Against Heaven's Will

A large flaming bird with colorful feathers skimmed through the sky, heading straight in Miss Liu's direction. Her mansion was close to the top of the mountain, giving her a close look at the fascinating creature. 

"How is this possible?" Miss Liu questioned in wonder, her eyes brightening as she admired the beast. "She is so fast!" 

It was well known that all Phoenixes were females with no male representatives. This was probably the main thing why Miss Liu loved them. No annoying males bothering them while they can live in peace. 

"She must have somehow sneaked inside the Capital in her human form," the Maid suggested, sharing Miss Liu's excitement.

Miss Liu forgot about her unpresentable appearance and flew up, ready to meet her Phoenix. 

"Miss Liu! Wait!" 

Too bad, her maid quickly jumped and caught her naked foot, pulling her down to the ground. 

"Miss Liu, look at your state! You can't show yourself like this to the public!" the maid scolded. "Please, wear some proper clothes." 

Only then did Miss Liu look down at her attire, realizing her maid was right. She only wore a black nightgown to sleep that barely covered her body. Even if it was laid loose, one could see all her curves at the first glance. Not only that, but it was also slightly see-through so she definitely couldn't go out like this. 

If her father learned about that, she would be confined in her room and forced to cultivate, so it was better to comply. Miss Liu quickly pulled out a random black dress and wore it on top of her nightgown. Her hair was too messy to fix it in time so she only tied it in a ponytail while already raising in the air.

This time her maid didn't stop her but still followed closely behind. 

"Whoa!" 

Both of them exclaimed when they saw the Phoenix shoot past them. They were a bit late but still got close enough to feel the warmth of the Phoenix's flames. 

"It's so cool! Why can't I become a Phoenix?" Miss Liu lamented, hovering in the sky while gazing at the Phoenix from the distance. Miss Liu didn't even try to chase after her as the Phoenix was just too fast. Even the fastest Flying Ships were nowhere close to her speed. 

Huh?

A moment later, something disturbed her space. It turned out it was a group of City Guards, chasing after the majestic Phoenix. Miss Liu instantly frowned and launched herself to block them. 

"Halt!" Miss Liu called out. 

When the guards saw her blocking the path, they initially tried to bypass her without care, but when they got a closer look, the City Guard Captain with his signature red eagle painted on his chest immediately ordered a sudden stop. 

"Everyone stop!" 

The fierce face of the City Guard Captain swiftly changed into a docile one as he flew forward, bowing his head. 

"Miss Liu! Is there anything we can help you with?" the Captain asked politely, not daring to look straight into her eyes. 

"I forbid you from chasing after this Phoenix! From now on, she is under my protection!" Miss Liu commanded, shocking the City Guards. 

"B-but Miss Liu, that Phoenix hurt two people in the safe zone. It needs to be stopped before it can hurt anyone else!" the Captain reasoned, causing Miss Liu to knit her brows. 

"Did you just disobey my order?" Miss Liu questioned sternly. "Firstly, she is a woman. Secondly, do you think you can face a Celestial Phoenix with your pitiful strength? She will sweep you all with just one swing of her wing. Her flames are not something a God or Immortal Stage Cultivators like you can handle." 

Gulp. 

The City Guards swallowed their saliva, no longer as brave as before. It was obvious they were just following the protocol. Even if they didn't fight, they could simply monitor the situation and act as a backup while waiting for the big shots to arrive. 

"Cough, I will report your decision to the headquarters…" The captain replied as he cleared his throat. 

The silent maid hovering next to Miss Liu finally spoke, adding to the case, "If the chase is not stopped, I will report it to Sect Master Liu." 

The City Guards immediately panicked as their Captain quickly waved with his arms to stop her, "Please, don't! We will remove the hunting order!"

"Thank you, Mia," Miss Liu thanked her maid and began flying back to her mansion, pulling Mia with her. 

