Divine Emperor of Death

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame's body trembled. His hands shivered as he raised them before clenching his fists like he was still a youth who felt excitement.

"Do-do you know which of my two descendants became Seven-Colored Phoenixes?"

Davis pursed his lips, "One of them is unknown, but I know the identity of the other one. It's probably your last son, Killian Zenflame's father."

"!!!"

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame grinned, "I knew Kerez would be successful as he had shown the most promise out of all my descendants!"

"Unfortunately, he's going to end up dead as well since he's going to want to take revenge for you and his son."

"Tsk, tsk." Ancestor Reselius Zenflame shook his head, "If Kerez had been here, you would've never grown strong enough, as you wouldn't have survived your first day in the First Haven World."

Davis couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at this proud father. However, who knew what he was proud of as he was the type to abandon his descendants if they weren't useful?

"It's okay to be proud of your seed, but you still haven't answered my question yet."

"That's right. Where were we? Ah, yes. What exactly is the Seven-Colored Phoenix? I first came to know of it when some memories were unlocked when one of my descendants became a King-Tier Fire Phoenix. We came to know that the Seven-Colored Phoenix is a descendant of a Paragon Magical Beast like the Fire Phoenix and other phoenixes, but closer to the primordial bloodline we've ever known."

"However, the Seven-Colored Phoenix is quite peculiar in the sense that it doesn't fully exhibit our path. Despite the reverence I hold for the Seven-Colored Phoenix, I can't help but think it is half-assed. I mean, why does it have control over seven attributes when a magical beast is best suited to have one or two attributes? Even the Azure Dragon, which is a converging point in most dragons, stays true to its previous self."

"For example, an Earth Dragon that became an Azure Dragon retains its earth-attribute one hundred percent. A Fire Dragon that became an Azure Dragon retains its fire attribute one hundred percent. Similarly, a Seven-Colored Phoenix should retain its previous attributes, but that's not always the case. We end up having three to seven more attributes, which diminishes our two main attributes."

"A Fire Phoenix that becomes a Seven-Colored Phoenix at least retains fifty percent of its fire attribute with the rest going to the other three or six attributes, which are wind, earth, wood, light, darkness, and finally nirvana, which all phoenixes are born with, even the lowly Burning Phoenix. As direct manifestations, they represent the pure-blooded Fire Phoenix, Wind Phoenix, Earth Phoenix, Wood Phoenix, Light Phoenix, and Darkness Phoenix while the nirvanic nature connects us all."

"Earth Phoenix and Wood Phoenixes…"

Davis uttered, recollecting his memories from the memories he plundered.

In the First Haven World, there were the Ice Phoenix Clan, Fire Phoenix Clan, Golden Phoenix Clan, Wind Phoenix Clan, Light Phoenix Clan, Dark Phoenix Clan, and Burning Phoenix Clan.

However, the Ice Phoenix Clan was a result of breeding between the Fire Phoenix and Blue Luan Clan, while the Burning Phoenix Clan is the result of breeding between the Fire Phoenix Clan and Vermilion Bird, so these two cannot be considered pure breeds.

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame looked at Davis's doubtful expression and explained.

"Yes, the lives of Earth Phoenixes and Wood Phoenixes are rarer according to the memories, but they should still exist in the true immortal world."

Davis nodded, "Apparently, the Earth Phoenixes couldn't maintain their bloodline purity for too long and eventually became Golden Phoenixes as they adapted to Gold Laws of Metal Laws while the Wood Phoenixes, who were known for their extreme vitality were hunted to extinction billions of years ago and is said to have died out."

"Oh…"

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame blinked, appearing saddened for a moment before he continued.

"When we become a Seven-Colored Phoenix, our nirvanic flames undergo a qualitative change alright, making our prowess stronger, but the flame itself isn't becoming stronger by much as it should be. To the primordial bloodline, this may not be a flaw, but to me, I consider this a huge flaw. It costs us our prowess, but I want to become stronger than that, so I have never deigned to take King-Tier Blood or Emperor-Tier Blood, wanting to achieve a variance that will fully accommodate Fire Laws and Nirvanic Laws of the Fire Phoenix!"

