124. Sun And Shadow
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A year later...
Yao Ling and Yao Lien became pregnant around the same time, and as the Summer solstice approached, the Old Night Immortal confirmed that the star of a phoenix had appeared in the skies.
The Central Bird Tree was also showing blooms again, and excitement filled the air as the most prominent Immortals visited the Bird Clan.
One certain Immortal arrived from Sky Palace, accompanied by the deities as his entourage.
It was the Sky Emperor of the time, Zhurong Haotian... a handsome and elegant Immortal dressed in resplendent white and gold robes, with a mild golden glow surrounding him, and a presence which instantly commanded attention.
At this point, it was a foregone conclusion in most minds that the Phoenix would arise from the Feng family, so the Sky Emperor, Deities, and most immortals flocked to the Peacock clan.
Yet as a vigil was held over Yao Ling's birth, there was the cry of a child, but no light of a phoenix.
"What is happening?"
"Usually, a giant phoenix of light would fly over the birthplace, right?"
"Were we wrong?"
Endless murmurs filled the air and the Sky Emperor and officials were already planning to leave for the Yan Clan...
Within the delivery room, High Immortal Feng, Peacock King, slapped his weak wife.
"You forced yourself on me, and then promised you would birth a phoenix! You're also the one who went about announcing we would birth a phoenix, and you invited so many without ever being sure! This child isn't even an Azure peacock, but a regular one like you!"
Yao Ling could only beg for her life, and she forced herself to her knees, grasping the hem of his robes
"Husband! Please forgive me! S- S- surely..." She cast around for an excuse. "Surely my sister must have done something to me! Yes... Y- Yes! she must have stolen my daughter's power in some way! After she paid a visit last time!"
She reached up for his hand. "Th- That means she must have birthed a phoenix, right? But since everyone is here with us, only the Yan clan will be there to bear witness! Buy me some time! I can still rectify it! I will go over to take back what is ours!"
High Immortal Feng looked down on her. "Better do as you've said! I'll expend part of my cultivation to fake the phoenix light, but it won't fool sky realm for long!"
And so, after a few hand seals, the 'Phoenix light' finally appeared over the Feng family in the form of a giant red phoenix flying overhead...
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Meanwhile in the Yan clan, a quieter birth had happened, but an even larger phoenix of light, this one golden, appeared in the skies over the Yan palace, drawing cries of joy from the entire clan.
The tree of swallows was adorned in festive colours, and a magnificent feast ran late into the night...
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Back at the Peacock Palace, the Grand Immortals were no fools.
"Your Majesty, something seems to be wrong here..." A younger Immortal Kai Zhen observed, an amused smile on his face. "The aura from the Phoenix light is primarily Immortal Feng's aura, and this phoenix is red, not golden..."
But he was instantly countered by another. "The prediction does say a 'Golden' phoenix, but that could mean anything." It was Grand Immortal Jin.
Back then, none knew his wolfish ambitions to seize the throne.
Grand Immortal Jin was also from the bird clan, a Grand old Starlight Eagle, and he had spent the past year ensuring the phoenix clan would be his minions.
Immortal Feng had just sent him a desperate telepathic cry for help, which meant the peacock clan had not birthed the phoenix.
But the Yan clan had been unmoved by his show of friendship as they were overtly loyal to the throne, and it was too late to try cajoling them now...
Wouldn't that mean all his efforts would go to waste?
It was better to put the Peacocks on the Bird throne no matter what!
"The war deity was weak and wounded at the point of her death..." Grand Immortal Jin continued. "Those around her were probably war-worn as well, so her words might have been misconstrued.
"She might have used the word 'golden' to represent the child's skill. Also, the child might indeed be golden! Who here can boast of seeing phoenix light before? I was there when the last phoenix was born, though he didn't live long... This was the same phoenix light I saw,
but he turned out to be a blue phoenix!"
Grand Immortal Jin's cue roused his hidden followers and they were quick to rally behind.