Mia was around her age, looking more like her twin sister than her maid. Although there were some differences in their faces, both their figures and hair were similar, equally long and black. If not for her known status and servant clothes, one would for sure made a mistake. 

Mia was with her for a long time, longer than she could even remember. She knew very well when was the best time she should speak. It would look bad on Miss Liu if she used her father's name but Mia didn't need to worry about it. 

They gazed in the distance to catch the last glimpse of the escaping Phoenix but she was already gone, looking like a small red dot on the horizon. 

"Sigh, it's such a shame it was just passing by… I wish I could befriend her. I would do anything," Miss Liu muttered, imagining herself flying in the sky with the Phoenix. She blushed and smiled lovingly as if she was lovestruck. 

"Well, at least Miss Liu's wish came true and you finally met one," Mia said, sharing Miss Liu's happiness. 

"Yeah, I will definitely find her and befriend her," Miss Liu nodded, descending on their mountain when she stopped, noticing they had a guest waiting for them by the door. 

It was one of the House of Dragons' Elders.

She could recognize him by the special attire Elders wore which not only looked grand but also had amazing defensive properties. There was only one reason why would an Elder come over to her mansion. Either it's to contact her father or to announce some important news. 

Knowing her father couldn't be disturbed, she bet on the latter. 

"Elder Yang!" Miss Liu called out as she landed. "Why are you here?" 

"Miss Liu! I'm bringing important news!" Elder Yang said as he bowed with a smile. "Do you have a moment to talk?" 

"Actually, I don't," Miss Liu replied shortly. "As you can see, my hair is a mess as I just woke up so I'm not really ready to accept any guests. I need to go back and go through my morning routine. If you want, you can wait until I'm done or if you are in hurry, you can share it with Mia and I will listen to it later." 

"Cough," Elder Yang cleared his throat. "I'm sure Miss Liu will want to learn about it immediately. It's about Sect Master Liu's personal disciples."

Miss Liu was on her way to her to enter the mansion when she stopped at Elder Yang's last words. 

"Huh? What about my father's personal disciples? Tell me," Miss Liu ordered curiously. 

"We got the news that two new personal disciples of Sect Master Liu appeared in the Water Land. Have you heard of it already?" Elder Yang asked cautiously while glancing at her expression. 

Miss Liu didn't hesitate and put on a poker face, realizing immediately what he was doing. She spent so much time with the Elders that she already learned their tactics, trying to get information about her father from her. Mia was similarly silent, not showing any emotion on her face. 

"What about them?" Miss Liu questioned calmly on the outside, but internally, she was ultimately confused. There were no new personal disciples! If there were any, she would know about it for sure. Especially since it had to be her who handed the tokens as her father locked himself up at the top of the mountain. 

"Hmm, they displayed Sect Master Liu's personal disciple tokens and we confirmed they were real," Elder Yang revealed. "We were a bit taken aback because there wasn't any report and they were not registered, so I came here to ask you about them." 

'Impossible!' Miss Liu cried out in her mind but none of that leaked outside. 

"Yes, I gave them the tokens when I traveled to find a certain Spirit Herb for my father. I saw they have potential and told them they can come to the Capital and get tested. As I didn't have normal tokens, I gave them my father's tokens. Is that a problem?" Miss Liu spoke as if nothing serious happened. "I was too busy to report it to the management so if you can be so good and report it for me, that would be great." 

Her story worked perfectly as she just happened to return back home from traveling yesterday night. That didn't change the fact that she still had no idea what was going on. 

"Oh… So it was Miss Liu in the end…" Elder Yang muttered. "Just as I thought. It is indeed impossible to forge Sect Master Liu's personal disciple token." 

Miss Liu finally frowned. 

"Of course it is impossible. Who do you think my father is?" 

Hearing her sudden burst, Elder Yang paled, stepping back while bowing, "I apologize, Miss Liu, I didn't mean to offend anyone." 

"You are forgiven," Miss Liu said sternly. "Now tell me, what happened? You said they displayed their tokens?"