Chapter 497 Royal Internal Meeting
Time: March 7th, the first year of the Zhenguan era; Location: Taiji Hall, Taiji Palace; Attendees: Li Chengqian (White Tiger); Li Shimin (Fire Phoenix); Li Yuan (Black Tortoise); Meeting Topic: In-depth understanding of guardian beasts and possible ways to cope with the great calamity of heaven and earth.
"What method do you need? If you ask me, it's either live or die..."
"Bang!"
Caught off guard, the fire phoenix, kicked over by the white tiger, saw stars and staggered to its knees at Li Chengqian's feet. "You better do something about it..."
Feeling deeply ashamed, Li Shimin picked up the phoenix by its wings like a chick and carried it to the chair beside him, unable to help but complain: "Aren't you the king of beasts? Didn't you fight your way up? Don't go out and say you know me."
"Erfeng, you have no heart..." Fire Phoenix slumped, covering her face with her wings and feigning tears, "Was it because I couldn't win? I was only doing it for Chengqian's sake..."
Before the words were even finished, the white tiger had already strode up to it, its tail thrashing back and forth on the ground, its fighting spirit at its peak.
"Let's get down to business."
Fire Phoenix instantly became serious. Li Shimin couldn't bear to look at its changed expression and began to seriously doubt its story. Was it really captured by force, or was it deceived by shamelessness?
Li Yuan glanced at Huo Feng, then at Li Shimin, saying nothing. But his eyes revealed his understanding; like master and like pet, Huo Feng and Erlang were indeed a match made in heaven.
Understanding his gaze, Li Shimin forced a smile: "Come on, let's get down to business. How much is left to say about the guardian beasts?"
Fire Phoenix clearly wanted everyone to forget the embarrassing moment just now, and couldn't wait to explain: "Guardian beasts, huh? I know them well!"
With its wings spread and its fluffy chest puffed out, the Fire Phoenix, its confidence restored, smugly declared, "Let me explain again to Chengqian, who doesn't understand the situation. Guardian beasts are born in response to the times, or more precisely, to cope with the great calamity of heaven and earth. And I am the guardian beast of the Human Emperor in this great calamity, the king of all beasts, the Fire Phoenix!"
Li Chengqian clapped his hands to save face, and then the fire phoenix flew to his side and affectionately nuzzled his face. When the white tiger pounced on it and scratched it, it spread its wings and flew away, finally landing on the back of the good-natured black tortoise.
"Let me reiterate, it's not that I can't beat it, I'm just giving Chengqian face. Of course, it's also because this loud and boisterous big cat is the leader of the beasts, and I am a phoenix with a broad perspective, so I'm being lenient."
The white tiger rolled its eyes at it without any politeness, then lightly leaped into Li Chengqian's arms, where it was stroked and its tail wagged happily.
"The leader of the beasts?"
Li Shimin glanced at the white tiger nestled affectionately in his son's arms, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. The king of beasts was the shameless fire phoenix, and the leader of the beasts was the clingy white tiger—was the calamity too easy, or were they simply not planning to let them live?
“That’s right,” Fire Phoenix nodded, flapping its wings against the Black Tortoise beneath it, and continued, “Guardian beasts are divided into three races: birds, beasts, and fish. It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? This big guy is in charge of the fish.”
“Yes,” Xuanwu replied good-naturedly, adding to help the Fire Phoenix, “Because the Fire Phoenix is the guardian beast of the Human Emperor, it not only governs birds but is also the head of all beasts, and has the right to rule over all beasts.”
"This doesn't need explanation!" Fire Phoenix bristled.
Li Shimin understood, "So that's how it is. So you rose to power because of me."
The phoenix flew over hesitantly and landed on Li Shimin's chair. "Oh, Second Phoenix, aren't we best friends?"
Li Shimin smiled but remained silent. Li Yuan, who was standing nearby, keenly sensed something amiss in the conversation and suddenly asked, "How exactly are guardian beasts born? Are they related to humans? Do other people have guardian beasts?"
"I've forgotten how I was born," Xuanwu said honestly. "It was probably a long time ago. Anyway, from the moment I became conscious, I knew why I existed. But not every guardian beast that is born can come to reality, and not everyone can summon a guardian beast. It takes... it takes..."
“Matching,” Li Chengqian continued, “requires a match between a person and a guardian beast, right?”
"That's right!"
The white tiger, who was trying to appear cool in public, eagerly answered, "It's like Chengqian and I are very compatible, so I will appear with Chengqian's birth."
"Hey, hey, hey, I was the one who showed up first, okay?"
The phoenix, unconvinced, shouted, and the phoenix and the tiger, disliking each other, began to playfully fight.
Only the composed Xuanwu helped explain to the others: "Because the Fire Phoenix and the Human Emperor were matched, the Fire Phoenix is the only and first beast that can open the summoning channel. It just so happens that the White Tiger's destined person was born, so they appeared together."
Li Yuan felt a little uncomfortable hearing this. Chengqian was born in the second year of Wude. In the second year of his reign, the second son was already recognized as the "Human Emperor".
As the founding emperor, was he really... just there to warm up Erlang's throne? Was he some kind of emperor who only warmed up his throne?
Li Shimin noticed Li Yuan's slight displeasure, coughed twice, and changed the subject: "What about the others? We're dealing with a great calamity, so how many people will have guardian beasts?"
"How much more?" Fire Phoenix temporarily ceased fighting with White Tiger, turned around and patted Li Shimin's shoulder with its wing. "Second Phoenix, stop daydreaming. Do you think guardian beasts are as common as cabbages? To be honest, it's already very rare for your Li family to have gathered the leaders of the three guardian beast clans in three generations."
"In my memory, it's rare for the guardian beasts of all three races to be able to leave during a great calamity. You've already got off to a very good start."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin and Li Yuan were surprised, but they couldn't help feeling a sense of relief.
However, perhaps unable to bear seeing them relax, Fire Phoenix continued, "But not everyone has this kind of luck. It's one in ten thousand people who can awaken their bound guardian beast on their own."
Having caught the key phrase, Li Chengqian pressed further: "Self-awakening? So there are other methods?"
After asking the question, Li Chengqian felt a little strange. Why was he acting like a straight man, always interjecting at crucial moments? If you didn't know better, you'd think he was acting with Huo Feng and the others.
Wait, what is a straight man...? A look of confusion flashed across Li Chengqian's eyes. The white tiger in his arms, noticing this, couldn't help but slow down its wagging tail.
The perceptive Li Chengqian lowered his head and paused in touching it.
Completely oblivious to this, the Fire Phoenix, eager to show off, nodded and exclaimed, "That's right! Otherwise, what would we, the leaders of the three races, be for? Of course, it's so we can help summon our people! But..."
"But what?" Li Shimin asked impatiently.
"Erfeng, don't rush. You're the emperor now, you need to be patient."
Fire Phoenix was clearly being pretentious, but upon hearing its words, Li Yuan couldn't help but twitch his lips. Its tone was even more like his father's than his own; it really wanted to be Erlang's father!
Not wanting to see the conspicuous performance of the Fire Phoenix, or perhaps trying to escape Li Chengqian's probing, the White Tiger leaped down from her arms and blurted out, "The strength and development potential of the guardian beasts we summon are no match for those that are awakened autonomously. Although the requirements for the compatibility of the guardian beasts summoned in this way are not as high, they are not low either."
"fine!"
Li Shimin didn't see this as a problem at all; he had already begun to imagine how to build a powerful army around a powerful guardian beast.
The more he thought about it, the more impatient he became, and Li Shimin blurted out, "How about we give it a try?"
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