"Leader! Youâre awake! Thank the heavens!" The elders immediately rushed to her side after noticing her open eyes.
The leader, a beautiful woman with flowing red hair and sharp facial features, slowly sat up on the bed and turned to look at the group with a puzzled face.
"Where... where am I?"
"Youâre back at the Rising Phoenix Clan, mother." Feng Haoyu said, pushing the elders aside so he could see her.
"I see... I made it back..." she muttered in a low voice.
"What happened out there, mother? Why did you come back injured? Who attacked you?"
The leader gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in frustration as she responded, "It was that damn freak, the Fate Maniac!"
"Fate Maniac?" Yuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this weird nickname.
The leader continued, "That bastard attacked me out of the blue, claiming he was merely following fateâs command! I donât know what he did to me, but he left after placing some curse on me, and I was barely able to make it back!"
The room fell silent after everyone learned the identity of the attacker.
"The Fate Maniac... what a troublesome individual." The Grand Elder muttered in a stressed tone.
"Who is this Fate Maniac?" Yuan asked.
The Grand Elder explained, "We donât know the Fate Maniacâs true identity, only that heâs a madman obsessed with fateâconstantly proclaiming himself a servant of it. Heâs incredibly elusive; you canât seek him out, only be sought out by him. And on top of that, his strength is unfathomable."
"Servant of fate...?" Yuan raised an eyebrow at the familiar description, his thoughts drifting back to his time in the lower heavens, when he had encountered an unusual man named Jia Chong in the Demonsâ Valley.
"Wait a second. Who are you?" The leader suddenly questioned Yuanâs identity as she finally noticed his presence.
"This isâ"
"My Young Master." Feng Yuxiang stepped forward and interrupted Feng Haoyu.
The leaderâs eyes widened at her familiar face.
"You are... Feng Yuxiang? Why are you here? I thought youâd left. Have you decided to return to us?"
Feng Yuxiang shook her head. "No, Iâm still not affiliated with the Rising Phoenix Clan. Iâve returned because my Young Master has business with you."
"Sorry for the late introduction. I am Yuan, a Primordial Phoenix."
"What?! Thatâs impossible!" the leader exclaimed, abruptly rising from her bed.
Yuan didnât waste time arguing. Instead, he simply summoned his True Primordial Fire, letting its invisible presence speak for his identity.
"Invisible flames... True Primordial Fire..." The leader fell to her knees in shock.
"It was also the Young Master who removed the curse from you, or you would still be bedridden right now, and your bloodline wouldâve continued to decline," said Feng Haoyu.
The leaderâs entire body froze at his words. Then, she turned to look at him with stiff movements.
"W-What did you just say?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"The Young Master removed the curseâ"
"No! Not that! What about my bloodline?!" she shouted in a panicked voice.
The room instantly fell silent, and the atmosphere became heavy.
"Someone speak to me, damn it!" the leader snapped, stomping her foot with such force that the entire chamber trembled.
The Grand Elder stepped forward, his voice solemn as he said, "The curse placed upon you has weakened the purity of your bloodline. In just three weeks, it has fallen to 85.2 percent."
Upon hearing that her bloodline purity had dropped by a full four percent, the leaderâs expression froze. Before she could even speak, her body gave way, and she collapsed once more, overcome by shock and despair.
"Leader!"
"Mother!"
Those nearby hurried forward to catch her, gently laying her back onto the bed.
Even as a God Ascension cultivator, with a mind and soul tempered to extraordinary resilience, the blow to her bloodline was too heavy a burden for her to endure.
A few minutes later, the leaderâs eyes fluttered open, and she slowly sat up. Turning to the others with a strange smile, she said, "I just had the most unbelievable nightmare... In it, my bloodline purity dropped by four percent. Please, tell me it was just a dream."
The eldersâ faces turned pale once more, and not one of them could find the words to comfort her.
"Sorry, but it wasnât a dream," Yuan said calmly. "The curse truly did weaken your bloodline. But look on the bright side. It could have been far worse. For instance, Feng FengâFeng Yuxiang, endured this same curse for thousands of years before she met me."
"Also, itâs not impossible to help you recover your weakened bloodline."
"T-Thatâs right! Youâre a Primordial Phoenix! You can help my bloodline recover, perhaps even strengthen it!" The leaderâs eyes began glowing with hope again.
"Itâs possible, yes. However, itâs not going to be free."
"What do you want? Money? Treasures? Just name your price!" The leader said.
"I have no shortage of treasures. That said, there is something that I want from the Rising Phoenix Clan."
"..."
After a moment of silence, the leader spoke, "Clear the room for us. I would like to speak with him in private."
The elders in the room immediately left without uttering a sound.
Once only Yuan, Feng Yuxiang, and the leader remained in the room, Yuan spoke plainly.
"Iâll get straight to the pointâI want the Ancient Seal in your possession."
The leaderâs eyes narrowed with skepticism.
"I wonât even ask how you learned the Ancient Seal is in our possession, but why are you after it? What would a Primordial Phoenix want with itâif youâre even a real Primordial Phoenix?"
Yuan shook his head.
"Sorry, but I cannot tell you that."
"You do realize the Ancient Seals were entrusted to us by the Celestial Emperor, right? Handing it over would be akin to betraying him outright. And with the Ten Royal Phoenix Clans having recently allied themselves with him, our clan would have to answer not only to the Celestial Emperor, but to every other Royal Phoenix Clan as well. Youâre basically asking us to die with that request," she said.