The Phoenix Emperor showed not a hint of embarrassment. He walked straight in and repeated the question he had just asked.
The pressure of a Golden Immortal... Shen Yan felt a tightness in his chest, though it wasn't quite painful, indicating the Phoenix Emperor wasn't targeting him specifically. Shen Yan glanced at the traces of the array at the cave entrance—it went without saying that an array of this level was as flimsy as nothing to a Golden Immortal.
"So what if he is?" Xuan Yang looked at the Phoenix Emperor warily, instinctively shielding Shen Yan behind him. Seeing this, the Phoenix Emperor let out a sneer, as if to say, "I wouldn't even spare a glance for such a thing," which made Xuan Yang's blood boil.
"Was it he who dealt with that dragon brat? For a mere human, he certainly has some nerve." A rare look of curiosity appeared on the Phoenix Emperor's face, which bore a striking resemblance to Xuan Yang's. He had heard of the farce within the Dragon Clan earlier. After all, the Phoenix and Dragon clans were perennial rivals, and he had a long-standing grudge against the Dragon Emperor himself. Anything that spelled misfortune for the dragons was bound to bring him pleasure.
"Just how much of our conversation did you overhear?!" Xuan Yang demanded, clearly bothered.
"Ever since you left the Phoenix Clan, your kin have been following you. According to their reports, you came to find this little lover of yours again, so I decided to come and take a look. If you can't even detect something as minor as that, it seems your cultivation is truly lacking." The Phoenix Emperor didn't answer his question directly.
"..." Xuan Yang ground his teeth, speechless for a long moment. He knew that once cultivation reached a certain level, let alone arrays, even from a great distance, a single sweep of Divine Sense could perceive every breath and sound with perfect clarity.
He had no interest in having this "cheap father" of his eavesdropping on his private affairs!
"Have him come to the Upper Realm," the Phoenix Emperor stated bluntly.
"So he can come here and be killed by you? Do I look stupid?" Xuan Yang snapped back immediately. He still remembered how the Phoenix Emperor felt it was a loss of face for him to have formed a contract with a human and had nearly tried to eliminate the contractor back then. It was only because the one brought up wasn't Nie Shiyun that he had let it go.
Shen Yan silently averted his gaze. He was sensible enough to choose to become a transparent background at a time like this. He had no good impression of the Phoenix Emperor, but one had to bow one's head when under another's roof. Moreover, it seemed that the Phoenix Emperor had no intention of holding Xuan Yang accountable for injuring his brothers, which was already the best possible outcome.
The Phoenix Emperor glanced at Xuan Yang, marveling once again at how much the boy looked like him. His arrogant attitude, too, resembled his own younger self far more than those other sons who were always subservient and trembling in his presence. If there was a flaw, it was that his behavior was a bit too foolish—likely a result of being raised among humans since childhood.
"W-what? Did I say something wrong? It's not like you're inviting him over for tea," Xuan Yang said, his heart pounding as he saw the Phoenix Emperor remain silent, merely narrowing his eyes to study him.
"It seems you don't know what he wants that dragon scale for. Heh, a human who has just arrived in the Upper Realm, yet he's set quite an ambitious goal for himself. Tell him we can strike a deal," the Phoenix Emperor said, smiling pleasantly as a thought occurred to him. "That stupid son of the Dragon Emperor is even dumber than I imagined. Truly his father's seed."
Xuan Yang and Shen Yan exchanged looks. Shen Yan clearly didn't know why Nie Shiyun had provoked the Dragon Clan either; Zhai Bairong hadn't mentioned it in their correspondence.
Xuan Yang turned back to the Phoenix Emperor, who showed no sign of leaving. It was obvious that if they didn't pass on the message, the Emperor would likely find a way to seize their communication stones and contact him personally.
Xuan Yang had no choice but to take a step back. "Fine, I'll tell him. But if he doesn't understand what you're talking about and doesn't come, that's not our problem."
"Someone who can't even figure that much out has no reason to go on living, wouldn't you say?" the Phoenix Emperor replied with a matter-of-fact expression. Xuan Yang was fuming but didn't dare speak up, so he signaled for Shen Yan to make the contact. He was afraid that if he did it himself, he might get distracted and the Phoenix Emperor might do something to Shen Yan, so he was exceptionally uneasy.
Seeing that the Phoenix Emperor didn't intend to stop him, Shen Yan walked a bit further away before taking out the communication stone. Although he knew the Emperor could hear him perfectly even from a hundred meters away, he did so instinctively.
"To only have your first taste of meat at this age... you really are useless," the Phoenix Emperor criticized Xuan Yang with displeasure.
He really *was* eavesdropping! Xuan Yang's face flushed bright red in an instant. He muttered indignantly, "None of your damn... none of your business!"
"When I was your age, I had more lovers than I could count on both hands."
"You didn't raise me, so don't come around now acting like a father and telling me what to do," Xuan Yang couldn't help but snap. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt he had been too impulsive and immediately fell silent.
"..."
The Phoenix Emperor looked at Xuan Yang. He didn't fly into a rage as Xuan Yang had expected, but his expression was quite sour.
