In truth, the Dragon Clan's situation was similar to that of the Phoenix Clan. The only difference was that the Dragon Clan's origin birthplace was the Dragon Pool. So for both Dragon and Phoenix Clans, the Dragon Pool was the Dragon Clan's foundation, while the Phoenix Nest was the Phoenix Clan's foundation.
Yang Kai had previously worried that the Dragon Clan might go extinct due to a dwindling number of talented individuals, but that was entirely unwarranted worry. For the Dragon Clan, as long as the Dragon Pool was not destroyed, the clan would never face extinction. Of course, there might be periods where the clan grew weaker—this was an inevitable cycle under the workings of Heaven's Dao, beyond the power of mortals to change.
Yet to his great surprise, there were actually a few unoccupied Phoenix Nests on this Undying Phoenix Tree.
Unoccupied Phoenix Nests—didn't that mean he could enter them freely?
It was truly a case of searching high and low for something with no luck, only to have it fall right into his lap without any effort.
Moreover, judging by Huang Siniang's attitude, she had no intention of stopping him from entering these unoccupied nests. Was that not tacit permission?
Tsk… Siniang wasn't as heartless as she seemed. What appeared to be offhand words had actually pointed him toward a bright path forward.
Yang Kai suppressed his excitement, flickered forward to stand before one of the unoccupied Phoenix Nests, and confirmed once more that the nest had not been opened in a very long time. Only then did he set to work.
The laws of space rippled as he reached out and swept his hand forward, connecting to the gateway of the Phoenix Nest before him.
In his mind, opening this gateway shouldn't be difficult. After all, his mastery of the Dao of Space was already remarkably high, and the gateway bore no special restrictions. It should have opened with ease.
But once he actually began, he realized it was nothing of the sort.
The gateway truly had no restrictions, and he could sense its location clearly. Yet no matter how he channeled the laws of space, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make the gateway budge even the slightest fraction.
It was as though the gateway had been locked shut by some invisible force.
At first, Yang Kai assumed he was going about it the wrong way. But after several consecutive days of effort with the gateway remaining firmly sealed, he came to understand the problem.
This likely wasn't a matter of his spatial mastery being insufficient. Opening this Phoenix Nest probably required some other condition entirely.
Because in his perception, the gateway before him was indeed locked by an invisible force, as though only the corresponding key could open it.
Considering what Huang Siniang had told him before, and the look on her face at the time, Yang Kai couldn't help but sigh.
He'd been played by Siniang.
Opening these Phoenix Nests likely required the origin essence of the Phoenix Clan. In other words, only the Phoenix Clan's origin essence could serve as the key to these gateways.
Even with his exceptional mastery of the Dao of Space, without the key, there was no way in. The Undying Phoenix Tree was a wondrous artifact born at the dawn of creation—one could even call it a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. How could the Phoenix Nests it produced be so easily opened?
The hope that had ignited was mercilessly doused, and Yang Kai slumped in dejection.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd never known what the Phoenix Nests could do for his cultivation. The problem was that he did know now, had gotten a taste of it, and now couldn't have any more. The feeling was absolutely wretched.
Refusing to accept defeat, Yang Kai flickered about the Undying Phoenix Tree once more, specifically hunting for gateways that hadn't been opened in many years.
He tried three more Phoenix Nests in succession, all to no avail.
When he arrived at the fourth, he expected the same outcome. To his surprise, before he'd even exerted much effort, ripples spread through the void ahead and a gateway gradually took shape.
Yang Kai was overjoyed.
Just as he was about to apply more force to fully open the gateway, something felt wrong. This gateway hadn't been opened by him—some other force was opening it from the inside.
Yang Kai's face darkened. He knew something bad was coming.
Sure enough, a bird's head suddenly emerged from the gateway, its phoenix eyes blazing crimson as it glared at Yang Kai, speaking in a human voice: "What audacious brat dares disturb my quiet cultivation?!"
With that, its razor-sharp beak thrust toward Yang Kai in a vicious peck.
Every hair on Yang Kai's body stood on end. The peck appeared ordinary, but if it connected, it would punch a hole straight through him—and might very well shatter his soul.
This Phoenix Nest was not unoccupied at all. The reason the gateway hadn't opened in years was simply that its owner had been in seclusion for a long time.
Yang Kai had assumed it was the same as the other unoccupied nests, never expecting to make such a spectacular fool of himself.
As they say, walk by the river long enough and your shoes are bound to get wet.
"Senior, it's a misunderstanding!" Yang Kai shouted, the laws of space surging as he vanished from the spot in an instant.
A moment later, when he reappeared, he was tens of millions of miles outside No Return Pass. His appearance was wretched—his robes torn to shreds, and a bloody hole gored through his chest from which golden blood streamed continuously.
From atop the Undying Phoenix Tree, a cold snort echoed: "Next time, I take your life!"
The gateway snapped shut and the bird head withdrew.
Yang Kai was thoroughly mortified. What a disaster.
The whole thing had happened in the blink of an eye. Though he'd reacted as quickly as possible, channeling the laws of space to flee, when it came to the Dao of Space, the Phoenix was a master in its own right.
That single peck—no matter how he twisted and teleported—was something he simply could not evade. In the end, he'd still been injured.
Fortunately, the Phoenix had no intention of pressing the kill. This was likely due to the nature of the Phoenix Clan themselves. If a Dragon had been disturbed in such a manner, the outcome might well have been a fight to the death.