Chapter 47

Luo Yang opened the door.

Indeed.

Leng Yaozhu stood outside, clad in a thin, silk nightgown that reached only to her knees, revealing her long, fair calves.

Her snow-white feet were bare, and her long hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. Bathed in the moonlight, she looked as if she were shrouded in a dreamlike halo, beautiful beyond mortal standards.

"Aunt Leng?" Luo Yang tried his best to make his voice sound normal. "It's so late, why are you..."

"To reward you, of course." Leng Yaozhu said it as if it were only natural, a hint of mischievous amusement in her tone. Before Luo Yang could react, she stepped directly into the room.

Luo Yang: "..."

He silently closed the door and turned to look at Leng Yaozhu, who had already sat down on his bed with casual ease, feeling like he wanted to cry but had no tears.

He really didn't want this reward!

Leng Yaozhu patted the spot beside her, smiling brightly:

"Come here, sit."

Luo Yang walked over obediently and sat down next to her.

Leng Yaozhu naturally wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him against her. Her warm body heat seeped through the thin nightgown, soft and comforting.

"Your performance today was truly excellent." She said softly, her tone filled with undisguised doting. "Not only did you win the match, but you also led Ye Xinglan to an epiphany. Shrek Academy owes you a favor for this."

Luo Yang nestled in her arms, not daring to move, his voice muffled: "It is all thanks to Aunt Leng's guidance."

"You say that again." Leng Yaozhu laughed and poked his cheek, the gesture intimate and natural. "What guidance did I give you? You don't need my guidance at all."

She paused, looking down at the little one in her arms.

"Do you know? When I first met you, I just thought you were a pitiful child—parents gone, needing someone to look after you." Her voice was soft, as if she were talking to herself. "But later, I discovered that you didn't need looking after at all. You are clearer-headed and stronger than anyone else. Instead, it was you who, unknowingly, gave Aunt Leng so much..."

Luo Yang remained silent, listening quietly.

"You remind me of someone." Leng Yaozhu continued, a trace of trance in her voice, as if she had fallen into distant memories. "Someone I secretly loved for many years, but could never have."

Luo Yang knew who she was talking about.

Yun Ming, the Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion at Shrek Academy, one of the top Limit Douluo in the world, and Ya Li's man. The entanglement between Leng Yaozhu and Ya Li stemmed largely from this man.

"But you are different from him." Leng Yaozhu suddenly smiled, a look of relief and fortune in her expression. "That person was high above, forever out of reach, like the stars in the sky—only to be looked up to. But you... you are right by my side. I can hold you, I can protect you, and I can watch you grow up, bit by bit."

She tightened her arms, pulling Luo Yang closer as if she wanted to knead him into her own body:

"So, you must grow up quickly. Once you are grown, Aunt Leng can..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but the unfinished meaning and the ambiguous pause made Luo Yang's heart race until it felt like it might leap out of his chest.

This... this plot development isn't right, is it?!

He took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself down, his voice trembling slightly:

"Aunt Leng, I'm still young..."

"I know." Leng Yaozhu said matter-of-factly, without a hint of embarrassment. "That's why I'm just holding you for now. We'll talk about it when you're older."

Luo Yang: "..."

So this counts as... a pre-order?

Leng Yaozhu looked at his expression—a mix of existential dread and speechlessness—and burst into a giggle, her smile so bright it seemed to light up the entire room.

She let go, ruffled his hair, her movements full of doting:

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Aunt Leng really does have a reward for you this time."

She withdrew her hand, palm facing upward, and gave it a gentle flip.

In an instant, a wisp of flame appeared in her palm.

At first, the flame was only the size of a fingernail, a deep crimson red, but after a single breath, it rapidly expanded and transformed!

Crimson turned to orange, orange to golden, golden to searing white, and finally settled into an indescribable dark gold.

Within the flame, the faint phantom of a phoenix could be seen circling, crying out, and dancing!

Though the phantom was tiny, it radiated a heart-stopping pressure, as if it were not a mere wisp of flame, but a slumbering ancient divine beast!

Luo Yang's pupils constricted.

"This is the Phoenix True Fire passed down through generations of the Leng Family." Leng Yaozhu began. "Only each successive head of the family is qualified to inherit it. It is the foundation upon which our Leng Family has stood tall on the continent for ten thousand years."

She stared at the flame in her palm, a flash of nostalgia in her eyes:

"This flame is not a soul skill, nor is it a spirit bone ability; it is a source fire of bloodline inheritance. It carries the will and power of all past Leng Family heads. It can incinerate all things, and it can also be reborn from the ashes. It is the greatest reliance I have had to reach where I am today."

She raised her head, her gaze burning as she looked at Luo Yang:

"And now, I bestow this upon you."

Luo Yang was stunned.

"Don't, Aunt Leng." He spoke almost instinctively. "This is too precious..."

Just by the name, he knew this was an absolute priceless treasure. Furthermore, anything related to a phoenix had to be the pinnacle of the top tier. How could she give such a legacy treasure to an outsider like him?

However, Leng Yaozhu gave him no opportunity to refuse.

She tapped her fingertip, and that wisp of dark golden flame drifted toward Luo Yang as if it had a life of its own, hovering right before his forehead.

The next second—

The flame sank into the center of his brow.

Luo Yang only felt a warm current surge into his body, wandering through his limbs and bones.

Wherever that warmth passed, every inch of flesh and blood seemed to be tempered anew, and every cell cheered with joy.

He closed his eyes, and deep within his consciousness, a flaming phoenix soaring with wings spread faintly emerged. The phoenix glanced at him, then transformed into a sky full of firelight, dissipating into his sea of spirit.

When he opened his eyes again, a phoenix mark about the size of a fingernail had appeared in the center of his forehead.

The mark was dark gold and lifelike, resembling a phoenix about to take flight. It flickered slightly, radiating a faint, lingering warmth.

Leng Yaozhu nodded in satisfaction, reaching out to gently touch the mark, the warmth greeting her fingertip:

"Beautiful. It suits you very well."

Luo Yang touched his forehead in a daze, feeling the temperature radiating from the mark, his heart churning like a stormy sea.

He suddenly recalled something.

In the small plane controlled by the War God Temple, there was a Fire Li Clan from the Falan World.

Within that clan, only the royal family possessing the most orthodox bloodline held a life-bound true fire—the Seven-Colored Lotus Flame—which possessed the ability to incinerate everything and was the fundamental basis for the Fire Li Clan's survival.

As for the Phoenix True Fire of the Leng Family, in terms of quality, it was likely even higher. After all, this originated from a true phoenix bloodline, a legacy of divine beast caliber!

Leng Yaozhu watched his dazed expression and smiled slightly, a hint of craftiness flashing in her eyes:

"Alright, the reward has been given to you. Now..."

She patted the spot beside her, her eyes curving into crescents:

"It's time for you to reward Aunt Leng."

Luo Yang: "..."

He silently climbed onto the bed and lay down beside Leng Yaozhu.

Leng Yaozhu pulled him into her embrace with satisfaction, treating him like a body pillow just as she had last night, and let out a contented hum:

"So comfortable. I'll definitely have a good sleep tonight."

Luo Yang lay stiffly, staring at the ceiling, wanting to cry but having no tears.

So this was the price of the reward?