Chapter 104 Chapter 104
"I wonder what Brother Long's name is?" Fenghuang asked with a smile. He felt ashamed. After beating him so many times, he hadn't even thought of asking for his name.
"Just call me Brother Xuanlin." The dragon clan leader smiled, but his heart was about to evolve into a resentful old dragon - you burned my house so many times, beat me so many times, and you don't even know the name of the victim, where is justice!
Thinking of this, Xuan Lin glanced at Feng Huang dimly, a strange light flashing in his dead fish-like eyes. He quickly set his gaze on You Lin and said sarcastically, "I don't know how our Dragon Lord was tricked into your side. He even didn't know how to return home."
Phoenix curved her eyes and spoke casually, "No, no, we just hit it off right away. How can it be called a lie if it's something we both agreed on? Besides, You Lin is already an independent adult dragon. Where he wants to go and what he wants to do is naturally up to him, isn't it?"
Although You Lin felt something was strange, he still nodded repeatedly.
Xuan Lin's mouth twitched noticeably. He knew what Feng Huang was seeking, and had quickly prepared a speech in those three hours. But when he saw You Lin's worthless expression, he suddenly lost all desire to speak.
Is this thing really their ruthless fighting machine? How could it have changed so much after just one trip? Where's your cold murderous aura, your piercing eyes? What kind of magic potion did that damn Phoenix give him?
"Really? Then why did you bring him back? Why, do you want me to witness your touching friendship?" He sneered.
Seeing the atmosphere about to slide into an awkward abyss, the young dragon beside him immediately said, "Master Phoenix, our clan leader means that we dragons are not so rigid. Who the child chooses to be friends with is his own business. It's not about forming a marriage, so why bother the clan leader to witness..."
The voice of the latter sentence gradually faded. The young demon didn't know what he was thinking, and the smile on his face suddenly froze. He carefully glanced at the face of his family head and said hesitantly, "You are not here to form an in-law, right?"
“…”
"?"
“…???”
Silence is today's living room.
The sound of a folding fan opening shattered the silence. Phoenix smiled and said, "I've heard that the Dragon Clan possesses a secret technique that allows one to swear an oath with their soul, witnessed by the laws of Heaven, and use a brand to control others."
Time and the mission were heavy, and he didn't intend to argue with Xuan Lin for too long, so he got straight to the point: "I'm here in the hope that the Dragon Clan can remove the mark on You Lin and set him free. After all, if you put yourself in his shoes, I'm sure the Clan Leader wouldn't want to see his friend bound by a small mark for his entire life, wouldn't you agree?"
Xuan Lin laughed twice and glanced at You Lin: "It's not impossible to remove the mark on him."
You Lin raised his head upon hearing this, a glint in his eyes, but Xuan Lin changed the subject: "However, this 'brand' is the product of hundreds of years of hard work by our dragon clan. It's unreasonable to say that it can be removed just like that."
Phoenix curved her eyes and said, "Brother Xuan, just tell me what you want."
"I've heard that the Phoenix, a divine beast blessed by Heaven, has every inch of its flesh and blood a treasure that countless demons fight for." He paused deliberately, looking towards the Phoenix. "Especially, its heart blood."
"Master Patriarch, this is inappropriate." You Lin stood up with a leap.
Heart blood is extremely important to a demon. It is related to the demon's cultivation and lifeblood. If it loses too much, even if it survives, its cultivation will plummet. Xuan Lin did not hide his malice towards the Phoenix.
You Lin suddenly remembered a rumor he had heard before. The high-ranking dragons had probably been eyeing the Phoenix for a long time, and the disputes between territories were just excuses to cover up their actions against the Phoenix. In other words, the Phoenix was so powerful that it could strike back every time.
Fenghuang didn't notice You Lin's thoughts. His aura remained calm, and he wore a harmless smile. He didn't seem to mind the offense of Xuan Lin's words. "Oh? How many demons know about this?"
