Xiao Ming loaded a cart with food, wanting whatever he desired. On the summit of Phoenix Mountain, Si Huai carried four large bags full of food. Now, food was what they lacked the least.
"What do you want to eat? We have everything at our camp, whatever you wish for."
The little girl rattled off a long list of food items, leaving Long Xiao stunned. He had never imagined that what the little girl craved were instant noodles, spicy strips, and the like.
"Your standards are too low. We never bring such basic things; we only bring food like roast duck and roast chicken."
Elder Dao Xiao looked at Long Xiao with a smile and said, "Where is your camp located? We'll head there at daybreak."
"Daoist Xiao, aren't we supposed to be looking for the Fire Qilin?" Long Xiao asked.
Elder Dao Xiao nodded and said, "Of course, we must find the Fire Qilin. The Fire Qilin can only be found at night. If we can't find it tonight, we'll have to try again tomorrow night. We'll rest during the day."
In order to find the Fire Qilin as quickly as possible, Elder Dao Xiao explained the Fire Qilin's habits to Long Xiao.
Although the *Long Zang*'s Record of Exotic Beasts also introduced the Fire Qilin, it did not detail its living habits, only its origin and purpose, as well as the beast-taming methods required to capture it.
As the three walked, Elder Dao Xiao lectured Long Xiao on the Fire Qilin.
Once Long Xiao fully understood the Fire Qilin's habits, Elder Dao Xiao asked, "Young man, what is your name?"
"My name is Long Xiao, from the East Sea."
"Long Xiao, a good name. I've heard there's a powerful Long family in the capital. Are you related to them?" Elder Dao Xiao inquired.
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "Probably not. I'm an orphan. My adoptive parents raised me. I don't know who my biological parents are."
Elder Dao Xiao exhaled, "That's good. If you were from the Long family, I really wouldn't dare to bring you along."
Long Xiao found it strange. Although the Long family had many experts, they were far inferior to Elder Dao Xiao.
"Are the experts of the Long family more powerful than you?" Long Xiao asked.
Elder Dao Xiao shook his head and said, "I haven't interacted with the Long family, so I don't know."
Clearly, Elder Dao Xiao was not telling the truth. He must have known about the Long family's situation, otherwise, he wouldn't have worried about Long Xiao being a member of the Long family.
They walked along the cliff, and as they did, Elder Dao Xiao covered the surroundings with his spiritual energy, searching for the Fire Qilin.
Long Xiao tentatively asked, "Daoist Xiao, will we really encounter the Fire Qilin just by walking forward like this?"
Elder Dao Xiao chuckled and said, "We're not just walking forward. I'm covering a radius of a hundred meters around us with my spiritual energy. As long as the Fire Qilin is within a hundred meters of us, I'll be able to sense it."
Elder Dao Xiao worried that Long Xiao might not understand what spiritual energy was, so he specifically explained it to him.
Long Xiao's understanding of spiritual energy ran deeper than Elder Dao Xiao's. The *Long Zang* was profound and vast, and Long Xiao knew far more about cultivation than Elder Dao Xiao.
Spiritual energy was a broad concept; any vital energy that reached a certain purity could be called spiritual energy.
As Long Xiao and the others walked and listened to Elder Dao Xiao's explanation, they traveled over ten li without finding the Fire Qilin.
The three rested for a while and then set off again. Elder Dao Xiao and the little girl walked faster and faster, and Long Xiao had no choice but to quicken his pace to keep up.
As dawn approached, Long Xiao and the others still hadn't found the Fire Qilin. Elder Dao Xiao decided to try again the next night and suggested they go to Long Xiao's camp to eat and rest.
As the three were returning along their original path, not far from where they started, four middle-aged men walked towards them.
"An old Daoist is also here to snatch the Fire Qilin," one of the middle-aged men remarked.
Another middle-aged man said, "The young girl is truly beautiful."
Long Xiao dared not speak, observing the four middle-aged men. There were too many experts on Phoenix Mountain now, and he couldn't discern the strength of these four. Their power might surpass his own.
