The night was deep, with stars shining brilliantly.

In the heavens, a crimson phoenix star suddenly flashed with great light, then transformed into a streak of radiance before disappearing into the night sky.

…

The Celestial Realm hadn’t been this lively for a long time. It was said that the star symbolizing the phoenix’s descent into the world, a star of supreme glory, had suddenly fallen onto the residence of the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety the previous day, giving birth to a baby girl.

The Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety governed the cosmic order, the sun, moon, stars, and the four seasons. In the Celestial Realm, he was a figure of high virtue and prestige.

Upon seeing the phoenix star give birth to a baby girl, he immediately took the infant and hurried to the Celestial Emperor.

At the Celestial Emperor’s palace, several important celestial officials happened to be discussing matters. After hearing the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety’s explanation, they each carefully examined the baby girl.

When they glimpsed the fire phoenix mark on her back and the blood-red peach blossom mark on her forehead, one of the officials skilled in divination and hexagrams bowed to the Celestial Emperor and the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety: “The descent of the phoenix star is a most auspicious omen. This baby girl is no ordinary child!”

The phrase “most auspicious omen” brought a smile to the Celestial Emperor’s face. He looked toward the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety and said, “Since this girl has fallen into your residence, why don’t you raise her?”

…

…

The Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety nodded in agreement.

After bringing the little girl back to his residence, before long, the front gate of the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety’s mansion was nearly trampled flat by various immortal lords who came to see her. One by one, having heard of the phoenix star’s descent, they all rushed over, wanting to see this little girl.

“Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety, does this girl have a name?” one immortal lord asked.

Hearing this, the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety was slightly taken aback. After thinking carefully for a moment, he said, “Why don’t we call her Fuhuan?”

…

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the phoenix girl Fuhuan had grown from an infant in swaddling clothes into a graceful young woman.

After she grew up, following the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety’s request, she moved out of his residence and established a place called Phoenix Feather Pavilion, setting up her residence beneath a stream.

Because of this, she was teased by several elder immortal officials: “This girl Fuhuan must have grown tired of hanging in the sky as a phoenix star for so long, now she wants to stay underwater.”

Hearing this, Fuhuan simply smiled it off.

Setting up the Phoenix Feather Pavilion beneath the stream was merely to escape the restrictions of the Celestial Realm and be freer.

One day, her sister Lengyuan came to Phoenix Feather Pavilion.

When she was very young, according to the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety, Lengyuan had also been born from a light green star, so they were of the same origin, making her Fuhuan’s blood sister.

When Fuhuan heard the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety say this, she accepted Lengyuan as her sister, especially since Lengyuan was very good to her, and she liked this sister very much.

“Huan’er.” After arriving at Phoenix Feather Pavilion, Lengyuan affectionately rubbed Fuhuan’s head.

Fuhuan looked up, saw who had come, and the corners of her lips curved into a smile. “Sister Lengyuan.”

“Mm.” Lengyuan nodded slightly and sat down beside Fuhuan. Looking around, she sighed with feeling, “You seem quite comfortable living down here at the bottom of this stream.”

“If Sister Lengyuan likes it here, you can move down and live with me,” Fuhuan casually poured a cup of water for Lengyuan and handed it to her.

Lengyuan shook her head. “I have many things to do in the Celestial Realm, so moving down here wouldn’t be very convenient.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Fuhuan thought about how the Celestial Emperor had assigned Lengyuan many tasks, keeping her so busy every day that she was barely seen, so moving down here would indeed be inconvenient.

“I’ve come today because there’s something I need to tell you.” As Lengyuan spoke, she took out an invitation card from her sleeve.

Fuhuan took the card, opened it for a look, and immediately understood. “So tomorrow is the Celestial Emperor’s birthday.”

“Yes, the Celestial Emperor is hosting a banquet at Floating Flower Garden tomorrow and has invited many high gods and immortals. After the attendants from the Celestial Emperor’s palace delivered your invitation to me, I brought it to you,” Lengyuan said with a smile.

Fuhuan made a sound of acknowledgment. “In that case, I will certainly arrive on time tomorrow.”

“That’s good.” Lengyuan smiled, then seemed to remember something. “I heard that this time, the Celestial Emperor has also invited the newly appointed God of the Underworld.”

“Is this God of the Underworld so extraordinary?” Otherwise, inviting someone from the Underworld would be a perfectly normal matter, so why would Lengyuan specifically mention it?

Seeing that Fuhuan was still so clever, Lengyuan’s face remained smiling. “It’s said that this newly appointed God of the Underworld is a person of peculiar temperament and formidable methods.”

“Before he took office, the previous God of the Underworld couldn’t control the people below, and the Underworld had become a complete mess. This new God of the Underworld, three days after taking office, completely abolished the entire former administration of the Underworld, established a new system of governance, and replaced more than half of the Ten Yama Kings below.”

“Now, the entire Underworld under his administration has strict discipline, which has saved the Celestial Emperor a lot of worry.”

Hearing this, Fuhuan became interested and raised her eyebrows. “Such a formidable person—where did he come from?”

“That I don’t know. I only know that his mount is an ancient sacred beast, the Ink Qilin.”

“That truly is extraordinary,” Fuhuan marveled.

An ancient sacred beast—it might even know her Five-Colored Divine Phoenix!

