Volume One: The Most Heartless Phoenix Tree Flower Chapter Two: The Past

Mortal dust falls, loneliness breeds sorrow.
A beauty gazes afar through countless springs and autumns.
The flames of war never cease on the southern banks,
Still lamenting that loveliness is so hard to preserve.
—From the "Lanling Anthology"

Zhuo Hua stared blankly at the Xuanhuang Mirror, where the misty rains over Southern Flame Continent drifted—sometimes gentle, sometimes desolate. Slowly, as if caught in a drifting reverie, he found himself back in that primordial age when chaos had just cleared and love was new and untainted.

A hundred thousand years ago, or perhaps ten generations past, Zhuo Hua and Lanling, fleeing the relentless pursuit of the gods, tore open the void of their homeland and vanished into the boundless nothingness. Their homeland no longer existed. To grant them a chance at survival without leaving any trace, their clansmen used the Desolation Cauldron to send them into the void. Indeed, when the Desolation Cauldron is activated, all outside becomes barren.

Before their departure, the old clan chief entrusted the ancient divine artifacts to Lanling, sealing them within the Infinite Cosmos Pouch. He urged them to escape to a place beyond all pursuit, to open a new void, to propagate their people and carry on the memory of the clan. Only then would those left behind rest without regret.

“Those burdened by fate must sometimes act without mercy,” Lanling often said. And so, for five years, they drifted through the endless void, untiring and unheeding of the passage of time, searching for a world to their liking.

They sat within the Desolation Cauldron, examining the countless voids presented by the Xuanhuang Mirror. Yet some voids required only a distant glance to be dismissed—nothing but raging storms or molten lava and thunder, worlds unfit for any but the most fearsome beasts, much less for them.

At last, one day, the Xuanhuang Mirror revealed a world with gentle climate and beautiful scenery—birds sang, flowers bloomed, peace and harmony abounded.

Lanling exclaimed with delight, “Zhuo Hua, come quickly! You must see this!”

Zhuo Hua squinted sleepily, grunted in response, and shuffled over to the Xuanhuang Mirror. He zoomed in on the scene and discovered that this void already had its inhabitants: primitive people, neither possessing magical artifacts nor wielding any powers, and some simple, unawakened beasts.

Mesmerized by the beauty of the place, Lanling turned to Zhuo Hua and declared, “Let me tear open the void and enter. I’ll reset this place. Afterwards, you can move all the artifacts down and we’ll begin our new life here.”

The so-called “resetting” was a collective term for a series of spells designed to exterminate the indigenous races of other voids. Their purpose was to target and eradicate the living beings of the chosen world. The gentlest method rendered the natives incapable of reproducing, waiting for them to die out naturally, leaving the void intact—though the waiting could be interminably long.

Lanling’s method was simpler and far more violent—gathering her energy, she would summon the tribulation of thunder and fire, and wherever the natives clustered, there she would unleash its fury. The heavenly tribulation, like kites she’d set free with her own hands, would trail her from north to south, leaving nothing but dust in its wake. Then she would begin anew, remaking the world as she wished—a towering peak rising in the east at her whim, a vast ocean opening in the west if she so desired.

Such was Lanling—direct in thought and action, without hesitation or remorse.

But Zhuo Hua did not move. After a long silence, he finally spoke, “Lanling, our clan rules say: ‘Do not lay waste to lands teeming with life. Those who wield divine power must harbor compassion.’ Perhaps we should not reset them. Why don’t we seek another place?”

Lanling scoffed at his words, her tone sharp. “You sound exactly like the Grand Elder now.”

In the end, she gave in, albeit grudgingly. “Better to be bored to death alone than nagged to death by you,” she muttered.

Content, Zhuo Hua guided the Desolation Cauldron onward. He knew well that Lanling’s compromise was merely to satisfy his own convictions—she would never agree with his beliefs or the clan’s codes.

After a while, as he watched the Xuanhuang Mirror, Zhuo Hua asked, “Lanling, why do you think the elders had me accompany you in escaping?”

The question was like a needle pricking Lanling’s softest spot. She flipped off the couch and stalked over, grabbing him by the ear. “I did not escape! You’re the one who escaped. I was entrusted with a vital mission, to turn the tide and uphold the collapsing order. If you say again that I ran away, I’ll tear your mouth apart!” With that, she stormed off to sulk in a corner.

Zhuo Hua winced, rubbing his ear. “We both entered the Desolation Cauldron together—why are you the righteous hero and I the pitiful fugitive?”

He understood her pain. The clan had chosen Lanling as the Sacred Maiden, to fulfill the clan’s revival by tearing open the void. At sixteen, she’d survived the Auspicious Clouds Calamity—peerless talent, illustrious lineage, unparalleled accomplishment—Lanling was the pride of her generation, surpassing all peers, even those of allied clans.

Now, she was forced to dwell with him in the cramped cauldron, drifting aimlessly through the infinite emptiness. A hero with no cause.

Seeing her motionless in the corner, Zhuo Hua moved to comfort her. “Lanling, don’t be upset. Next time we find a suitable void, I won’t stop you. How’s that?”

Lanling shook her head, still dejected. “That’s meaningless. You’ve said it countless times—leave me alone, stop bothering me.”

Zhuo Hua didn’t move away. Instead, he drew several small brownish, cone-shaped objects from the Infinite Cosmos Pouch at his waist and held them under Lanling’s nose.

She sniffed, suddenly wide-eyed, then sat up excitedly, snatching them from his hand. “Ha! Three-Breath Incense!”

With a mischievous grin, she warned him, “This time you offered them of your own accord! Don’t complain later!”

Zhuo Hua scratched his head in resignation. “What else can I do? This is the only thing that makes you happy right now. I’m showing real sincerity, aren’t I?”

Lanling nodded enthusiastically. “Such sincerity—these little curios you craft are treasures in the Xuanhuang Void! And today, you’ve brought out three at once. Just wait, I’ll make you…”

She pinched one between her fingers, and a flicker of flame emerged from her fingertips, setting the Three-Breath Incense alight. Soon, wisps of blue smoke curled up. Lanling held her breath, then wafted the smoke under Zhuo Hua’s nose, glaring to warn him not to hold his breath.

What happened next was predictable.

Zhuo Hua answered every question she asked, fulfilled every wish she made.

Such wonderful moments. In Zhuo Hua’s heart, he still cherished the days he and Lanling spent in the Golden Martial Void—cultivating at dawn, sharing stories by the hearth at dusk. Those carefree, unburdened days saw his cultivation soar, and even the Seventh Elder of the clan noted his rapid rise.