Though called a "hall," Perching Phoenix Hall was actually an entire palace complex suspended above the clouds.
Its main hall was built from nine-heaven snow jade and radiant gold stone, towering above a sea of clouds. Its long stairways, colonnades, and upturned eaves were all veiled in a faint divine radiance. From afar, the palace resembled a blazing sun standing amid the light of heaven, its majesty boundless, forbidding anyone from approaching lightly.
The young lord, Yun Huang, lived here.
Like his palace, he stood high above the clouds, dazzling in his splendor, impossible to gaze upon directly.
And he bore the loneliness of one who stood at the very summit.
The next day, before dawn broke, stars still dotted the ink-blue sky.
Yun Qing had already made his way through the dew to Perching Phoenix Hall. The enormous doors, fashioned from crimson flame divine wood, opened soundlessly. The Cloud Valor Guards on duty, clad in dark-gold spiritual armor, bowed to him in perfect unison. Clearly, they had received instructions.
Inside the hall, light and majesty reigned supreme.
The first thing he saw was the Dark Jade throne atop nine jade steps. The seat was broad, its armrests carved into dragon heads, each dragon's mouth holding a sun crystal that continuously radiated the power of supreme yang.
Yun Huang sat upright behind the desk, dressed only in plain white robes threaded with shifting patterns of silver. He was absorbed in working through an ancient Formation Disc. Light and shadow crisscrossed its surface as countless tiny runes flowed, collided, and vanished, releasing heart-stopping pulses of energy. A lingering trace of weariness and coldness rested between his brows, and he seemed not to have noticed anyone entering.
Yun Qing said nothing. He stood quietly to one side, choosing a spot where he could answer any command at once without disturbing Yun Huang.
His double pupils shifted slightly, and he quickly took in the state of the hall.
The steam had long since faded from the cup of Yellow Mountain Cloud Mist tea beside Yun Huang. Unsorted jade slips crowded the jade desk, covering most of its exquisite carvings. As for Yun Huang himself, his radiant sun divine power, which should have been perfectly harmonious and flawless, now stirred restlessly. Clearly, he had spent a long time on his calculations without ever finding a way through.
Hmm... like a little sun sulking at himself. The thought nearly made the corners of his mouth curve despite himself. Fortunately, he had excellent control, and his expression remained as gentle and quiet as before.
Time flowed through the silence until Yun Huang finished calculating a crucial point and reached habitually for the tea beside him. His fingertips touched the cold cup, and he paused slightly. The faintest flicker of displeasure crossed his brow.
Just then, a pair of steady, strong hands with well-defined knuckles gently took the cold tea away before he could pick it up.
Yun Qing moved smoothly and naturally, as though he had rehearsed it a thousand times. He poured the cold tea into a jade basin nearby, refilled the cup with Spirit Tea at just the right temperature, and gently returned it to the most convenient spot beside Yun Huang's hand. The entire process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, silent and seamless, marked only by the utmost thoughtfulness.
Yun Huang's brush paused briefly in its tracing. At last, his pale-gold eyes lifted from the Formation Disc and settled on Yun Qing. They still held scrutiny, but no longer the biting cold of yesterday.
"Who gave you permission to touch it?" he asked coolly.
Yun Qing bowed slightly, his tone gentle and composed. "Yellow Mountain Cloud Mist harms the body when drunk cold and can cause cold stagnation. You labor day and night, young lord, and all the more need to preserve your vital energy. Since I have been ordered to attend you, I must do my utmost. I would not dare neglect my duties."
His words came naturally, without flattery or deliberate self-abasement, as though he were simply stating something that went without saying.
Yun Huang watched him for several breaths. In the end, he said nothing more, withdrew his gaze, and resumed his calculations on the Formation Disc.
But Yun Qing's double pupils clearly saw the fluctuations of spiritual power around Yun Huang, bristling like an angry hedgehog, visibly settle a little. They became... docile? There was even a faint hint of the languid satisfaction of a creature whose fur had been stroked smooth.
Just as I thought. He needs soothing with the grain of his fur. Yun Qing confirmed his judgment inwardly.
Over the next several hours, he quietly wove himself into the daily rhythms of Perching Phoenix Hall.
He kept his presence within a delicate balance, never disturbing Yun Huang, yet always appearing at precisely the right moment when needed. He had the many part-time jobs of his previous life to thank for his wealth of experience, which had been accumulated by Yun Qing.
Replacing vermilion brushes that had run out of spiritual ink, sorting mountainous piles of jade slips and records, adjusting the light, topping up tea, and bringing water-he handled every small task in perfect order.
Rather than a deliberate attempt to curry favor, it felt more like unobtrusive care.
Accustomed to people either shrinking in fearful reverence or harboring ulterior motives, Yun Huang could not help feeling a comfort he had never known before.
Rain nourished all things without a sound; dripping water wore through stone.
Yun Huang still wore that same cold expression, frozen for ten thousand years, but he began to grow accustomed to the steady figure silently adjusting the glow of the luminous pearls in the hall.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the man's back, and he had to admit that this was no mediocrity of the sort he despised.
Under such meticulous companionship, the frozen defenses around his heart seemed to have been pried open by the faintest, almost imperceptible crack.
Until evening came.
"Bzz-"
A mournful cry suddenly rang out from the Formation Disc before Yun Huang! Its radiance abruptly died, and a powerful backlash surged outward.
He let out a muffled grunt, his expression instantly darkening as a wisp of radiant sun divine power spilled uncontrollably from his body.
Boom!
A scorching wave of air exploded outward, sending the temperature in the hall soaring. Several jade slips on the desk suffered first, sizzling under the searing heat.
What Yun Huang was working through was an ancient immortal formation called Sunlight Immortal-Slaying. Fueled by the core of the sun star, it possessed supreme yang and unyielding force, its extraordinary dominance perfectly suited to his own cultivation art.
Yet formations happened to be the sole field in which this peerless prodigy could be called merely "above average." He had sat over his calculations for days on end, only to fall short at the final moment every time. However cold Yun Huang's temperament might be, some frustration was bound to accumulate.
The atmosphere inside Perching Phoenix Hall tightened at once.
Just then, Yun Qing approached with a freshly simmered bowl of Iceheart Soul-Calming Soup. Made with seven times seven-forty-nine-rare immortal plants that soothed the mind and calmed the spirit, it was particularly beneficial for restoring exhausted mental strength. He had intended to wait until Yun Huang paused, then gently set the bowl, fragrant with a crisp medicinal scent, at the corner of the desk.
Instead, he was met with a cold shout, its displaced anger utterly undisguised.
"Leave!"
Yun Huang's savage, immense pressure crashed down on Yun Qing as though it had taken physical form.
"Do not flatter me here. Did you think such paltry service would make me look more favorably upon someone like you?" For some reason, he never did utter the hurtful words "bastard spawn."
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