Chapter 2118 — The Celestial Emperor’s Offer

"The Ten Royal Phoenix Clans have allied themselves with the Celestial Emperor?" Feng Yuxiang asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. "That’s hard to believe. Why would they—who have always prided themselves on their independence—choose to work with the Celestial Emperor, of all people?"

The leader looked at Yuan and calmly responded, "Because the Celestial Emperor has a phoenix on his side—a Primordial Phoenix, that is."

"What?" Feng Yuxiang muttered with wide eyes.

"The Celestial Emperor has a Primordial Phoenix?" she repeated just in case she misheard.

The leader nodded, her expression serious.

"Yes. He promised to elevate all of our bloodlines by at least three percent, regardless of our current bloodline purity, if we agree to work with him for ten million years."

Though ten million years might sound like an eternity, even the Royal Phoenix Clans considered it an incredible bargain. For those whose bloodline purity was already exceptionally high, gaining even a single percent could take millions of years, making the Celestial Emperor’s offer nearly irresistible.

The Rising Phoenix Clan’s bloodline purity ranged between 80 and 85 percent, with their leader being the highest at 89 percent before it was weakened, and they were ranked sixth amongst the ten Royal Phoenix Clans.

The Royal Phoenix Clans above them ranged between 85 and 88, with the top three ranging between 90 and 92 percent.

The phoenix with the current highest purity has a 94 percent bloodline purity, with no phoenix in history besides the Primordial Phoenix achieving a bloodline purity of over 95 percent, hence why the Celestial Emperor’s offer was extremely enticing and almost impossible to reject.

"This is also why I doubt your identity as a Primordial Phoenix. I appreciate that you helped cure my curse, but I cannot give you the Ancient Seal, as that would spell the end of my life and of this clan."

A Primordial Phoenix had not appeared in the world for millions of years, so for two to emerge within the same era was something almost impossible to believe.

Naturally, Yuan did not blame her for not believing him.

"How can you be so sure the other Primordial Phoenix is genuine?" Feng Yuxiang asked.

"Because we tested their bloodline purity—it was 96.5 percent," the leader replied. "Only a Primordial Phoenix can naturally surpass 95 percent. And that phoenix also displayed the True Primordial Fire."

In the end, Yuan decided to deactivate his phoenix transformation and said, "You’re right. I am not a phoenix, much less a Primordial Phoenix."

"Y-You..." The leader’s eyes widened with shock and disbelief.

"You’re a human?! How in heaven’s name is that even possible?!"

"I’ll tell you if you do me a favor."

"What is it? And don’t even bother opening your mouth if you’re going to ask for the Ancient Seal."

"I would like you to help me set up a meeting with the Royal Phoenix Clans," he said.

"Are you serious? I may be the leader of the Rising Phoenix Clan, but my authority is limited. I can’t summon the others whenever I feel like it. There must be a real reason. Unless you’re a Primordial Phoenix, you can forget about it."

Yuan smiled and said, "While it is true that I only pretended to be a Primordial Phoenix, it is also true that there is a Primordial Phoenix present right now."

"You can’t mean..."

The leader slowly shifted her head to look at Feng Yuxiang.

Noticing her gaze, Feng Yuxiang placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin slightly.

"That’s right—I am a Primordial Phoenix," she declared, her voice brimming with pride.

The leader’s expression darkened into a frown, looking offended.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? Have you forgotten we tested your bloodline when you first joined us? It was only 83.2 percent back then. How could you be a Primordial Phoenix with that level of purity? You may qualify as a royal phoenix, but that’s it! Are you mocking me right now?"

Feng Yuxiang quickly replied, "That was before I awakened my bloodline and before I met the Young Master."

"You were also cursed, weren’t you?" the leader pressed. "Wouldn’t that have lowered your bloodline, too? In fact, I’m starting to doubt you were cursed at all. How did you manage to survive thousands of years with it, while I lost four percent in just three weeks?"

"Maybe because my bloodline is much harder to weaken? After all, I am a Primordial Phoenix," she said.

Yuan then stepped in, his tone calm but decisive. "Rather than wasting time with words, why don’t we settle this with the Golden Phoenix Needle?"

He turned around and walked outside, where the elders were waiting.

"Is the conversation finished?" They asked.

"No. I need to borrow the Golden Phoenix Needle for a moment," he said.

The elder with the needle quickly handed it to him.

"Thanks."

Yuan returned to the room and closed the door behind him.

"You can do the honor." Yuan handed the Golden Phoenix Needle to the leader, who wasted no time testing Feng Yuxiang’s bloodline.

Moments later, the needle emitted a bright golden glow, followed by a number.

"This can’t be... this is impossible!" The leader mumbled to herself after reading the numbers.

Not daring to believe her eyes, she rubbed them and looked again. Yet, the number remained the same.

"97.9 percent!" she exclaimed after confirming the number.

However, Feng Yuxiang frowned and said, "Only 97.9 percent? I was expecting 100 percent!"

"W-What about True Primordial Fire? Can you use it?" The leader asked after snapping out of her daze.

Feng Yuxiang nodded and casually summoned some True Primordial Fire.

"There are currently two Primordial Phoenixes existing in this era? Truly unbelievable..." The leader muttered.

"So, about the gathering... can you do it?" Yuan asked after a brief pause. "If that’s not enough to draw them in, tell them we have an offer even better than what the Celestial Emperor is promising."

The leader could only stare at Yuan in silence, as if struggling to believe there could be an offer surpassing even the Celestial Emperor’s.