Chapter 791 The Phoenix Clan’s Unrest
The Little Monkey was still staring at Ye Xuanyue with its round eyes. It blinked, then nodded and hopped away to the side.
The surroundings grew very quiet. The Little Monkey sniffled, and just from the sound, it seemed pitiful.
"Do not forget."
Ye Xuanyue found its appearance amusing. She nodded seriously and replied,
"Mmm, I won’t forget."
The larger monkey beside her, the one called Lord Feilian, gazed intently at Ye Xuanyue, as if sizing her up. It seemed to have something it wanted to say, but in the end, it remained silent.
After the Little Monkey left, Ye Xuanyue tightened her grip on the Banner in her hand. Her voice carried a faint coolness and seriousness.
"Let’s go."
Far away, beyond countless mountain ranges, on a towering peak that pierced the clouds, countless crimson trees grew. These trees looked astonishing, radiating scorching heat.
From within a particularly massive crimson tree, a voice suddenly rang out, clear and pure.
"Did you feel it?"
A woman leaped down from a nearby tree. She wore vermilion robes, her eyes were clear, and while her features were not breathtakingly beautiful, they were pleasing to the eye.
She paused slightly and then spoke.
"Is it... Earth Flame?"
The voice opposite paused before replying.
"No, you are mistaken. Not Earth Flame... but a Phoenix."
"It should be a newborn Phoenix."
If one listened carefully to the voice, one could still detect a faint trace of excitement hidden within.
After waiting for a while, the voice finally took a deep breath and said,
"Somewhat strange... this aura..."
After another long pause, the voice continued,
"I will go discuss this with the Clan Leader. If there is a Phoenix wandering outside, we must bring it back to the clan."
"If there truly is a Phoenix left outside, our clan absolutely cannot stand idly by."
"The current situation within our clan cannot tolerate a Phoenix being left outside."
The woman opposite nodded. She thought for a moment and asked,
"Also, Your Excellency, the Beast Clan seems somewhat unsettled. I heard the Dragon Clan has a newborn genius with exceptionally high talent, being cultivated as a secret weapon. Given time, they will surely soar to great heights. When that happens, the Dragon Clan might overshadow us."
"The Dragon Clan is guarding it closely. I only heard that this little dragon was picked up from the Spirit Martial Continent. It has not been many years since its birth, yet it has already successfully undergone Transformation."
"Its talent is frighteningly strong."
"The Dragon Clan will definitely pour resources into this little dragon relentlessly."
"How should we handle this matter?"
"Should we think of a way to hinder the Dragon Clan?"
"If the Dragon Clan truly cultivates a dazzling new-generation little dragon, we will also be affected."
The voice opposite paused for a long while before speaking softly,
"The Dragon Clan's lineage was originally beginning to thin, but Fortune Qi favors them, granting them such an exceptional descendant. It is something beyond our control."
"Those underhanded actions were never worthy of our Phoenix Clan's regard."
"If Heaven truly intends to end us, what use is struggling on a little longer?"
"Our problems lie within ourselves."
"They have little to do with the Dragon Clan."
The woman opposite bowed her head. She hesitated for a long time before speaking in a low voice,
"It's such a pity about Floating Flame from back then... if not for the accident, Floating Flame was originally the Phoenix Clan's Successor for this generation..."
"Sadly, Floating Flame was taken away by a human Contract."
She said this very quietly. But the voice opposite immediately became severe.
"Floating Flame... it chose that path itself. We cannot blame others. If we must blame anyone, it can only be that the Clan Leader let her go back then."
"If Floating Flame had not left, if it had not made a Contract with a human..."
"Would we have come to this difficult situation today?"
The voice opposite clearly carried a trace of melancholy.
"Floating Flame's current whereabouts are unknown, but its life-bound spirit flame is in a precarious state, nearly extinguished. I even suspect it has already perished. Back then, Zi’an also burned out his life-bound flame for Floating Flame...our Phoenix Clan lost two of its most outstanding Phoenixes overnight..."
"If not for this..."
The voice grew somewhat agitated.
"But there are no 'ifs'."
"Otherwise, if time could flow backward, I would never have let Floating Flame make a Contract with a human back then."
"A Phoenix making a Contract with a human leads to no good end."
Silence fell around them. Only the sound of wind rustling the leaves remained.
The voice paused.
It seemed to be waiting for something. After a long while, it whispered,
"If there truly is a Phoenix wandering outside, it absolutely must not get involved with humans. This is what worries me most. A newborn Little Phoenix has an imprinting instinct and can be easily deceived."
"If it falls into human hands, it can easily become a tool for humans to use."
The woman in vermilion robes opposite paused slightly before speaking,
"Mmm."
Spirit Beasts like the Phoenix had once been close to humans too. But the incident with Floating Flame back then had broken the Phoenix Clan’s heart.
"Floating Flame fought desperately to protect that human back then."
"It even abandoned its own clan."
"Can humans really brainwash something to such an extent?"
"If it had stayed with the clan, it might very well have inherited leadership of the entire Phoenix Clan someday."
The eyes of the woman in vermilion robes were faintly red. This was something she pondered endlessly, unable to understand. Wouldn’t Floating Flame have found it all worthless? To give so much for a human, whose life was destined to be shorter than its own... it was truly too foolish.
"It made its own choice and bore the consequences itself."
The voice opposite had noticeably calmed. It paused and then said,
"Regardless, the aura I sensed cannot be wrong."
"And... I feel a sense of familiarity with that aura."
"Back then, Floating Flame took our Phoenix Clan’s Sacred Artifact."
"Together, they vanished without a trace."
"Over these years, we have searched everywhere but never found the whereabouts of that item. I always feel that the aura gives me a... familiar sensation."
"Even if there is no Phoenix, that item might be about to appear."
The woman in vermilion robes across from her nodded. She was aware of this matter too. The item that Floating Flame had taken back then...its disappearance was also a key reason for the Phoenix Clan’s gradual decline in recent years. That item, no matter what, had to be retrieved at any cost.
Her expression grew much more serious.
"I understand."