Chapter 134: The Phoenix's Letter
East Sea Dragon Palace was in a frenzy. Dozens upon dozens of ministers scrambled about, assembled in a mixture of complex emotions within Zulong's throne hall.
Arguments upon arguments flew through the air as turtles, dragons, sharks and various other ministers yelled opposing opinions at each other. Though no violence has been committed, some were itching to punch others.
Even the lord of the castle, the Dragon Sovereign Zulong himself sat in silence. His face was an expression of bewilderment and confusion. So much so that he was rendered frozen sitting upon his throne.
Gui Daiyu and the two dragon grand elders Leize and Jiang Coiling gapped opening starring at the letter discarded at Zulong's armrest.
This chaotic scene was the one Bi An arrived at when he walked into the open door. The seventh son of the dragon and a minister working in negotiations starred wide eyed as the orderly hall of his childhood descended into madness.
"Obviously a lie…"
"A trick, bait for the naive…"
"Filthy scum, we should marshal out forces…"
"There could be some truth to it…"
"We should consider it, it's a good deal…"
"Of course you'd say that avian sympathiser…"
"Yeah, everyone knows your family have connections with…"
"Your majesty, this is an insult to your authority…"
"Your majesty, they're worth hearing out…"
"Your majesty…"
"Your majesty…"
"What on earth is going on?"
Bi An released his thunderous voice lined with the power of the dragon's roar. His cry silenced the arguing ministers. Heads turned towards the visibly angered Bi An.
"You all stand in the presence of his majesty my honourable father. Yet you all bicker like headless chickens?" He spat approaching Zulong.
The elder dragon was silent and appeared incredibly torn. He wasn't even paying attention to his son nor the hall in general. Merely stuck in his own thoughts contemplating.
"An'er," Gui Daiyu nodded her head.
"Mother," Bi An answered back. He then turned his attention back to his frozen father. He took a knee and greeted the old monarch.
"Emperor father, your son has arrived as summoned. Apologies for my tardiness."
"Bi An," Zulong's eyes turned to his son and he sighed. He rubbed his forehead and shut his eyes with indecision. "I summoned you for another average court session but who would've thought, who would've thought." Zulong waved his hand sending a letter he had received minutes prior towards the prince.
Bi An perked up. He could already guess the that it was an item of great controversy. Reading it carefully, his eyes widened. He no longer prejudged the ministers for their rowdiness.
"Father, this can't be right?"
In his own shock, Bi An forgot any formal address at all. Even Zulong had forgotten to use the royal we.
"She wants to sue for peace," Bi An felt himself uttering. "The Phoenix Sovereign, our hated enemy and king of all feathered beasts want to sue for peaceful coexistence?"
What kind of sick joke was this? Zufeng hated Zulong and made so secret of it. Just look at the mounting piles of mockery spilling out of the south continent for the past million years.
Of course, the four seas did the same for the phoenix. It was unwritten law that all phoenix shall never be referred to as phoenix. Chicken, pigeon, peacock but never phoenix.
In ancient times it was decreed. Qilin ruled all creatures of fur, Phoenix ruled all creatures of feather, Dragon ruled all creatures of scales. Yet reality turned out differently.
The ancient Qilin Sovereign was slain before he could truly begin. Ever since the other two had picked up where he left off in an eternal deadlock.
Zufeng was one of many deep rooted concerns for Zulong. Her very nature decreed that she must die at his hands. But the familial ties of her sister and his brother stayed his hands. So he hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated.
For a million years Zulong never aggressively pushed for war. At the same time Zufeng never did either. So a tenuous peace existed. But both rulers had long decided true peace was never an option.
"It's her handwriting son," Zulong said. "I can confirm traces of her Qi as well. It's a genuine article." The elder dragon scanned the room around with looking for reactions. The disbelief of his words had sent many of his ministers into deep contemplation.
"Emperor uncle," Ao Guang, the eldest son of Yinglong stepped forward. "We cannot confirm her true intentions. I advise caution."
Zulong absentmindedly nodded. Ao Guang was just regurgitating his own thoughts. Zulong liked to think he knew Zufeng well. She was pretty similar to the him in his youth.
"Only one way to find out. All be silent as I work," Zulong commanded as he tapped his armrest. The whirling sound of machinery reached his ears as a blue scree popped up before him. He closed his eyes after tying up the long message before pressing send.
Advancements in communication technology has reached far over the years. The old communication crystal had evolved into a commercial use commu-talismen but Zulong had accessed to far more advanced methods.
Using the formation under Kailong Chen, he shot a signal through the world towards the west. There, Western Dragon Palace would receive and reshoot that signal up the Jianmu tree into the starry skies.