Elder Dao Xiao glanced at the four middle-aged men without speaking. One of them then said, "Old Daoist, leave the little girl with us. Keep us four company."
The old Daoist did not get angry. He looked at his female disciple and asked, "Are you sure you want to leave her with them?"
"Of course. We met her, didn't we? Meeting is fate," said the middle-aged man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, standing at the back.
Elder Dao looked at his female disciple and said, "Meiling, they want to harm you. What should you do?"
The girl looked at Elder Dao Xiao with innocent eyes and said, "Master taught me not to show mercy to bad people. Letting bad people go is harming good people."
Elder Dao Xiao nodded and said, "Attack."
Meiling responded with a clear voice and pulled out a short sword, about the size of her palm, from her pocket.
The short sword was exquisite, with a lifelike white tiger engraved on its blade.
"Tiger's Roar. The heavens have truly opened their eyes. I never thought 'Tiger's Roar' would be in your hands," said the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked middle-aged man happily.
Long Xiao also carried a short sword of similar length and appearance. The only difference was that a Green Dragon was engraved on its blade.
Meiling held the sword with one hand and slowly thrust it towards the foremost middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man didn't take this strike seriously and didn't dodge as Meiling's sword came at him.
Suddenly, a tiger's roar sounded, and Meiling's 'Tiger's Roar' instantly lengthened, transforming into a long sword. The original blade became the hilt, and an illusory, radiant sword edge extended outward.
The middle-aged man couldn't dodge in time. The extended 'Tiger's Roar' moved too quickly, and he could only watch helplessly as the illusory blade pierced his body.
Meiling's 'Tiger's Roar' did not stop. With a flick of her wrist, she thrust another sword towards another middle-aged man.
Meiling's swordsmanship suddenly accelerated. The moment the first middle-aged man fell, the other three quickly retreated.
Meiling's body moved with her sword. Long Xiao was astonished by Meiling's swordsmanship, never expecting a little girl's skill to be faster than his Dragon Swimming Sword Technique.
The three middle-aged men, unable to dodge completely, drew their weapons to defend themselves. Meiling's swordsmanship flowed like water. The three were in a state of disarray from the start, and soon, some were hit and fell to the ground.
If three couldn't defeat her, then two were even less capable. In less than three minutes, the remaining two middle-aged men were also pierced by Meiling's sword.
"Long Xiao, search them. See if there are any clues about the Fire Qilin," Elder Dao Xiao instructed.
Long Xiao squatted down and began searching them. Soon, he found a pile of items: elixirs, weapons, cash, ancient jade, several talismans, and two old ginseng roots.
On the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked middle-aged man, he found a sheepskin map. The map had no text, only crooked lines drawn on it, which Long Xiao couldn't understand.
Long Xiao handed the map to Elder Dao Xiao and said, "Daoist Xiao, perhaps this will be useful."
Elder Dao Xiao nodded, took the map, and began to study it. Meiling started examining the items that had been searched from the bodies.
Soon, Elder Dao Xiao finished looking at the map and said, "It's worthless. This is a map of Shaoyang Valley. We went to Shaoyang Valley two days ago, and the Fire Qilin wasn't there."
Hearing Shaoyang Valley, Long Xiao was greatly surprised. He hadn't expected Phoenix Mountain to actually have a Shaoyang Valley.
"Daoist Xiao, does Phoenix Mountain truly have Shaoyang Valley?" Long Xiao asked curiously.
Elder Dao Xiao nodded and said, "Of course. It's been there for thousands of years. You didn't know?"
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "No, I didn't. I only heard that someone had come to Phoenix Mountain to search, but found no Shaoyang Valley."
Elder Dao Xiao laughed heartily and said, "The name of the place was changed long ago. It used to be called Shaoyang Valley, but now it's called Jiajiagou."
Long Xiao had heard from Chairman Long that Shaoyang Valley might be the place where the Nine Yang Divine Needles lineage resided. Over a thousand years ago, the last descendant of the Nine Yang Divine Needles died in Shaoyang Valley, and the Nine Yang Divine Needles were subsequently lost.