Chapter Thirty-Two: Borrowing a Head to Offer to the Phoenix

"Why not bow... bow... bow... bow..." The word "bow" echoed louder and louder in Nan Luo's mind, as if it were about to shatter his soul. His gaze gradually lost focus, his body slackened, and his knees slowly sank toward the floor.

The Crown Prince of Thousand Heads kept his eyes closed, yet seemed to observe Nan Luo’s transformation with crystalline clarity. A trace of a smile curled at his lips, tinged with disdain and mockery.

Suddenly, a clear voice rang in his ears.

"Nan Luo is the Sword Attendant of the Peacock Hall. According to palace etiquette, he need not kneel before the Crown Prince of another hall..."

He opened his eyes in surprise, beholding Nan Luo dressed in azure, a three-foot sword at his waist, his features refined and his gaze unwavering with a hint of resolve.

"Ha, so you do have a bit of courage. Speak, then—what message does Kong Xuan send you with for me?" The Crown Prince of Thousand Heads smiled as he spoke, though Nan Luo felt a shadow lingering in that smile, something cold and sinister.

Perhaps it was the soul-shaking voice moments before, or perhaps the oppressive atmosphere of the great hall itself, but Nan Luo’s impression of the Crown Prince grew ever darker.

"My lord, the Crown Prince of Peacock Hall requests that the Crown Prince of Thousand Heads visit the Dragon Palace at the Heavenly Pool, and deliver an invitation to the King of Dragons for the Ten Thousand Beasts Court to the Phoenix Ceremony." Nan Luo’s gaze met the Crown Prince’s directly, watching as the sinister smile vanished from his face, replaced by an icy expression, his eyes sharp as blades.

"Kong Xuan hosts his ceremony, and dares trouble me—asks me to deliver his invitation? What a grand joke! When I roamed the world in my youth, Kong Xuan had not even been born!" The Crown Prince’s laughter was cold and low, and unconsciously he referred to himself as "this king"—a title he used elsewhere when he claimed dominion.

Nan Luo stood quietly, hands at his sides, face as calm as a hillside, betraying no emotion.

"During the Ten Thousand Beasts Court to the Phoenix Ceremony, all but the Palace Master must obey the host, including the Crown Princes of every hall. This is a rule decreed by the Palace Master," Nan Luo spoke slowly, unhurried.

In the past, even if Nan Luo was unafraid, he would not have confronted the Crown Prince so directly, nor met his gaze without flinching. The difference in status was immense: the Crown Prince of a hall, and Nan Luo only a mere attendant. Yet he had to stand firm—for now, as the Sword Attendant of Peacock Hall, he represented Kong Xuan. To show weakness would be to disgrace Kong Xuan.

"Hmph, you—a mere attendant—dare cite the Palace Master to me? How bold. Go fetch Kong Xuan; let me see what skill he has to make me deliver his invitation. Even the Phoenix Palace Master has never asked such a thing of me, and Kong Xuan dares? He insults me!" The Crown Prince’s eyes flashed with a cruel, murderous light.

"Does the Crown Prince of Thousand Heads refuse the dispatch of Peacock Hall?" Nan Luo stood firm as stone in the great hall, tall and proud in azure robes, sword at his side. Usually silent and reserved, he now radiated a cold and unyielding aura.

The attendant who had led Nan Luo into the hall was trembling in fear, eyes wide with terror.

Suddenly, the Crown Prince turned to the attendant, fury in his gaze. "Useless thing! What purpose do you serve..." As he finished, he opened his mouth and spat forth a dark light, which circled the attendant and was instantly reabsorbed by the Crown Prince.

The attendant’s face turned ashen; he collapsed to the ground, lifeless. Nan Luo’s heart skipped in shock. He looked back to see the Crown Prince regarding him with chilling eyes. Even the prince’s robes seemed suffused with death, and his eyes had become dull and gray.

"You are the Sword Attendant for this ceremony—I want to see what qualifications you have for such a role. If you have no skill, you disgrace the Immortal Palace. Kong Xuan can afford to lose face; I cannot," the Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed, his voice as gentle as when Nan Luo first met him, betraying no hint of murderous intent.

Yet Nan Luo’s heart was on high alert. Suddenly, a sense of danger swept over him. The Crown Prince’s mouth moved slightly, and a cloud of ashen mist appeared overhead as if crossing the void.

The mist was thin, but its presence brought an oppressive sense of life's futility and despair.

"He intends to kill me," Nan Luo realized instantly.

At that moment, a yellow mist emerged from nowhere, enveloped and swallowed by the ashen cloud. The ashen mist withdrew into the Crown Prince’s mouth, and the spot where Nan Luo had stood was empty.

The Crown Prince frowned slightly, muttering, "Innate Earth Escape." He had not expected Nan Luo to evade his strike. Though partially due to his own carelessness, for someone like Nan Luo, who had only just begun to cultivate, to escape from the hands of a monster whose strength surpassed the immortal path was no small feat.

He took a deep breath, his gaze lingering in the void, eyes glinting with malice. After a long moment, he closed his eyes again. The hall was silent, and the corpse lying nearby made the atmosphere all the more chilling.

When Nan Luo returned to Peacock Hall, Kong Xuan stood beneath the hall’s sign. Nan Luo approached to pay his respects, ready to recount what had transpired in the Thousand Heads Hall, but Kong Xuan gestured to silence him. Smiling, he said, "I cast a spell upon you. Everything in the Thousand Heads Hall is known to me... You did well. The Earth Escape technique at the end was especially skillful; Daoist methods truly are unique."

Nan Luo smiled, saying nothing, without the sharpness he had shown in the Thousand Heads Hall. He understood that Kong Xuan’s spell was not only to observe the Crown Prince, but likely to protect Nan Luo’s life at a critical moment.

Kong Xuan never explained his actions, just as he had intervened years ago to sever the foundation of the Golden Roc Crown Prince’s path for Nan Luo, without ever mentioning it. Nan Luo was much the same; he never spoke of gratitude, but kept it in his heart, quietly awaiting the chance to repay it.

"I attained the Way later than he did, it’s true. But my powers are not necessarily lesser. The Crown Prince of Thousand Heads... ha, just a Ten-Headed Bird. Nan Luo, would you dare cut off one of his heads and hang it on the flagpole before the Immortal Palace?" Kong Xuan smiled, utterly dismissive of the Crown Prince.

A Crown Prince, famed for ages, a ruler among monsters—yet in Kong Xuan’s eyes, he was weightless.

Nan Luo knew that Kong Xuan’s reputation, aside from being the child of a phoenix, was not widely known. He rarely acted, and attained the Way much later than the Crown Prince of Thousand Heads. There were many such monstrous kings attending the ceremony. To host the Ten Thousand Beasts Court to the Phoenix Ceremony smoothly, he would need to establish his authority—perhaps even kill.

Nan Luo had not expected it to come so swiftly, but this was Kong Xuan’s style: gentle to his own, but cold and ruthless to outsiders.

"If he claims a thousand heads, then I shall borrow one to dedicate to the Phoenix Banner," Nan Luo replied with a faint, unhurried smile, his quiet pride shining through.