It was deep in winter, during the last month of the year. Snowflakes fluttered around and the ground was encrusted with a thick layer of snow.
Fire Phoenix City, Highwarrior family.
Although Fire Phoenix City had fifteen families comprised of Connate Godfiend descendants, only the Firephoenix family’s main lineage was here. Other than the Connate Godfiend Firephoenix, among the eight Elders that included Qin Yun, only four of the Godfiend Temple Elders were from the Firephoenix family! As for the other family clans, they were branched lineages. For example, there were only a few dozen Highwarrior family members in Fire Phoenix City.
“Qinyun, it’s rare for you to come back from the Godfiend Temple. Why don’t you share a meal with your clansmen?” said the beautiful woman, Qiyu. She looked at her son who had reached the Godfiend realm proudly! Due to her son, the Highwarrior family received greater respect in Fire Phoenix City. Her standing in the Magus God Temple also rose. At the current time, the magus lineage was still weaker. Humanity still depended on the Godfiends to protect them, with the magus lineage serving as a backup.
“If I’m there, both the clansmen and I would end up eating uneasily,” said Qin Yun with a smile. “Mother, go on in and have your meal. I’ll keep walking around for now.”
“You are an Elder after all. The clansmen would definitely not dare to be too casual with you. Alright, go on your merry way.” Qiyu nodded.
Qin Yun strolled across the laden snow and came to a wooden pavilion. He sat inside and looked at the lake. It had a pristine, thin layer of ice on its surface. Shortly after, he took a calabash out from his Cosmic Bag and began drinking.
“Great wine.” Qin Yun enjoyed the alcohol and smiled. “The wine here is much better than in my homeworld.”
The Heaven and Earth spiritual energies were rich.
It made the wine brewed here excellent too.
“Everything has happened so fast. In a blink of an eye, I have already spent ten years in this world. Unfortunately, I have yet to step into the Dao!”
“In the past ten years, I managed to grasp five Paramount realms. I believed that… I could fuse the five Paramount realms together, but I’m just short of creating a Sword Dao that belongs to me.” Qin Yun felt anxious and helpless too. It was the feeling of understanding something very clearly but being unable to articulate it well. Qin Yun’s comprehension was clearly solid but there was something lacking when he attempted to put it to use.
“That can only mean that my comprehension isn’t deep enough and that I do not understand it thoroughly.”
“But it shouldn’t take much longer. I believe I will step into the Dao soon.”
“I still have forty years to spend in this world. There is more than enough time.” Qin Yun anticipated the day he stepped into the Dao. That was the most important matter in this dream of a hundred years.
As for the cultivation of the Godfiend lineage?
He believed he could spend ten years to complete the fifth runic pattern so as to step into the second Firmament of the Godfiend realm considering the cumulative effects of his five Paramount realms, the Fire Phoenix Nest, and the Stone of the Earth! However, Qin Yun did not wish to do so just yet. He didn’t come to this world to study runic patterns. Putting effort into that was a waste of time! He came to this world to step into the Dao!
Cultivating his sword skills was most crucial to him.
“This world is a dream after all. My sword skills are core.” Qin Yun looked at the feather-like snow as he extended his hand to catch a snowflake. His eyes suffused a look of puzzlement. “However, this world feels too real. During my ten years here, my parents, my clansmen, and all the Elders, they felt so real. Could this be a real world?”
Qin Yun could not help but think of that. With that, he shook his head and chuckled. “I shouldn’t let my thoughts run wild.”
“Yun.” A clear voice sounded from afar.
“Elder Yun.” Another voice was heard.
He saw a red-dressed girl with a heroic bearing and a beautiful blue-dressed girl approaching him. They had completely different demeanors. One was passionate like fire while the other was tender and soft like water.
“It’s the two of them.” Qin Yun felt his head ache.
“Yun.” The red-dressed girl was overjoyed as she ran over and clung to Qin Yun’s arm. She immediately said, “When I heard that you came out of seclusion from Fire Phoenix Nest and went to the Highwarrior family, I immediately rushed here.”
“Yuqing, take a seat. Sit down first.” Qin Yun immediately shrugged her arms off him.
When the red-dressed girl saw this, she felt a little helpless and melancholic. “Yun, you always treat me with such disdain.”
The blue-dressed girl beside watched with a smile.
“Not at all,” said Qin Yun immediately.
The two girls…
The red-dressed girl was a childhood playmate who had the name Clarity during his Coming of Age ceremony. Clarity was her nickname, but now she was called Yuqing, Firephoenix Yuqing. Her talent was not bad and she had reached the third Firmament of the Mortal realm two years ago. Since they grew up together, and given Qin Yun’s excellent credentials, Firephoenix Yuqing naturally courted him like crazy.
