Chapter 130: Now, Only a Single "What the Hell!" Remains!

"Young Master Chen, please come with me."

The Holy Empress beckoned to Chen Changsheng and his daughter. As the three exited the main Demon Palace, the Empress extended her fair, slender hand and slowly enveloped the pair. A palm force, vast as an ocean, emanated gently from her hand, forming a blue barrier that encased father and daughter.

"Rise!"

With a soft command and a graceful lift of her arm, the blue barrier carrying them drifted upward.

"Is this what it feels like to fly?" Chen Changsheng murmured. It was his first time experiencing such a sensation. A flicker of resentment stirred within him: *Blame that useless world system. If it had only given me a proper start, I would be soaring through the heavens by now. Instead, all I’m left with is a giant 'What the hell!'*

The Holy Empress cradled the blue barrier in her palm and ascended. Before long, they landed on the central peak of the Sacred Domain, arriving directly at the small stone hill at its heart.

"Demon Holy Empress, why have you come?"

Beneath the Tree of the Divine Phoenix, the Ancient Emperor sat cross-legged, his meditation interrupted. Seeing the Empress arrive with Chen Changsheng and his daughter, he frowned slightly. He had been plotting how to deal with the Princess of the Spring and Autumn Sacred Kingdom, never expecting the Empress to appear so suddenly. He had spent years meditating here like a fool, fruitlessly waiting for the drop of the Divine Phoenix Progenitor’s blood essence that the Empress had already claimed long ago. If not for Bai’er telling him the truth earlier, he would still be wasting his time here—it was a monumental joke.

"Oh, the Ancient Emperor is here as well. What a coincidence. Greetings, Ancient Emperor." The Empress, oblivious to the fact that the Ancient Emperor had been engaged in such a foolish endeavor, glided forward and bowed respectfully.

"Hmm. Why have you suddenly come here?" the Ancient Emperor asked indifferently. If the blood essence were still with the Empress, he would have struck her down on the spot to claim it.

The Empress glanced at Chen Changsheng and his daughter, smiling faintly at the Ancient Emperor. "Young Master Chen and his daughter heard rumors of this ancient tree in the Sacred Domain and grew curious, so I brought them to take a look."

"Young Master Chen?"

The Ancient Emperor’s eyes flickered, and he looked at Chen Changsheng with unexpected interest. *Is this the Young Master Chen that Bai’er mentioned?* He focused his senses, quietly probing the man's aura—he was indeed just an ordinary man with no cultivation at all.

"So, it is Young Master Chen. Welcome to the Sacred Domain!" The Ancient Emperor offered a thin smile. Looking at the handsome, powerless man, he pondered to himself: *What could such an ordinary person possibly possess that makes the entire Demon race bow and scrape before him?*

"Oh, greetings, Ancient Emperor. I am Chen Changsheng." Chen Changsheng offered a perfunctory, polite nod, then lost interest and tilted his head to study the ancient tree. As a mere mortal, he had no interest in peak experts like the Ancient Emperor. If it came to a fight, he figured the Blood Demon Ancestor could handle him without much trouble. Thus, he chose to simply ignore him.

"Wow, Daddy, this tree is huge!" Chen Die'er gripped her father’s hand tightly, exclaiming, "Daddy, why does this tree grow to be so big?"

"Because it has existed for an incredibly long time," Chen Changsheng replied, feeling a sense of awe himself. He knew this was no ordinary tree; after all, the Divine Phoenix bloodline within Princess Qianxue had originated from a single seed from this very tree. It undoubtedly had a profound connection to the Divine Phoenix clan.

Chen Die'er’s focus, however, was elsewhere. Her sparkling eyes blinked rapidly as she sighed, "Daddy, if you chopped this tree down to carve it, you could definitely make so many masterpieces."

"Naturally." A look of pride flickered across Chen Changsheng’s face as he rubbed his chin. "My carving skills are quite good, and given the age of this wood, the quality must be exceptional. If I were to carve it, I’m sure I could produce some top-tier works."

"Mhm." Chen Die'er nodded earnestly. "Daddy, you should study it well. I wonder what kind of pieces you could carve out of such a large tree."

With that, she stared intently at the tree, clearly already beginning her research.

The Ancient Emperor stood frozen, his jaw dropped to the floor. *Heaven help me, this father and daughter are actually discussing how to carve up this sacred tree? Are they serious? Where on earth did this bizarre pair come from?*

The Holy Empress, standing respectfully beside them, felt her heart race and her chest heave. *As expected of someone from the World of Immortals and Gods. In the eyes of this pair, such a sacred tree is merely raw material for carving! It is... simply too imposing!*

Just then, Chen Die'er gasped. "Wow, the tree is turning into a seven-colored Divine Phoenix!" She instinctively stepped back, her delicate face filled with shock. "Daddy, this tree is so strange! Every time you stare at it, it turns into a seven-colored Divine Phoenix. It really is worth a good study!"

"Die'er, it really turns into a seven-colored Divine Phoenix? That is strange," Chen Changsheng said, brimming with curiosity. "Let me try, too." He fixed his gaze on the ancient tree, completely ignoring the Empress and the Ancient Emperor.

Sure enough, moments later, Chen Changsheng saw the tree erupt in a brilliant, dazzling seven-colored radiance. The massive, gnarled trunk began to distort.

*Screech!*

In the blink of an eye, the ancient tree transformed into a seven-colored Divine Phoenix, letting out a sharp cry.

"Holy cow, it really does turn into a phoenix." Chen Changsheng was startled. *This tree is no simple thing—absolutely not! No wonder the Empress found a seed here that gave Princess Qianxue the Divine Phoenix bloodline.*

The Blood Demon Ancestor’s voice echoed in his mind: "Young Master Chen, it is confirmed. This is a Tree of the Divine Phoenix, surely planted by an ancestor of the clan."

"Indeed, it must be!" Chen Changsheng agreed.

The Blood Demon Ancestor continued, "Then we can conclude that in the distant past, the Divine Phoenix clan resided in this Sacred Domain. Now that only the tree remains, there are two possibilities: either the clan was wiped out, or they migrated."

"Makes sense," Chen Changsheng whispered to himself, listening intently.