Chapter 978: Dragon Cub

Inside the Nirvana Fire Realm, the male phoenix was undergoing tribulation, and A Cheng had already calculated it.

He had once told Shan Shan that for the male phoenix to safely leave the Nirvana Fire Realm, two things must be done: one, using the ancient prescription A Cheng found to make the medicine, but the medicine's guide must be the placenta of a pure-blooded phoenix; the other is to undergo Nirvana again.

The male phoenix went into seclusion, and everyone originally thought these matters were not urgent.

No one expected that Shan Shan's childbirth would bring such a huge upheaval to the Feng Clan; the Nirvana Fire Realm was in turmoil, and the male phoenix, being inside it, suffered the greatest impact.

The current situation clearly had reached the critical point for undergoing Nirvana again.

The male phoenix had no choice.

Regardless of whether he had a pure-blooded phoenix placenta, he had to face this Nirvana, but the success rate…

The male phoenix knew well that his first Nirvana was not a true success, having nearly cost him half his life, and this time it was a sudden situation, leaving him with no confidence at all.

A Cheng wanted to divine another hexagram for the male phoenix, but as soon as he started, the tortoise shell cracked; A Cheng refused to give up, tried two more times, yet still failed.

This is heaven's will.

Heaven's will cannot be probed, nor can it be changed by human effort; A Cheng could only give up.

The situation on Shan Shan's side was also not optimistic.

Bái Sōnglán and Li Qingying personally delivered Shan Shan's baby, and even Tang Xun, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, hurried back to stand guard by Shan Shan's bedside.

The moment Xiao Jiu saw Tang Xun, his eye sockets instantly welled up.

Tang Xun had become very thin, her complexion poor, her whole person like a leaf in the wind, swaying and about to fall.

Xiao Jiu supported Tang Xun, really wanting to question her thoroughly—after all this time, what exactly had happened between her and the Seven Halls Yama?

But the timing was wrong now; even if Xiao Jiu asked, Tang Xun would certainly not be willing to speak.

All we could do was first guard Shan Shan and talk later.

Shan Shan was in great pain.

Seeing red at dusk, she endured the pain all night until four a. m. the next day, when Shan Shan, nearly exhausted, finally gave birth to a plump baby.

This child was indeed quite big, eight jin six liang, a little boy; as soon as he hit the ground he grabbed his throat and wailed nonstop, his voice very loud.

When Li Qingying lifted him out, she let out a low cry.

Bái Sōnglán instinctively asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's definitely a dragon cub." Li Qingying said, "Not only does he have dragon horns, look at his back…"

The dragon cub had two small spiral horns on its head; this kind of little guy born with horns was certainly extraordinary, though rare, everyone had been mentally prepared and was no longer surprised.

What surprised them was that the dragon cub's upper back was actually covered with a layer of glittering golden dragon scales, each scale as big as a one-yuan coin; Li Qingying counted them and found there were nineteen!

Such a tiny infant having such large dragon scales on its back, and in such numbers, left everyone present in awe.

The men were all guarding outside; hearing the baby cry, they were extremely anxious.

Liu Junyan and Xiaoye were even arguing outside.

"Soon after the child comes out, I'll hold him first—I'm his grandfather!"

"My daughter gave birth to him, so surely I, as his maternal grandfather, should hold him first!"

"Me first!"

"Me first!"

Seeing the two arguing until their faces turned red, Ao Jing supported his forehead and said, "Why don't… I hold him first?"

Just as he was speaking, the door opened; Xiao Jiu came out holding the still-wailing dragon cub and personally handed it to Ao Jing.

That little guy, in Ao Jing's arms, immediately did a carp's flip, crying until his voice was hoarse, impossible to hold.

Liu Junyan, quick-eyed and quick-handed, took the dragon cub from Ao Jing's arms.

Also strange, the dragon cub stopped crying as soon as it reached Liu Junyan's embrace; tears still hung on its face, yet it reached out to tug at the jade pendant on Liu Junyan's neck.

That jade pendant was a birthday gift from Xiao Jiu to him, worn only a short while ago.

Liu Junyan felt reluctant, reaching to tuck the jade pendant back into his collar, but the dragon cub then burst into loud wailing again.

Before Liu Junyan could feel smug, Xiaoye had already taken the dragon cub.

The dragon cub reached out and grabbed Xiaoye's hand.

Xiaoye wore a large gold ring on his hand, and the dragon cub clung to the gold ring, refusing to let go.

Xiaoye immediately took off the gold ring and placed it into the dragon cub's chubby little hand, meanwhile saying, "Dear baby, do you like Grandpa's gold ring? Grandpa gives it to you; Grandpa is not like certain someone who says he loves you but is unwilling to give even a piece of jade pendant to our dear baby…"

Liu Junyan was so angry his back teeth were about to break.

By now everyone somewhat understood: the dragon cub had a big temper, but he loved shiny things; whoever had something shiny to play with, he would like that person.

Liu Junyan had ultimately miscalculated, and was utterly ridiculed by Xiaoye.

Xiao Jiu took the dragon cub out because inside there was no one with the energy to care for this child, and Shan Shan's belly still held two more.

She reminded, "Take a look at the child's back…"

Having said that, she turned and went back into the room, closing the door.

It was the end of another year; the weather should have been cold, but because of the Nirvana Fire Realm issue, the Feng Clan's overall temperature was high, yet the wind was strong.

The dragon cub was wrapped in a small blanket; Xiaoye lifted the blanket to glance at the dragon cub's back and was instantly overjoyed.

Liu Junyan leaned forward to look, but his eye sockets instantly reddened.

The dragon cub possibly inherited some atavistic trait; that row of golden dragon scales on its back clearly came from the genes of Liu Junyan's maternal grandmother.

The dragon cub should address her as his great-great-grandmother.

Golden dragons are rarely seen among the Linghai Dragon Clan; at this moment, Xiaoye finally felt a sense of having a successor.

Never mind, never mind—those two useless sons of his, one a love‑brain, the other a world‑troubling devil; having wasted their training is fine, he will now properly nurture his dear grandson, who will surely be more useful than those two!

Zhong Susu reminded, "There's wind outside; first send the child to the nursery."

Xiaoye hesitated a moment.

Actually, he very much wanted to directly bring his dear grandson back to the Linghai Dragon Palace, where they had already prepared everything.

But he also knew that doing so was improper.

Shan Shan is the child's mother; where the child is raised, how it's raised, all must be decided by her.

So Xiaoye ultimately still held the dragon hatchling and went to the nursery; Zhong Susu followed, after all they needed to bathe, change clothes, feed the dragon hatchling, etc.

Liu Junyan and Ao Jing didn't leave, both stared anxiously at the meditation room, waiting anxiously.

Shan Shan fell asleep.

She was too tired.

For a birthing woman to fall asleep midway is not good, but Shan Shan's situation is different, and Bai Shulan is overseeing.

Bai Shulan said: "The two little ones in her belly haven't started yet; I gave Shan Shan an acupuncture needle to let her rest a while to gather strength."

Shan Shan's sleep lasted two hours.

During these two hours, she kept dreaming.

In the dream she saw several dozen colorful phoenixes fighting in midair; the battle was extremely brutal, phoenix feathers flying everywhere, stained with blood; Shan Shan felt heartbroken, opened her mouth wanting to shout to stop them.

Don't fight! Don't fight!

But she couldn't make a single sound...