# Chapter 677: Nine-Headed Phoenix! (Bonus Chapter)
On the way back to the academy!
Jiangnan had a little black face.
Xia Yao was riding on Jiangnan's shoulders, happy as could be!
٩(๐˃̶ꇴ˂̶)۶
"Daddy~ higher, Yao Yao wants to be lifted up high!"
Jiangnan hugged Xia Yao's thighs and bounced her up a bit!
"Is that high enough?"
Xia Yao: "Yahoo~ Daddy's the best!"
Passersby on the street turned to look, faces full of envy!
Jiangnan covered his face. Da Lang Mie used her actions to explain what it means to climb the pole!
From the moment they left the mall, she started calling him daddy, daddy, and then wanted to ride on his shoulders. If he didn't let her, she'd cry!
Da Lang Mie was ruthless enough!
You might have profited, but I definitely didn't lose?
Xia Yao looked expectantly at the milk strawberry stall by the roadside, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Daddy, do you think those strawberries are sweet?"
Jiangnan walked over: "Boss, are your strawberries sweet?"
The strawberry grandpa: "Of course they are, milk strawberries, super sweet!"
Jiangnan looked up: "Grandpa says they're pretty sweet!"
With that, he strode off into the distance!
Grandpa: ???
Xia Yao covered her face. Goddamn "pretty sweet"!
Is that what I meant?
If you keep this up, Xiao Nan, you'll never find a wife!
Xia Yao: ˚‧º·(˚˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅)‧º·˚
"Daddy doesn't like Yao Yao anymore, I want to eat strawberries~ wuwu~"
Three minutes later, both Mila and Xia Yao were holding boxes of strawberries in their arms, faces full of satisfaction!
Xia Yao reached out, grabbed the biggest one, and held it to Jiangnan's mouth: "Here~ Daddy eat too, ah~"
Jiangnan took a big bite, catching half of Xia Yao's finger in his mouth, scaring her into quickly pulling her hand back!
Jiangnan's brows were all scrunched together, and he shivered hard!
"Grandpa was lying through his teeth, a swindler, ptooey! Sour as hell, and he charged me fifteen bucks a pound?"
……
All the way back to Fenglin Villa, a big cake was already on the table!
Along with a feast of dishes, everything was prepared, and the house was pitch black!
Zhong Yingxue, who had just parted ways with Yu Qingqing at the villa entrance, couldn't help but pause!
"Mm~ why aren't the lights on? Are Xiao Nan and the others still in the spirit training room?"
With that, a determined look appeared in her eyes: "Missed a day, I'll have to make up for it tonight!"
She pulled out her keys and opened the door!
A pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind the door, and with lightning speed that couldn't even steal a bell, they put a birthday hat on Zhong Yingxue!
The next moment, all the lights in the villa lit up.
Xia Yao, Mila, and the others suddenly pulled the party poppers!
"Bang!"
Zhong Yingxue was so startled she shrank her neck, colorful streamers scattering in the air.
"Xuexue! Happy birthday~"
Zhong Yingxue stood frozen in place, looking at the warmly decorated villa, the big cake with candles on the table!
And the bright smiling faces of everyone!
Zhong Yingxue's little mouth pouted, and tears fell from her big eyes like a broken string of pearl necklaces!
She kept wiping them with the back of her hand, but couldn't stop.
Choking up, she said: "Thank you~ thank you all, wuwuwu~"
(๐˃̣̣̥᷄﹏ก̀๐)
Jiangnan chuckled, threw an arm around Zhong Yingxue's shoulder, and patted her head!
"What's there to cry about? There, there, go make a wish and blow out the candles!"
Everyone pulled Zhong Yingxue to the table. Xiao Jiuwo opened its mouth and lit the cake candles!
Zhong Yingxue closed her eyes, fingers interlaced!
Then she smiled sweetly: "Done making my wish!"
Xia Yao leaned in: "Hey hey~ what did you wish for?"
Zhong Yingxue's pretty face flushed red, and she shyly fiddled with her fingers: "If… if I say it, it won't come true!"
Jiangnan: (｡‾́ᴗ‾́｡)
"Hurry and blow out the candles, they'll burn down soon!"
Zhong Yingxue quickly lowered her head and took a deep breath!
(◦˃᷄з˂᷅)Ah... hoo~
The moment the candles went out, Jiangnan's wicked little hand shot out and pressed down on the back of Zhong Yingxue's head!
Caught off guard, Zhong Yingxue's entire face was shoved into the cake!
"Mmph!!!"
She lifted her head sharply, her pretty face covered in white cream, looking just like a big mochi cake!
Jiangnan: (๐˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅)Goose~ hahaha!
Before Jiangnan could finish laughing, Xiao Mila, who had been ready all along, grabbed a piece of cake and smeared it all over Jiangnan's face!
His body froze stiff!
Then she high-fived Xia Yao: "Yee-yeah~"
(๐•̀ᴗ•́)人(❛ัꇴ❛ั๐)~
Seeing Jiangnan with cake all over his face, Zhong Yingxue couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Jiangnan wrapped his arms around Xiao Mila and rubbed his face all over hers mischievously.
"Not bad, Mila, learning to be naughty, huh? Giggle giggle~"
Mila kicked her legs, struggling endlessly: "Yahahaha~ that tickles! I'm sorry, Jiangnan Gege!"
Laughter echoed far from the villa. Isn't this what home is supposed to be like?
After finishing the cake, everyone sat on the sofa!
Only Xiao Jiuwo was still lying on Jiangnan's shoulder, licking the cream off his face!
Xia Yao gave Zhong Yingxue a snow globe with miniature figurines of everyone inside!
