El stopped in his tracks.
He looked back, raising his eyes with a hint of languor.
"Ma Xiaotao? What about her?"
"I heard from student Huo Yutong that you have something planned for her?"
Yan Shaozhe spoke with utmost deference.
There were few things he had truly cared about in his life, and his disciple Ma Xiaotao was one of them.
"That's right."
El nodded lightly. A faint gleam flashed through his eyes, leaving his emotions unreadable.
"I don't like phoenixes."
He spoke calmly.
"But I'm willing to give her a chance."
"A chance to become a god."
Yan Shaozhe abruptly raised his head, unable to conceal his wild delight.
"Don't celebrate just yet."
El raised a hand, stopping the profuse thanks about to spill from his mouth.
"It's not guaranteed to work."
"She might just die, you know?"
Yan Shaozhe's expression froze.
El continued, telling Yan Shaozhe his plans outright.
There was no need to hide them.
"As everyone knows, the difference between an evil fire phoenix and a pure fire phoenix lies in that trace of evil fire."
"It not only hinders cultivation and leaves the fire phoenix's own flames incomplete, but even affects the essence of its martial soul."
"An evil fire phoenix clearly belongs to the fire phoenix lineage, which excels at 'rebirth from the ashes,' yet it has no ability to revive at all."
Even a bright phoenix could return from death and possessed multiple lives.
"So..."
Yan Shaozhe seemed to have guessed something. He took a deep breath, striving to calm himself.
But his flickering gaze and trembling voice still betrayed the towering waves raging within him.
He couldn't help it!
He had never had any children.
In a sense, Ma Xiaotao, his personal disciple, was no different from his daughter.
What parent could