…

The next day, Fuhuan went to the Celestial Realm early.

The Celestial Emperor’s birthday celebration was grand. As soon as Fuhuan arrived at the gate of the Celestial Realm, she met many high immortals and gods who had come to attend the banquet. Those people, seeing Fuhuan, also politely greeted her.

Fuhuan saw that everyone was heading to the Floating Flower Garden first, and thinking that there was still time before the banquet began, she decided to go visit her Purple Subtlety Father.

She had been raised by the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety since she was small, so she intimately called him Purple Subtlety Father.

Although many times the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety had sternly said that she should call him “Father” and not “Dad,” she just wouldn’t listen and insisted on calling him “Dad.”

As time passed, the Great Emperor of Purple Subtlety simply let her be.

On the way to Purple Subtlety Palace, several celestial attendants were walking in front of Fuhuan. Those few young maidservants seemed not to notice her following behind them, as they huddled together, chatting softly.

“I just saw that newly appointed God of the Underworld. He’s truly as the rumors say—handsome, beautiful, distinguished, and noble.”

“Really? It’s said that this God of the Underworld is extremely cold and aloof. Did you greet him?”

“I’m just a small celestial attendant, how would I dare greet such a dignitary? I merely performed a kneeling salute when I saw him.”

“What was his reaction?”

“He didn’t even glance at me and just passed by…”

Fuhuan followed these few young attendants, listening to content about the new God of the Underworld all the way, and unconsciously even passed the path to Purple Subtlety Palace without realizing it.

It wasn’t until those few young attendants walked close to a hall that they closed their mouths and stopped talking about the new God of the Underworld.

Fuhuan also stopped at the gate of this hall.

After seeing the plaque on the gate, she patted her head—she had walked too far.

Then, Fuhuan turned around again and walked alone toward Purple Subtlety Palace.

She had been staying in Phoenix Feather Pavilion recently without going out, not even knowing when such a legendary figure had appeared. Later at the banquet, she must get a good look at this God of the Underworld.

…

The path to Purple Subtlety Palace was not easy to navigate. After making several turns, Fuhuan finally saw the plaque of Purple Subtlety Palace in the distance.

After walking a few steps, from the corner of her eye she glimpsed a figure in purple standing to one side, with his back to her, his gaze fixed on a rockery in front.

Fuhuan’s footsteps paused as she examined the silhouette of this person, then looked more carefully at the rockery, thinking to herself, What a strange person, what’s so interesting about such a rockery?

Just as she was looking at the person’s back, the owner of the silhouette suddenly said, “Have you looked enough?”

His tone was cold and indifferent, detached, and even tinged with a hint of anger.

“What if I say I haven’t looked enough?” Fuhuan replied with displeasure. She had just been taking a casual glance, but the other party had already become angry.

How petty!

As soon as the words were out, the owner of the silhouette slowly turned around. When she saw his face, Fuhuan couldn’t help but gasp, stunned by the beauty before her.

He wore a deep purple brocade robe with gold embroidery along the cuffs and hem. His features were handsome and profound, with a pair of eyes as cold and detached as water, exuding a sense of otherworldly purity. However, the person before her now had a slightly furrowed brow and pressed lips, seeming somewhat displeased.

Fuhuan marveled—this was the first time she had seen someone with such an appearance.

Yet while she was admiring his countenance, she did not know that she had also slightly startled him.

“Phoenix Lady Fuhuan.” After seeing her face clearly, the man’s gaze fell on her forehead as he stated her identity.

Fuhuan was not surprised. She nodded slightly, then looked around before raising her eyes to the man. “Are you lost?”

“…” Hearing this, the man lowered his gaze to glance at Fuhuan, then quickly moved his eyes away without answering.

“Today is the Celestial Emperor’s birthday banquet. Since you’re not from the Celestial Realm, it’s normal to get lost. If you go out from here and then turn right, then…”

“Silence!” Before she could finish speaking, she was harshly interrupted by the man.

From childhood until now, this was the first time anyone had dared to speak to Fuhuan so disrespectfully.

Having been born from the phoenix star, she was inherently a high god with phoenix divine power, and she had the ancient sacred beast, the Five-Colored Divine Phoenix, as her mount. In the Celestial Realm, except for some elders, everyone else treated her with great respect.

Today, she encountered someone so presumptuous.

But who exactly was this person?

Knowing she was Fuhuan, yet still daring to be so disrespectful.

Could it be…

Fuhuan suddenly had an answer in her heart, gradually overlaying the image of the man before her with the God of the Underworld that the attendants had been talking about.

Then, with a cold laugh, she thought to herself, how could such a person be worth fawning over?

With that thought, she ignored the person before her and turned to go to Purple Subtlety Palace to find her Purple Subtlety Father first.

But just as she turned around, her arm was unexpectedly grabbed, and then she heard a pleasing, deep voice from above her head, “What place is behind this rockery?”

Fuhuan tilted her head to look at the rockery he mentioned, and impatiently said, “It’s a forbidden area.”

“A forbidden area?” The man was somewhat surprised.

Fuhuan nodded. “Yes, a forbidden area.”

After she spoke, the man released her. The look in his eyes was obscure and unclear as he continued to stare at the rockery without moving, just as he had been doing when Fuhuan arrived.

Fuhuan pouted. What a strange person indeed!