Mark

"As expected of Xiaoyao, amazing! From now on, your big brother will have to rely on your protection."

Mo Tianxiao put Huang Xiaoyao down. He was genuinely happy for her, but at the same time, a little envious.

Awakening her bloodline once actually caused her cultivation to skyrocket straight from the Profound Connection Realm to the Dharma Idol Realm. Was this even remotely reasonable?

Even using cheat codes wouldn't be this exaggerated.

With her cheating like this, how was a guy like him, who could only desperately commit bad deeds, supposed to feel?

"Hmph! Don't worry, Big Brother Tianxiao! From now on, when we go robbing, just follow behind me. Leave the head-bashing to me, and you can just wait to collect the loot!"

A smile appeared on Mo Tianxiao's face as he reached out and rubbed Huang Xiaoyao's head.

Seriously, even though her body had grown up, her thoughts were still a bit naive. Why was she always thinking about robbing people?

When the opportunity arose, he still needed to guide Xiaoyao onto the right path. He couldn't let her keep taking shortcuts!

While taking shortcuts felt great, the risks were too high.

Mo Tianxiao looked up at Huang Miaoyin's phantom and asked in a low voice, "Senior, Xiaoyao has finished her awakening. We should be able to leave now, right?"

He couldn't wait to leave this gloomy place. Spending all day only able to chat with this old woman and having to read her moods, this feeling of living under someone else's roof was too suffocating!

Huang Miaoyin looked at the two of them without moving, her veiled eyes revealing a trace of displeasure.

"Xiaoyao, you go out first. I have something to discuss with him."

"Eh?"

Mo Tianxiao's expression froze. What did she mean? She still wasn't going to let him go?

"Se-Senior, a lone man and a lone woman, isn't that inappropriate? Xiaoyao isn't an outsider either. If you have something to say, just say it."

Huang Xiaoyao also looked at Huang Miaoyin, firmly choosing to stand by Mo Tianxiao's side. If they were leaving, they would leave together. Although the probability was small, she was still a bit worried that the Ancestor might do something harmful to her Big Brother Tianxiao.

However, Huang Miaoyin had no intention of discussing it. With a light raise of her hand, the grand doors of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Ancestral Land slowly opened, and Huang Xiaoyao's figure flew out uncontrollably.

Clang!

"Xiaoyao? You succeeded? Where is little friend Mo?"

Feng Chenfeng, who had been waiting at the door all along, showed a joyful expression. Just as he was about to step forward, he heard a heavy thud, and the grand doors shut tightly.

"Big Brother Tianxiao was kept inside by the Ancestor! Dad, hurry and open the door, save Big Brother Tianxiao!"

Hearing Huang Xiaoyao's words, Feng Chenfeng was puzzled, but seeing her anxious state, he immediately pressed his hand against the center of the door, preparing to open it first to check the situation.

"Hm? It won't open?"

He pressed his palm against the groove of the door and channeled his power, but the door gave no reaction whatsoever.

"It seems the Ancestor does not want us to disturb them. Xiaoyao, just wait. The Ancestor wouldn't go so far as to harm a junior."

Feng Chenfeng was not worried about Mo Tianxiao's safety. Since he had been able to stay in the Ancestral Land for so long, it meant the Ancestor likely bore no hostility toward him.

Given the conditions the Ancestor set for awakening the bloodline, perhaps she was discussing matters concerning Xiaoyao with him.

Thinking of this, a look of admiration appeared on Feng Chenfeng's face. The Ancestor truly worried endlessly for the sake of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix clan.

Even while far away in another land, her heart was still tied to her clansmen.

"Senior, so you could open the door all along?"

Mo Tianxiao looked at Huang Miaoyin's phantom, his body slowly backing away.

"Yes, I lied to you before simply because I didn't want to let you out."

Huang Miaoyin admitted it openly.

Raising her hand slightly, a surge of energy enveloped Mo Tianxiao's body, lifting him up.

"Se-Senior, please don't do this, I'm scared."

As Mo Tianxiao's body gradually drew closer to Huang Miaoyin, he felt extremely nervous.

A woman's mind was hard enough to guess, but he absolutely could not see through an old woman of this caliber.

