19 Blooming Phoenix Courtyard - 5.3

Passing through the tall archway, Fan Zhu Xia noticed the beautifully engraved gates of the same Vermillion Blaze Wood pushed wide open. The engravings on it was incredibly detailed phoenixes taking flight while leaving a trail of curling flames that looked so elegant that they almost resembled the soft curving petals of a flower.

Fan Zhu Xia's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to it while she lifted a hand and reached out to slowly trace the carved details on the gate, appreciating the worksmanship.

"That's one of the reason's why this courtyard was named Blooming Phoenix Courtyard." Fan Li Jie murmured from behind her making her turn to look at him.

"One of the reasons?"

"En. The other reason was because there was once a huge fire that encompassed the whole space where the courtyard is now built. Apparently, it was caused by a high-levelled fire type aerial spirit beast that used to be a contracted beast of an old clan ancestor and after that particular fire, a bunch of wild flowers grew in the area where the fire was the strongest."

"Really? How interesting... Do you have any idea what spirit beast it was?"

"Not really. Not much was recorded about the incident so we have limited information about it."

"I see..."

Nodding her head, Fan Zhu Xia was lost in thought when she remembered where she was and snapped out of it.

Looking around, an involuntary gasp escaped her and she was filled with awe. Everywhere she looked was simply breathtaking.

A few steps inside and she could see the immaculate garden inside the courtyard. The lush green grass covered the ground with flowering shrubs grew on the sides, bordering the walls while several trees of cherry blossoms, plum blossoms and flowering dogwoods provided shade in several parts of the courtyard, giving it a soft, tranquil look.

Seeing her look around looking happy, Min Guo Ji lips curved slightly as he watched her.

"Young Miss, if you will..."

"Ah, of course."

With a smile, Min Guo Ji led both Fan Zhu Xia and Fan Li Jie forward until they came upon a large and beautiful-looking courtyard. It's appearance exuded an understated elegance.

The materials used to construct the courtyard was a mixture of rare and normal yet expensive materials. There was high-grade Spirit Wood with a rich mahogany brown color which can be harvested from trees in areas rich with spiritual energy which is more common than the wood from a Fire Ruby Tree or the Onyx Blood Darkwood and this Spirit Wood was used as the main wood for the walls and floors which makes the whole atmosphere of the courtyard teem with spiritual energy because of the abundance of the spirit wood since spirit wood has the ability to attract small traces of spiritual energy which is good for a person's health as well as extremely beneficial to cultivation.

Aside from this, the main foundations as well as pillars of the courtyard was also made with Vermillion Blaze Wood which is extremely strong and sturdy, also has high immunity with normal flames while the windows and doors has a layer of panels with oil-treated precious silk paper which is water-proof in the middle of the panellings, acting as covers and designs at the same time due to the life-like paintings on them of several elegantly blooming flowers and phoenixes taking flight with some even leaving a trail of fire.

Everywhere she glanced at, Fan Zhu Xia saw something that piqued her interest. It was as if everything was an art form and an amazing display of worksmanship and this is something that she never would have expected to see in any other ordinary courtyards.

It was quite obvious that a lot of thought and effort was put into building this courtyard.

Leading her inside, Min Guo Ji told her, "Young Miss, this courtyard has a total of five rooms; the biggest one is currently serving as the main bed chambers while two of the smaller ones are outfitted as guest bed chambers as well. The remaining two rooms are left unfurnished and you may decide how you would like to use it, just inform us so that we can make arrangements for it. This courtyard also has another rather sizeable room at the side that also opens up to the side gardens and is currently serving as a waiting area for guests and on the other side, there is a large bathing room that you may use, it even has a natural hot spring that Young Miss might enjoy."

Hearing Grandpa Guo describe the courtyard to her left Fan Zhu Xia looking wide-eyed with astonishment.

It gave her an idea of how special this courtyard is and the fact that they were giving it for her to use made her feel a little bit uncomfortable and unsure of it.

"Grandpa Guo, are you sure that I'm supposed to stay in this courtyard? It seems a bit too much."

"Please do not worry, this is the courtyard Master Liang and Lei Wangye had specifically ordered to be prepared for your use."

Seeing her hesitate, Fan Li Jie who has been quiet since they entered finally spoke up while patting her head.

"Just accept it Xia'er. There's no need to hesitate over this."

