"Any news?" Feng Hengkong asked tiredly, his voice containing a slight hope for a positive answer.
"None... We have sent many gifts and people to congratulate him, but not a single one got a reply in return. The servants took the gifts and ignored us."
"Sigh..."
These days, Feng Hengkong feels as if he has aged a hundred years in an instant. And this was purely due to the news of someone who broke through the mortal realms and entered the mythical realm from legends.
The first thing this person did to announce his presence was by taking over one of the Sacred Grounds.
This was still tame compared to the next news, though.
"Did we do something to anger the senior?" Feng Hengkong muttered for the hundredth time.
When every Sacred Ground and some minor powers were invited for the senior's marriage, his Divine Phoenix Sect was not included.
And this made not only him but even his ancestors worried. They all collectively thought if they had done something to offend the senior; they could not think of one such scenario.
Even if they were not on par with the Sacred Grounds, they were the strongest power after the Sacred Grounds; it didn't make sense for them to not be invited unless the senior had a bone to pick with them.
And this seriously worried Feng Hengkong.
What if the senior decided to attack the Divine Phoenix Sect? They could only watch helplessly because there was nothing they would be able to do against someone who singlehandedly took over a Sacred Ground when they could only serve them.
"Ugh... This will cause us a headache." Feng Hengkong pressed his nose bridge in exasperation. He looked at the kneeling servant and ordered, "Call Xue'er."
The servant bowed and vanished.
Feng Hengkong didn't have to wait long before a melodic and gentle voice registered itself in his ears, unconsciously relaxing his body.
His gaze softened instantly as he looked at his daughter, a soft smile appearing on his face.
"Xue'er, how is it? Did you find something about it?"
The beautiful young girl shook her head; an expression of sadness appeared on her face, causing her to lower her face.
"I have tried, but I cannot feel it anymore..."
"It's alright. There is no need to be sad. You will understand it in time."
Feng Xue'er was the hope of his phoenix sect. Unlike normal inheritors, she had inherited everything from the soul fragment of the Divine Phoenix, allowing her soul and body to mutate.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that she was a phoenix herself.
Given enough time, Feng Hengkong believed that she would be able to break through the mortal shackles and enter the mysterious realm herself; after all, she had the potential to reach the same level as the Divine Phoenix Soul Fragment, which Feng Hengkong believed to be the strongest existence on this continent.
But some time ago, she started to have dreams of another Phoenix Soul Fragment.
At first, they had thought that it was the Phoenix Soul inside of her, but it soon became clear that it was not.
Feng Xue'er attested to that, and they believed her.
This made Feng Hengkong question: Was there another Phoenix Soul Fragment on this continent?
And this just made him excited.
They were already considered the second strongest existence after the Sacred Grounds just because of their Divine Inheritance.
If they had another Phoenix Soul, wouldn't they be able to reach even higher than the Sacred Grounds?
But all his excitement was for nothing since Feng Xue'er herself couldn't pinpoint what the soul was trying to tell her.
And so, in the end, they could only wait and see.
"Um..."
"Hm?"
Feng Hengkong's attention returned to Feng Xue'er. He saw that she looked nervous, as if she wanted to say something but could not.
"Is there something on your mind, Xue'er?" His face scrunched, and his voice lowered, becoming slightly cold before he inquired, "Could it be your brothers are troubling you again?"
He knew the unmatched beauty of his daughter. It was so much that even his own sons and her brothers couldn't seem to ignore it.
And even though this made Feng Hengkong sick to his stomach, he could only hold his feelings down.
At least they were not infatuated with her like most men outside—he thought.
"No, not that." Feng Xue'er hurriedly shook her head, lest her father ended up beating her brothers again.
"Then what is it? Don't hesitate to tell us. If something is bothering you, we will try our best to solve it."
"That..." Feng Xue'er hesitated a little before she finally decided to explain the dream she had last night. "I had a different dream last night."
"Oh. Explain." His attention was instantly pulled as he leaned slightly downward, wanting to listen to her carefully.
"Um." Feng Xue'er nodded and explained, "Unlike normal visions, this time I saw an image of a man."
