Rise of the Demon God

"Maybe because your father didn't want you in this? The Black Tortoise Clan has always stayed out of such things. Your father probably didn't want you back," Bai Gu explained. 

"Who is the one that has returned?" Zhu Chang asked.  "And how do you know which one of the two it is?"

"I didn't know about this, but my father told me about the significance of the rainbow that appeared in the sky. You remember that?"

"The sudden rainbow? I thought that was just a natural anomaly?" Zhu Chang asked. 

"I thought the same, but my father said that it didn't just happen in our realm, but it happens everywhere. There is nothing natural about it. Because of that, everyone believes that it's the Ancient Golden Phoenix that has returned," Bai Gu let out, sighing. 

"That's why we are sent here to enter the Temple and investigate some clues or ways to track it," Zhu Chang exclaimed. 

"Ways to Track the Golden Phoenix?" Long Chen asked, surprised. 

He had thought that they were here for the Ancient Myriad Beast, but they were looking for the other one? That meant no one knew who it was that had returned.

But that was also bad. What if they were right and the Ancient Rainbow Phoenix had actually returned? Long Chen didn't know how he could solve the situation in that case. From what he heard, the two Ancestral Beasts were enemies. 

If the other one had returned, then Little Snow was in more danger than he had thought. Fortunately, he hadn't interacted with the Ancient Rainbow Phoenix yet. That meant if it was actually here, it couldn't track Little Snow in the ring either. 

Even then, it wasn't good news since the Godly Beast wanted to woo the Ancestral Beast, according to what Bai Gu said. If they found Ancestral Rainbow Phoenix, they were going to become its personal army, which wasn't good news either. 

He wondered if he could tell them about Little Snow before they looked for the Ancient Rainbow Phoenix, but that idea was also dumped instantly as he remembered that it wasn't good.

He understood that Little Snow was too weak when compared to the Godly Beasts. She couldn't protect herself if things went south. Moreover, the Godly Beast Kings could also steal her strength. 

Maybe that was also why the Rainbow Phoenix hadn't gone to the Beastly Kings? Because it was weak, and it didn't want to be absorbed? It was waiting to regain its strength so it could proudly return in its full Glory? 

If that was the case, Long Chen believed that it was a race... A race against time. Just like he was in a race against time to become strongest to face Tian Shen before his bloodline awakened entirely, Little Snow was in a race against the Ancestral Rainbow on who could regain their strength. 

Long Chen had a feeling that Little Phoenix was slightly behind in the race. But he hoped he was just overthinking things. 

'If I can stay with them, I might be able to find how to track the Rainbow Phoenix as well. If it's actually weak, as they describe, then I might be able to take it out before it becomes a threat. This seems more advantageous indeed,' Long Chen thought.

He had arrived here to get Phoenix Blood, but he had found something more important to him. He didn't want to lose a good opportunity. 

"The theories do make some sense, but I don't know. Something still feels off about it," Zhu Chang let out, frowning. 

"Well, let's leave the thinking to the adults. We are here to find a way. After that, they can do what they want. It's not like we'll be losing anything if we're wrong. It's just better to cover all opportunities," Bai Gu said. 

"I think he is right. If there's a possibility, we need to investigate," Long Chen agreed. He didn't want Zhu Chang to leave the mission and have him back. 

He could tag with the others only as long as Zhu Chang was here. If he left, everything was going to go to waste. 

"Ah, I guess there is a point. It might also be adventurous to explore the Ancient Beastly Origin Temple. The challenges are certainly going to be interesting," Zhu Chang said, nodding. 

He turned to Bai Gu. "I'll tag along too. But what's the deal with the keys?"

"Hahaha, I'll tell you that as well. Even I only found out after father told me. You are just like how I was not long ago. This Realm... It's the Origin Temple, but it's not at the same time."

"Inside it, there is another Origin Temple which is the true thing. The only way to get inside the other temple is by using three keys. And the three keys always stay inside this realm, lost in different places."

"So we need to find the keys to enter. But that's not as hard as it might think. Even though only three keys open the temple, there are actually nine keys buried in this realm, one for each Godly Clan. We need to find three of those nine."

"I have one. You have one. And maybe someone else found one too. We should check the temple. If someone found the key, they must be there as well."

"Where is the Temple then?" Zhu Chang asked. 

"In that direction. Follow me." Bai Gu started flying. "Oh right, I must inform you about something. We three aren't the only Godly Clan heirs in this realm."

"Who else is there?"

"Almost all clans sent people here. So you can imagine," Bai Gu said. "White Tiger Clan, Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan... They're all here."

"Phoenixes are here?" Long Chen asked, surprised. 

Zhu Chang was less concerned about the Phoenixes and more concerned about someone else. 

The two strongest clans were here, Dragons and White Tigers. Moreover, the two of them were always in conflict with each other. The trip was certainly going to be explosive. It was like all the superpowers were gathering at one place. 

Even though it was for exploration of the Tomb, he knew they wouldn't work together. All of them would try to get their own advantage to get to the answers first. Now everyone was like Bai Gu, after all. 

"Phoenix Clan did send a representative," Bai Gu told Long Chen. "I saw her before, but for some reason, they didn't send their heir. It was slightly off. But who knows. Maybe their heir is also here, and I just haven't seen her yet."

"She won't be here because she ran away from home," Zhu Chang responded.