"Ah!"
A faint sigh drifted from deep within the Stone Egg. Both Yuangeng and the Heavenly Nether Treasure could clearly hear the traces of relief and helplessness within it, like a prisoner awaiting death in a cage who had finally reached the end of his allotted fate.
"As expected! Fellow Daoist Undying, even in death, you refused to stay dead. Not only did you preserve your life against me back then, you even left yourself a contingency like this."
The sight made Yuangeng nod slightly. His gaze seemed to pierce the Stone Egg woven with five-colored radiance and glimpse the transcendent Immortal Fetus within.
He could be certain that the Primordial Spirit of the Five-Colored Phoenix within was, in essence, the Undying Heavenly Emperor himself.
"No. Back then, I truly did die at your hands, fellow Daoist. My Primordial Spirit and true spirit were utterly annihilated. Even the contingencies I left in the Heavenly Blade and my faith body were discovered by you. Over a million years of cultivation vanished in a single day!"
Only after a moment did low fluctuations of divine consciousness emerge from the Stone Egg. Five-colored Dao resonances interwove before Yuangeng and the Heavenly Nether Treasure, forming an extraordinarily handsome man-the very image of the Undying Heavenly Emperor of old.
Yet this Heavenly Emperor, who had once commanded the winds and clouds, no longer possessed the bearing with which he had awed the universe. Before Yuangeng, he even appeared cautious, afraid that his old adversary would strike again and erase his hope of returning to life.
"A phoenix's body survives a hundred tribulations without dying. Your race truly is extraordinary. How enviable."
Yuangeng nodded and sat cross-legged before the Five-Colored Stone Egg. Facing the Undying Heavenly Emperor, he showed no killing intent. Instead, he seemed like