23 Dragon and Phoenix 12 (1/2)

With a wave of her sword, she brought it down on Long Aotian. Just before her sword was about to hit him, he pushed Yao Ling away, activating an escape technique and she disappeared. ”Saving that girl even as you're about to die? How sweet.” Yin Mei said, but her sword didn't pause and she cut through him, causing him to collapse onto the floor. He coughed up blood, glaring at Yin Mei.

”Don't think you'll get away with this,” He growled.

Yin Mei shrugged, looking indifferent. ”Now that you're gone, there's no need to.” That's right, even if she was imprisoned, at this point, it didn't matter. Once the demon king obtained the legacy from the tower, with the support of the phoenix clan behind him, him changing his title from demon king to dragon king was inevitable. The biggest obstacle was already gone. Everything after this would be smooth sailing. As for Yao Ling, it was just her luck that the entrance to Talkan's Realm had already closed. She would have to wait until it opened again in twenty years before she could do anything.

Long Aotian, seeing Yin Mei's uncaring attitude, was literally angered to death, coughing up one more mouthful of blood before passing. Yin Mei looked down coldly at his cooling body. She didn't seem to feel anything when looking at him, and wondered if she had lost something fundamental for a human. She felt a slight fear, though quickly got over it after a couple of moments. But, thankfully the protagonists died much easier than she always thought they would. She was grateful that the life force of a cockroach characteristic seemed to be weak in Long Aotian and the ninth prince, or who knows how much extra effort she would have to expend to complete her mission. She wasn't sure why this was the case, but she didn't care too much as it was only beneficial to her.

”Your Majesty, let's go through the teleportation array now.” Yin Mei said, turning to look toward the demon king, who had already completely recovered from whatever it is that Long Aotian had done to him.

The demon king looked at her and nodded. This scene reminded him of the one from a long time ago... Although Yin Mei had already changed, the images overlapped and he couldn't help but pat her head again. Yin Mei was startled, but the stress in her body that she didn't even notice she had completely melted away.

The two walked through the teleportation array after Yin Mei looted and burned Long Aotian's corpse.

In no time, twenty years passed.

The members of the group all left the tower at different times, until only Yin Mei and the demon king remained inside.

Soon, Yin Mei also left. She met up with the rest of the group, who had set up talismans around the tower to notify them when someone would appear after exiting. ”It's almost time for the entrance to open again,” she said as they all nodded. None of them discussed what they had gained inside the tower, as that would be rude.

Yin Mei looked to the tower. She never had any doubts that the demon king would obtain the legacy of the tower. She believed that he was even more suitable than Long Aotian. It took another week until the demon king also left. Walking out, he had actually advanced by two large realms and could now be barely on par with the weaker members of the noble families. It was clear that he made great gains while in the tower.

The members of their group returned to meet up with their respective clan members, spending the rest of the time inside Talkan's Realm as they pleased until it was time to leave.

Exiting and returning home, the first thing that Yin Mei's parents did was to dote on them and spoil them, having been going through withdrawal symptoms from not seeing their daughter for so long. As for their two sons, these grown men, who had the time to care for them?

Feng Tian and Feng Liu: ... Well, we also are too busy doting on our sister to care.

But that didn't last long. A few days later, Yin Mei was called by the emperor. On the way to the palace, Yin Mei looked up at the sky. She guessed that she would probably be imprisoned, for a maximum of a thousand years maybe? ”Big brother... promise me you'll help She Ming ascend the dragon throne,” she said, to her older brother who was accompanying her.

Feng Tian was surprised, wondering what brought this on. He recalled that Long Aotian had never come back from Talkan's Realm and thought of something. He looked directly at Yin Mei, who calmly gazed back. ”... I promise,” in the end, he could only say this.

When they reached the emperor's audience chamber, Yin Mei saw that Yao Ling was already kneeling there and nodded, as expected it was for this matter. Yin Mei and Feng Tian both kneeled down. Yin Mei recalled that this was her second time meeting the Jade Emperor, though in Feng Hua's memories, she had already met him several times before.

”There is a witness who says that you killed the heir to the dragon clan, Long Aotian. Is this true?” The Jade Emperor didn't put on airs, getting directly to the point. His voice was calm and gentle, but had a dignity that belonged only to an emperor, commanding great respect from the listener.

”Yes,” Yin Mei also didn't beat around the bush, honestly admitting to her crime. In the first place, the Jade Emperor had the ability to see through lies, so what was the point?

”I see, describe what happened.” The Jade Emperor said. He liked this girl, and although he would have to punish her for this crime, depending on the circumstances he could make that punishment lighter without being accused of favoring others.

”I and my companion were at an underwater palace in Talkan's Realm, when Long Aotian and Yao Ling appeared. They asked if we knew where the exit was, to which we replied that it wasn't here and that they should look elsewhere. For some reason, Long Aotian launched an attack technique at my companion and in my rage, I attacked Long Aotian. Who knew that he had been weakened for some reason and didn't dodge? In the end, he died. Your Majesty, as you can see, this could all be considered self-defense.” Yin Mei said. The way she had worded it made none of it appear like a lie. She just never told the entire truth. The Jade Emperor may be able to see through lies, but in the end, his ability had constraints. Well, the Jade Emperor should know that best. But, if she said it this way, he would have an excuse for giving her a lighter punishment.