The girls of Connate Godfiend descendants showed initiative when it came to relationships.
Due to their powerful bloodline and difficulty in having children, male Connate Godfiend descendants would usually have a harem! Similarly, female Connate Godfiend descendants could have a male harem!
Therefore, female Connate Godfiend descendants would show passionate initiative.
Firephoenix Yuqing had confessed thrice! Whenever Qin Yun wasn’t locked away in seclusion or in solemn grounds like the Godfiend Temple, where she could not trespass, she would usually take the opportunity to look for Qin Yun.
“Yun, we are only twenty-four. We are still young. You will definitely fall for my charms. I, Firephoenix Yuqing, will definitely make you my man.” Firephoenix Yuqing’s eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
Qin Yun was rendered helpless.
“Yun, although we are descendants of Connate Godfiends, and you are even in the Godfiend realm, it will be difficult to have children in the future. But you can marry other ordinary human girls. I wouldn’t mind,” said Firephoenix Yuqing immediately.
“Alright, enough. Cut it out.” Qin Yun was exasperated.
“Sister Yuqing, don’t force Elder Yun,” said the blue-dressed woman by the side with a smile.
Qin Yun glanced at the blue-dressed girl.
The blue-dressed girl was a Magus Maiden of Magus God Temple. Her name was Cailan. His mother had brought her into the Highwarrior family and she was purported to be his chosen wife. His mother claimed that the Dharmic formulations which Cailan cultivated in made it easier for her to bear children with Highwarrior sons. Back then, his mother also said, “I don’t care if you find other women but you have to take Cailan in. You are at the Godfiend realm. It’s very difficult for ordinary girls to bear your children.”
From then on, Cailan frequently looked for him. Although she was not as passionate as Firephoenix Yuqing, she was as steady and gentle as water and had been patiently waiting for him all this while.
“Sigh.”
Qin Yun sighed inwardly once again.
This was only because he frequently cultivated in seclusion. He was focused on cultivating and had rejected arranged marriages. As a result, there were only these two who refused to give up. With him being the youngest Godfiend Temple Elder in Fire Phoenix City, he could probably have a huge harem if he was willing. He could not shirk off the duo because one of them had his parents on her side and the other was too passionate. Furthermore, Firephoenix Yuqing had no ill intentions and they had developed a relationship since childhood, so Qin Yun could not be too heartless.
“They are still very young. Both of them are in their twenties and they should be fine when they grow older,” thought Qin Yun. “Anyway, they both have extremely long lifespans. This fruitless pursuit of me won’t set them back too much.”
…
At that moment, in the desolate plains thousands of kilometers away from Fire Phoenix City.
Twenty fiendcelestials stood above a black cloud. All of them had immense and unfathomable auras that emanated fiendish gases.
“We are finally beginning the war,” said a brawny red-scaled fiendcelestial. “Among the human’s nine great cities, seven of them will be saved for later. Fire Phoenix City and Black Water City are the true targets this time. And what’s required of us is to deal with Fire Phoenix City.”
“We have to destroy Fire Phoenix City this time.”
“If we can destroy one of the nine great cities of humanity, it will shake their foundations.”
Fiendcelestials remarked one after another.
The brawny red-scaled fiendcelestial said, “That Connate Godfiend Firephoenix is the most powerful and the hardest to deal with. The three of us are responsible for ensnaring her in the name of the Empyrean Lord! The rest of you are responsible for killing the other Godfiends. Once the Godfiend realm Elders are destroyed, the remaining mortals… Hmph, without the Godfiend realm Elders protecting them, Fire Phoenix City will fall. The large number of fiendish demons under us will flatten it.”
“How many fiendish demons have we amassed?”
“Don’t worry. For this attack on Fire Phoenix City and Black Water City, I have amassed a fiendish demon force that numbers a hundred of times that of the Fire Phoenix City’s mortals. As long as more than half the Godfiend realm Elders perish, and Connate Godfiend Firephoenix is held back, they would not be able to hold their ground. The army of fiendish demons that is a hundred times more than them will easily flatten the humans in the city.”
“With our numbers, we hold the absolute advantage against the mortals.”
“The most critical thing is the Godfiend realm Elders.”
“As long as we succeed, the Empyrean Lord will definitely reward us handsomely. If anyone were to cower away in fear and spoil our plans, hmph! All of you know what will await you,” said the red-scaled fiendcelestial fiercely.
Many fiendcelestials exchanged looks and felt their hearts tighten.