"Aren't you a little too strict? it wouldn't be the end of the world if you put in a few good words." Feng's adopted aunt spoke.
She has been observing Tianshi's performance and the other girls about two hours every half a week, even she gave in a praise sentence here and there.
However, Noire who is supposed to be the closest to them always had this solemn atmosphere around himself. For the past year and a half, he never had the girls see his face, much less get a good word of praise.
When the group first arrived within the jurisdiction of the Phoenix Household, it was pretty much a low-key procedure.
However, when Noire displayed the 'Primal Predator' movement for Tianshi, almost every step of his caused a blast in the sound barrier, alarming the entire inhabitant ecosystem.
That's when Lady Feng's aunt came to investigate the situation.
Being a Lightning Phoenix, this part of the Northern Domain was under her jurisdiction, and she was responsible for the power balance and equilibrium between the living creatures.
When she first saw Noire's erratic movement, she was astonished beyond words.
If that wasn't enough, she had a perplexed judgment whenever she faced him.
He felt oddly close, yet simultaneously oddly distant.
This was also thanks to Noire's 'Spiral Ecliptic Virtue', with the different forces inside his body assimilating, even a Phoenix can't discern his Dragon origin if he didn't wish so.
For better or worse, a Lighting Phoenix was a good encounter. Noire made a deal with the Phoenix, she will help Yue and Ning'er to comprehend the essence of Lighting Qi and assimilate it into their respective elements.
Ning'er and Yue will take a few years to reach the second elemental mastery, and time simply won't wait for anyone.
Let alone the fact Ning'er had held back on her elemental training, but that wasn't a bad thing.
In the Raging Cloud Plateau, Wind and Lighting elements are abundant, Ning'er can make up for her lost time through comprehending Wind Qi, and Yue would catch up in her cultivation.
When the girls reached the brim of the Ninth Ether Stage, they began to have duels on top of the plateau.
Ning'er would assimilate her Lighting Qi as a quasi-element into her Wind Qi.
Yue would assimilate her Lighting Qi as a quasi-element into her Water Qi.
Like this, the pinnacle of the plateau has been turbulent in the past few months, lightning would erupt and rumble the entire sky occasionally.
For Tianshi, she already reached the pinnacle of Twilight Stage, but Noire forbids her from breaking through until she's able to instigate a blast in the sound barrier at least once every ten steps without her cultivation base.
Lady Feng was also concerned, she doesn't know why Noire was suddenly behaving so distant from the girls, 'Is he the same person who killed two thousand disciples for their sake?' Lady Feng wondered.
"Auntie Kirin, maybe he has something on his mind..." Lady Feng tried to divert her aunt's attention from Noire. Alas, she was too stubborn.
"Don't worry little Feng, eventually he'll take my advice. Right? Gloomy pants?"
"..."
After a moment of awkward silence, Noire decided to speak.
"Having relationships is an indirect weakness. The stronger the bonds, the more vulnerable one becomes. The only way to discard such weakness is by growing the strength of those around you," By now, Noire's voice suddenly turned cold.
"But you should know better."
Noire's last comment was a bit harsh, but Kirin was asking for it so she didn't retaliate. She quickly put a warm smile and said, "The first time for you to speak in four months, yet you tried to hurt my fragile feelings, this auntie is sad. Little Feng, let's dismiss ourselves for today.
Zi zi zi zi~
Countless cyan arcs of lightning engulfed Kirin and Lady Feng, and the next instant they drifted off into the distance.
Noire sighed and looked back at the girls, he would estimate that in about a week, all of them should be ready to breakthrough, including himself.
By that time, his consciousness will take a spiritual body, he wanted to perform in a desolate place because the phantom of his consciousness will take the form of his Dragon self, which will expose his origin to the entire Phoenix Household.
Alas, no matter how much he desires to delay, the inevitable will happen sooner or later.
- - - -
Meanwhile, during the meeting of the families, they decided to have a representative of the alliance visit the Northern Region to inquire about the situation with Noire.
Preferably someone with a Peak Eclipse Stage.
That condition was borderline stating that it should be one of the Nine Households Leaders to take the trip personally.
The question is who.
This will be a two weeks trip back and forth if one excludes the complications that may occur.
Not to mention the unattended questions about the nature of Noire's relationship with the Phoenix Household. If they had intimate relationships, then visiting the Northern Region is not far from suicide. And not like they can march with personnel as that could be interpreted as an indirect threat.
When the room was dead silent, a loud creaking noise came from the massive door.
The silhouette of a mature woman, muscular yet hourglass figure, long dark-gray hair, and a row of sharp fangs underneath her plump lips.
"Anastasia!"
"Darling!"
Upon seeing this woman, Luhei Kami finally had a moment of ecstasy after the gloomy rain.
For the past three years, Anastasia was busy handling matters of her wolven tribe.
Anastasia was a beast with similar combat effectiveness to a Peak Eclipse Stage cultivator, she is also Tianshi's mother in blood.
However, because her bloodline is pure and not mixed, she can choose between her wolven body or human body at will, without the extra features like ears and tail.
Also, unlike her daughter, Anastasia is always clad in thick layers of armor and robes, she has her pride as a leader after all, and the only man who gained her right of passage was Tianshi's father, Kami.
Monsters acknowledge the strength, and Kami is the only talent who managed to take half step into the Celestial Realm, she ended up charmed by him.
When she heard about the predicament of the same sect she admitted her only daughter to, she hurried back as soon as possible.
She only had one daughter, and she can't afford to lose her no matter the cost.
However, when she noticed the remaining aristocrat leaders, and the projection of her daughter alongside a few individuals she couldn't recognize, not to mention the word 'wanted' marked in red onto the man's projection, her eyebrows creased.
"What's the meaning of this, Kami?"