Dry Phoenix Hall.
In the spacious hall, Sikong Chan stood in front of the phoenix head jade wall, watching Han Feng and the others approach.
This was the first time she saw Han Feng bringing so many people over.
And all women.
Sikong Chan maintained a smile calmly, but her gaze had already swept over the girls.
Among them, two women maintained a high degree of curiosity and vigilance towards her.
Interesting...
Sikong Chan took steps and walked towards Han Feng on her own initiative.
"King of Southern Suppression, long time no see. I (Zhen - the royal I) missed you very much."
Lin Xian'er and Gu Xun'er's hands clenched slightly.
Starting so ambiguously.
Han Feng smiled slightly.
"Your Majesty attends to a myriad of daily affairs. Being able to say such words, it seems the Nanli Empire is indeed prosperous and peaceful recently."
Sikong Chan also smiled gently: "Can't I just say this purely for you?"
Facing the Empress's almost direct words, Han Feng was somewhat helpless.
"Then I am really flattered."
Sikong Chan's eyebrows and eyes contained a smile, and she didn't say any more ambiguous words.
As the Empress, she still wanted some face, especially with outsiders present.
"Are these the King of Southern Suppression's friends?"
Sikong Chan looked at Lin Xian'er and the others.
"This is my disciple, Lin Xian'er. This is my Junior Sister, Mu Qingluan. This is..."
Han Feng introduced them one by one, "They are all my family. Coming to the Nanli Empire this time, I just brought them for a tour."
Sikong Chan nodded and smiled friendly at the group: "Welcome to the Nanli Empire. In these few days, I will arrange the best guides to take you around the Nanli Empire."
"Your Majesty, I want to look around the Vermilion Bird Imperial City. Is that okay?"
Mu Qingluan asked at this time.
"This girl is very curious about the story of the Vermilion Bird; looked forward to it all the way."
Han Feng explained.
Sikong Chan suddenly understood: "No problem. Actually, not only the Vermilion Bird Imperial City, but other places in the Vermilion Bird City also have inscriptions recording the history of the Vermilion Bird. However, some places require special warrants to enter. I will arrange it for you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Mu Qingluan said happily.
"Xian'er, you guys go to the residence to settle down first. After I finish discussing matters, I'll go find you."
Han Feng said to the girls.
Lin Xian'er nodded somewhat reluctantly.
Since Master said so, she certainly couldn't be tactless.
Although she wanted to stay, delaying Master's business wouldn't be good.
The Empress immediately arranged subordinates to guide Lin Xian'er and the others.
After the girls left, the maids in the hall also quietly departed.
In the huge hall, only Han Feng and Sikong Chan remained.
Without others, the Empress's eyes changed instantly, somewhat unscrupulous, yet somewhat soft and watery.
"King of Southern Suppression, taking so long to come, are you ready?"
Sikong Chan approached Han Feng step by step.
She said last time that the next meeting would be the time to implement the bet.
Regardless of success or failure, she wanted to overwhelm others with momentum!
Han Feng looked at Sikong Chan and asked: "Could Your Majesty have broken through to Dou Saint?"
Sikong Chan shook her head: "Not yet. The difficulty of becoming a Saint, doesn't the King of Southern Suppression understand?"
"Indeed very difficult."
Han Feng nodded.
"But I don't want to wait anymore."
Sikong Chan pursed her lips.
"Your Majesty wants to go back on your word?"
"Of course not. Once a word is spoken, four horses cannot chase it back. I am the ruler of a country; how could I do such a villainous act?"
After Sikong Chan finished speaking, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"But putting aside the bet, can't I do anything to the King of Southern Suppression?"
Han Feng felt a bit strange in his heart. Out of moral considerations, he wouldn't easily spy on other people's inner thoughts.
But the Empress's thoughts were almost written on her face, right?
"As long as Your Majesty acknowledges the bet."
After Han Feng finished speaking, a trace of Dou Saint aura leaked from his body.
The smile on Sikong Chan's face froze.
After a full half minute, she opened her mouth in disbelief: "Half-Saint?"
Han Feng shook his head.
"It's Dou Saint."
"You..."
Sikong Chan fell into silence again.
She didn't want to talk anymore...
What kind of cultivation genius could break through from high-level Dou Venerate to Dou Saint in a few years?
Although Han Feng was an alchemist, alchemists weren't this ridiculous, right?
"Your Majesty?"
Han Feng reminded aloud.
"I lost."
Sikong Chan turned around, with her back to Han Feng, and said.
The other party was already a Dou Saint expert. Her thoughts just now didn't even need to be mentioned.
Wanting to force a Dou Saint expert, there was only one situation: Han Feng himself was willing.
Besides that, Sikong Chan had no chance at all.
