A faint aroma emanated within a chamber.

Bai Ze had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed when he suddenly opened his eyes. A incorporeal figure appeared in front of him and it was none other than Nine Phoenix.

“Bai Ze, you appeared personally; yet, Qin Yun still imprisoned Phoenix Voice for a hundred thousand years! She is your disciple.” Nine Phoenix could not help but comment. “Why are you on his side when he has imprisoned your disciple for so long?”

“What can I do if he insists on imprisoning her?” Bai Ze looked at her.

“You are a Demon Emperor!” Nine Phoenix said anxiously. “Doesn’t your reputation as a Demon Emperor count for something?”

“As I said, what can I do if he insists on imprisoning her? Fight him?” asked Bai Ze. “By bestowing the Qingping Sword to Qin Yun, Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor is making his attitude clear. He thinks very highly of his disciple. If I were to attack Qin Yun in the Heavenly realm, have you thought of the consequences if the Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor takes action?”

Nine Phoenix was taken aback. “The Dao Ancestor will not interfere in such trivial matters, right?”

“If I do not fight him, the Dao Ancestor will naturally not do a thing. But it’s hard to tell what will happen if I attack. Besides, Phoenix Voice was wrong!” Bai Ze’s eyes were ice-cold. “She was too foolish! Who does she think she is? In terms of backing, Qin Yun is a human, a member of the biggest race in the Three Realms. The humans’ Three Sovereigns will definitely think highly of a human that has risen to prominence. He has a sect backing him, led by Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor who is well known for siding his disciples. No matter how you compare, we will always lose.”

Nine Phoenix fell silent.

That was true…

The humans were mighty and so was Green Touring Palace.

Bai Ze said calmly, “Do things only when you are confident. If you lack the confidence, hold back. If you lose patience and step on his tail, who is to blame? As for her imprisonment of a hundred thousand years… it will carry the benefit of letting her come to her senses. She needs to learn that she cannot offend anyone she wishes to in the Three Realms.”

“Nine Phoenix, you cannot blame anyone for being inferior. If you want to redress your unhappiness, cultivate well and break through to the perfected Great Dao. When that happens, Qin Yun will have to obediently bow before you when he sees you.” Bai Ze looked at Nine Phoenix. “The demons have me as the only perfected Great Dao existence. That’s just too few.”

“The tenth prince is also a demon,” said Nine Phoenix.

“Lu Ya?” Bai Ze grunted. “Yes, he can be considered a member of the demons, but his mind is set on revenge. He wants to kill Hou Yi, and similarly, Hou Yi wants him dead. Would Lu Ya dare appear to fight on our behalf? He does not even dare appear in person and can only sneakily hide away. Although Lu Ya’s existence can serve as a form of shock and awe, it also makes Hou Yi view us demons as an enemy.

“Us demons are now the weaker race. Compared to the humans, we are way too weak.” Bai Ze looked at Nine Phoenix. “Nine Phoenix, it will not take long for the Dao Ancestors, Buddhist Ancestor, and Fiend Ancestor to leave the Three Realms. The ancient lurking existences will likely appear when that happens. The Three Realms will be in true turmoil when that happens. I wish for us demons to have an additional perfected Great Dao existence to share my burden.”

Nine Phoenix nodded slightly.

Perfected Great Dao?

She also yearned for it, but breaking through was just too difficult.

Across history, people like Qin Yun and Daoist Myriad Treasure, whose initial attainment of the Dao was already directed straight at a perfected Great Dao, were able to cultivate very smoothly. For instance, Qin Yun’s Sword Dao contained Heaven, Earth, and Man. By figuring out the three Dao separately, he would naturally attain a perfected Great Dao. As for Nine Phoenix, she had gone down the path of the Fire Great Dao. That was much more difficult.

There were ordinary mighty figures who studied the Fire Great Dao, such as the Heavenly Courts’ Fire Department, Luo Xuan.

There were also pinnacle mighty figures like Nine Phoenix.

There were also perfected Great Dao existences, such as Zhurong or Human Sovereign Suirenshi!

“Whoosh.” Nine Phoenix left.

Bai Ze continued sitting cross-legged as he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Most demons only know to fight and to clash head-on. They once ruled over the Three Realms, but are in such dire states now. Who is to be blamed? For this trivial matter with Qin Yun, it’s best to go with his wishes and befriend him. Nothing is lost if he dies from failing to transcend the tribulations, but if a miracle really happens and there is an end to the Itinerant Immortal tribulations which he successfully transcends, he would have eternal life. His strength would probably be above Old Mother of Blackfoal Mountain’s and he will become the new Eldest Senior Brother of Green Touring Palace! After Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor leaves the Three Realms, Qin Yun could very well be in control of Green Touring Palace and become its new leader.

“There are many benefits to befriending him now.

“Why can’t they tell that something, if done right, has nothing but benefits?” Bai Ze closed his eyes.

******

“Master.”

The bound Phoenix Voice’s eyes had been filled with anticipation when she saw Demon Emperor Bai Ze appear, but he did not rescue her.