"…"

Davis narrowed his eyes as he heard about Ancestor Reselius Zenflame's lofty ambitions.

His view lay further than the Candidacy, further than bringing glory to the Fire Phoenix Lower Realm, further than anything else other than gaining absolute strength that would challenge the likes of the Upper Realms. Such a dream was being dreamt by this man before him.

"In your clan, there should've been a Four-Winged Fire Phoenix, a variant Fire Phoenix that was born many years ago. Did you rob it of its blood at the end of its life?"

"You're talking about the Blood Soul Contract, which was made from that Four-Winged Fire Phoenix's wings to enslave the fourth inheritor?"

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame appeared amused before he shook his head, "He was strong but was still not what I was looking for, so I didn't go as far as to kill or entrap him. He died in a war, so except his wings, nothing else was found, sadly."

"As for me, I want more power." He looked up at the ceiling and roared, "More power!"

Davis still sat nonchalantly, "And what did you find?"

"Nothing."

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame turned to look at him, spreading his hands.

"I still haven't even entered the true immortal world to research more, so how can I possibly come up with a variant mutation that's better than the Four-Winged Fire Phoenix or the subsequent, natural mutation, which is the Seven-Colored Phoenix?"

Davis's lips curled, "I'm not falling for that. If you somehow regained your crippled cultivation, then you would've long ascended. The fact that you didn't mean that you had a plan in mind."

"No, no. I was waiting for the Candidacy to begin, wanting to see the result with my own eyes. Unfortunately, a disaster like you came by, leaving me with no choice but to shamelessly resort to retreating to a mini realm like a turtle, but here you are, cornering me into a dead end."

'I am indeed Dead End…'

Davis inwardly laughed, but he still wasn't convinced someone who had the Fire Phoenix Clan under control for millions of years wouldn't have anything else to rely on.

"Still, you cannot kill me as you please, as I want to die on my own terms. In exchange, I'll offer you the Fire Phoenix Clan's Legacy Artifacts, unbound with no strings attached."

"…?"

Davis titled his head, wondering what this fool was up to.

However, a scarlet crown and a scarlet sword abruptly appeared in front of him.

They both exuded powerful auras of flame and nirvana. The scarlet sword appeared to be particularly threatening to Davis as he felt like it was able to unleash karmic attacks with its nirvanic properties.

Regardless, he didn't twitch, much less stand in caution, still having a nonchalant expression on his face.

Great Ancestor Zenflame waved his hands, causing the two Legacy Artifacts to tremble while blood fell from his mouth.

"The crown is the treasure I used to control other powerful entities, including King-Tier and Emperor-Tier Fire Phoenixes born into the clan before they could mature. It has never left my side as I have enslaved it, but now, I'm finally freeing it. The other treasure is the sword, which punishes and brings retribution to the enemies of the Fire Phoenix Clan. They're both capable of struggling against Peak-Level Immortal Emperors, so killing you should've been easier than flicking my fingers, but-"

"You win. Your trump card is indecipherable, and your prowess is way beyond my comprehension. You lie at the realm I want to reach, so I can also painfully understand that I cannot reach such a realm even if I am able to reincarnate a thousand times..."

*Rumble!!!~*

Abruptly, the surroundings began to shake as though a huge tremor was shaking the space.

"Hence, I will commit suicide in this collapsing mini realm and entrust the Legacy Artifacts to you to be taken back to the fourth inheritor who will rule the Fire Phoenix Clan!"

Ancestor Reselius Zenflame pushed forward the artifacts toward Davis, causing Davis to turn heavily suspicious, but even with his senses probing the artifacts, he could no longer sense a blood or soul connection to Ancestor Reselius Zenflame!