"Y-You don't mean…" Shen Shi covered her mouth in shock after hearing Yuan's words.
"Bullshit!" The Fairy Empress suddenly stood up and exclaimed in a somewhat angry manner.
"There's no way this blood essence belongs to the Dragon Ancestor!" She denied his claims.
"I don't blame you for not believing me. I mean, this is the Dragon Ancestor that we're talking about. However, I am not lying to you. If you don't believe me, you can imprison me and wait to find out the truth— though it might be too late then."
The Fairy Empress gritted her teeth after hearing Yuan's words.
Although she cannot tell whether this blood essence truly belonged to the Dragon Ancestor or not, she could tell that the blood essence had come from a god-like being due to the unique spiritual energy the blood essence contained.
While ordinary cultivators all cultivate the same spiritual energy in the air, once they reach a certain cultivation level, they will need to absorb different types of spiritual energy.
For example, a cultivator that has achieved immortality will need to absorb Immortal Qi in order to continue their progress, and the ordinary spiritual energy in their body will eventually be replaced by Immortal Qi.
Above Immortals are god-like beings that can create stars and life with the snap of their finger, and these apex entities will cultivate Celestial Qi, something that the Fairy Empress could sense within the blood essence.
Therefore, even if this blood essence in her grasp doesn't belong to the Dragon Ancestor, it doesn't take away from the fact that it came from a god-like being— someone who has reached the peak of cultivation.
And if it's true that Yuan has connections to a god-like being, nobody in the Fifth Heaven can touch him unless they want to die a horrible death.
After standing there with a perplexed look on her face, the Fairy Empress suddenly started laughing like a maniac.
"You're good— really good, Dragon Emperor! I would've never expected for you to use this kind of method to convince me!"
When she eventually stopped laughing, the Fairy Empress started approaching Yuan with a profound smile on her face.
Shen Shi stood between them when she saw this.
"Get out of my way, Shen Shi." The Fairy Empress said to her in a cold tone.
"I refuse," she instantly responded.
However, Yuan tapped her from behind and said, "It's okay."
Shen Shi gritted her teeth. As much as she wanted to keep him safe from the Fairy Empress, she couldn't disobey a Dragon Emperor who has connections to the Dragon Ancestor himself!
Therefore, she could only reluctantly move out of Fairy Empress' way, allowing her to approach Yuan.
Once the Fairy Empress was in front of Yuan, she returned the Dragon Ancestor's blood essence back to him and said, "I was only teasing you. I have no intentions of harming you, nor do I wish to start a war with the Royal Dragon Family over something like this. However, since you did break my rules, I had to punish you one way or another."
Yuan was left speechless by the Fairy Empress' words. She had been teasing him this entire time? So it was all an act? He really thought she wanted to keep him imprisoned!
"I-I don't believe you!" Shen Shi exclaimed shortly after hearing the Fairy Empress' words.
"You definitely weren't joking!"
"I don't care if you believe me or not." The Fairy Empress shrugged.
"Though I won't deny that I teased you more than planned because of your big mouth, Shen Shi."
"Does this mean I am free to go?" Yuan asked her.
"Yes. Congratulations on becoming the first man to enter the Fairy Paradise without dying, little emperor."
"Thank you. Now I just need to figure out how I am supposed to return to where I came from…" He sighed.
"Senior, why don't you follow me back to the Royal Dragon Family? Perhaps we can help you figure something out."
Yuan hesitated for a brief moment since they might learn that he was disguising as Dragon Emperor if he followed her back to her family.
"Why don't you just go back through the Stairway to Heaven? If you came from the upper heavens, you don't need to do any trials to go back up there." The Fairy Empress said.
"Unfortunately, my situation is a little special, so I cannot take the Stairway to Heaven." Yuan shook his head.
"Do as you please. Anyways, you are free now, so hurry up and leave this place. If you continue lingering around, I might change my mind and keep you here forever." The Fairy Empress then said.
Yuan nodded and turned to look at Shen Shi, "I'll have to inconvenience your family for a bit."
"It's not an inconvenience! In fact, it's an honor for our royal family to have you, Senior Yuan!" Shen Shi bowed to him.
Sometime later, Yuan left the place with Shen Shi on her flying treasure.
"Is it really okay to let him go?" Elder Xue asked the Fairy Empress after they left.
"We have no choice. The fact that a god-like being has given him their blood essence means he's very important to that person. We cannot afford to offend such a person." The Fairy Empress shook her head.
"What if he'd obtained that blood essence through other means?"
"Even if that might be the case, we cannot risk it. You have no idea how horrifying a god-like entity is. A single one of them could easily wipe out an entire world without sweating."
"Is that so…"
"Anyways, just forget about this incident. If the others ask about it, just say we already took care of him."
"I understand."
Meanwhile, back in the Lower Heavens at the Heavenly Melody Academy.
"Has he not returned yet?" Song Ling'er asked Ai Wan, who has been waiting in front of the Zither Fairy's immortal cave for the last three days.
"No, he hasn't." Ai Wan shook her head.
"Looks like we will have to delay his performance indefinitely until he returns… What a headache."