She was bought to Mt. Lightning Roar’s Qin Manor and locked up in its dungeons.

“Go in.” Her Dharmic powers sealed, Phoenix Voice was thrown into a dungeon cell.

She looked at her surroundings.

It was a dungeon that spanned about a hundred feet. Her surroundings were filled with bare rocks.

“How am I to pass the next hundred thousand years?” Phoenix Voice stood in the dungeon and touched her face. It had just been slapped. She felt lonely. In her pain and despair, she also felt regret. She also blamed her master for not rescuing her. All sorts of emotions churned in her mind.

“Grandfather, we’ve already slapped her. Are we really imprisoning her for a hundred thousand years?” Qin Yuluo walked alongside Qin Yun outside the dungeon. She had indeed hesitated when she delivered the slaps.

She was already imprisoned; yet, they had slapped her?

“That’s what you call paying one back in her own coin,” said Qin Yun indifferently. “Yuluo, sometimes you cannot be so kind and benevolent! If you are kind, the world will think of you as weak and easily bullied. Understand?”

“Understood,” answered Qin Yuluo obediently.

“Furthermore, you cultivate in the Sword Dao. Your heart should be like a sword. A sword has to be drawn when necessary.” Qin Yun looked at his granddaughter.

“Okay.” Qin Yuluo nodded.

“Take a break for now.” Qin Yun did not say anything more as he was not in a good mood.

Although he had crushed Sagedemon Nine Phoenix under the watch of many experts in the Three Realms, and imprisoned Demon Emperor Bai Ze’s disciple, Phoenix Voice, for a hundred thousand years despite his appearance, he was still in a bad mood. This matter had indeed stepped on his tail.

He had always worried that he earned many enemies from his storming of the Three Realms.

If he were to die from his Itinerant Immortal tribulations in the future, what would happen to his family? Although he could do his best to make some preparations for them, they were ultimately just preparations.

“Brother Yun, why are you drinking alone?” Yi Xiao walked over. “Are you really that mad over this matter?”

Qin Yun put down his wine cup, his eyes slightly red. He looked at Yi Xiao and asked, “You know about it?”

“You threw that Phoenix Voice into the dungeons, so I naturally asked Yuluo and learned of the reason,” said Yi Xiao. “It’s just a trivial matter. Don’t be so sensitive about it.”

“I’m not.” Qin Yun smiled but did not say further.

Words were meaningless. Why add to his frustration?

“By the way,” Qin Yun asked with a laugh. “the cause of this jealous incident between Phoenix Voice and Yuluo was a particular Brother Meng. Do you know who Brother Meng is?”

With Qin Yun’s ability to infer the past and future, especially after he figured out the Seven Stars Great Dao, it was easy for him to infer what had happened to his granddaughter in the past. He could easily investigate their past relationship.

But…

She was ultimately his granddaughter. If he were to infer Yuluo’s past, she would not have any secrets that she could keep from him. The closer someone was to him, the less Qin Yun wanted to intrude unless necessary.

“Seriously, why didn’t you ask about such a serious matter?” said Yi Xiao. “It’s only when I learned of the matter that I pressed for the reason for her conflict with Phoenix Voice. Although Yuluo stuttered in embarrassment, she did tell me. That Brother Meng is Meng Fu, a disciple of Fuxishi, one of our humans’ Three Sovereigns. He is also a mighty figure in Fire Cloud Palace.”

“It’s him?” Qin Yun nodded in enlightenment.

With a thought, he saw through karma.

He sensed Meng Fu’s location and pinpointed it to be Fire Cloud Palace.

…

In a blink of an eye, decades had passed since Qin Yun’s battle with Nine Phoenix.

Heavenly realm. Fire Cloud Palace.

Fire Cloud Palace was the cultivation ground of the humans’ Three Sovereigns. All three of them had unfathomable strength.

Fuxishi was originally the Chaos Godfiend, Fuxi. His relationship with Goddess Nüwa was like they were brother and sister. Later, he reincarnated as a human and became Human Sovereign Fuxishi. He was deemed to be the best at array formations among perfected Great Dao existences. Suirenshi’s Inextinguishable Torch Flame was famous in the Three Realms as well. Those skilled in fire were extremely powerful in direct combat. Suirenshi was the strongest among the humans’ Three Sovereigns. As for Shennongshi, he had mysterious and unfathomable means at his disposal. If he schemed against his enemy, it might not be as sinister and ruthless as Daoist Lu Ya, but it was on the same level. The only difference was that Shennongshi was more benevolent. He often left a sliver of chance to his victim.

With these three presiding over humanity, the light which shone on humans from providence was rich. In addition, humans were created by Goddess Nüwa, so she was naturally a huge backer of humans. The Daoists and Buddhists were preaching everywhere, allowing humans to flourish even more. New mighty figures were born over time, and Qin Yun was one of them.

“Everything is prepared. It’s time to take the Torch Flame Kindling.” In a building in Fire Cloud Palace, Meng Fu was reading a book when he placed it down. There was a look of anticipation in his eyes.