It was a phoenix that was as black as ink. If Shen Lian saw it, he would think that it looked similar to the serene bird, Qianmo. Not only from its appearance but more importantly, the pair of eyes was exactly the same.

　　Yinglong let out a deep roar, and the storm went towards the black phoenix. The dragon breath within the storm could destroy gold and even break the jade.

　　The black phoenix flapped its wings, and the storm was dispersed. Its powerful claws grabbed hold of the black steel pillars. The fire of the Netherworld flowed towards it. It let out a burp, and its sharp eyes were cold as it faced Yinglong up front.

　　Yinglong belonged to a noble dragon clan, and it was very likely that it had cultivated for more than ten thousand years. Normal living things could only bow down to it as they shook.

　　The black phoenix was not afraid of Yinglong’s authority. After roaring for a while, Yinglong lost interest and began to stay in its Dragon Pond.

　　The black phoenix turned to look at Emperor Xia. It opened its mouth, and a letter dropped out. The letter was made of gold leaves. On top of it carved a dense amount of ancient writings, which finally fell on Emperor Xia’s hand.

　　The followers of Emperor Xia quickly recognized where the black phoenix came from. They were all shocked.

　　The Eastern Barbarians had existed longer than the Xia Clan. Even Yinshang to some extent was divided out of the Eastern Barbarians, but the only difference was that the Shang Clan had broken off from the Eastern Barbarians’ civilization and became a real kingdom.

　　There were a lot of worthwhile people that were recognized by the Xia Kingdom came from the Eastern Barbarians’ side. The owner of the black phoenix was one of them.

　　To be exact, he was not human. He was a half demon.

　　He should be twenty by now.

　　His name was Yunyang. He was accompanied by five phoenixes when he was born. The High Priest had predicted that Yunyang was born out of the White Emperor ¹ ‘s Qi, and hence he was the son of the White Emperor, who would one day become the leader of the Eastern Barbarians, and unify the whole of the Eastern Barbarians.

　　A unified Eastern Barbarian was not good to the Xia Kingdom, and hence Emperor Xia commanded someone to assassinate him. As such, this young man was attacked by the Xia Kingdom since he was born into the clan. Eventually, he survived with the protection from the five phoenixes despite moving around a lot. He did not die but he had disappeared.

　　The Xia Kingdom, however, remembered the five phoenixes.

　　The phoenixes were powerful, and they were not afraid of Yinglong. Their flying speed probably topped the world. It was hard to catch them. Yunyang survived a few times because of them.

　　After reading the letter, Emperor Xia appeared calm, but cracks began to appear on the stone pavement underneath his throne showing how disturbed he really was.

　　The black phoenix flapped its wings again before it flew towards the sky. Emperor Xia pumped his palm forward, blood mist and several tens of black feathers which were as if made of black steel fell from the sky. Still, they did not manage to keep the black phoenix there.

　　As Emperor Xia did not manage to kill it, he stopped pursuing it.

　　Subsequently, people found out the content of the letter. The son of the White Emperor, Yunyang would build a country in the east, and with Qiong Sang being the capital. He too would marry the most gorgeous girl from Youshi – Meixi.

　　People from Diqiu finally understood why Emperor Xia had the intention to conquer Youshi. Previously he asked to marry Youshi’s Meixi, but Youshi rejected.

　　This angered Emperor Xia, and hence the idea of attacking Youshi.

　　The reason why Youshi dared to go against Emperor Xia was naturally that of the son of the White Emperor, Yunyang. If one day this person became somebody, perhaps it would be as predicted by the High Priest, that he would be the king of the unified Eastern Barbarian, and the next Tianyi.

　　The next day, Emperor Xia discussed this matter with his officials during the morning meeting.

　　No one knew what the authoritarian Emperor Xia thought, but as it involved the fortune of the country, Xiahou, Youhu and the rest of the twelve aristocrats and the Xia Clan discussed seriously about the issue as it would affect their fundamental benefits.

　　The son of the White Emperor, Yunyang’s letter was humble and calm as he implied to admit the superiority of Xia Kingdom. At the same time, he was firm about forming his own country as well as his marriage with Youshi and these had no room for negotiation. Furthermore, the White Emperor was recognized not just as the king of the demonic clans and one of the elites of The Great Demon Sage, he was the top among the great powerhouses. His extreme powers allowed him to achieve immortality during the era of the Emperor. Since Yunyang was born out of his Qi, his purity could gain recognition among the demonic clans, especially when he grew up.

　　Tianyi who represented the influence of Qi cultivators was sufficient to cause a headache to the Xia Kingdom. If Yunyang could unify some of the demonic clans, and the whole of Eastern Barbarians, he could be a worse of an enemy compared to Yinshang.

　　The official’s opinions were divided into two sides. One was to release Tianyi immediately to ease the war between the Eastern Barbarians and Yinshang over all these years. As they were both at the east of the Xia Kingdom, a war could break in anytime. If the two of them decided to form a coalition against the Xia Kingdom, it was likely due to the stressful restrictions from the Xia Kingdom, forcing the Eastern Barbarians to choose between life or death and cooperated with their greatest enemy, Yinshang.

　　It was a profound strategy, as even with Tianyi’s saintly quality, it too could not resolve the conflicts between the two easily.

　　The other side had a totally different opinion. They thought to kill Tianyi immediately to shock the world. Then they would attack Youshi with a lightning speed and eliminate the clan. They would snatch Meixi over. As long as the Xia Kingdom could achieve it within several months, they could make everyone bow down to them through military control.

　　The two sides argued for ten plus days, as Emperor Xia never said anything.

　　These days Lei Jing paid no attention to nothing else other than the Kunwu stone. She drank next to it, slept next to it. From dawn till dark, she never left the Kunwu stone.

　　Nothing is difficult on this earth if your mind is set.

　　Shen Lian looked at her behavior and said so to Guan Longzi. Guan Longzi too agreed with the quote. Even though Lei Jing was of aristocratic blood and looked to be slightly spoiled, she was, however, smarter than people of her age within Xia Clan, and too she was more hardworking.

　　A talent was not something scary, but what was scary was that she was talented and extremely hardworking.

　　“She reminds me of someone.” Guan Longzi said to Shen Lian. They were playing Othello.

　　Shen Lian placed the white piece and took out a black piece. He smiled as he asked, “Who?”

　　“Tianyi in his teenage years.” Guan Longzi spoke seriously.

　　Shen Lian shook his head, “Still far from it.”

　　Guan Longzi spoke slowly, “I understand, to your level, talent and determination are no longer determining factors, but without talent or determination, one will never get close to the door.”

　　“What you said is right, but I hope that she will just be herself, and not like anyone else. ” Shen Lian spoke with a deep voice.

　　Guan Longzi slowly reacted with another piece. A dragon appeared all in a sudden. Even though he lost a black piece, he managed to break the constraints. I t almost as if it was ready to pierce through the sky ² .

　　He stared at Shen Lian, “I know you want to learn about the mystery of Xia Clan’s blood, but I hope that one day you won’t make her hate you.”

　　Shen Lian replied with the white piece. This piece was extremely profound and out of this world. It seemed to not have any relation with Guan Longzi’s dragon, but if Guan Longzi had no way to break through the situation, the aura of piercing through the sky would be halted ³ .

　　Shen Lian asked, “Actually I’m curious about one thing, what if one day Xia Kingdom comes to an end? What will become of you?”

　　“I will live and die with the Xia Kingdom.”