Huang Miaoyin didn't speak. She slowly opened her hazy arms and embraced Mo Tianxiao, resting her head on his shoulder. Her voice sounded by his ear, "Don't move. Let me hold you for a while."

Her icy tone seemed to melt a little in that moment. Mo Tianxiao actually felt a trace of gentleness, and his body stopped struggling.

Could it be that this old woman mistook him for the scumbag who dumped her in the past? Or did he resemble an old friend?

"Hiss!"

In the next instant, a burst of intense pain from his left chest immediately made him dispel that thought. "Senior!?"

A warm sensation spread across his chest. At some unknown point, Huang Miaoyin's palm had pressed against Mo Tianxiao's chest. The Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix statue instantly erupted with an intense light, illuminating the entire Ancestral Land.

The blinding light swallowed their figures.

"Ahhh!!!"

Following that, Mo Tianxiao let out a miserable howl. The terrifying piercing power of his voice was no less than the sound Huang Xiaoyao made when she awakened her bloodline earlier. It shot straight out of the Ancestral Land, causing both Feng Chenfeng and Huang Xiaoyao to shudder.

"That sound... it's Big Brother Tianxiao!! Is he in danger!?"

Hearing this scream, Huang Xiaoyao's small face instantly turned pale.

"Big Brother Tianxiao!"

Boundless spiritual energy erupted from her body as Huang Xiaoyao frantically attacked the doors of the Ancestral Land, her expression filled with extreme anxiety.

"Dad, hurry up and help!"

Brought back to his senses by Huang Xiaoyao's shout, Feng Chenfeng muttered, "This shouldn't be... Why would the Ancestor strike out at a junior?"

Although he didn't want to believe it, listening to Mo Tianxiao's heart-wrenching screams forced him to doubt his own assumptions.

Could it be that little friend Mo offended the Ancestor in some way?

"Xiaoyao, don't waste your effort. Without the Ancestor's permission, it won't open."

"Don't worry too much. Although little friend Mo's screams are miserable, it at least proves he's still alive.

"With the Ancestor's strength, even if it's just a trace of a projection, if she really wanted to kill little friend Mo, she wouldn't need to go to such lengths. Perhaps things aren't what we imagine them to be."

At this moment, how could Huang Xiaoyao listen to her father's words? She continued to attack the door with reckless abandon.

However, how could she possibly shatter the branches of the Heaven-Reaching Divine Tree?

"Dammit!! What in the world is happening!?"

Huang Xiaoyao pounded the door with an unwilling expression. Listening to the miserable screams coming from inside, she couldn't help but grit her teeth as a layer of mist instantly welled up in her eyes.

Big Brother Tianxiao had ended up in this situation all because of her. Please, please don't let anything happen to him!

Meanwhile, inside the Ancestral Land.

Enveloped in agony, Mo Tianxiao's face was contorted. His brain could no longer think normally; it was going to break!

It wasn't just physical pain; even his soul was howling.

Although he didn't know how painful it felt to have one's soul refined, he could guarantee that his current suffering was absolutely hundreds, if not thousands, of times more painful than being refined into the Human Emperor Banner.

Most importantly, he just couldn't freaking pass out!

This old woman really wanted his life!

Master, Tianxiao can no longer show you filial piety. Junior Sister Wan'er, your senior brother will never be able to enjoy your small hand massages again. System, you are about to lose the daddy who loves you the most...

"Stop howling, it's already over."

A slightly exhausted voice sounded, its tone somewhat impatient.

"A grown man like you, is there a need to scream and shout so much?"

"Eh? I didn't die again?"

The pain slowly subsided. Mo Tianxiao opened his eyes. The white light had disappeared, and the Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix statue had somehow cracked with countless fissures, as if it would shatter in the very next second.

As for the hazy phantom before him, it had dimmed countless times over, becoming nearly transparent.

"Senior... you..."

Feeling a piercing pain in his chest, Mo Tianxiao slowly lowered his head. A bright red feather mark had appeared on his chest, radiating a scorching heat.

"What is this?!"

To be branded with a mark belonging exclusively to the senior! He... he was no longer pure!?