Divine Emperor of Death

Soon enough, when dusk fell and night came, Davis returned to Karlheinz Strom's crimson palace along with him before he was shown to his room there by a worker.

After some time passed where he laid low as if he was compliant, he looked at the exit of the room. His blank face now possessed an odd smile that said he would undoubtedly trouble the peaceful Burning Phoenix Ridge!

'Hehe... This palace's deeply firm walls, along with the formations placed, can surely stop even Mid-Level Law Rune Stage Powerhouses and Mid-Level Soul King Stage Experts from sneaking in, but unfortunately, I am a near Peak-Level King Soul Stage Expert with the addition of death-like energy's concealment prowess. Although it is not as potent as Fallen Heaven's, it still helps me stay concealed from even Peak-Level King Soul Stage Experts!'

'As long as I don't meet the Sect Master, or those old cronies, or perhaps a Soul Emperor, I should be fine. When I last checked, the Burning Phoenix Ridge didn't have a Soul Emperor...'

Davis inwardly rejoiced as he easily exited the crimson palace even while flying through the detection formation that was embedded inside the walls.

As he came out, he saw the dark sky lit up by a resplendent reddish light coming from the abodes and palaces, giving it a sense of grandness that he hadn't seen before.

The Burning Phoenix Ridge was not like a city as there were only members of the sect in this entire region. Their abodes and palaces were all built to float above the mountain ridges, looking scenic as well as magnificent when viewed from the sidelines. It was as if an entire city was one big and long road, while the buildings where people stayed were to the sides of the long and wide street.

Of course, as long as the mountain ridges intersected or separated, the brightly lit abodes and palaces will do the same, and in the night, they were spectacularly lit up like the sect had a festival every night. The sight was entirely dazzling that it mesmerized Davis of their wealth and extravagance.

'Hmm... If I recall correctly, one of the elders looked in that direction when mentioning top disciple Shirley's wrongful conduct about secretly killing top disciple Schneider, so it should be that way...'

Davis mused as he flew in concealment around the Burning Phoenix Ridge. He flew towards the direction the elder had looked and arrived at a cluster of palaces and abodes seemingly arranged in a position that irked the juvenile formation master inside him.

Even though he was not versed and knowledgeable in formations that were above Sky Grade, he saw that the placing had something to do with defense. Nevertheless, when he saw the dense amount of disciples flying around the area, walking on bridges that connected the abodes and palaces, he knew that he was probably in the right place.

He flew around, looking for abnormalities for a while before he noticed an extremely peculiar crimson palace.

'This crimson palace... It has a lot more experts watching the outside than the others... There's even a Low-Level King Soul Stage soul sense brushing past me and the surroundings around this crimson palace every few seconds, but it has failed to sense me as expected...'

Davis felt that since Shirley was said to have killed a Grand Elder's youngest child, this was at least expected. He felt that this should be the palace Shirley stays in unless it belonged to the other famous beauty, top disciple Verona.

However, he knew that disciples wouldn't be this guarded or monitored usually, so he felt that this crimson palace probably belonged to Shirley.

He looked around, noticing that the surrounding of this crimson palace was mostly sparse in noise while the eyes that monitored it were many.

Nevertheless, he didn't fear being caught as he entered the crimson palace in a carefree manner, right through the entrance as he landed on the surface and walked through the pathway.

He looked around and noticed similar Burning Phoenix patterns to those present in Elder Karlheinz Strom's crimson palace before discerning that perhaps top disciples and elders were treated the same in terms of accommodation and privileges. It made sense, considering that the top disciples were the cream of the crop who would become Grand Elders while even a Sect Master might be born from them.

While Davis walked, heading towards the place where he found two Law Dominion Stage undulations to be present, he also sensed a fearsome presence of a King Beast Stage Magical Beast towards the other side. He was rather astonished, thinking if it might be a little Fire Phoenix like Isabella has Mira, the little Earth Dragon, but then he noticed that this magical beast's aura was similar to the Burning Phoenixes he saw outside.

He inwardly cursed himself the next second for even considering it, as if there really were a Fire Phoenix here, it would've been taken away from Shirley without her consent, without a doubt. If Shirley really had a Fire Phoenix egg with her before it hatched while she nurtured it, then she obviously wouldn't bring it to the Burning Phoenix Ridge but leave it at a safe place or choose to leave it in the Grand Sea Continent like Isabella.

Nevertheless, he hadn't seen any sign of a Fire Phoenix being present in the Grand Sea Continent, so it was likely that the Fire Phoenix Immortal hadn't given Shirley one yet as she had only cleared the King Grade Trial.