"Not much now, but I don't know what will happen in the future. After all, rumors are the most uncontrollable things." Xuan Lin also had a warm smile on his face.
The two big demons looked at each other, and they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, but the next second, the two energies collided with each other without any warning. In just a few breaths, the fragile room finally couldn't bear the weight and was crushed into pieces by the huge energy.
You Lin held his spear in front of Fenghuang, blocking some of the attack. After all, he was a battle-hardened warrior, and although his mind was still confused, his body had already reacted quickly.
Are you doing it now? So sudden?
"I can't give you my heart's blood, so it seems I can only rob you." Fenghuang wiped the fan carelessly.
"Really? Then come and try out this newly refined magical weapon of mine."
Xuan Lin transformed into his original form, a pitch-black dragon sighing in the air. The dust cleared, revealing the steel and iron hidden within the walls—a sealed cage. Fenghuang and You Lin were imprisoned within, while Xuan Lin, transformed into a giant dragon, had appeared outside at some point, gazing triumphantly at them.
Something had been done to the cage, and You Lin could even feel his energy draining away. At the same time, a group of well-trained dragon soldiers rushed out from the corner and surrounded the two people in the cage.
"You Lin, my good boy, you've done well. Capturing the phoenix this time is a great achievement for you. As long as you're willing to come back, I will treat you as if you've never betrayed me, and all that happened before will be written off. You will still be the Dragon Lord, the most trusted assistant to the next clan leader."
"A good sword is passed down for three generations?" Fenghuang couldn't help but complain. He patted You Lin's shoulder and suddenly found that the other's expression was not right.
"I was also part of the plan. Did you deliberately allow me to come into contact with Phoenix?"
"Yes, you are a crucial link in this game."
You Lin's face suddenly lost all color. He thought he had escaped control after encountering the Phoenix, but he didn't expect...
Indeed, the clan leader had long known his intentions. How could he have so confidently sent him to confront the dragon clan's mortal enemy? His alliance with the Phoenix must have been within their expectations, or perhaps, precisely what they wanted. Only then would the Phoenix, who loved to defend the weak, be willing to come here in search of a way to remove the brand.
The Phoenix had come to the clan's territory so many times and had escaped unscathed, so subconsciously, they would relax their vigilance. All they had to do was set a trap and add a chess piece that could be manipulated at any time...
"I was wondering why there were no defenses along the way. So they were waiting here." Phoenix knocked on the cage casually, and the dull thud interrupted You Lin's thoughts. "But You Lin can't go back. He's already signed a 'sale contract' with me. Heaven is my witness. He can't leave."
"And are you so confident that you can keep me?"
Xuan Lin laughed in anger. "Really? I can't really move you, but I don't think I can move You Lin." A golden light suddenly shone between its claws, forming a circular pattern. Presumably, that was the thing used to control You Lin. "You Lin, move!"
But the backstab scene he imagined did not occur. You Lin tightly gripped the spear in his hand. From an angle that Xuan Lin could not see, a flash of fiery red passed by his ear.
Xuan Lin was shocked and furious. "How dare you disobey my orders? Do you care about him so much that you would rather endure the pain of the backlash of the brand than disobey my orders? Don't forget, if I want you to, you will become a corpse in the next moment. Now, immediately, kill Fenghuang!"
As long as he could obtain the phoenix's source energy, he would be able to take a step closer to that legendary realm, even breaking free from the constraints of this world and cultivating into a true dragon. At that time, the dragon clan would become the most powerful clan, and anything they wanted would be within their reach.
The light in You Lin's eyes dimmed. "He is my companion. Father, I don't want to be stained with blood anymore."
"Don't forget your own identity, Youlin. You are not only yourself, you are also my son, the sharpest knife of the dragon clan. You should dedicate everything you have to the dragon clan, instead of disobeying me for a stranger." Xuanlin's voice suddenly turned cold.
"Dao... Even you think of me this way?" You Lin suddenly laughed, as if mocking himself.
