Apotheosis

Zen stood there uncertainly and frowned. "You called her Little Master?"

Lavender, Nelly and Laquisha exchanged knowing glances, then they all turned to face Zen. "We have all become Elvinia's disciples!" Nelly beamed. "Since Elvinia is still quite young, we address her as 'Little Master'."

Zen shot a glance at Elvinia, who stared back at him unflinchingly.

"But since you are fine, let's go back already," Zen said.

He figured it wasn't appropriate for his wives to stay in the Phoenix Palace. He couldn't fathom why they needed to become disciples of Elvinia.

However, to his surprise, both Nelly and Laquisha shook their heads. Even Lavender smiled wistfully without saying a word.

Zen knew Lavender wouldn't ever go against his wishes, but he could tell from her reaction that she also thought the Phoenix Palace would be an excellent place to cultivate.

He scratched his head, trying to figure out what to do.

Initially, the girls had been against the idea. However, since Elvinia didn't cause them trouble and instead treated them as those direct descendants sincerely, they warmed up to the idea of training under her.

They considered their options. The Phoenix Palace was definitely superior compared to the environment outside the Dragon City. Even the Flow Sword Sect couldn't come close to it. After all, it was built by Eastern Emperor Taiyi; of course its resources were of the best quality.

Besides, Elvinia did give them advice from time to time. No one could deny her talent. With her input and their good understandings, they made notable progress more rapidly than before.

As a result, the three girls started calling her Little Master...

Seeing Zen's upset expression, Laquisha came forward and held his hand in hers. "It's safe here." She batted her eyelashes at him. "If we were in the Dragon City, we might not be able to reach the Other Shore in decades. We can save a lot of time here!"

There were many challenges on the way to the Other Shore, such as the nine lines and the huge whirlpools on the Sea of Truth, which posed a great risk. No one knew how many people were lost to the whirlpools or died on the nine lines. However, this risk could be greatly reduced if they could train in the Phoenix Palace.

Zen sighed. He knew this was true.

Even if he had earned a lot of divine crystals by virtue of his Instant Enlightenment, h

" said Zen as he politely nodded his head.

Flamine suddenly stretched out her hand and pressed a green jade token onto his palm. "This is the token of the Phoenix Palace. You must take it the next time you come here." Her eyes flashed seriously. "You were lucky to have entered the Primitive Illusion and emerged from it in one piece, but the next time, you won't be so lucky..."

Zen knew the guards would up their defense the next time he came here. If he were to visit the Phoenix Palace again, he knew that what Flamine said was true.

Zen gratefully took the token and held it up to his eyes to observe it closely. Without a word, he stuffed it into his space ring.

As Zen finally took his leave, Flamine called to him softly, "If you have the time, you should come here more often..."

She smiled mischievously. Zen waved, but couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

He knew he was definitely going to come back sometime in the future, since the girls were cultivating here. But what did that have to do with Flamine?

When Zen exited the gates of the Phoenix Palace, the dense, white mist of the Primitive Illusion ebbed away, giving him a path. The road before him seemed to be made of mist, soft as cotton.

After flying along the road for a while, Zen arrived at the Cloudy Mountain Palace on the hillside.

Zen was surprised to be met by three figures by a big stone that marked the front of the Cloudy Mountain Palace -- an old man in black flanked by two young men. While Zen had passed by the Cloudy Mountain Palace several times before, he'd never seen them before.