Originally thought that after taking the Nine Turns Saint Pill and breaking through to Nine-Turn Dou Venerate, she could do some coercion and inducement to Han Feng.
But the King of Southern Suppression was indeed the King of Southern Suppression.
She, the ruler of Nanli, could suppress him the first time they met, but later, there was less and less chance.
If she had known earlier, she should have... when they first met.
Sikong Chan spat lightly; she was amused by her own childish thoughts.
She was the ruler of a country, yet she also had moments of such unrealistic fantasies.
Not to mention Han Feng's character itself, when they first met, she just appreciated this person's courage a bit.
As for later when he cracked the evil fire of the Purple Shattered Ruins and won breathing space for the army, Sikong Chan just valued him more.
Until the end when the evil demon was about to exterminate everyone, Han Feng stepped forward, awakened the Vermilion Bird's remnant soul with the Myriad Beast Flame, and turned the tide. Only then did Sikong Chan truly put Han Feng's figure into her heart.
If not for him, she would have sacrificed herself in that battle.
The grace of saving life, the grace of saving the country, should be repaid with everything.
So Sikong Chan gave Han Feng the title of King of Southern Suppression, making him below one person and above ten thousand in the Nanli Empire.
So Sikong Chan chose to stir the dusty love strings in her heart, putting down the identity of the country's monarch for the first time to try pursuing a person.
Unfortunately, yet not unfortunately.
The person she chose to pursue was too outstanding. In just the blink of an eye, he ran ahead.
She could only watch him walk away from her step by step, with no possibility of intimate dual cultivation anymore.
Emotions surged in Sikong Chan's heart, unable to calm down for a long time.
This was the first time she lost her composure due to personal emotions after becoming the ruler.
"Does Your Majesty know that the future Dou Qi Continent will face a great calamity?"
Han Feng suddenly said.
Sikong Chan's thoughts were pulled back by Han Feng's words.
"What does the King of Southern Suppression mean?"
"Literal meaning. The future Dou Qi Continent might reproduce the scene of the war between gods and demons back then."
Han Feng said word by word, very seriously.
Sikong Chan instantly suppressed the personal emotions in her heart, and rationality returned to the upper hand.
Involving state affairs and public affairs, she was still an excellent emperor.
"Where did the King of Southern Suppression get the news?"
"East Profound Continent, Azure Dragon Ruins. He told me personally."
Sikong Chan's pupils shrank suddenly.
"The head of the Four Divine Beasts, Azure Dragon!"
"Exactly."
Han Feng nodded.
"Including how I broke through to Dou Saint, it is also related to this."
Sikong Chan frowned tightly, constantly thinking about the ancient war between gods and demons in her mind.
The more she thought, the colder she felt.
"Can you tell me in detail?"
Han Feng originally planned to share this matter with Sikong Chan.
The other party was the descendant of the Vermilion Bird inheritance, the only credible person Han Feng could think of now to talk freely about the Extraterritorial Evil Race.
Han Feng narrated his affairs in the Hidden Dragon Cave, most importantly his conversation with the Azure Dragon.
Omitting the matter of him being a time traveler, he told the rest truthfully.
Sikong Chan listened quietly. After Han Feng finished speaking, she fell into silence.
Vermilion Bird's remnant soul disappeared, Azure Dragon Ruins collapsed, Black Tortoise died, White Tiger betrayed!
This was an era without gods, without emperors.
Without the help of ancient gods, resisting the Extraterritorial Evil Race depended entirely on themselves.
Sikong Chan and Han Feng's first thought was the same.
Impossible to achieve.
No one knew the power of the Vermilion Bird better than the Sikong family. Originally, the clansmen thought Dou Saint or Dou Di might be the realm of the Vermilion Bird Divine Envoy, but as Sikong Chan's own cultivation realm improved, getting closer to Dou Saint, she became clearer about the gap with the Vermilion Bird.
That was no longer something that could be bridged by Dou Qi cultivation.
Relying solely on the native people of the Dou Qi Continent to confront the powerful Extraterritorial Evil Race could be said to be a fool's dream.
At least analyzing from the ancient war between gods and demons, it was so.
In that era, there were still Dou Di to shoulder the burden. Now that Dou Di are gone, how long can Dou Saints last?
"The treasure of the Ancient God might be our only chance."
Sikong Chan said.
"Han Feng, I'll still call you this. Forcing the title of King of Southern Suppression on you, maybe you don't like it either, right?"
Sikong Chan took off the emperor's attire in front of Han Feng for the first time, no longer referring to herself as Zhen (The Royal We/I).
"Your Majesty worries too much. Just a bit surprised at first, then got used to it later."
Han Feng said.
"Don't call me Your Majesty either. Call my name, or call me Chan'er."