He had always known how the rest of his race viewed him. A creature who should have been killed upon hatching, he had been kept alive because he displayed a powerful talent for cultivation, and trained to be the guardian blade of the dragon race. His only value lay in serving the dragon race; he was not supposed to have his own ideas or his own identity.
He had heard similar words many times and had long been accustomed to them, but when such words came from the mouth of the father he admired most, he still couldn't help feeling sad.
Xuan Lin frowned, but then seemed to remember something and said in a soft voice, "That's not what I meant. My good son, come back to me. Only when you are with your family can you realize your value."
You Lin was dazed for a moment, then immediately regained consciousness. "I'm sorry, father." He took a step back, expressing his refusal with his actions. "I won't go back. Now I have found my true value. I know what I truly want and what I should and shouldn't do. I will not betray Phoenix, and from now on I will never attack any of my own kind. Please, father, remove the brand and set me free."
Seeing that You Lin had made up his mind, Xuan Lin's eyes suddenly turned cold. The gentleness just now seemed to be just his illusion: "Freedom is the most ridiculous thing in the world. Without the dragon clan, how could you be where you are today? You have to obey this order whether you want to or not. Kill him!" After saying that, he immediately activated the brand, but for some reason, even if he used all his strength, the brand still did not respond.
The last glimmer of hope in You Lin's eyes disappeared. He pursed his lips and looked at Fenghuang silently.
"Let's end this farce." Phoenix sighed softly.
As the words fell, the energy within the cage suddenly surged. Eventually, it could no longer bear this enormous amount of energy and burst in front of Xuan Lin's incredulous gaze.
"How is that possible? It can clearly hold tens of thousands of years of cultivation. Even if all four fierce beasts were inside, they wouldn't be able to break free. How could you possibly do that?"
"Look at what you said, what can't the divine beast do?"
What followed was much the same as before. The soldiers took a beating and fled in all directions, and Phoenix didn't deliberately give them any trouble. As for Xuan Lin, he suffered a more miserable fate. Before he could show off his arrogance for long, he was mercilessly beaten back to human form, his face so bruised that even his own son couldn't recognize him.
But even so, he still had a rebellious look on his face, he refused to accept.
Xuan Lin glared viciously as he spat out a mouthful of blood, spilling several of his teeth along with it. "If I were the one blessed by Heaven, you'd be the one getting beaten to a pulp! Fenghuang, don't you call yourself You Lin's friend? If you dare to attack me again today, I'll detonate the brand and kill him instantly."
The folding fan knocked heavily on Xuan Lin's head: "Don't you realize that something is wrong? You can try, but if you really do this, everything will be completely irreversible."
"Are you trying to provoke me?" Xuan Lin seemed to want to struggle a little more. He sneered and said to You Lin, "Look, You Lin, you would rather betray your own tribe and follow him, but in fact, he doesn't care about your life or death at all. He is just using you--"
"I know." You Lin interrupted him, "The purpose of forming an alliance is to leverage the other party's power to achieve one's own goals. He's using me, and I'm using him, the same. Besides, I've never been recognized as a member of the Dragon Clan, so how can I be considered a betrayer?"
After so many years together, he knew what his nominal father was trying to say just by looking at his eyes. It was nothing more than "It's better to be used by your own people than by outsiders."
But since his birth, the only recognition he had received was from the Phoenix. It had nothing to do with power or status, but simply as the living individual that was "You Lin".
His own kind excluded him as an alien simply because his scales were a different color. Even after he was given the title of Dragon Lord, their gazes were still filled with fear and rejection.
In fact, You Lin didn't know which words touched him that day, making him choose to follow Fenghuang without hesitation. Now thinking about it, it might be that sentence - become one of my kind.
"Finding someone like me" was You Lin's only obsession when he was young.
"Father, I wonder if you've ever heard this saying: A gentleman will die for his friend. Even if Phoenix wants my life someday, I'll be willing to do it."
"You!" Xuan Lin was so angry that he puffed his beard and glared, and he couldn't breathe and fainted on the spot.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