"Yes, yes, yes! Who can say for sure that this is the child's colour?!"
"Who even knows what is what, when it comes to phoenixes?!"
Back and forth arguments arose, and the Sky Emperor decided the child would be examined the next day...
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That night, after the Yan festivities had quieted down, a severely bitter Yao Ling appeared at the Yan Palace.
"We clearly have the same father and mother... Why do you always have all the good things?!" She hissed in rage. "I was born first, but you followed with a stronger core! I was elder, but you were stronger and more beautiful!
"You received the most promising marriage, but even after I took it away, why is it still you who births a phoenix??!!! Aren't the heavens too cruel to me?!"
She vanished and reappeared in a room within the Yan Palace. There, a baby lay in a crib. The Baby was emitting golden light, and there was a clear phoenix mark on her forehead.
An enraged Yao Ling walked over to the Crib and bent over it, an ugly expression on her face.
"Little one, don't blame me! Blame the heavens!" She whispered in fury. "After everything I did, your mother was still the one who birthed a phoenix?! I won't allow it!"
She began casting a few seals over the infant, and soon the baby lost its light. The phoenix mark disappeared from her forehead, and a golden feather appeared in Yao Ling's hand...
By the next day, Yao Ling boldly held up her own child for the inspection, and her baby now had a phoenix emblem on her forehead, and a tiny pair of golden wings.
Of course she had used her niece's golden feather to steal a few phoenix abilities for her own child, giving her the golden wings, and then she had burned several years off her cultivation to imprint the phoenix mark on her child's forehead, convincing everyone the child was a phoenix.
It worked... especially with the Peacock King and Grand Immortal Jin quelling any arising rumours.
And the child, Feng Yuexia, grew as a genius, betrothed to the Sky Crown Prince and with the reverence and admiration of many.
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Meanwhile, in the Yan Clan, the Swallow King and his wife could only choke down their enraged breaths.
They had appealed and investigated, but could never prove anything, because Yao Ling had also harmed their child's core, making it so she could never rise and challenge Feng Yuexia.
Even when the entire Yan Clan stood witness, Grand Immortal Jin convinced the Sky Emperor that they were lying for their king.
In the end, all Yan Liyun and Yao Lien could do was swallow their anger and raise their child, Yan Liwei, with love.
But outside the Yan Clan, they were met with endless scorn and ridicule, bullied almost everywhere they went.
"Hmph. I hear that the child was born on the same day as the future empress!" Some would say. "How can one be so different from the other?!"
"And her parents shamelessly claim she is the Golden Phoenix!"
"They dared -?! One is like the sun, while one can only exist in her shadow! Who were they fooling...?!"
After that, the word spread that Yan Liyun was an Immortal obsessed with greed and power, while Yao Lien was envious and jealous of her older sister's success.
But eventually, the commotion around that summer solstice died away, and life returned to normal.
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In the following Winter, the Sky Empress gave birth to her second child, an immensely beautiful princess, and from her birth, she was predicted to become the next Floral deity.
However, fortune and misfortune had visited in a pair, and the Sky Empress died after birthing the child.
Zhurong Haotian was overcome with grief, and he instantly sent the infant to live with her grandmother, the then Floral Deity, and the Floral deity gently received her late daughter's child.
"Little one, can you understand the pain in your father's heart? In my own heart...?" She asked, cradling the child. "I can't hate you... You're my daughter's last legacy.
"She named you 'Zhurong Fen'. 'Fen' for the divine fragrance you were born with." She shook her head. "But each time we hear it, we can only recall the bitter fragrance of loss.
"Will you rise above these? Will you somehow make us all forget this pain...?
Whether she would or wouldn't remained to be seen, but Sky Realm had acquired two geniuses and one shadow.
And the new year's spring brought yet another birth...
One so powerful that he could shake up the entire Sky Realm...
Yin Xiaolong!
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