Chapter 75

Taiyi began to find playing chess interesting, and Fuxi also felt that this kind of opposition was much better; this game even attracted Di Jun and Qi over.

Their Daos intertwined on the chessboard, Taiyi continually broke through Fuxi's encirclement, and each falling stone tugged at both of their minds.

One side excelled in skill, adept at deducing heavenly secrets, constantly pursuing and blocking.

The other side possessed profound Dao, overcoming skill with force, breaking out of the encirclement with unstoppable momentum.

Gold and white light flickered on the chessboard, like a great sun continually breaking free of bonds, only to fall into the next trap.

Seeing this, Di Jun felt delighted, pulled Qi aside, and started another game.

While everyone was playing chess in Yunmze Marsh, on the Nan Fang continent the five clan chiefs of the Phoenix tribe had already gathered together.

Yuan Huang took the chief seat, silently watching the other five clan chiefs who had arrived.

Seeing the solemn atmosphere, everyone speculated about this council, yet no one dared to speak first.

Yingchu, the most lively among the clan chiefs, could not bear such a stifling atmosphere and spoke first:

"I don't know why Lord Yuan Huang has summoned us; do you know, Clan Chief Yuan Feng?"

Yuan Huang lowered his brows slightly, his phoenix eyes sweeping over the assembly; his sharp gaze made everyone bow their heads, none daring to meet his stare.

"I have summoned you all because there are important matters to discuss; I also wish to see whether the Phoenix tribe remains as perfect and responsible as it once was."

Zhenque answered with a smile:

"My lord, the Phoenix tribe is naturally as it always has been—noble, perfect, unyielding."

"Oh? Then how do the various clans maintain their nobility, perfection, and unyielding nature?"

"And in these elemental assemblies, how much fire vapor has been released from the Immortal Volcano, and how many fire crystals have been gathered?"

"Do you still remember the duty of the Phoenix tribe? And do you still bear the responsibility as the overlord of the heavens?"

As soon as Yuan Huang spoke these words, everyone's smiles vanished at once, the atmosphere fell dead silent, and no one spoke further.

They had anticipated this scene; in this elemental assembly they had imagined countless ways to respond, yet in the end they could not utter a word, merely clenching their silence.

Seeing their silence, Yuan Huang spoke again:

"Phoenix has only just returned to the parasol tree and fallen into slumber; ought you not to explain this to me?"

"Although I and Phoenix take no pleasure in managing the tribe's mundane affairs, we entrusted the tribe's authority to you out of trust—is this how you repay our trust?"

The atmosphere grew even more deathly silent; the several clan chiefs said nothing, merely burying their heads deep, daring not to move a muscle.

Seeing this, Yuan Huang's inner fury could not be expressed; his eyes showed unmasked anger as he continually swept his gaze over them.

Yuan Huang's angry gaze almost made them feel that at any moment he would cast them into the Immortal Volcano to suppress the fire vapors.

Seeing that none would speak, Yuan Huang could only call them out by name:

"Chifeng, you shall begin: since I and Yuan Feng went to develop the cave-heavens, how many fire crystals has the Phoenix tribe mined, how much fire vapor released, how many volcanic eruptions have been suppressed in your region, and how many new volcanoes have been added?"

Chifeng rose with difficulty from his seat, walked to the center of the hall, and spoke with a trembling voice devoid of any confidence:

"Since the lord's departure, the Phoenix tribe has released a total of over 110,000 wisps of fire vapor, the same as before."

"We have added over 7,300 new volcanoes, an increase over the past; the number of suppressed volcanoes runs into the millions, with no exact figure."

Chifeng hesitated a moment, then added:

"We have mined over thirty million fire crystal shards, a slight increase over before."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Feng laughed in anger and shouted at Chifeng:

"Over a hundred elemental assemblies have added more than seven thousand volcanoes, and you call that merely an increase? With the shifting of heavenly and earthly vapors, fire vapor only accumulates, yet you have changed nothing?"

"When did the Immortal Volcano become so quiet? In the span of a hundred elemental assemblies, the erupting volcanoes number only in the millions, while those suppressed are either nine million or one million—no exact count."

"A mere slight increase in fire crystals? What a slight increase! Your clan's output alone is more than three times that of the entire Phoenix tribe before—what are you planning?"

Faced with Yuan Huang's words, Chifeng could hardly keep his footing, his whole body trembling and dazed at the side.

"Zhenque, you speak!"

Yuan Huang, suppressing his anger, continued to ask.

Zhenque wore a purple long robe; her originally beautiful face, though lovely, now showed timidity, and she dared not speak.

"Yingchu, you speak!"

The normally lively and active Yingchu likewise lowered his head, remaining silent.

"Qingluan, Honghu, are you the same?"

Yuan Huang's voice was sorrowful.

Qingluan and Honghu did not speak, but their lowered heads likewise expressed their deeds.

"Are you seeking to doom my Phoenix tribe?"

Yuan Huang lamented with tears of blood, feeling helpless and desperate.

The Immortal Volcano, the foundation of the Phoenix, the responsibility bestowed upon her and Yuan Feng by heaven and earth, has actually been neglected and forgotten by her own clansmen.

Now Yuan Feng slumbers, the troubles of the Phoenix tribe exceed her imagination, and powerful enemies press in from without.

Before this, she was still scheming with Yuan Feng against the dragon clan, intending to ambush the ancestral dragon; now she finds the peril she faces surpasses even that of the ancestral dragon.

Fire crystals are born together with fire vapor; they can store and absorb it, and they are also the finest material for forging weapons—the denser the fire vapor, the more numerous and superior the fire crystals.

In the Immortal Volcano, fire vapor is thick and the accompanying fire crystals are abundant; they are a crucial means for the Phoenix tribe to suppress and release fire vapor, preventing the volcano's eruption.

Yet now, the clansmen, in pursuit of fire crystals, allow the fire vapor to accumulate, heedless of the danger of the Immortal Volcano, forgetting their duty to heaven, earth, and all beings.

How could Yuan Huang not be angry, how could he not be grieved?

This made Yuan Huang feel for the first time that the children he had raised under his care were beginning to seem strangers, as if he had never understood them.

Yuan Feng, just fallen into slumber, was not at peace; he seemed to sense Yuan Huang's helplessness and slowly opened his eyes.

Forcing himself to rally his spirit, after drinking a few sips of divine dew, he made his way to the council hall.

At this moment Yuan Feng's face was pallid, his eyes suffused with bloodshot veins, his fatigue hard to conceal, yet he came to Yuan Huang's side and lightly tapped the back of her hand, indicating that he would take over the remaining affairs.

"Feng, you…"

Yuan Huang's words had not finished when they stopped in Yuan Feng's gentle gaze; only worry showed on their face.

Yuan Feng did not rebuke the thoughts and desires of those few; he merely looked at them with some disappointment in his eyes.

This disappointment made the few people uneasy, wanting to say something but not knowing how to speak; they could only anxiously wait, waiting for Yuan Feng's stance.

Whatever the attitude, for them at this moment, it was more bearable than Yuan Feng's disappointed, wordless gaze.

(End of chapter)