Sikong Chan seemed to have figured something out and smiled with relief.
Before, she wanted Han Feng to accept her, accept her identity as the monarch of Nanli, so she always used Zhen to refer to herself.
But now, knowing Han Feng was destined not to belong to her, it didn't matter anymore.
Han Feng nodded.
"Okay, then I'll call you Chan'er."
Sikong Chan smiled gently and continued: "The Azure Dragon said that the treasure of the Ancient God requires gathering four kinds of Divine Beast scriptures. Han Feng, you have now mastered the Black Tortoise Heavenly Ancestor Sutra and the Azure Dragon Common People Formula. Now I will hand over the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture to you. With your aptitude, you will surely be able to cultivate it to perfection. As for the remaining White Tiger inheritance, you just need to wait until your cultivation reaches a new height and go to the starry sky coordinates to explore."
Hearing Sikong Chan's words, Han Feng was pleasantly surprised.
Without him wasting words, the other party took the initiative to say she would hand over the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture to him. Such an attitude was worthy of him telling her the secrets.
"Chan'er, thank you."
"Between you and me, no need to say these."
Sikong Chan said: "You are our only hope. If even you can't succeed, others are even less likely."
"If you want to thank me, then work hard."
Sikong Chan's encouragement added another responsibility to Han Feng's heart.
Perhaps the future disaster was unavoidable, but if someone supported from behind, even if it didn't have any substantial effect, the feeling was completely different.
This let Han Feng know that the goal he was striving for was valuable.
Sikong Chan didn't waste time and took Han Feng directly to the Imperial Family Ancestral Land to visit the inheritance left by the Vermilion Bird—Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture.
On a crimson fire jade, a feather like a burning flame was embedded inside the jade.
The burning feather reflected a magical energy, appearing through the jade and turning into scriptures one by one.
This was the original version of the Vermilion Bird inheritance. Even members of the Imperial Family had no right to see it.
Only the monarchs of past generations were qualified to comprehend it.
This comprehension didn't mean one would definitely get something. The scriptures on the jade were very ancient; ordinary people wouldn't recognize them at all. Most people in the Imperial Family now cultivated the translated version.
However, in the translation process, essence points would definitely be missed, so comprehending the original version was the only way to cultivate the complete Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture.
Han Feng sat down in front of the crimson jade and began to comprehend the contents inside.
Sikong Chan guarded him outside.
Looking at the flame laws lingering around Han Feng, Sikong Chan sighed lightly in her heart.
After falling out of love, it was impossible not to be sad, but who told Han Feng to say such heavy news.
Now it's good; Sikong Chan's sadness after falling out of love was completely buried.
She didn't even realize until now that everything she did just now came from the instinct of a monarch.
Only after quieting down and looking at Han Feng's side profile did she discover the faint sadness in her heart.
But this was good too.
Although unable to become husband and wife, becoming partners and confidants on the future journey was also a lucky thing.
"I will always support you."
Sikong Chan looked at Han Feng, who was comprehending the cultivation method, and said softly.
Time passed in a flash for seven days. Han Feng comprehended for seven days, and Sikong Chan guarded outside for seven days.
She handed over all matters in the court to others, treating it like usual closed-door cultivation.
To Lin Xian'er's side, Sikong Chan sent a handwritten letter informing them of Han Feng's current state to avoid their worry.
However, Sikong Chan didn't know that it was fine if she didn't say it, but once she said Han Feng wanted to retreat for a while, Lin Xian'er couldn't even sleep.
After all, who knows what you two are doing retreating together?
The difficult seven days finally passed.
Han Feng seemed to have experienced only an instant and suddenly opened his eyes.
Boom!
A Vermilion Bird phantom rose from behind him. Powerful flame laws intertwined into fire feathers one by one, lifelike.
"Fire feathers possessing the body, Vermilion Bird rebirth. This is the Great Success of the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture!"
Sikong Chan said in shock.
Although she knew Han Feng's talent was powerful, she didn't expect Han Feng could cultivate the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture to the Great Success stage in seven days.
You know, even she was only at the critical point below Great Success, unable to break through to the Great Success realm for a long time.
"Is this the power of a Dou Saint?"
Sikong Chan couldn't help but start thinking whether she hadn't cultivated to the Great Success realm of the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture because she hadn't broken through to Dou Saint.
After familiarizing himself with the power of the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture, Han Feng slowly got up and walked out the door.
"You are really amazing. Cultivating the Vermilion Bird Pure World Scripture to Great Success on the first try."
Sikong Chan said enviously.
"It's okay. I feel like comprehending a few more times, reaching Perfection won't be a problem."
"Show-off."
Sikong Chan said snappily.
There's someone here who can't even break through to Great Success!