I Contracted Myself-Chapter 97 – The commentary of the red boat

"Yes, I'm sorry," Liu Sishan apologized, feeling guilty.

Zhang Shouzhong spoke up, "I'll lead the way. Everyone, follow closely. Trust me, Zhang Ping is definitely still alive. That kid is tough, not someone who dies easily."

Just as he finished speaking, the trapped giant Firebird in the distance let out a terrifying roar.

This roar didn't sound like something a bird could make; it was more like the angry shout of a man, mixed with countless other indistinguishable noises.

After the roar, the Firebird flapped its wings fiercely, creating a fiery storm that swept in all directions.

"Quick, move! This place is very unsafe!" Zhang Shouzhong's chubby face tightened as he shouted urgently.

He led the way, wielding a large shield and a long sword, cutting through all the obstructing grass and trees. Even burning trees that fell were pushed aside with his shield.

The group sprinted through the burning forest, heading towards the distant river.

Dozens of miles away, the Firebird struggled madly, its surface temperature extremely high, with the faint outline of a skeleton visible within the flames.

Inside the Firebird's skeleton was Zhu Yuanlong, his body fused with the skeleton, his skin almost carbonized.

"Zhu Hongfang!!!"

He was still alive, though his eyes had been burned away, leaving him blind. But he could sense that Zhu Hongfang was nearby.

"Why?"

"Why betray me?"

He needed an answer. Zhu Hongfang's plan had been going smoothly, and he was so close to obtaining the power of the divine bird. But at the last moment, Zhu Hongfang had added a drop of blood to the ritual.

This single drop of blood caused the entire ritual to go berserk, seemingly reviving the divine bird's power, while he became the fuel for this revival.

"Zhu Hongfang, you deserve to die. I will kill you, kill you!!!"

Zhu Yuanlong roared in the darkness, his furious will even affecting the reviving Firebird, causing it to emit terrifying roars, its blazing eyes filled with a sinister aura.

Several kilometers away, Zhu Hongfang and others were observing the Firebird's situation.

"Zhu Yuanlong was too confident. How could we let him easily take advantage of the divine bird we painstakingly found? He thought he had the demeanor of a king, that all benefits should be his. It's truly laughable," a young man sneered.

Zhu Hongfang chuckled, "Zhu Yuanlong isn't brainless; he's just too arrogant. He genuinely believed he was the Zhu family's revival leader, the only one capable of harnessing the divine bird's power. That's why he fell for our trap so easily. If it were another plan, he might not have taken the bait."

"Elder sister, will the divine bird really listen to us after it revives?" a girl asked worriedly.

Zhu Hongfang smiled, "Of course. The blood from the Sacred Fetus Ritual, which I nurtured for three years, will make it obediently recognize me as its mother. My words will be its decree!"

The Sacred Fetus Ritual is an extremely cruel ceremony, requiring a woman to be continuously pregnant for three years, using the essence blood of three fetuses to nurture the sacred fetus. Finally, the sacred fetus is refined in the ritual, yielding only a single drop of blood.

This drop of blood, when integrated into the revived creature, ensures perfect control over it.

Zhu Hongfang had paid a great price to obtain this drop of blood.

"Elder sister, after we get the divine bird, are we really going to turn against the elders?" a young boy asked.

Zhu Hongfang chuckled, gently stroking the boy's face, and replied, "Do you really think the king is that strong? A mutated beast is still just a mutated beast. Such talk of 'dealing with the elders' is just to fool Zhu Yuanlong. Anyone who truly plans that is courting death."

"The elders couldn't even handle Situ Shibai, and now Situ Shibai is suppressed by a mutated beast. Why do you make it sound like the elders are stronger than the king?" a girl nearby asked.

Zhu Hongfang looked at the struggling Firebird and smiled, "Since I'm in a good mood today, I'll give you a free lesson. If it's purely about dealing with mutated beasts, even King Grade ones, the elders have the equipment to potentially kill them in one strike. Don't be fooled by the divine bird's power after revival; it's far from enough to deal with the elders."

Then she looked towards Mingzhu City and continued, "But dealing with Situ Shibai is different. Situ Shibai has too many abilities. Can you guess how many abilities Situ Shibai has?"

"Ten thousand?" the boy guessed.

The girl followed with, "A hundred thousand?"

"According to the elders' observations and analysis, Situ Shibai possesses at least over three hundred thousand abilities, with passive abilities alone numbering over a hundred thousand. Just stacking these passive abilities together results in unimaginable power," Zhu Hongfang said with a smile.

The boy looked puzzled and asked, "Then why was he suppressed by the Moon King?"

"Why don't you think about why we're only now cooperating with the Moon King? It's not like there weren't other King Grade mutated beasts before," Zhu Hongfang tapped the boy's forehead and said with a smile.

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All the youths behind her showed expressions of realization.

Clearly, it was because the Moon King's abilities happened to counter Situ Shibai, which is why the Zhu family cooperated with the Tianchang Fox. Otherwise, there was no need to endure for over two hundred years.

"The divine bird is about to revive!"

Zhu Hongfang watched the faint blood threads visible on the divine bird's skeleton and smiled.

A kilometer away, Zhu Yuanlong let out a painful roar, as the power in his spinal cord was gradually drained by the skeleton, while the flames rapidly restored his strength.

But this restoration was consuming his lifespan!

If this continued, he would be completely drained of his lifespan by the skeleton.