The process took quit awhile even with the insane power used. Sending a carrier at Primal Origin Chaos Immortal realm would take a few days to upwards of a few weeks. That and Zulong liked playing with new esoteric technology.
For three hours, static phone noises filled the room. Three hours for the signal to reach into another layer of the chaos world. Three hours for the youngest of the three ancestral dragons to receive it.
In those three hours, Zulong dismissed everyone and remained by himself. He wondered about the possibilities.
If Zufeng was truthful, which he doubted, then it was a good thing. One less variable to worry about. His happiness was only threatened by a few things in the world and this would go a long way to assure it.
…
Haotian starred at the screen of his commu-talismen. It was hard for an eastern continent dweller like him to get one and Hongjun wasn't prone to letting him leave. Not that it stopped him from sneaking out.
The text he read was not the ancient godfiend script nor was it the commercial ocean script developed by the dragons.
"Zulong needs to be more careful with how secure his messages are," he mused with disappointment. Intercepting the signal was dangerously easy. While any other cultivator only read confused static, Haotian's talisman picked up the actual message with full clarity.
'I guess Da Hai won't have to worry about anything. Everything is resolving itself,' he thought with amusement. 'Grand Pure One's inaction method has merit to it after all. Why control life when good things can come natural to you?'
"Hey big brother, what are you doing?" A feminine voice asked behind him. As quickly as she was heard the commu-talismen in Haitian's hands shut off.
"You messing with that toy again? You know master will scold you for playing," the young girl reminded. Her physical appearance was only around ten years old but in reality she was already many hundreds of thousand years old. The same was true for Haotian.
This was Yaochi, Haotian's fellow disciple under Hongjun and an innate god like him. She was born of the golden essence condensing into an empyrean jade that Hongjun discovered not long after Haotian. In fact, Haotian was responsible for inadvertently leading him to her.
Speaking of Haotian, the young boy dressed himself in all white robes and still wore a necklace with a jade piece attached. He too only appeared to be ten years old and completely harmless.
"No I'm not playing, I'm browsing stories," he clapped back.
"Right…what's so interesting about those sea folk stuff anyways? It doesn't help you with your cultivation. You could be achieving a lot more if you weren't on it so much."
"It brings me entertainment," Haotian said standing up from his seat and slipping the talisman into his pocket dimension through his sleeve.
From around the corner, an elderly figure in purple robes walked out. He was strong and muscular with a long fluffy white beard.
"Yaochi is right, you shouldn't spend so much time on that thing," Hongjun chastised. "I wanted you to finish that essay about the Earthly Dao concepts, do you remember that?"
"Yeah I'm already done," Haotian said tossing a scroll out. He was privy to Da Hai's knowledge. At his cultivation level, Hongjun's homework was childsplay.
Hongjun accepted the work with a raised eyebrow. He began scrolling through the written work and nodded with an impressed hum.
"Good boy," he chuckled in happiness ruffling Haotian's head.
"What? But he only wrote that thing once!" Yaochi gapped.
"Yet it exceeds works by the Ivory Elephant ancestor's own work on the subject. For Haotian who is only in the Great Principle Chaos Immortal realm to be superior to he who is at the Primal Origin Chaos Immortal realm is a feat worth praising," Hongjun said stroking his beard.
"You did good disciple, your talent is astonishing," Hongjun complimented.
'This boy, he will accomplish so much more than all my previous escapades. He might even understand the concepts of Wuji in time,' the elder immortal thought to himself.
At his current rank, he'd rank Haotian's future prospects to be superior to all the prior godfiends. Even Destiny Demon God struggled at the Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal realm.
He did not regret taking Haotian in as a disciple. While Yaochi left some to be desired for, Haotian did not disappoint. He'd taken him in out of interest at his potential future self's deeds. But Haotian had smashed all his expectations.
Once he reaches the Dao realm, he'll guarantee Haotian lives comfortably. Gifting him the primitive world to rule wouldn't be out of the question.
For Hongjun, nothing else mattered to him more than cultivation. Pangu's Dao within the Heavenly Dao was just another step in the long road. Having a disciple never really mattered to him and he never found joy in doing so in the past. But he could safely say he found Haotian's presence to be enjoyable.
It was even better that Haotian posed no real threat to him. He was a diligent and respectful if quiet child. Everything a master could ask for. He would actually be sad if Haotian needed to be eliminated.
…
From out of the sky, Qinglong jumped out of a portal into the east continent. Right into the blossom forest valley that the divine beasts regularly met at. He appeared very excited.