Wu Liang and Xiong Er both gave little bear keychains, specially custom-made!
Mila gave a dolphin necklace, and even Xiao Jiuwo stuffed one of its own feathers into Zhong Yingxue's hand!
Red and blue, incredibly beautiful—it only had a few on its body!
At this moment, everyone's gaze focused on Jiangnan!
A gentle look spread across Jiangnan's brows.
"Xuexue, today is the day you were found, so it counts as your birthday too!"
"According to the orphanage teacher, when they found you, it was snowing heavily, and your whole body was bright red from the cold!"
"But you didn't cry. Your big eyes just looked at the snow, reflecting the pure white snow in your eyes. That's why you're called Yingxue."
"Born in the dead of winter, reflecting the falling snowflakes. Yet you're the most blazing fire-type. With us around, there will be no more winter in your world."
Zhong Yingxue's heart melted. Looking at everyone around her, tears welled up in her eyes.
"You've warmed my world."
Jiangnan beamed a brilliant smile, pulled out a little red box, and handed it to Zhong Yingxue!
"Here~ a gift for you! Very blazing!"
Xia Yao's eyes sparkled: "Ooh ho ho? Could it be a ring? Has Xiao Nan finally decided to make a move on Xuexue?"
Wu Liang rubbed his chin: "If it's a ring, it must be a paralyzing golden ring!"
Xiong Er nodded in agreement: "Nan Ge would do something like that!"
Jiangnan rolled his eyes: "Hey hey hey, I'm being serious here!"
What kind of image do you guys have of me?
Xia Yao said solemnly: "Not a ring? Then it must be a dance-fight grenade!"
Annoyed, Jiangnan reached out and flicked Xia Yao on the forehead!
Zhong Yingxue covered her mouth and giggled, opening the red box. Then her whole body froze!
Everyone stared in shock at the red fire-type spirit bead inside!
"A fire-type spirit bead? What terrifying spirit energy fluctuation? Diamond rank? Hiss~"
"No! I've seen diamond-rank before. This... this couldn't be a Star Glory-rank spirit bead, could it?"
Everyone was horrified. A Star Glory-rank fire-type spirit bead?
There's no way money alone could get something like this!
Jiangnan puffed up with pride, hands on his hips: "When Nan Ge makes a move, you know he's got it! No joke?"
"Hurry up and absorb it. Let's see what spirit skill it is. I'm pretty curious myself!"
Zhong Yingxue's little hands began to tremble. Wasn't this too precious?
This was a spirit skill that Xiao Nan had specially prepared for her?
Her big eyes looked at Jiangnan, full of emotion!
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Zhong Yingxue began absorbing the spirit bead!
The violent spirit energy from the bead flushed Zhong Yingxue's face red, her expression pained!
Her newly reached Platinum rank was rapidly stabilized and began soaring like crazy!
In one go, she shot up to Platinum Rank Two before finally stopping!
Everyone knew that the higher the rank, the harder it was to improve and the longer it took. Absorbing one spirit bead to go up a whole rank was downright terrifying!
When the spirit bead in her hand turned to dust, Zhong Yingxue opened her eyes, her expression full of shock!
Then it was filled with immense joy. She threw herself onto Jiangnan and gave his cheek three big kisses!
(๐❛ั3❛ั)(｡ರﾛರ｡)Chu chu chu~
"Xiao Nan! You're amazing!"
Jiangnan's eyes went wide, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest!
This was way too fragrant!
What kind of spirit skill could get the usually calm and collected Xuexue this excited?
Xia Yao leaned in curiously: "What spirit skill? Is it powerful?"
Zhong Yingxue said excitedly: "If I have enough spirit energy and time, I could level a mountain range!"
Everyone's minds went blank for a second!
Was it really that crazy?
The group followed Zhong Yingxue outside the villa. Words couldn't explain it anyway; it was better to see it firsthand!
Zhong Yingxue spread her arms, and the next moment, blazing flames erupted all over her body!
Her eyes turned completely crimson, her pupils changing into spindle shapes!
Torrential spirit energy continuously erupted, the flames around her growing larger and larger, shooting into the sky!
"Spirit Skill: Nine-Headed Phoenix!"
Boundless flames condensed, forming a Nine-Headed Phoenix—a creature over thirty meters tall, entirely made of blazing fire!
Its wings spread wide, the sea of flames filling the sky!
Nine phoenix heads opened their mouths wide, each condensing a massive fireball thirty meters in size—a Cinderfall!
Zhong Yingxue's pretty face went pale, her spirit energy draining crazily!
But her eyes were still full of excitement: "I can control all nine bird heads to unleash spirit skill attacks simultaneously!"
"And I can also control the Nine-Headed Phoenix's wings for a certain degree of defense!"
"It's just that as a Star Glory-rank spirit skill, it... it consumes way too much spirit energy!"
Jiangnan was dumbfounded. With this spirit skill, Zhong Yingxue had gone from single-barrel cannon output to nine-barrel cannon output?
Before it was a single-barrel machine gun? Now it's a nine-barrel Gatling?
Wasn't this spirit skill way too terrifying?
Her original output was already explosive enough. If she used this Nine-Headed Phoenix for output on top of that...
Just how violent would it get?
No wonder Zhong Yingxue said earlier that with enough spirit energy and time, she could level a mountain range!
Xia Yao was stunned: "Full-map carpet bombing. Xuexue is about to become a monster!"
Wu Liang swallowed hard: "This is a human cannon. With this kind of output, she'll probably get sick of eating durian pulp!"*
"Although this Nine-Headed Phoenix doesn't have attack traits, these nine cannon barrels are way too fierce! And the wings can provide defense?"
Jiangnan was stunned: "I think I just created a monster!"