"Patriarch, how did it go?"
"Is that He Pingsheng dead?"
"Did you not make a move?"
The Phoenix Race's Unbound Immortal had only just returned to his garden and sat down when the Phoenix Emperor surrounded him with a crowd of people.
They jostled and clamored, making quite a racket.
The Phoenix Patriarch shook his head, then closed his eyes and reclined on his lounge chair. "Let me ask you this: do you know what Ninth Grade Fortune is?"
The Phoenix Emperor and the others fell silent.
The patriarch said, "So-called Ninth Grade Fortune is something you cannot fathom. Whenever you think you are certain to kill him, something unexpected always happens!"
"I made three moves in all!"
"Yet none of those three achieved anything, and I lost three hundred thousand years of lifespan for nothing!"
"Ah..."
"Three hundred thousand years!"
The thought sent another pang through the Phoenix Patriarch's heart.
The Phoenix Emperor and the others looked at one another, at a loss for what to do.
Finally, the Phoenix Emperor asked, "May I ask, Patriarch, just what went wrong?"
But the patriarch waved a hand. "I cannot explain it. I do not know either!"
"Forget it. Deal with the trouble you stirred up yourselves. Do not come looking for me again!"
"I have already done everything I could!"
Seeing that the patriarch would say no more, the Phoenix Emperor had no choice but to lead everyone out of the Shaggy Chrysanthemum Garden.
They returned to a magnificent Great Hall gleaming with gold and jade.
Someone asked, "Boss, what do we do now?"
The Phoenix Emperor said, "What else can we do?"
"Even the patriarch took action himself, yet he still could not kill He Pingsheng!"
"How about asking the Second Patriarch? He is an Unbound Immortal too!"
"Forget