Imperial God Emperor

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden?

Ye Qingyu recognized her right away despite only seeing her back. It turned out that the important person who wanted to see him, as mentioned by Ren Puyang, was the Celestial Phoenix Maiden. He wondered how the relationship between Ren Puyang and the Phoenix Race could be good enough for the maiden to request from the former a meeting with him, and soon understood why Ren Puyang used an excuse to get Yu Xiaoxing to leave first.

In front of the giant floor-reaching lapis window, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden was dressed in purple and golden Phoenix battle garments, with her lavender-colored long hair flowing down like a waterfall. Her bearing was elegant and upright, and her waist was slender and lissom. True Phoenix aura faintly exuded from her body, which descriptions like "pure and noble" or "mysterious and lofty" did no justice to. She seemed as though she simply did not belong to this world and could never be contaminated by its dirtiness.

During that instant, Ye Qingyu suddenly felt captivated for some unaccountable reason.

As such, he was a little out to lunch for a moment.

This was a very weird feeling.

It was the first time Ye Qingyu looked at the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's back so absorbedly and vividly. Even he himself did not know why looking at the Celestial Phoenix Maiden this time felt so different from the previous times. Nor did he know what the differences were.

But he quickly recovered from his brief daze.

Recalling something, a smile formed at the corner of his lips.

Previously, at the gate of the Phoenix Race's station, he had asked the Celestial Phoenix Maiden whether she would rush here to witness the final outcome of the Heaven Wasteland Domain's grading, to which her response at that time was an unclear "I'll try my best". Knowing how busy she was, he did not carry much hope that she would come - he did not even know why he would ask this sort of question.

Yet, she ultimately managed to get here in time.

He could imagine that she was standing in front of this transparent lapis window, watching him and Yu Xiaoxing as they stood on the Saint Hearing Platform during the moment when the grading result of the Heaven Wasteland Domain was announced. As they say, a friend's promise is worth a thousand gold. He thus wondered if he and the Celestial Phoenix Maiden could now be considered sworn friends.

He could not help smiling faintly.

Just then, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's voice was finally heard.

"You're here."

Amid the familiarly cold and unapproachable voice was a cheerfulness which only Ye Qingyu could feel.

Sensing Ye Qingyu's familiar aura, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden slowly turned her body.

Beneath the glossy Phoenix mask was a beautiful pair of limpid and bright eyes which possessed the world's purest luster, and in the depths of which was a hint of delight.

Ye Qingyu laughed as he walked toward the window and nodded, "I'd never thought that it would be you who wanted to see me. To tell the truth, I was a little nervous when Mr. Ren secretively mentioned this to me earlier, for I'd imagined that it would be a bigshot of the Alliance of Domains instead. If I'd known that it was actually you, I wouldn't have needed to be so nervous, haha. By the way, the Heaven Wasteland Domain's grading wouldn't have gone so smoothly without the great help provided by the Phoenix Race, so thank you so much."

Although Ren Puyang had explained a huge chunk of why the Heaven Wasteland Domain's grading went so smoothly, Ye Qingyu knew deep down that the Phoenix Race's covert assistance played a considerable part, and so he expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps at the first opportunity.

"Since we're already friends, there's no need to be so courteous. What's more, you protected me and saved my life in the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss. I definitely had to repay such a big favor." The Celestial Phoenix Maiden's eyes lit up like a starry night sky as she looked at Ye Qingyu. Her tone was also not as hostile as it would be toward others, and possessed a brisk and barely-noticeable tenderness.

The Phoenix Race's sole supreme genius and successor was innately cold and distant, and had always been rather cautious and unconsciously indifferent when dealing with people and things. However, ever since the life-and-death ordeal she went through in the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss, Ye Qingyu had breached the line of caution in her heart and became someone whom she identified as a friend, and so she was completely open toward him.

Furthermore, as a matter of fact, only she knew exactly what place he occupied in her heart.

In front of the floor-reaching transparent lapis window.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two of them looked down at the cliff and the Saint Hearing Platform.

Below.

Another case had begun in the core meeting hall.

A Demon Race expert half-knelt on the Saint Hearing Platform, tightly furrowing his brows and revealing an unusually-serious and agitated expression. He was waving his four arms as if vehemently making an appeal, but his voice could not be heard. Clearly, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden had shut out the noise from the platform as she was not too interested in this case.

Though she was standing at the window, it did not automatically mean that she was keen on observing the situation outside.

