Phoenix Nest wasn't too far from Dragon Valley. Yang Kai had been curious about what kind of place it was, but upon arriving, he found that it was nothing more than a dense forest.
Viewed from above, the entire forest resembled a phoenix spreading its wings in flight — strikingly lifelike.
Inside the forest, every single tree was a wutong tree, their age impossible to determine. They were sturdy and unyielding, their crowns piercing the clouds.
Phoenix Nest was unlike Dragon Valley. Dragon Valley's interior was inaccessible to anyone but the Dragon Emperor; any outsider who drew near would be repelled by an invisible force. But Phoenix Nest had never displayed any remarkable phenomena over the years. It seemed like nothing more than an ordinary forest, and disciples of the Dragon Phoenix Manor had often come here in the past to cultivate or meet in secret.
After the Dragon Emperor's emergence, Chen Zhou had declared the location of Phoenix Nest a forbidden zone, forbidding anyone from approaching.
When Sun Yu informed Chen Zhou of his intention to investigate Phoenix Nest, the latter was overjoyed, believing that Sun Yu was preparing to search for the Phoenix Queen. He immediately dispatched troops and experts to escort Sun Yu to Phoenix Nest.
Upon reaching the forest's edge, Sun Yu made up a casual excuse and left the several Transcendence Realm martial artists waiting outside before entering the Nest alone.
His status and position were different now — those Transcendence Realm cultivators dared not disobey his orders. Moreover, they had all witnessed the scene of Yan Zhi's execution and knew full well the Dragon Emperor's power, so they weren't particularly worried about Sun Yu's safety.
After walking into the forest for a short distance, a figure flickered beside him, and Yang Kai appeared.
"This is Phoenix Nest?" Yang Kai turned his head, looking around with a doubtful expression.
"Mm." Sun Yu nodded hastily and gave a detailed account of everything related to Phoenix Nest.
Yang Kai listened, carefully sensing his surroundings, but said nothing and headed straight in a particular direction.
He could feel it — somewhere in Phoenix Nest, a voice was calling to him from the void. The golden dragon pattern on his body was also surging rapidly in response to the call, sending waves of tingling sensations through him.
Sun Yu was well-behaved, following closely behind Yang Kai.
After what felt like a long time, the view before them suddenly opened up, and a modest-sized lake appeared.
The water was crystal clear, shimmering with dancing light, yet oddly, the bottom was invisible. The lake's surface seemed to be shrouded by some mysterious force. Standing on the shore and gazing down, Yang Kai raised an eyebrow involuntarily.
He noticed a faintly visible reflection in the lake — the reflection of a phoenix. It didn't quite look real.
"Phoenix Perch Lake. Because that inexplicable reflection looks like a phoenix, that's what we call it. But over the years, many people have gone down to investigate and found nothing out of the ordinary," Sun Yu explained casually.
Yang Kai nodded slightly.
Some places only reveal their true nature when a specific person arrives. Apart from that person, no one — no matter how powerful — could hope to glimpse anything of significance.
Standing at the lake's edge, the golden dragon pattern on Yang Kai's body surged even more violently. There was an almost palpable urge for it to burst forth from his body.
He took a light breath and chose not to suppress it.
A moment later, accompanied by a dragon's roar, the golden dragon pattern materialized and shot forth.
However, this golden dragon was vastly different in size from the one that had fought Yan Zhi. Now it was only about one zhang long.
After bursting from Yang Kai's body, it coiled through the air several times before diving headlong into Phoenix Perch Lake.
Ripples spread outward, and the golden dragon vanished without a trace.
Sun Yu's face was flushed with excitement. He watched unblinkingly, his heart swelling with a peculiar thrill.
He was the only person in the entire Dragon Phoenix Manor who knew the Dragon Emperor's secret. Furthermore, he had been personally cultivated by the real Dragon Emperor, so he naturally felt a sense of pride. Now, on the verge of witnessing the Phoenix Queen's inheritance, how could he, a disciple of the Dragon Phoenix Manor, not be stirred?
The golden dragon submerged into Phoenix Perch Lake, and in a short while, the lake's surface suddenly became agitated. It was as though some immense energy was erupting from below. The lake water began to rise.
Ripples spread outward. The phoenix-shaped reflection in the lake contorted into strange and wondrous shapes — from every angle, it appeared to be flapping its wings, about to soar from the lake bed into the sky.
Tiny motes of fluorescent light suddenly drifted in from every direction, dropping one by one into the lake.
Each mote contained a measure of mystical power!
Yang Kai and Sun Yu exchanged astonished glances and quickly looked around, their expressions shifting dramatically.
Those motes of light were emanating from the wutong trees throughout Phoenix Nest. When they had first arrived, Yang Kai hadn't noticed anything remarkable about those trees.
The entire Phoenix Nest blazed with radiance. Countless motes of light rose from the forest like fireflies, converging on Phoenix Perch Lake from every direction.
The Transcendence Realm cultivators waiting outside Phoenix Nest stared wide-eyed at the spectacle, trembling with barely contained excitement.
Even Chen Zhou, who was still attending to important affairs back at the Dragon Phoenix Manor, rushed out immediately. He gazed toward Phoenix Nest and let out a hearty laugh that echoed toward the heavens.
The Dragon Emperor's successor had already appeared, and now Phoenix Nest was stirring with strange phenomena — the Phoenix Queen's emergence was surely not far off.
The unfinished business could wait. Chen Zhou's figure blurred as he shot toward Phoenix Nest. The other experts within the Dragon Phoenix Manor lost all desire to attend to their tasks and followed in the Manor Master's wake, eager to witness the Phoenix Queen's inheritance at the lake.
At the shore of Phoenix Perch Lake, Yang Kai waited in silence. Sun Yu's eyes gleamed as he watched the fluorescent lights descending into the water. The scene, resembling an immortal paradise, held him in rapt fascination.
Standing by the lake, Sun Yu could clearly feel that the energy of the entire world had undergone a tremendous transformation.
A powerful sense of majesty was rising from the depths of the lake.
For a long, long time, the motes of light drifting from every direction continued to sink into Phoenix Perch Lake until at last they were all absorbed. The phoenix-shaped reflection within the lake seemed to come alive, its wings beating faster and faster.
Then, without warning, the lake water erupted skyward.