The Phoenix Palace was quieter than usual, its golden halls dimmed under the veil of dusk. Liu Shen stood at the edge of the great audience chamber, his eyes tracing the intricate phoenix engravings running along the marble floor. The Empress sat on her throne, her usual imperious gaze softened by an unspoken tension.
Beneath the palace, he could feel it—a strange, rhythmic thrum, faint yet ancient, as though the very stones pulsed with life. His demonic senses probed deeper, and he realized the vibration matched the flow of the Empress's aura.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Zhao Ying's voice broke the silence, her tone measured but carrying a weight of caution.
Liu Shen didn't deny it. "The heartbeat of the Phoenix Throne… sealed beneath your palace."
Her lips curved into a faint smile. "Not a heartbeat. A pulse of awakening. It is the Phoenix Vein—an ancient relic tied to my bloodline. When it fully awakens, it will decide whether to grant me the authority of the True Phoenix… or strip me of my throne forever."
His mind pieced the fragments together—this Phoenix Vein was not just a relic. It was a living contract between the imperial bloodline and something older, something capable of challenging the will of the heavens themselves.
But the Empress's expression shifted. "The awakening draws the attention of more than just you, Demon Sovereign. The Heaven's Envoys have already begun to circle. If they reach the Vein before I complete the Rite of Binding…"
"They'll cut the link and claim the throne's pulse for the heavens," Liu Shen finished.
A subtle nod confirmed his suspicion.
He stepped forward, his shadow stretching toward her throne. "Then we make sure they never set foot here. And when the Phoenix awakens, it will answer to neither heaven nor fate—only to us."
The Empress's gaze lingered on him for a long moment, then she leaned forward ever so slightly. "You speak as though the Vein could recognize you."
Liu Shen's faint smirk was the only answer she received.
Beneath them, the pulse grew stronger. And somewhere far away, a streak of heavenly light cut across the sky, heralding the arrival of unwanted guests.