Davis soon arrived at the room that seemed to have its doors closed. There was literally no soul sense active ever since he stepped into the crimson palace, so if he removed his concealment, the people outside still wouldn't know that he was here.

Nevertheless, his expression was a bit complicated as he stood behind the door.

His hesitation wasn't related to 'if he got the wrong person', because even though the undulations he felt were robust, fiery, and strong, he could sense a tiny similarity with Shirley's undulations when he fought her before. One of the undulations was undoubtedly hers, while the other undulation probably belonged to that follower named Esvele.

He almost absolutely knew that Shirley was behind this door!

'Wait a minute... The last time I sneaked into her palace thinking that she had something to say to me, she was sedated with an aphrodisiac. It wouldn't be the same this time, right...?'

Davis amusingly mused before he shrugged and moved forward. He directly phased through the door as a soul body. The door's composition that even stops Mid-Level King Soul Stage soul sense from entering failed to stop him.

His face and body phased out of the door as if he was passing through the void before what became visible in his eyes was a dazzling beauty, sitting on a table that was full of scrolls, making his heart skip a beat!

=======

[Investigate the activity of the Tripartite Alliance near the Forsaken Phoenix Realm]

"To think there was a miscellaneous mission like this... But, it makes sense, considering that the Forsaken Phoenix Realm is widely known to be unconquerable and hence, forsaken by the world..."

"Probably, most powers who have fire-attributed heritage would send people to look after the Tripartite Alliance's activities every opening to see if there are any changes..."

As Shirley spoke while reading a scroll, her voice echoed proudly and melodiously before she took another scroll and saw its content.

"Senior sister Shirley is well versed about this dangerous mini-realm... However, we are unable to enter such a mini-realm as it is said that its requirement is rather low." Esvele wryly uttered.

'Heh... Of course, I am well versed. After all, I was born in that very same mini-realm...' Shirley simply smiled.

She kept looking at the scroll's content, which was full of garbage, not a worthwhile mention even to the workers. The points it awarded were so low, and even the previous mission of investigating the Tripartite Alliance's movements near the Forsaken Phoenix Realm was worth so few that no one bothered to take the mission.

If a top disciple like her took any of these missions, she knew that she would definitely arouse suspicion! And even if she didn't arouse suspicion, she knew that she would undoubtedly be followed!

"Tch...! These are all useless!"

Shirley became annoyed as she threw the scroll away, looking angered.

"How can I go see my Davis if I don't have a valid reason to excuse myself from this place!? Even those bothersome people are monitoring me ever since the trial ended while the matter about Schneider's death was dropped! How outrageous! Abominable! That Valerian and his wretched sons! I'll show them who I am soon enough..."

"Senior sister Shirley, please calm down. It's not like you don't know your limits. We'll quickly die if we go toe to toe with a Grand Elder like that, and even if you have the Sect Master's protection, we can't rely on it as it only takes a single wave of Valerian's hands to kill us!" Esvele panicked as she tried to placate.

Shirley took a deep breath before possessing a wry expression on her face, "Unfortunately, I'm a woman. They wouldn't kill me because I have other uses for them..."

Esvele's expression froze before she couldn't help but be angered on behalf of Shirley. However, her expression froze again as she caught sight of a... scroll.

Shirley noticed Esvele's shocked expression before she turned to look and saw that the scroll she threw was actually floating mid-air with apparently nothing holding it!

"!!!"

Her fiery red pupils instantly dilated into two tiny slits. It wasn't even an instant before her figure flashed and grabbed Esvele out of the way as she gained distance from the scroll!

"Who!???"

A talisman instantly appeared in her hand as she pointed towards the hanging scroll, her hand looking as if she was about to crush it!

*Whoosh!~*

Shirley had just landed when she could feel a tiny breeze rush past her. Her eyes moved to the side as she saw Esvele be safe in her other arm as she held her waist, but she noticed that the distress talisman that she held to summon the Sect Master was gone.

It was not in her hold anymore.

Her heart fell, but the next second, she saw the back of a blonde-haired, black-robed figure appearing in her view, turning to look at her with a relieved smile on their face.

"Shirley, your reaction speed was so impeccable, even I had sweat rolling down my face..."

A charming and attractive voice echoed, causing Shirley to freeze in shock as she found this voice awfully familiar. Her heart skipped a beat while her body felt an immense chill that her body went stiff. Her eyes swiftly began to churn with moistness while her lips became slightly agape with intense emotions causing her heart to begin rapidly beating.

"Davis...?"

A voice of intense longing echoed, causing Davis to awkwardly smile.

"It's been a long time, Shirley..."