Chapter 0214: Nicole’s Danger

Not long after news of the Sea Tribe’s Sea Festival spread, word arrived once again that the several sacred realms of the Leiyan Palace, along with over a hundred thousand guards, had been completely annihilated by the Yellow Dragon.
All were shocked once more.
The entire Leiyan Palace in a radius of a hundred miles vanished, replaced by a giant handprint.
Some people couldn’t resist going to take a look.
Everyone who witnessed this terrifying sight was stunned.
The thunderous flames emanating from that giant handprint had not dissipated, and even some powerful beings from the sacred realms dared not approach.
News of the Leiyan Palace reached Dragon Island.
The dragons, who had been hiding on Dragon Island thinking they were completely safe, became panicked.
They knew the defensive power of Dragon Island’s magic array was no less than theirs own. If the Yellow Dragon could break it so easily, what would happen to their island?
“Why panic?!” roared Eino, the ancestral dragon of Dragon Island, from atop the Dragon Palace.
Only then did the elders in the palace regain their composure, stammering and too afraid to respond.
Eino’s expression darkened as he coldly scanned the crowd in the hall, remaining silent.
“Dragon Island—Zewei isn’t here, nor are Jeler and the sacred realms of the Leiyan Palace. That’s why the Yellow Dragon took advantage!” Eino paused.
The palace fell into silence, heavy with tension.
“With me in charge of Dragon Island’s defense magic array, how could the Yellow Dragon possibly break through?” Eino said coldly after a while.
The elders stepped forward, praising Eino’s greatness, saying that with him as the ancestral leader, how could such a mere Yellow Dragon succeed? Some even claimed that if the Yellow Dragon came, Eino would ensure it never returned, trapping it in Dragon Island’s magic array before killing it.
But as this elder made such claims, all the elders in the palace, including the Dragon Emperor Fli, stared at him with strange expressions.
Feeling their odd gazes, though dragons were tough-skinned, he couldn’t help but blush. He realized he had gone too far with his boasts.
Yet Eino burst into laughter. “Good! Well said!”
“That Yellow Dragon, a lowly human—if it dares to come, this ancestral leader will ensure it never returns!”
“I’ll use the power of Dragon Island’s dragon crystals to trap it in the magic array and then kill it!”
As Eino spoke, the elder’s blush turned into joy. “Of course! If the ancestral leader kills the Yellow Dragon, its might will intimidate all others—who would dare not submit?”
Eino laughed heartily.

Dragon Emperor Fli stood there, sneering inwardly.
All those claims from the dragon clan were nothing but bluster.
Traps? Killing them?
When the Yellow Dragon arrived, they would surely be terrified beyond measure.
Was he really supposed to sit here and wait for death?! Dragon Emperor Fli’s gaze was cold and unforgiving.
No! How could he, Dragon Emperor Fli, simply give up! How could he be defeated by a mere human?! Recalling how the sea gods on the sea tribe’s altar had intended to marry the Sea Queen Euman to the Yellow Dragon, and the gloating looks from the sea tribes toward him, Dragon Emperor Fli could hardly suppress his murderous intent.
“Apton! I’ll make you realize that I am Euman’s true choice!”
“I, Dragon Emperor Fli, will make everyone in the Eternal Realm know that I am the strongest!”
Dragon Emperor Fli clenched his fists.
“Fli.” As if sensing his unwillingness and murderous rage, Eino spoke from atop the dragon palace.
Hearing his ancestor Eino call him, Dragon Emperor Fli quickly regained his composure and replied respectfully, “Here, ancestor!”
“Ancestor, I know you’re still thinking about that girl Euman.” With that, Eino sighed, seemingly pitying Dragon Emperor Fli as well, but then his tone turned stern as he said, “At that time, it was understandable for the sea gods led by Apton to make that choice. Now, the dragon clan is not what it used to be. So, regarding the sea clan, no matter how unwilling you are, you must accept it.”
“I certainly don’t want the dragon clan to clash or oppose the sea clan over this matter, understand?!”
Eino’s voice echoed, accompanied by a pressure that weighed down on everyone.
Dragon Emperor Fli appeared panicked. “Please rest assured, ancestor. Fli knows full well he will never cause any trouble for the dragon clan because of this.”
Eino’s pressure receded like a tide, and he nodded. “It’s good that you think that way.”
Yet, he did not see the sneer on Dragon Emperor Fli’s face as he lowered his head.
“Alright, everyone, go back. Without further orders, no one is allowed to leave!” Eino said after a while.
“Yes, ancestor!”
Everyone retreated.
After Dragon Emperor Fli and the other dragon clan elders left the dragon palace, they returned to his own dragon palace.
Once back, Dragon Emperor Fli paced back and forth, his expression uncertain, as if struggling with a difficult decision. After a while, he stopped, raised his head with determination, and flew out of his palace toward the outside of the Dragon Island.
“Your Majesty, the Dragon Emperor!” Just as Dragon Emperor Fli was about to leave the Dragon Island, two dragon clan elders on duty above the island stepped forward respectfully.
“May we ask where Your Majesty is going?” one of the elders asked cautiously after bowing.

