Even though we had separate rooms, we shared one courtyard that had a small hot spring surrounded by some trees and plants in it. At first, I didn't want to enter it because anything high in temperature was considered uncomfortable for me because of my body's cold nature. But since Tulip insisted on joining her, I gave in and joined.
Naturally, when I made contact with the hot water, the temperature immediately started decreasing. I didn't bother with it as I sat beside Tulip. After a while, she leaned her head on my shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn't tell her to remove it. Ever since I joined the Mansion, Tulip and I grew a lot closer to each other, and it seemed we were about to get even closer now...
We sat in silence, enjoying the sounds of nature around us and the scenery. And just when I finally got comfortable with the water, I felt my instincts tingling, as if to tell me that someone was watching us.
I turned my head around and saw a black bird with a majestic aura, a phoenix, sitting on a branch while looking at us.
"Black birds are fascinating, aren't they?" I suddenly said, cutting the silence.
She looked at me, and asked, confused by what I said, "What do you mean?"
"Richy, it's bad manners to spy on people having an... intimate moment," I said as I glanced toward the black-feathered phoenix. Having said that, it flapped its wings and landed on the ground, only to change into the Lord of Night, who looked like he was going to slap me.
"If you ever call me Richy again, I will torture you in the Mansion's dungeons," Richard calmly said, as if what he said wasn't a threat.
"I didn't know that the Mansion has any dungeon," I completely ignored the threat and asked curiously about these dungeons. As far as I knew, there was no such thing there.
"Not knowing is not a bad thing."
"Where are they?"
"You'll know when you anger me one day and get sent there," he replied with a sly smile. I rolled my eyes at that, to which he continued, "I apologize for ruining such a romantic moment between you two, I just wanted to do a check-up on you."
Again, he got an eye-roll, but not just from me this time, Tulip did the same as well. She looked at him and said, "I still don't understand why exactly we had to come by land if you can just teleport here from the other side of the planet."
"In order to keep the shard of Pangu's axe protected, one of the measures we took was that the person must have traveled a certain distance on land, without teleporting, before they can qualify to obtain it. This is to prevent anyone from just going up and snatching it, considering most cultivators used teleportation," Richard slowly explained. "And, dear Tulip, I don't remember forcing you to come with Orion."
"Does he know that you're here?" I asked, obviously referring to Emperor Sun.
"No, and I would keep it that way," then his expression suddenly got serious, "Listen, I have a bad feeling that something bad is going to happen. I am no seer, but I have been right previously to trust my instincts. Just... be careful when you're dealing with people here."
"Even Senior Brother Sun?" Tulip asked.
"Especially Sun Wu," Richard replied with a complicated expression. "He is my disciple, but... something is going on that I don't know about yet. Remember, be careful."
With that, he faded into thin air as if he wasn't here in the first place.
Soon after Richard left, we dried ourselves and went to sleep. In the morning, I was summoned by Emperor Sun to meet him, alone, in the Imperial Hall. So I put on my battle robe and followed the attendant who was sent to fetch me.
This time, Senior Brother Sun was already in the hall, but in contrast to yesterday, he looked completely ordinary. He wore a normal white robe with no crown, jewelry, or anything that would show his status as an Emperor. Even still, his aura and bearing were clearly that of someone who was royalty.
"Ah, good morning, I trust you enjoyed the night?" he said with a smile on his face. If I hadn't received Richard's warning yesterday, I would have believed that the Emperor would have a good side. But now... I honestly don't know what to think anymore.
I must have been spacing out because he called out to me, "Junior Brother? Is there something wrong? Did anyone mistreat you?"
"Oh... Oh, sorry about that," I laughed, embarrassed about what I did. "I was just thinking about something else. Don't worry, the service yesterday was nothing short of perfect."
And it really was, everyone was respectful and did their work without any mistakes. To this, he smiled again, "I am glad to hear that."
"I am sure that you know why you are here," he started, now with a solemn expression. I nodded my head and replied, "I am here to get two pieces from the inheritance of Pangu."
"I indeed have two shards from the axe. And since Master has ordered me to give them to you, I shall. But first, you have to pass some tests."
"Tests? What sort of tests?" I asked, even though I knew that there were going to be tests.
"You will see soon enough. In any case, you already passed the first one, and that is the land travel to this location. This qualifies you for the next one."
He motioned for me to follow him, and he led me outside. We didn't talk, although the small walk wasn't boring in any way as I enjoyed the beauty of the sect. We passed a few disciples from the sect, and they greeted the Emperor respectfully, to which he only nodded.
Soon, we reached two sets of stairs beside each other, only separated by some grass. Each set was so big that I estimated that I would need at least a year to climb each one at an average pace.
Finally, Emperor Sun said, "In order to obtain one shard, you will have to climb one set of stairs. The difficulty would naturally increase with each step you take, and when you have completed the first set, the second one would become significantly harder than the first one."
I nodded and asked, "Senior brother, I would like to inform Tulip of what I would be doing before starting if it is okay."
"Of course," he smiled and we went back to my room. After informing Tulip, and reminding her of Richard's warnings, I returned to the stairs.
Then, I took the first step.
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Updated on 4/8/2024