For the first time, he felt the Green Devil Mist in his veins pulse in response to the approaching divine aura. He didn't look afraid; he looked like a predator seeing a new kind of prey.
"If this being is indeed an immortal… I must learn its weaknesses."
The golden light of the Celestial Phoenix was now a streak of fire across the sky, closing the distance between the two parties with terrifying speed.
"Master, there's a dragon and three cultivators coming toward us," Lei reported, his wings beating a steady, rhythmic thunder. "Should I incinerate them for blocking the divine path?"
"Cultivators?" Long Xiao straightened his robes, ignoring Lei's bloodthirsty suggestion. "Perfect! Just what I needed. Actual research subjects. Don't incinerate them yet, Lei. I want to see how they struggle in their natural habitat."
Below, on Xinyi's back...
Xinyi's flight became frantic. She banked hard to the left, her scales shimmering with cold sweat.
"Gong Feng! That is no mere immortal!" Xinyi hissed, her voice trembling. "The pressure coming from that Phoenix... it's primordial. Whoever is riding it could flatten this entire mountain range with a sneeze. Do not—I repeat and beg you not to mess with them!"
Gong Feng, for once, looked genuinely terrified. He gripped the dragon's saddle so hard his knuckles turned white. "A... a High God? Here? In the Fenglan outskirts?"
"A High God?" Li Ping's eyes widened. "Young master Feng, do you... intend the High Gods in the Urban Legends? But what would they possibly want from us?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." Xinyi said gruffly.
"What is a High God?" Johan asked flatly.
"Young master, according to Urban Legends, the Heavenly Realm immortals are divided into different factions. If this figure is indeed a High God… we won't make it to the waterfalls if they mean harm." She swallowed, her hands clasped before her tightly.
Johan, however, simply leaned forward, his green eyes tracking the golden blur with a frightening intensity. "If he is so powerful, why hasn't he struck us down yet?"
"I cannot tell." Xinyi banked to the right. "It's best to avoid confrontation."
Back in the High Clouds...
"They've noticed us," Long Xiao sighed, pouting as he watched the dragon swerve. "So much for a grand, silent entrance. Lei, activate the Heavenly Fog Concealment. We shall follow them from a distance. If they can't see us, they'll act more... naturally."
"You mean we're going to stalk them?" Lei snorted.
"Stalk them?" Long Xiao chuckled. "This, my dear mount, is called subtle divine supervision."
"Whatever you say, Master." Lei complied reluctantly.
With a flick of Long Xiao's wrist, a silver mist erupted from Lei's feathers. To the mortals below, the golden light simply... vanished. The sky returned to a dull, empty grey.
"He's gone?" Li Ping whispered, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"He's not gone," Xinyi growled, her eyes darting around suspiciously. "He's hiding. He's following us. Gong Feng, we need to land. My Qi is erratic under this divine pressure."
"He's still here?" Gong Feng thought, turning his head frantically in both directions.
"Land! XINYI, land on that peak now!" Gong Feng ordered, his voice shaky.
"Don't worry, young master." Li Ping forced a smile. "We'll rest and wait for him to pass."
Xinyi shot a deadly glare at Gong Feng's order before she dived toward a misty, jagged mountain peak known as The Silent Rest. She landed with a heavy thud, her massive form shivering as she allowed the three to slide off her back.
Johan stepped onto the cold stone, the Green Devil Mist in his veins coiling like a serpent. He looked up into the seemingly empty sky and smiled. It was a dead, knowing smile.
"He's here," Johan whispered to himself.