The atmosphere within the hall turned for the worst. Xiao could feel an invisible force bearing down on him. Xiao was sure that just one glance from these beings floating above him was more than enough to kill him. Yet they didn't harm him. In fact, the reason that Xiao even argued with the man calling him grandpa was to see how he would react.
And from him holding back his urge, Xiao could understand that his life was safe for the time being. But it would seem that the women floating above him didn't give much thought to it. As humongous pressure was released from her with the intention to end his life, it would seem that his not answering had irked her off.
But it was not his fault. After all, he couldn't say what he wanted to! And just as the pressure was about to crush him to death, a yellow and red flame burst out from within his body, protecting him and nullifying the attack meant to take his life.
"Mm?"
A brooding look took over the woman's face when she looked at the flame that was protecting Xiao from her. She could feel a sense of companionship from it, but she couldn't make much of it. Moreover, she could feel that a certain girl she had saved seemed to have a worsening situation from being far from the human in front of her.
Her eyes furrowed at the fact that things weren't going her way. But in the end, it all disappeared as the pressure from her body vanished. Her eyes gained twinkles as she gazed deeply at the child who seemed to hold a lot of mystery that even she couldn't see through. And for the first time in a long time, her mind blazed with curiosity.
"Boy, it would seem that you're quite close to the girl you brought here?"
Finally being able to relax, Xiao took a deep breath to regain his bearings. His back was straight as he looked at the woman who floated high above him.
"That's right, how is she?"
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"
The woman spoke with a mischievous smile, causing others below her to again be filled with surprise. They, who had been serving her for a long time, had already forgotten the last time something had caught her interest.
"What do yo-"
Xiao wasn't able to say what he wanted as the space was wrapped around him again, but now by the woman above him, who was looking at him like an interesting toy. And soon, he was wrapped in the flame barrier before which he disappeared. The eyes of the woman turned towards a certain direction, seemingly breaking the barriers of space as her gaze settled on a boy who arrived in a raging world of flames.
'Just what's going on here?'
Xiao couldn't really keep up with all the movement that was taking place. At one moment, he was in a legacy world, the next moment in a death field, and then again in front of power he couldn't comprehend. And now, well, he was about to find out. And find out he did...
As soon as he appeared, all was dark for him. But that only lasted for a moment before the flame that was supposed to protect him was blasted away, and he was introduced to a flaming world of death. Xiao wasn't even given a chance to scream as the heat burned his body to a crisp, his mind unable to comprehend what was happening to him.
The heat was too much for him. As his body burned away within seconds of his arrival, he was burned from top to bottom. Yet he wasn't dead yet! Xiao was unable to see it, but the world around him, from top to bottom, was filled with flames. The whole world was the accumulation of the purest fire element possible.
A flame world created by the dying ashes and flame of the previous phoenixes who gave out their rebirth flame so that their future descendants would be able to survive. A world meant for the birth and nurture of phoenixes. And for the first time, a human was let into it. Close to Xiao's body floated a cocoon of gold and red, and within this cocoon lay Yun Yurou.
The cocoon floated within the world as it absorbed the powerful flames greedily, trying its best to give birth to the phoenix that would burn the cosmic laws itself. But suddenly, as if hit with something great, it stopped for a moment. Yun Yurou, who was within the cocoon, seemed to be trembling, trying to do something but unable to achieve it.
Wrath seemed to fill her body as flames that burned the very laws blasted from within her, shaking the whole world she was in. Meanwhile, within Yun Yurou's mindscape, she stood within a world of fire, a fire so fierce that no one was able to wield it. A fire that refused to kneel to anyone and refused to be anyone's.
But Yun Yurou paid no mind to it. Her face was filled with pain as she could only watch, watch as the person she loved tried to protect her with all he had. Even though Yun Yurou was unconscious, she was still able to perceive what was happening around her... no, she was forced to watch and only be a spectator, unable to determine her fate and the fate of the one she loves.
Yun Yurou's life wasn't perfect. Her father truly never seemed to care about her. Ever since she was young, Yun Yurou was capable of feeling the emotions around others to a small degree. It was subtle, but she knew that her father, for some reason, only saw her as a trophy for his rise, and she was never able to know why. Well, that was until she got to know about her true lineage.
Yun Yurou tried to make friends as she grew up, but for some reason, all the kids she interacted with seemed to want to bully her. And it ignited her pride, something which she knew she had in excess. It was another part of her that she didn't know why. Why was it that her pride was higher than others?
Her inner self looked down on others, and their actions against her ignited her pride to fight back. But once she did, her situation only seemed to worsen. Pride without the adequate power to back it up was just arrogance. But even then, her heart never truly yearned for power. The inconsistency between her pride and desire started to make her frustrated and powerless.
While her mind raged, she continued to move on, trying to find something in this dark and lonely world. But even in all this, she never lost her cheerfulness or her optimism. Even in all her darkness and despair, she yearned for something that might make her 'interested'. For her, all was boring and dark, and she just wanted to find 'something' that ignited her desire.
And it was during one of her regular bullyings that she came across him, the one who pulled her out of her fallen darkness, the one who became her path to light, and the one whom her pride, for some reason, refuses to hate.
She met Xiao...