Judging by the situation, without the Ancestor Eino’s token, even the Dragon Emperor Fli couldn’t leave the island.
“Dare you!” The Dragon Emperor Fli glared angrily, his dragon power surging forth. “Do I have to report where I’m going to you?!”
Faced with the Dragon Emperor Fli’s pressure, the two dragon elders trembled and quickly said in low voices, “We dare not!”
“Get out of my way!” the Dragon Emperor Fli ordered harshly.
The two elders hesitated for a moment before finally stepping aside.
The Dragon Emperor Fli snorted coldly and flew away.
The two elders exchanged glances as they watched him leave.
“Do you think we should report this to the Ancestor?” one of them asked.
“Report it? Now that the Dragon Emperor has already left, and we only report now—what do you think the Ancestor will do?” the other elder replied gravely.
“All we can do now is keep our eyes closed. Hopefully, the Dragon Emperor won’t cause any trouble this time.”
“Do you think he might be going to see the Sea Queen Yuman?”
“See Yuman?” The elder showed disdain and sneered, “After chasing her for a thousand years without success, and barely getting to meet her, the Sea God Apton already wants to arrange her marriage. If it were me, would I even have the face to go?”
The other elder sighed inwardly but said nothing, knowing he was referring to the incident at the Sea Tribe’s altar where the Sea God Apton intended to match the Sea Queen Yuman with the Yellow Dragon.
Even beyond the Dragon Emperor, the entire dragon race considered this an insult.
As a result, some members of the dragon race also “blamed” the Dragon Emperor Fli, thinking he was incompetent and responsible for what had happened at the altar.
Unaware of their whispers, the Dragon Emperor Fli flew away from the Dragon Island and headed toward the southern edge of the Endless Sea.
As he flew, the sea breeze brought a warmth—not the warmth of sunlight, but the kind felt near a flame. The further south he went, the hotter this warmth became, like the sun in June.
After flying forty or fifty thousand miles, the Dragon Emperor Fli landed on a desolate island and gazed southward with a cold gaze.
Hundreds of miles away from this island lay a Fire Island. It was indeed called a Fire Island because flames rose from its skies from time to time, and hot bubbles constantly emerged from the waters surrounding it. From afar, the entire island appeared red, like molten lava.

In the midst of this Fire Island stood a towering giant tree. The main trunk of this tree was as wide as twenty to thirty meters, resembling a massive wall. Above the main trunk, branches stretched high into the sky. High above, on these branches that were several meters to over ten meters wide, sat tree houses. In these tree houses lived phoenixes. This Fire Island was none other than Phoenix Island, and this towering giant tree was the Paulownia tree. On top of the Paulownia tree, Nicole was excitedly talking to the phoenix sisters about what had happened at the Sea Tribe’s sea festival. Whenever she described how the Yellow Dragon displayed its mighty power and defeated the Dragon Tribe’s ancestor, Eino, and Banai utterly, before the other phoenixes around her could even express their amazement, she would burst into applause and cheers first. The other phoenixes smiled at this. “Has our sister Nicole developed romantic feelings?” As Nicole was still immersed in recounting the Yellow Dragon’s heroic deeds, her sister Hailo teased her. At that moment, the other phoenixes also started laughing. Nicole, as if her thoughts had been revealed, blushed and glared at the others, puffing out her full chest. “What’s there to be ashamed of? Yes, I am indeed attracted to that Senior Yellow Dragon. What? Don’t you all have such feelings?” The other phoenixes turned red in response. “I’m not like some people who pretend to have different feelings—too shy to admit they like Brother Konra, yet keep thinking about him in their dreams!” Nicole said playfully, casting a sly glance at her sister Hailo. The Brother Konra she referred to was naturally a young and handsome member of the phoenix tribe. “Nicole, how dare you mock your sister!” Hailo blushed with embarrassment as everyone else teased her and threatened to “take action.” The girls had a good time. After playing, they dispersed. Nicole sat alone in her tree house, lost in thought, seemingly recalling something embarrassing, which made her blush. She muttered, “Nicole, you’re so shameless! How could that Senior Yellow Dragon be interested in you, a crazy girl like you?” But after a while, she said to herself, “Who knows? If I could meet that Senior Yellow Dragon, maybe it would happen.” With that, she covered her red face again, glanced around to ensure no one was listening, and sighed in relief. “I heard that Senior Yellow Dragon built a dreamlike city on Chishui Island,” Nicole said to herself after a while. Soon, she left her tree house, peeked around to make sure no one was there, carefully avoided the other phoenixes, and flew off the island.