Love & Redemption
Chapter 231: Volume 5 Phoenix Flower Blooms - 38 Regaining Momentum (1)

Chapter 231: Volume 5 Phoenix Flower Blooms Chapter 38 Regaining Momentum (1)

Today’s featured recommendation includes three updates. This is the second update. The third update will be at 9 PM.

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Yu Sifeng’s soul nearly fled in fright as he trembled, "Brother? Brother!" He placed his hand in front of his nose and thankfully, the breathing was still there, very steady; it turned out he had only fallen asleep. He sighed in relief, feeling as if his entire body might give way, his hands and feet turning weak.

Wuzhiqi handed over the remaining larger shards from his pocket, saying, "Although these pieces are broken, it seems their effect is still present. They’re useless to me, you take them. If you want to go to Kunlun Mountain, your current power is far from enough."

Without any objection, Yu Sifeng ripped off a sleeve, wrapped the larger shards inside, dividing them into two portions, and placed them in his bosom. In that moment, he felt his whole body filled with inexhaustible strength, a sensation indescribable in words. Turning his head and seeing the disciples of Lize Palace silently watching him, he gave a slight smile and said, "This thing belongs to the entire Lize Palace. I’ll borrow it for a while, and after I return, I’ll divide it among you."

Contrary to his expectations, the disciples shook their heads and said, "No! Yu... You’re too polite. This is a Divine Artifact, we don’t have such a celestial fate, and we wouldn’t dare to accept it. You should keep it!" It turned out that seeing the Vice Palace Master go mad over this thing, and then being captured by the Divine Generals from Heaven, had chilled their enthusiasm. If it weren’t for their concern for the Great Palace Master, they would have probably dispersed long ago.

Yu Sifeng sighed and rose to his feet, "I’m departing. I entrust you to take care of Xuanji and Brother Liu."

Suddenly, Wuzhiqi said, "Wait, you need to find someone to accompany you."

He walked over, hooked Yu Sifeng’s shoulder, and whispered, "That Azure Dragon is elusive as a specter, you never know when she might attack, and don’t forget you’re also being watched by Heaven; it’s too dangerous to go out alone. Either we go together, leaving the War God behind, or you go with the War God, at least you can put up a fight against Heaven."

Yu Sifeng turned to look. Xuanji was still unconscious on the ground, not moving at all, so he shook his head, "She... there’s no telling when she’ll wake up."

Wuzhiqi chuckled, "What’s the rush, watch this." He took out a small bottle from his bosom, smiled maliciously as he uncorked it and waved it in front of Xuanji’s nose, then quickly covered his own nose and jumped back a good distance.

Xuanji’s brow suddenly furrowed, followed by dozens of sneezes. With tears and mucus streaming, she woke up, rubbing her nose in confusion. She stood up, looking around in bewilderment, finally fixing her gaze on Yu Sifeng’s face. "What happened?" she asked nasally, unable to stop more sneezes, and had to press a handkerchief firmly over her nose and mouth.

Zi Hu saw her awaken and hurriedly helped her, chattering away about everything that had happened after she had fainted. Xuanji frowned, pressing her nose and said, "Wuzhiqi, what did you make me smell? It’s so foul! I can’t smell anything else now!"

Wuzhiqi laughed heartily, "This stuff is called Azure Dragon Scale, none other than the old scales shed by that ugly Azure Dragon during her moulting. Stinks, doesn’t it? She’s ugly enough to begin with, and to top it off, she smells bad; calling her an ugly girl is letting her off easy!"

Xuanji glared at him, then bent down to check on Liu Yihuan, whose wound on the forehead had stopped bleeding and his complexion was slowly returning to normal, suggesting he wasn’t in any grave danger. After blowing her nose and sneezing again, she finally said, "Let’s go, Si Feng, I’ll accompany you to Lize Palace." She approached him and as she got close, that familiar sensation returned. She paused, slightly dazed, and whispered, "So strange, why do I feel like the Jun Tian Sea Strategy is so familiar?"

Yu Sifeng handed her a packet of shards, and Xuanji toyed with the white fragments, completely puzzled. Remembering the words she had heard just before fainting, she felt even more perplexed. Wuzhiqi grinned, "Do you want to take another look at the Sea Control Hook?" Xuanji softly replied, "May I? Just let me have a look and I’ll return it to you."

Without a second word, Wuzhiqi pulled out the Sea Control Hook from beneath his left ribs and handed it over to her. It was a weapon taller than a man, emitting a pleasant silver shine from top to bottom. The hook looked like it was pieced together from chunks of bone, giving off the eerie impression of a human spine however you looked at it. She ran her hand over it gently, chilled to the heart, at a loss for words.

Wuzhiqi remarked, "You think it looks like a bone too, don’t you?"

She nodded, then shook her head, "Divine Artifacts are probably all... this strange." She handed the Sea Control Hook back, composed herself, and said, "Alright, let’s go!"

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This was Xuanji’s third visit to Lize Palace, and the previous two visits had been in search of Yu Sifeng. Unexpectedly, on her third visit, it was to save people. Lize Palace was the same as before, a massive palace complex spanning miles, with simple and solid architecture. However, unlike before, even after running around the palace for a long time, they encountered not a single person. The highly guarded Lize Palace had now become a deserted place.

The disciples searched everywhere in Xidou and Jingui, turning the palace upside down, yet they found not a single housekeeper or Elder. Instead, they startled the younger disciples who remained in the palace, who came out one after another to ask questions. Yu Sifeng asked, "Why isn’t anyone guarding the gates? Where are the Elders? Where’s the Great Palace Master?"