A frown instantly appeared on Feng Hengkong's face.
"I don't think that a vision of a man would appear without any reason when all I have been seeing is the other Lord Phoenix trying to tell me something. It's as if Lord Phoenix wants me to find this man." Feng Xue'er looked at the frowning face of her father and innocently said, "Father, this person could be the key to understanding what Lord Phoenix is trying to tell us."
Silence returned to the throne room for some time before Feng Hengkong nodded.
"Alright. Someone draw the face of this person. We will spread our men to look for him. Maybe you are right, and this person might be related to Lord Phoenix."
"Maybe another inheritor? If that's the case, we would need to bring him into our Divine Phoenix Sect at all costs! Even if... no, let's think about it later. Finding him takes priority."
"Then Xue'er will take her leave." And with some light steps, she vanished.
"I should go and consult with the ancestors," Feng Hengkong thought aloud. "He might be the only key to solving this mystery."
1
The time after the wedding was spent in bliss.
Every day, Yun Che would wake up with all his wives by his side before starting another day of salted fish; doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the company of his beautiful wives.
The more Yun Che spent his time like this, the more he realized why the original Yun Che wanted to just stay in Blue Pole Star, away from all the God Realm bullshit.
He had everything a man could ask for in his life. Why would he want to enter the God Realm and the mess it was?
But unlike the original Yun Che, he had many reasons to enter the God Realm; the main one still being the ass of Brahma Bae, but that was the talk of later.
After spending months with his wives and indulging in absolute degeneracy at night with them, Yun Che thought it was time to visit Devil Nest and get his hands on the first fragment of the Law of Nothingness.
Done with his daily routine, he left the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region and flew in the direction of the Supreme Ocean Palace.
He had already informed them of his visit, so he was not surprised to find dozens of Sovereign Profound Realm cultivators with Qu Fengyi standing in the center, all waiting for him.
"Fengyi has seen the senior." The moment he appeared in front of them, Fengyi and the elders cupped their fists and bowed towards him.
Now already used to such greetings, Yun Che nodded. He looked at Fengyi and asked, "Not with your husband today?"
"He is busy with the Black Moon Merchant Guild. If the senior wants to meet him, I can call him right now."
"No need." Yun Che waved his hand, finding her reaction boring. "Well, let's not waste each other's time. Lead me to Devil Nest. I'll solve it directly."
"As you wish."
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was an island located in the Southern Ocean, one thousand five hundred kilometers south of the southern edge of the Profound Sky Continent.
Around it, the strongest formation known to the Profound Sky Continent was placed to stop the terrifying amount of yin energy from spilling out into the continent and causing devastation.
Standing high in the sky, Yun Che saw that hundreds of kilometers of ocean around the island had turned deep black, as if oil had been spilled in large quantities around it. This gave the island and the land around it an eerie touch.
"There is a gap within the barrier that opens every five hundred years. Regretfully, it is not yet time for it to open. But we can—"
"Leave it. I can enter even without it opening." Yun Che waved his hand and interrupted her.
Fengyi didn't show any surprised expression, as if she found it natural for Yun Che to be able to enter the nest without the gap.
"Then we won't disturb your excellence. But please be careful; though we think it's already dead, there used to live a terrifying beast inside that killed many of our ancestors. And since profound strength gets suppressed inside, one needs to be extra careful."
"I'll keep that in mind." Yun Che nodded before a soft smile appeared on his face. "Well, I'll be back in an hour or so."
And with that, the space around him twisted, and he vanished, leaving behind an awed Fengyi and the elders.
Unlike Wentian, they weren't gifted with Space Manipulation skills. So they could only marvel at such a sophisticated profound art.
Maybe if they proved their worth, they would be gifted with it too.
'At least he kept his promise. I can already feel myself breaking through the Sovereign Profound Realm... it won't be long before I also enter the Divine Realm!'
Feeling giddy inside her stomach at the prospect of finally being able to unshackle herself from the cursed bottleneck, Fengyi, instead of standing and waiting for Yun Che to appear, decided to cultivate at the side.
Anyways, it would take Yun Che some time before he appeared again. It was better to use that time rather than waste it.
...
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