On that snowy night, Liu Nian and Phoenix Venerable arrived together at a mountaintop.
Looking back toward the city in the Mortal Realm, Liu Nian slowly smiled.
"Are you reassured now?" Phoenix Venerable asked Liu Nian helplessly.
Liu Nian nodded. "I am."
"He's an interesting man, refined and gentle. He seems to be a friend rather than a foe..."
Phoenix Venerable shook her head with a smile. "More than a friend rather than a foe. If you encounter difficulties with the Mortal Realm's affairs of state, perhaps you could even seek his advice..."
Liu Nian froze, then turned back and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Looking at the slow-witted Liu Nian, Phoenix Venerable rolled her eyes helplessly. "You're far behind that Su Eternal Life, both in your thinking and your experience."
"You didn't notice, but I did. He carries incredibly dense dragon qi..." Phoenix Venerable thought for a moment, seemingly unsure how to describe it. "Like the imperial aura of the entire Mortal Realm."
Liu Nian was puzzled. He was the Human Emperor, so how could someone appear who seemed even more like the Human Emperor than he did?
Phoenix Venerable seemed to see Liu Nian's confusion and shook her head, equally puzzled. "Perhaps he was simply born bearing imperial qi."
"But I always feel it doesn't seem quite that simple..."
"The air he carries in his every movement is like that of a born emperor. Now he looks just like an old monster who reigned for countless years, then abdicated and retired into seclusion."
Looking thoughtful, Liu Nian recalled Su Mo's appearance. "He doesn't look like an old monster. Apart from that head of white hair, he doesn't look much different from me."
"Besides, however old he is, could he be older than you?"
In an instant,