The disciples replied in surprise, "The Vice Palace Master said there had been some incident recently and ordered us all to stay inside our rooms and not come out. Aren’t the Elders in their rooms? Isn’t the Great Palace Master in seclusion, cultivating? How come you... How are you...?"

Yu Sifeng was burning with anxiety and had no time to explain. He waved his hand and ran towards the dungeon. The remaining disciples stayed behind to explain to those in the palace what had happened, naturally leaving everyone in shock and outrage.

The dungeon of Lize Palace was built beneath the Danyat Platform. As soon as they entered, they were assailed by a rancid smell. Xuanji, following behind Yu Sifeng with her nose covered, whispered, "Could they have all been imprisoned in the dungeon by the Vice Palace Master?" Yu Sifeng shook his head, "I don’t know. Shh, don’t talk! There seems to be a noise up ahead!"

The two of them fell silent at once, and from within the depths of the dungeon came numerous shouting and cursing voices. It sounded like the Elders of the palace; indeed, they had been tricked and locked up in the dungeon by the Vice Palace Master. Elder Luo cursed the loudest and most viciously, hurling insults at the Vice Palace Master from head to toe without repeating a single word. Xuanji, listening, found it so amusing that she couldn’t help but giggle. Yu Sifeng hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was too late. The people inside heard the laughter and cursed even more fiercely, using every insult under the sun.

Yu Sifeng grabbed her hand and stepped through the pitch-black stinking water toward the depths. The narrow and profound corridor had iron bars on both sides, the walls flickered with ghostly flames, and behind the bars lay mostly skeletons and rotting corpses—the stench in the dungeon was incredibly foul. Xuanji asked in a low voice, "Have you imprisoned so many criminals? What crimes did they commit?"

Yu Sifeng replied softly, "They are all Golden Winged Birds who tried to flee Lize Palace and were caught by the Old Palace Master. The Old Palace Master was the most iron-fisted Palace Master of all generations, preferring to execute them rather than let them roam free."

After walking for a while, the corridor came to an end, blocked by an iron door. The ground here was raised, so the accumulated stench on the floor did not reach this spot. Yu Sifeng opened the iron door, softly saying, "Behind the iron door are all the dangerous escapees. Initially, I met Brother Liu in one of these dungeon cells too."

He pushed open the iron door with a creak; the shouting and cursing inside became clearer, echoing back and forth in the hallway and giving people headaches. Yu Sifeng stepped forward quickly, and indeed there were two or three Elders locked behind each set of iron bars, their bodies firmly chained and unable to move. When they saw that the person who had come was Yu Sifeng, they were all somewhat stunned, and for a moment, no one could utter a curse.

Yu Sifeng asked urgently, "Where is my master?"

One Elder said bitterly, "Your master?! The two Palace Masters are birds of a feather! In order to monopolize the Juntian Ring, they drugged us all and locked us up in this dungeon! Such beasts have appeared in Lize Palace! It’s a complete disgrace to all our ancestors!"

Seeing that they were all furious, Yu Sifeng had no time for explanations. He ran down the corridor, throwing the keys back to Xuanji, "Xuanji, help me release these Elders! Explain everything to them!"

Xuanji responded quickly, unlocking the cells and severing the chains from the Elders one by one, while explaining in detail the matter of the Vice Palace Master seizing the Juntian Ring. Although not particularly articulate, she spoke clearly and decidedly, leaving no room for doubt, and eventually added, "That Vice Palace Master must be the reincarnation of Yuan Lang. It seems like he doesn’t really have much skill, so how did he manage to lock up all the Elders in the dungeon?"

Elder Luo took a deep breath and said, "Unbelievable! He turned out to be so ambitiously treacherous! Our ancestor... he originally... ah..." Everyone commiserated for a while, then explained, "After Yu Sifeng left Lize Palace, claiming to go to the Netherworld to obtain the Juntian Ring, the Great Palace Master never appeared again. The Vice Palace Master claimed he had gone into seclusion to cultivate. Being brothers, who could anticipate the Vice Palace Master would harm him? The seclusion lasted for two years, and the Great Palace Master wasn’t seen during this period, which naturally raised suspicion. But the Vice Palace Master never explained, and just as he was in high spirits one day, he summoned everyone from Lize Palace, announcing that Wuzhiqi had been rescued and that obtaining the Juntian Ring would be soon at hand. With such good news, who could still care about the Great Palace Master’s whereabouts? Thus, that night the Vice Palace Master held a banquet to celebrate the smooth acquisition of the Juntian Ring. Who knew he would drug the food and drink? After the third round of drinks, we were all drugged and fell unconscious, waking up only to find ourselves locked in the dungeon."

Everyone recalled how, in the nearly thousand years since Lize Palace was established, it had grown to its current prestige. But to think it was all due to one person’s greed—that millennium of time seemed both laughable and lamentable. The goals they strived for and revered had turned into a massive joke. How could this not lead to disillusionment?

Elder Luo asked, "So the Great Palace Master was unaware of this? Is he also locked up in the dungeon?"

Xuanji hesitated, then nodded, "Perhaps he has been locked up for two years already. After drinking the antidote to the Lover’s Curse, not only did he lose his past memories, it seems he even lost his demon power—I heard this from Yuan Lang, though I’m not sure if it’s true."

Elder Luo exclaimed in shock, "If he has lost his demon power, isn’t he no different from a normal person now? The dungeon is full of miasma and poisonous insects, he might not survive! Quickly! We must find him together!" (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)