Chapter 257: Xiong Jun, Do You Enjoy Watching Me Get Struck by Lightning?
"What? You want me to get struck again?"
When Zhen Hua heard that Xiong Jun had come looking for him once more—this time to request another Heavenly Refinement—his face instantly darkened.
He had just completed one not long ago and still hadn't recovered the blood essence he'd lost. And now, they wanted him to do it again?
Did they take him, a Divine Craftsman, for an ox to be worked to death?
But the moment Xiong Jun pulled out that massive chunk of Spirit Gold, the words of refusal caught in his throat.
What… what was that?
Spirit Gold—again—and that much of it?
And you're only forging a two-word armor with it?
That was pure madness!
Even though he had used a little Spirit Gold once before when forging the Snow God Flute, that time it had merely been an additive—a minor supplement.
But this! An entire large piece placed right before him—he had never seen this much Spirit Gold in one place.
"Wait a minute… Don't tell me you actually stole this from the Star Dou Forest?"
The Spirit Gold there was definitely not this small.
"Relax!" said Xiong Jun. "It's not stolen."
Good enough for Zhen Hua. Whether they'd stolen it or robbed a god for it didn't matter.
He was going to use it.
And even though forging Spirit Gold would draw heavenly lightning, the dense life energy it contained would also nourish the body in return.
If Zhen Hua could, he would forge with Spirit Gold every day. Being struck by lightning would almost feel… healthy.
Too bad it was unbelievably rare.
"Let's do this," he said, slamming his palm on the workbench. "Bring me my hammers!"
As the forge roared to life in flames and thunder, elsewhere in the Star Dou Forest, the Fire Phoenix felt life surge anew.
"I'm finally free!" cried Feng Wu.
Di Tian's face went black. Even now, he still hadn't fully suppressed the deep-seated dragon blood hatred toward all phoenixes—but she was the last of her kind under heaven.
How could she just fly off recklessly?
But he knew well—no cage could hold something with wings.
So in the end, he didn't stop her. Instead, with a pained expression, he plucked another shimmering dragon scale from his body.
At least if she ran into danger, he would sense it and appear instantly.
Space—yes, that infernal space. Once the master of darkness and nihility, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King now wielded spatial power better than most gods.
How many had his scales gone to now—Huo Yuhao, the Auspicious Beast, Jiang Chen… and now one more.
"Fly safe, little one," he murmured.
He said no more. He only hoped she would mature quickly and not fall prey to an Evil Soul Master.
Just in case, he instructed one of his disciples to look after her from afar. As for missions and patrolling duties—those could be assigned to someone else.
If diplomacy failed, fists would do.
Feng Wu waved to Bi Ji. "Sister Bi Ji, I'll be back soon! Make sure to talk with the Wutong Tree often—and keep that Fire Dragon Egg nearby. I believe it can become the new heart of this world!"
She could feel that the original life core of the world had once existed here in the Star Dou Forest, though for some reason, it had been moved.
Fortunately, the phoenix clan had their own ancient method.
Whenever one descended to a new plane, they would perform the forbidden Phoenix Rite—offering their essence to nurture a Wutong Tree, transforming it into the plane's new life core.
With those words, her body turned into brilliant flame, wings spread wide, and she vanished into the horizon.
…
"Finally… home!"
Yuanen Yehui, too, had heard about the rumors spreading through Douluo University.
She felt guilty—deeply guilty.
It was her fault, yet Jiang Chen was the one whose reputation had been ruined.
Forget it. She'd already been expelled from Shrek Academy. She'd just return to Douluo University and publicly clear his name.
"Thank you, Elder Lord," she said softly.
Huo Tiangang waved his hand and disappeared into the distance—his mission complete.
Yuanen Yehui stood before the home she hadn't seen in years and sighed deeply.
She hadn't wanted to come back.
This place carried too many painful memories.
Quietly, she whispered, "Mother…"
Then she looked up—and froze.
"Dad? …Dad?"
For a long moment, Yuanen Yehui stood there, eyes wide, blinking hard as her mind went blank.
The middle-aged man before her—weathered and worn—was unmistakable. In the depths of memory, she could still recognize that figure.
Her body trembled.
"Dad… Dad…"
"Little Yehui, you're home! Father came to get you!"
She couldn't hold back anymore and threw herself into his arms.
It was him—her father, Yuanen Tiandang.
Her entire body shook violently, overwhelmed by disbelief and uncontrollable relief.
Tears burst forth like a broken dam, soaking through his coarse shirt. The warmth of his chest, the strength of his heartbeat, that faintly bitter scent of familiarity—all of it screamed one truth: this was no illusion.
"Dad! Dad!!" she sobbed, her voice breaking as countless words stuck in her throat, only to become a desperate, tearful cry.
Ten years of loneliness, humiliation, and confusion—all of it collapsed into this one moment of regained love and unspoken questions, flooding her heart until she could barely breathe.
"Father… weren't you dead?"
Yuanen Tiandang stiffened.
That was the first thing she asked?
But he quickly softened. After all, it was his fault—his failure that had made his daughter suffer so long.
Holding her tightly, this once-proud man, now weathered by time, felt his eyes redden for the first time in decades.
His rough hands stroked her slender back again and again, confirming that this wasn't some dream—and silently trying to make up for every lost year of protection.
As he felt her hot tears soaking his chest, the pain seared straight into his heart.
"There, there, Yehui… Dad's home. I'm here now…" he said in a low, hoarse voice filled with tenderness and guilt.
It was a long time before she could calm down from the storm of emotion.
Finally, she looked up through tear-blurred eyes, staring at her father's lined face—part joy, part longing, and part anguish.
"You lied to me!" she shouted, voice cracked with both rage and grief. "Ten years! Do you know what it was like for me? I watched your tombstone every day, thinking I'd lost everything! Do you even know how that feels?! Why did you fake your death, Dad? Why?!"
Each sentence hit him like a hailstorm.
Yuanen Tiandang's eyes filled with deep sorrow and helplessness.
He didn't argue. He just sighed heavily—a sound carrying the weight of a decade.
Because of his wife, he had been condemned by the entire clan.
And as the heir of the Yuanen family, there had been only one solution: divorce… then execution.
But he hadn't done it.
Not then, not ever.
(END CHAPTER)
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