"But Big Brother Li Jie..."

"You would end up using this courtyard one way or another so don't bother arguing... Unless you don't like it?"

Surprised at the sudden question, Fan Zhu Xia shook her head and hastily replied, "No, I like it! I really do!"

"There's no problem then... Since that's the case, Old Man Guo and I will leave you to settle down and rest for a while. I'll drop by later to bring you to dinner."

"Okay."

Smiling at her, Min Guo Ji nodded his head before following her cousin out of the courtyard, leaving her alone.

Taking in a deep breath, Fan Zhu Xia calmed her thoughts and composed herself; letting go of her worries for the time being.

The moment she inhaled, she felt a small swirl of spiritual energy flow through her, making her feel invigorated, as if slowly washing away her tiredness which made her smile a little.

The atmosphere filled with spiritual energy slightly reminded her of the atmosphere back at Mystic Terra Mountain and it brought her a sense of nostalgia.

Deciding to explore her new courtyard, she went ahead and walked into each room, opening the doors and taking a peak inside.

Every room she looked was all tastefully decorated with an understated elegance. She first walked to one side and opened the nearest door to stumble upon the waiting hall that Grandpa Guo had mentioned earlier.

Fan Zhu Xia noticed that on one side was a partitioned part of the room where several seating areas and a couple of braziers were arranged there along with several small tables while on the other side was an elevated area with a long and elegantly carved padded seat that has enough space to sit at least three adult people while in front of the raised area was a large plush mat of a sleek charcoal color made out of somekind of beast leather.

Scanning the room some more, Fan Zhu Xia noticed that the far side of the large room, directly on the opposite side of the door she came through was made up of several windows with two large doors in the middle; that slides open to reveal a view on the other side of a beautiful garden filled with a couple of trees as well as a crystal clear pond with a cascading water feature on one side which produced a very tranquil and calming sound of water gently flowing by.

Stepping out, Fan Zhu Xia closed the door and continued on. She found the two unfurnished rooms which was still quite spacious if judging by normal standards. She also managed to find the two guest bed chambers which both looked great and almost identical, with big spacious beds that can comfortably fit two adults as well as a table with two chairs, a large dresser with a glass mirror hanging on top as well as a medium sized closet.

After that, she went further along inside, passing another hallway and saw a large double door which she pushed open to see that she had just found the main bed chambers.

Everything inside was all exquisitely decorated with furnishing made out of the highest quality materials. Unlike the other chambers, the room had a intricately designed silk partition that hid the bed from plain view from the door, dividing the room in half and providing another layer of privacy.

From the side that she could see, she saw a small sitting area with a long padded couch and a small table in front and opposite it was a circular table with two chairs tucked underneath it. There was another door to one side which Fan Zhu Xia slid open to find that it led to a small but spacious garden that is enclosed with tall bamboo walls, isolating it from the rest of the courtyard. There was also a big, towering cherry blossom tree standing in one corner of the enclosement, bordering a small koi pond and on the other side was a completely levelled ground with thick wooden poles of varying heights planted firmly in different places.

From the looks of it, this small enclosed garden was a place to privately train and cultivate without any prying eyes and possible distractions.

Going back inside, Fan Zhu Xia went pass the silk partition and scanned the area behind it.

What she saw was a large vanity table with several drawers and a small padded stool tucked underneath it while a rather large mirror with an ornately-carved flowering vines in the wooden frame made it look especially opulent. Parallel to it was a large dresser with an antique lantern on top, as well as another large closet to one side. Looking to the far side, she noticed that there was a slightly elevated platform with three steps and on it was a huge elegant bed with intricately carved bedposts and canopy that had sheer silk curtains hanging from it making it look almost ethereal.

Taking a couple of steps towards the bed, Fan Zhu Xia let her hand skim the surface of the gossamer curtains and let out a sigh at the feeling. Throwing open the window on one side of the bed, she looked out and saw the view of the courtyard's back gardens which mainly consisted of a lot of free space, a small but sturdily built shed, a couple of trees and another small pond filled with koi fish with a group of tall flowers with a deep purple color bordering on one of it's sides.

Feeling extremely happy about her new courtyard, Fan Zhu Xia turned away from the window and took a couple of steps before stopping and frowning slightly.

"I've seen almost all of the courtyard but where's the bathing room?"