn’t take a step. His Spirit Energy surged like breakers and crashed toward Nana, making them pebbles before the tide.

“Nesting Phoenix.” Nana’s injured voice was a soft call.

A pressure far more domineering burst from Nesting Phoenix in answer. Low-ranked disciples blanched and were flung back, vomiting blood across the floor.

Guo Wentao held, but his face went sullen as storm clouds. “Who are you?” In the secular world, he’d never met a woman this fierce.

Her realm likely towered several tiers over his.

Nesting Phoenix didn’t answer. She flicked her sleeve. Crimson phoenix flame rolled like a sea and rushed him.

Guo Wentao couldn’t hold. He swapped techniques again and again, yet the flames chased him down. He could only hunch and run.

“Ma, look, that building’s breathing fire!”

“Shh! Don’t talk nonsense.”

Outside, passersby saw fiery plumes jet from Oceanward Tower—one here, one there—spectacle rising like festival banners.

To the unknowing, it looked like a grand ritual.

Guo Wentao stared at the pavilions ruined under flame, eyes red with fury. When had he ever been humiliated like this?

And still, he had no answer for her. He couldn’t beat her. All he could do was dodge.

His gut screamed: do not touch the red-clad woman’s fire.

Even from meters away, the heat gnawed like fangs.

Nana Toki took the chance to turn the tower inside out for the Soul Pearl. She rifled hall after hall and found nothing.

Fine. Enough searching.

She tipped her head back and yelled to Guo Wentao, still dodging fire in midair. “Master Guo, where’d you stash your Soul Pearl?”

Guo Wentao almost forgot to breathe, choking on his rage.

This little brat—how can she be this shameless?