(MC POV)
The first thing my disciples showed me was the Phoenix laying down in the courtyard at the back of the palace.
Luna, who had been following us as well, gasped aloud upon seeing it.
"Is that… An actual Life Spring Phoenix? They're supposed to be extinct… You managed to find an actual living one?" The Matriarch muttered.
I turned to Brendan and Eris who I knew were the ones who had found it.
Eris smiled at me, "She's actually the only surviving Life Spring Phoenix that was hidden away in… Ummm… Wat's dat' place again?"
"The Sect of Eternal Life," Brendan reminded her.
"Ah yes. The Sect of Eternal Life's treasury vault. For a thousand years too, if I might add."
Huh… Not sure if I should be feeling sorry for it? I'm surprised it looks so docile though.
The Phoenix noticed our approach and stood up to its full height, towering over all of us. I'm pretty sure it could fly with at least four of us riding on its back without any problems.
It hopped over to us, or more specifically, over to Brendan and Eris.
"I see you've returned, Miss Eris, Brendan. And you've also brought the rest of your wonderful sisters that you've told me about. Oya, oya? What's this?"
The Phoenix suddenly wrapped itself in a cloak of flames, transforming itself into a woman wearing a very distinctive red robe wrapped around her slender body. The robes showed off her pale shoulders and cleavage while the sides of her skirt were left open to show off her equally pale thighs.
She sauntered up to me and smiled, "Well met on this beautiful evening my lady. I've certainly lived for a very long time and seen many things in this life, but nothing I've laid my eyes on, not even the stars and moon could hope to compare to your beauty, my lady."
The Phoenix turned woman took another step closer in an attempt to touch my cheek but several figures immediately stepped in front of her to prevent her from doing so.
"I'll commend you for having good eyes to see Master's beauty but… You've got guts don't ya, ya little flaming chicken? Who said ya could talk to our Master so easily like dat' huh?" Eris asked, her sword inches away from the Phoenix's throat.
The Phoenix actually looked surprised, "E… Eh? This… This extremely charming and beautiful lady is your Master? I… I mean she certainly looks divine but… Didn't you tell me that your Master was an extremely charming and handsome man who exudes absolute divinity?"
Is that how my disciples are describing me to others? I'm going to need to have a proper talk with them later. Even I can get embarrassed, you know?
"It's fine girls. She doesn't mean any harm," I told them.
My girls reluctantly stepped aside, allowing the Phoenix to approach me.
"Umu, let me introduce myself. I am Master Lin, I believe you have already met my disciples?"
"Eh?"
Another gasp of surprise echoed from behind me.
I turned around to see Luna looking at me with a confused face, "Was husband's name not Jeff?"
"Ah… That… Well, that was not my name. I was not sure what Luna had wanted to do with me so I did not give you my real name back then."
I thought Luna would get offended but she actually smiled and clasped her hands together, "Oh! As expected of husband! Indeed, one should be cautious of strangers especially in husband's case where you were dropped into another Plane with no one you can rely on! Ah! To think that husband, who had been wary of me at first, has now accepted my affections, this truly is a miracle! I definitely must have this written down as another epic! Oh but how would I ever be able to put all this down into words? This simply will not do. Words simply cannot convey even a tenth of my feelings for husband nor his perfection, this is utterly vexing! I do not believe anyone in existence could also portray husband perfectly, whatever must I do to have this recorded down? This is such a disaster! I will have to commit every detail of this scene into memory!"
This woman really doesn't let anything get her down huh?
As this was also the first time my disciples had seen Luna in this state, they were understandably creeped out by her behaviour.
Truly, if it weren't for this side of her, I think she would actually be a rather normal person.
I decided to ignore Luna who was still going on with her monologue about capturing this scene and turned back to the Phoenix girl instead.
"Umu… As I was saying, I am Master Lin. Though I may look like this, my original gender is male. I only changed to a female to circumvent this Plane's restrictions on male Practitioners. If you must know, my disciples and I are not residents of this Plane and merely just visitors."
The Phoenix gave me a mischievous smile, "Oya, oya? That is very interesting indeed. It's not often I meet someone from another Plane so I would definitely like to hear your story. Ah! Forgive me, I have yet to introduce myself! You can call me Feng Jie!"
I blinked at her.
"Uwaa… Look sister, it's another shameless girl. This entire Plane is just filled with shameless-- Gwuaa!"
Shiori smacked her sister on the head with her tail again, "I told you to keep those opinions to yourself, sister."
Feng Jie gave us a wry smile, "Umm… I know what you're thinking, but as embarrassing as it seems, that really is my name."
I shrugged, "Nice to meet you, Feng Jie. Could I assume you are here knowing what we require from you?"
She nodded, "Oh, Miss Eris and Brendan had already explained to me. They are my benefactors who had saved me from that terrible prison so a few drops of my blood is a small price to pay. As long as I'm not being exploited of course, I would not have a problem with this. At least that was the initial agreement…"
I raised an eyebrow at her words, prompting her to step closer to me while leaning towards my ear.
"With such a beauty in front of me… I wouldn't mind being exploited by you, you know? How about it? I'm quite confident in my looks despite being a Phoenix. I could show you how two girls have fun~"
Before I could react, the girl in front of me was blown away to crash into the wall at the far side of the courtyard. A giant, red fox tail now occupied the space she had been just a moment before.
"Damned shameless bird! Get in line! OWW!" Akari growled before once again being smacked by her sister.
How should I say this… I don't even know how to react anymore…
Why does it look like all the women I meet in this Plane are starving for something or another? How have you people been functioning before I got here?!
…
Yep, my disciples are cute. Let's just focus on that.