Ye Qingyu sighed as he looked at the Demon Race expert standing on the Saint Hearing Platform below. He had just stood on that platform himself and thus knew what it felt like. After the expert had made his appeal, the congress members' judgment would decide the destiny of his race and domain, for better or for worse.

The weak would forever be controlled by others.

The weak would forever be a pawn in someone else's game of chess.

When he left the Heaven Wasteland Domain, Ye Qingyu thought that he had jumped out of the chessboard. However, after coming to the Road of Chaos and seeing the true colors of the Vast Thousand Domains, he realized that he had merely jumped from one square to another on the chessboard.

Several breaths later.

Ye Qingyu withdrew his sights.

At this time, he helplessly discovered that, beneath the mask which brimmed with flowing light, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's eyes were gradually becoming hollow while her thoughts had wandered off in some distant direction, like rootless duckweed in a rapid torrent.

Oh my... what a time for her to... go into yet another trance!

Ye Qingyu did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He had frequently seen her go into a habitual trance when they were in the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss, but because they were not too familiar with each other at that time, he did not ask about it despite his curiosity. Later on, when the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps was in the Phoenix Race's station, those zealous elders would talk about her natural habits in front of him, whether intentionally or otherwise. As a result, he had a rough understanding of why she often went into a trance, and had become inured to it by now.

The atmosphere abruptly became a little silent.

Reluctant to interrupt her train of thought, he looked away from her and out the window at the Demon Race representative on the Saint Hearing Platform. Although the expert wanted to provide further justifications, he was eventually brought away against his will by two black-armoured divine guards.

At this time, a strange and mysterious orchid scent drifted near.

It was as faint and light as that of an Immortal.

It quietly wafted past the tip of Ye Qingyu's heart.

He gently turned his head and looked sideways to find the source of this scent.

This was clearly a closed room, yet a breeze blew from nowhere and raised the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's thick waterfall-like green hair, every strand of which was flickering with a strange splendor, and on which seemed to blossom many elegant and beautiful orchids... The scent was from the Celestial Phoenix Maiden, and was a type of female body scent which could make all males in the world become infatuated and go crazy.

Ye Qingyu could not help taking a few more sniffs of it.

A full ten minutes went by.

It was only now that the Celestial Phoenix Maiden suddenly woke up and regained her senses.

"Ah... I went into yet another trance... Pardon me, please take a seat." She smiled apologetically, with her eyes appearing a little dazed beneath the mask.

Subsequently, she turned her body and walked toward a red armchair with wood-carved flowers.

However, Ye Qingyu suddenly noticed something when she turned.

"You... were wounded?" A tinge of shock appeared on his face.

Because of the drop of rainbow-colored Phoenix blood in his body, he was very familiar with the power and aura of the Celestial Phoenix Maiden. In particular, he could detect the aura of her Phoenix true-vitality keener than anyone else, including the experts of the Phoenix Race. During the moment when she turned her body, he detected a trace of an unusual aura. Although it was extremely weak and had even been concealed by the Celestial Phoenix Maiden using an advanced technique, he still managed to catch hold of it instantly.

"Oh... It's nothing, just a small injury, that's all. No biggie." She spoke in a nonchalant tone.

She casually pointed a finger.

As a splendor flickered, a pale-red stone chair appeared in front of Ye Qingyu.

He sat down on it, with his expression remaining doubtful and surprised.

What exactly happened?

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden possessed the purest Phoenix blood and was originally already considered an outstanding talent among the younger generation of the myriad domains. Yet, after attaining nirvana, her strength increased at an even more heaven-defying rate. Furthermore, given that the Phoenix Race was a super large force among the myriad domains, her innate strength was already unfathomable. It was no exaggeration to say that the Phoenix Race devoted all of its strength toward protecting her. Under these circumstances, only a handful of people within the myriad domains could hurt her.

Could it be because...

His thoughts swirled and his eyes quivered.

This was because he suddenly recalled the conversation in front of the Phoenix Race's station.

At that time, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden said that she wanted to go investigate the movements in the Unmoving City of Darkness.

Could her injury this time be due to... the Unmoving City of Darkness?!

After some hesitation, he could not refrain from asking, "Is your injury because of the Unmoving City of Darkness?"

Having no intention of withholding the truth, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden gently nodded her head, "Indeed, it was. Before coming to Heaven Connect City, I encountered the dark holy girl and fought against her. She was very strong, and so we were both wounded."