"Y-you… You must be lying! I would know if I had dual essence! Stop trying to fool me, and if you dare do something to my sister, I-I will--"
"--Enough already. I can prove that what I have said is the truth. Your hand, if you may", Xiao Huoyan said while holding out his hand.
Shenmi Wu understood that he wanted her to place her hand in his, but she was too afraid to move.
Seeing that Shenmi Wu was not moving an inch, Xiao Huoyan began to feel a little impatient.
"If I wanted to kill you, not even Lord Yama himself would be unable to save you, so stop being such a nuisance and place your hand in mine before I lose my temper."
Hearing Xiao Huoyan say such things almost made Shenmi Wu faint from embarrassment and fear.
She was an adult, yet she was being looked down on by a little boy. A boy whom scared her speechless.
"I-I--"
"--Just trust me, okay?", Xiao Huoyan said and smiled.
Somehow, his bright smile took away the fear in Shenmi Wu's heart. Without thinking, she slowly placed her hand in his.
Xiao Huoyan did not bother with words anymore and began unlocking Shenmi Wu's second spirit essence immediately.
A few seconds later, he let go of her hand and stepped away.
"W-what did y-you d-do to me?!", Shenmi Wu yelled at Xiao Huoyan with a voice filled with panic and fear.
"I helped you."
Xiao Huoyan did not mind her acting like this. He just answered her with calm tone.
"... Why did you help me?"
"Because I need you right now."
"... W-what do you want me t-to do?"
"Shall we talk somewhere else?"
"... S-sure."
After saying that, Shenmi Wu began to lead the way to her private room with Xiao Huoyan and Tian Xin walking closely behind her.
They all entered the room and sat down.
"So... what did you want me to do?"
"I want as our backing here in The Azure Sea Division.
I have some things to do here and I have secrets that cannot be exposed. Therefore, I will need you as a powerful backing."
"You are already so powerful. Why would you need my backing?"
"You are the chief of the entire Alchemists Association. Your backing is equal to the entire Alchemists Association's backing.
I am stronger than you would ever dare to imagine, but for now, that will have to be kept a secret."
"... Can you really save my sister?"
"Yes."
"... How do I know that you are not lying?"
"Had I wanted your life; you would already be dead, and had I wanted your sister's life; she would also already have been dead.
I just saved your life, and I know that I can save your sister's too."
"When did you ever save my life?"
"Your mother sealed one of your spirit essences because they oppose each other. They cannot coexist in the same body, so she sealed one of them, using her life as the price. She did it to save you, but she failed.
It was only temporarily sealed. One day the seal would break by itself and you would die.
I have forced the seal open and fused your spirit essences. I even added a bit of my sister's Poisonous Cherry Blossoms, which resulted in your new spirit essence having fire, ice and poison properties.
You no longer have dual essence, but I have created a spirit essence that was much more powerful than the one you had before. No one else in the world has it, except for you and I, so you better be proud of it.
I took a part of it as a 'Thank-you'-fee, so no need to pay me back.
I have named it; Frozen Poisonous Fire Blossoms.
It should be of the same rank as The Jin Clan's Jin Niao's spirit essence--"
"--Y-you mean The Golden Bird?!?!"
"Yes, but did you really have to interrupt me?"
"S-sorry! But... uhm, how do you know it's the same as The Golden Bird?"
Xiao Huoyan figured she would not believe him if he first told her that Jin Niao was his uncle, so he decided to show her something first. He did not move an inch, yet a magnificent golden bird as well as a golden dragon flew out from behind him and began flying around in mid-air right above Shenmi Wu's head.
This made her absolutely speechless.
"Well, I am the only son of The Golden Dragon, Jin Long. Jin Niao is my uncle."
"Y-you are from The Jin Clan?! And a direct descendant at that?!"
"Stop acting so surprised. You already saw this when we were in the hall."
"Now that you mention it... I did see it, but I did not think it could actually be The Golden Bird as well as The Golden Dragon!"
"This has to remain a secret. My name is Jin Xin and I am currently almost six years old.
You are not allowed to use my real name even when we are alone. You have to call me Tian Yan. The lady beside me is my sister, Tian Xin."