From another portal outstepped a devastatingly beautiful woman wearing a tiara. Zhuque the Vermillion bird walked out to greet the dragon.
"Qinglong, it has been too long," she smiled and saluted him, an action he returned.
"Zhuque, as beautiful as always," he said. He proceeded to pull out a scroll. Upon it was inscribed Zufeng's letter he copied from Zulong's message.
"I need to know sister. Is this true?" He asked with hope filled eyes.
Zhuque accepted the scroll and read it in understanding. She hummed in relief. He looked up at Qinglong with her phoenix eyes and nodded.
"It was a shock for me. Only the inner circles know for now," she revealed. "Me, Chongming, Yingshao, Qizhong and some other trusted avians know about this. She wants to know Immemorial Heavenly Dragon Sovereign Great Emperor's confirmation first before proceeding. Trust me Qinglong, she is genuine, I know her look and she spoke only truth."
The use of one of Zulong's more formal title revealed her respect and seriousness. From one sovereign to another, this was a huge matter. It could potentially lead to some backlash.
"I am overjoyed," Qinglong said. "I've spoken long with my brother about such topics but he never seemed to take it to heart."
"Neither did my sister," Zhuque responded.
"Then what spurred such a change?" Qinglong asked with full seriousness. He was loyal to his brother and ruler. He could not take any chances. All evidence must be collected, he needed to know why Zufeng would come to this conclusion
"It's a fairly recent development," Zhuque explained. "No one else but me knows the true reason, the other ministers don't ask questions and you shouldn't tell anyone except your brothers."
Zufeng warned with fire lighting up around her. She held out her hand which Qinglong took without hesitation. "Under the gaze of mightiest Grand Dao I solemnly swear in your name. Strike me down should I break our pact," both said at once.
An ancient practice engrained automatically in the minds of powerful immortals. A mechanic of all creation that ensured the total eradication of an individual should a promise be broken. Making the oath towards the supreme power that can and will kill even Limitless Supreme Immortals effortlessly.
Heavenly Dao may not necessarily possess the power, but Grand Dao easily can. One was the chaos world's will harnessing colossal power. The other was omnipotent.
"I don't know how it happened or when it happened exactly but my sister was in secluded cultivation for a time prior to this. When she emerged I went to visit her and that was when…"
…
Zufeng was not in Phoenix's Roost. She was not in her palace or capital. Rather, she was far away in a coastal volcano shrouded by mist. A dormant volcano hidden by the power of a mighty Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal, herself.
A place no one but her and Zhuque knew. For it was a family home. A retreat private to the eldest phoenix.
Within this volcano, within the flowing magma at the core of the mountain. A leyline so strong that only select places like Mt Yujing or Mt Sumeru could compare. This place was the Undead Volcano, a spot that touched upon the core of the primitive world.
Like the Sea Eye, this volcano had the power to destroy the entire primitive world. Its eruption was an event no one wanted. Similar to the Sea Eye, such an event would only happen should the world be steeped in sinful acts of suffering.
The Sea Eye came about as a result of Zulin forcing the totality of negative karma left all over the north continent by Shenni into a singular spot. It pushed the creation of a structure that otherwise should not have occurred as it did not cross the threshold.
The Undead Volcano had already existed long before that however. But it simply never reached that threshold to activate. Nor does Zufeng plan for it too.
Karma positive or negative each had their own uses. Positive achieved through meritorious deeds brings protection and fortune. Negative too could be cultivated into dangerous weapons yet was lethal should it spill. The task of achieving such negative karma would also be quite heinous.
All things existed on a scale. Everyone achieved positive and negative karma each day. It's only when certain thresholds are crossed did affects start taking place.
Shenni's heinous actions created negative karma that permitted land but had not crossed the necessary threshold. But concentrated in one place allowed for it to drill the Sea Eye into existence. It was a tight rope Zulong had to walk on in order to maintain the constant suppression of that pit so that the dragons, luck, and Sea Suppression Divine Needle won't be overwhelmed.
Within this place however, was a formation. A diagram resembling a pyre that channelled the Nanming Divine Flame. A fire harmonised in Yin and Yang keeping the volcano from attracting negative karma. A formation placed here not long after the Sea Eye incident.
Nanming Divine Flame was the best fire when it comes to nourishment. It was the popular choice in pill making alchemy. But it was also used by parents to nourish their young.
Sitting here was Zufeng who appeared older yet still beautiful. She sat with one leg handing over the other, looking tenderly forwards. The item of interest for her were two massive eggs nestled within a nest atop the burning pyre.
Eggs birthed by her own person.
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