The Junwu Empire, the imperial capital.
Both Zuo Qingyun and Feng Wu were only eight years old.
Ffft —
The tip of the cold, purple sword in Zuo Qingyun’s hand stabbed into Feng Wu’s forehead right between her eyebrows.
When the sword was pulled free, it drew out a suspended drop of amber True Phoenix Blood from Feng Wu.
With a grasping movement of her left hand, Zuo Qingyun drew the drop of amber blood into her palm, and poof! The droplet exploded with a squeeze of her hand!
Despite the blood that covered her hand, Zuo Qingyun smiled strangely.
She smirked at the girl on the ground, whose body had curled up in agony.
“Feng Wu, only one person in this world can possess True Phoenix Blood! Since I’m already here, you should never have existed!
“I never wanted to be mentioned alongside you as the ‘Phoenix Duo of the imperial capital’! What right do you have to be considered my equal?!
“So what if you were betrothed before I was? I’m going to become the wife of the crown prince and Jun Linyuan will be my husband!
“I can’t believe that you were chosen by the Master of Firmament Palace! Well, you’re useless now, and I’m the only candidate for the goddess of Firmament Palace! So, die!”
The cold purple blade stabbed at Feng Wu’s heart!
Feng Wu grabbed the blade with both hands and blood gushed out of the deep cuts on her palms, but she seemed to feel no pain.
Spiritual essence was dissipating from the spot between her eyebrows and her cultivation was disappearing even then.
She was becoming an invalid now that her True Phoenix Blood had been destroyed!
Feng Wu stared at Zuo Qingyun with her inky black eyes.
“Die!” With a sudden exertion of strength, Zuo Qingyun pushed the blade into Feng Wu’s chest. With a thump, the blade pierced through Feng Wu’s body and red blood splashed all over Zuo Qingyun’s face.
The smile on Zuo Qingyun’s face looked grotesque under all that blood. “From now on, I will be known as Zuo Qingluan! Qingluan, as in ‘Green Luan Bird and Red Phoenix’ and the king of all birds. I will be the only true phoenix of the Junwu Empire!”
Collapsing on the ground, Feng Wu’s vision began to blur. She watched as the leader of the Zuo family escorted Zuo Qingyun away, and realized that her mind was slipping away. She was running out of time…
Zuo Qingyun, you took advantage of today when my beautiful master was refining his true form to destroy my True Phoenix Blood. After my master comes out of his seclusion, can you, your family and your clan, or even the entire Junwu continent, be able to withstand his rage?!
Her master wasn’t human. More specifically, he was a soul attached to his Dragon and Phoenix Spiritual Ring.
It was said that one’s fate was determined by the family one was born into, and a competent father was one’s most valuable asset.
Feng Wu would proudly announce that although she had never met her own father, she had the most remarkable and beautiful master in the entire continent!
She still remembered the day she triggered the spiritual ring for the first time and saw her beautiful master stroll out of that dimension inside the ring.
Being a girl of only three, she looked up at the otherworldly teenager dressed in white and asked innocently, “Well… are you very capable?”
Putting his hands behind his back, her beautiful master said casually, “I’m alright, I guess, since I used to rule this land.”
In the last few years, her beautiful master, who had been in his spiritual form all this time, had finally accumulated enough Divine Blood of the Phoenix of his own, and was ready to refine a true physical form. That way, he would no longer be confined to the spiritual ring as a soul.
Was it a dying illusion? Feng Wu’s eyes grew heavier, but she seemed to see her beautiful master, dressed in a snowy white gown, now standing there slim and graceful as a god.
White Immortal Flowers drifted down, reminding her of pure, sacred snowflakes.
He strolled out of the Dragon and Phoenix Spiritual Ring and was carried toward her by a gentle breeze.
Before Feng Wu realized it, she was lying in his warm arms.
He had the cleanest smell in the world, which was the refreshing scent of the essence of plants.
“Master…” Feng Wu broke into tears after seeing her family. Her voice was thick with emotion.
Her master could hold her now! He finally had a physical form! His long-awaited dream had come true!
Her beautiful master’s long robe and wide sleeves spread out over the ground as his brooding gaze landed on the wound between her eyebrows. He didn’t seem disturbed at all.
“Master, am I going to die?” The little girl’s eyes were as clear as water.
Her master replied unhurriedly, “No, you’re not.”
After that, he gestured with his slender finger, and immediately, a drop of golden blood flew out from between his eyebrows.
Feng Wu’s pupils contracted! That was Divine Blood of the Phoenix! Her master’s Divine Blood of the Phoenix, whose power exceeded that of True Phoenix Blood many times over!
Her master’s voice was indifferent and detached. “Don’t squirm.”
He then inserted the drop of blood into her forehead.
“No!” Feng Wu had an ominous feeling. “Master, I’m not going to die, but what about you?! Divine Blood of the Phoenix is the essence of your life. Without it, your body…”
The look in her master’s eyes was indecipherable. “Divine Blood of the Phoenix will be sealed for the time being. Once the Nine Transformation Spirit Restoration Pill is activated, you’ll be able to resume your cultivation…”
Before he could finish the sentence, his body began to fade away…
“No!”
Covered in blood, Feng Wu screamed at the top of her lungs. Blue veins popped on her skin and she reached out, trying to hold her beautiful master!
“Master!”
However, her beautiful master, who looked as sacred as a banished immortal, disappeared from between her fingers.
“Master!”
Exhausted, Feng Wu fell to her knees. Her red dress was soaked in blood, her fair cheeks were stained red, and she felt like crying blood, too!
It was so painful that she couldn’t breathe!
Every one of her muscles twitched in such agony!
Guilt almost drove her to take her own life!
She hadn’t even felt this much hatred when Zuo Qingyun destroyed her True Phoenix Blood!
She would rather die herself than have her impeccable, beautiful master harmed!
There was so much hatred!
Feng Wu clenched her fists furiously, her nails nearly cutting into her skin and all her fingertips raw with blood!
Zuo Qingyun, I hereby swear that I will destroy you one day! I, Feng Wu, will not rest until you’re wiped off the face of the earth!