Chapter 576: Fen Ling’s Confession.
Chapter 576: Chapter 576: Fen Ling’s Confession.
Back in the palace room, Li Feng’s frown deepened as he finished listening to Fen Ling’s explanation.
The First Emissary.
The carefully prepared trap.
The deadly formation.
And then the sudden appearance of the Second Emissary, the Lone Harbinger, ruining all of it.
The more he heard, the darker his expression became.
But then he suddenly paused.
"...Wait a minute."
Li Feng blinked at himself.
Why did he need to care about all these people and their schemes in the first place?
Peng Jianwei was one thing.
He already had some personal beef with that guy, and with his future self’s warning still fresh in his mind, paying close attention to him made sense.
But the rest of it?
The sect’s failed plans, the power struggles, the endless layers of schemes behind the scenes...
None of that was truly his responsibility.
Fen Ziyan’s calamity had been cleared.
Yue Lan’s crisis had also been resolved.
If this wasn’t a good time to relax... then when was?
Li Feng turn to looked at Fen Ling.
She was still smiling sincerely, her cool hand continuing its steady, deliberate movements around his little brother as if the heavy conversation and his darkening mood had done nothing to disturb her composure.
He scoffed inwardly.
Because... even now, she still hadn’t told him everything.
His fingers shifted over the bare breast in his grip, found the stiffened pink bead, and pinched it.
The soft peak was already firm under his touch, and he pressed it harder between his fingers as his voice turned cold.
"I believe you haven’t told me everything, Your Majesty."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"If you keep being like this... I find it hard to be sincere with you in return."
Fen Ling’s breath caught slightly as his fingers pinched down on the stiffened peak.
Even so, her expression remained composed.
The sharp stimulation made her lashes lower for a brief moment, but she did not pull away.
Instead, the hand wrapped around him tightened just a little, her strokes continuing with steady control as if matching the pressure he was giving her.
After a short silence, she let out a soft breath and looked back at him.
"...You’re right," she said quietly. "There is still more."
Fen Ling’s cool fingers continued their steady movements as she spoke after a soft sigh.
"Well, let’s start with why I became the Empress of the Fen Dynasty."
"The reason I became the Empress of the Fen Dynasty... is because of my bloodline."
She glanced at him, crimson eyes steady.
"I’m sure you already know that I carry a dragon bloodline. For people like me, every breakthrough is ridiculous in its demand. Ordinary resources mean almost nothing. Each advancement requires a special treasure... and not just any treasure, but one uniquely suited to the individual. Without it, no amount of cultivation will open the next path."
Her hand tightened slightly around his little brother as she continued.
"I never found mine. Because of that, I remained stuck at the Peak of the Golden Core Realm for many decades."
Then a faint, complicated look passed through her eyes.
"It was only later that my Ancestor told me... the thing I seek would appear within the Fen Dynasty."
Li Feng’s fingers remained on the soft peak of her breast as he listened, his earlier irritation settling into sharper attention.
And Fen Ling continued without rushing.
"Once I received that guidance, I immediately came to the Fen Dynasty. At the time, I had no intention of involving myself deeply in its court. I only needed to remain close enough to wait for the opportunity my Ancestor spoke of."
"And through negotiation with the Emperor, I eventually entered the palace. But even he doesn’t know my true intention."
A faint, amused breath escaped her.
"Hehe... he agreed to make me his Empress because it brought him enormous prestige. A powerful genius from the Long Dynasty becoming the Empress of Fen was something he could never have obtained through ordinary means."
Her fingers tightened slightly around Li Feng as she added,
"...And it wasn’t only prestige. It was deterrence as well."
Fen Ling’s lips curved slightly as she continued in a lighter tone.
"Then again... it seems the Emperor truly intended to court me for real."
A soft, almost dismissive breath left her as her cool fingers kept moving around Li Feng with the same unhurried control.
"...But he’s too weak for my taste, and I have no intention of living the rest of my life as an Empress."
Then her smile gradually faded.
When she spoke again, her voice had grown more serious.
"After many years of searching for the clue my Ancestor spoke of, I came to understand one thing."
Her cool fingers continued their steady movements, but her crimson eyes were no longer carrying that earlier amusement.
"The Fen Imperial family has a connection with the Crimson Phoenix from the past... and that Divine Beast left its Everlasting Crimson Flame with them. And if anything, that Divine Beast flame might be the key to my long decades of bottleneck."
Li Feng, who had been enjoying both the cool movement of her hand and the soft weight of her breast in his grip while listening carefully, paused slightly at that part.
His thoughts stirred.
He couldn’t help remembering his future self’s words.
Take Fen Ling’s virginity in order to make Fen Ziyan’s Nirvana process faster...
Could it be... that the future him wanted him to use dual cultivation to help Fen Ling break through, and then obtain that flame afterward?
At the moment, that was the only logical conclusion he could think of.
Fen Ling didn’t notice his brief pause and continued with a faint smile.
"That was also why I was absent during the first night attack. At that time, I had obtained a clue regarding its location, so I left the palace to investigate."
Her cool fingers kept their steady rhythm as she spoke.
"...But thinking about it now, that clue was probably just Peng Jianwei’s way of luring me out."
Fen Ling continued without pause.
"And not long after that, Leng Qianxue came to me with a deal. She said she would tell me the location of the Inheritance Ground of the Fen Family... the place where the Everlasting Crimson Flame should be kept."
Her fingers tightened slightly around him as she spoke.
"So I agreed."
A wry smile curved across her lips.
"Which is why I wasn’t inside the capital when the flames engulfed everything."