She walked up to Xino, frowned, and asked, "Xino, why did you come looking for me?"

Xino raised his eyebrows slightly, "...Are you two finished talking?"

Sima Xiaowen nodded, "There’s nothing to talk about. I was asking if you needed anything from me?"

Xino stood up abruptly, nodding repeatedly, "Xiaowen, you know this is my first time coming to the Divine Land. It’s truly beautiful and magical, with marvels everywhere. I’ve wandered around a few places these past days, but there are still many places I don’t dare to go because there are formations there. Can you take me around?"

This request was normal, and Sima Xiaowen didn’t refuse. She turned around and saw Chu Chengfeng standing at the entrance of her home, looking at her from afar. His deeply black eyes seemed calm, but for some reason, Sima Xiaowen saw restrained fury in them.

She let a faint smile curve her lips, knowing it’s good that he’s angry. Don’t think that being the clan leader allows you to act all profound and stoic. It won’t work in front of her.

Sima Xiaowen nodded with ease and said with a smile, "Alright, let’s go, I’ll take you now."

Xino was overjoyed, not expecting Sima Xiaowen to agree so readily.

He feigned casualness as he glanced at the brooding Chu Chengfeng, nodded slightly, his eyes smiling, then they both walked briskly towards the Phoenix Lake to the left.

Soon, the figures of Sima Xiaowen and Xino disappeared from view.

Meanwhile, Chu Chengfeng continued to stand silently at the Sima Family’s entrance, staring in the direction they left, his brows furrowed, with thoughts churning in his pitch-black eyes known only to him.

He put his hands into his coat pockets, clenched hard, then looked slightly up at the bright sky, letting out a long breath. The road ahead is long; he doesn’t hope for Xiaowen to accept him again, only that she can forgive him.

He walked heavily towards his own residence.

He had many things to do now, but the most urgent was dealing with the contents of the seal.

Since handling Liu Ling, he noticed that some clan members had developed a strong interest in the divine artifacts in the seal. However, due to his current capabilities, or perhaps other reasons, no one has said anything.

But, it will inevitably become a disaster if it continues.

He had already opened the seal and seen the contents inside; it was simply a Nirvana Stone, brimming with immense positive energy.

But saying it could tear space-time is sheer nonsense, so he needs to gather the clan members together sometime and explain this matter thoroughly, to completely dispel any notions from those with ambitious minds.

They had been apart too long, people’s hearts weren’t as pure as before, becoming somewhat convoluted. Keeping the status quo in the Phoenix Clan is best. If another catastrophe like the past occurs, it would mean utter eradication.

And over the past few days, he finally unraveled the reasons behind his stepmother’s actions.

His stepmother was once the most beautiful girl in the Phoenix Clan. One day while out she met a young sect leader from the Mystic Sect, and they got together.

However, that young sect leader possessed astonishing talent.

It was said that tasks others might not accomplish in a thousand years, he completed in ten.

Even though the Phoenix Clan forbade marriages with outsiders, an exception was made for one of such gifted talent from the Mystic Sect.

But no one expected that young sect leader intended no long-term union with his stepmother. Once his cultivation reached perfection and the heavenly tribulation passed, he tore through space-time to a higher world, abandoning her.

If she could forget him and start anew, it might have been a good thing, as many others liked her at the time. But she hated him, intensely, especially since she was already pregnant then.

Desperate, she found a place to give birth to the child.

Meanwhile, his biological mother failed in Nirvana, never waking again, leaving him just five years old at the time. So, under elder’s persuasion, his father married his stepmother.

Within this complex causal chain, he was the most innocent.

His father, just obeying parental commands, married his biological mother. They respected each other but had no feelings. After his birth, they rarely interacted, living as strangers. His mother’s thoughts became chaotic from these matters, leading to her mishap.

His father, having finally married his beloved girl, was naturally joyous, even welcoming his stepmother and the young sect leader’s illegitimate daughter into the Phoenix Clan as his son’s wife.

Chu Chengfeng stood under the phoenix tree, gazing at the place his father once lived. He couldn’t, and dared not, imagine if his father knew the real truth back then.

Perhaps he knew but would do anything for his beloved woman.

Yet for his biological son, he hardly showed any warmth, unlike how he treated Liu Ling. Though knowing there’s no love between them, he forcibly bound them together. It seemed, back then, Liu Ling was more like his biological daughter. These all explained why his father so cruelly erased Xiaowen from his memory.

All his stepmother did was to obtain the Nirvana Stone. Though pure-blooded, she couldn’t unseal it herself, thus required Shui Liuzi and her daughter to cooperate.

She planned carefully, to open the seal, tear through space-time, and take her daughter to the higher realm to find her lover.

Perhaps to reunite, or to confront him about his heartless abandonment of her and their daughter.

Liu Ling knew the truth. That woman’s mind was deeply calculating, even surpassing her mother’s, which truly showcased the power of genes.

That young sect leader was heartless and indifferent, and surprisingly his daughter turned out the same.

But now it was already over.

After dealing with the Nirvana Stone, he planned to pay homage to his father.

On the second day, Chu Chengfeng, the Phoenix Clan leader, convened everyone again at the Divine Land Hall. He scanned the people in the hall and quickly noticed Sima Xiaowen and Xino standing together.

The relationship between these two seemed to be growing closer.

He discreetly shifted his gaze away and spoke loudly, "Elders, clan members, I’ve gathered you here today for something very important. I intend to unseal the Divine Altar and let everyone see what’s inside."

Several elders exchanged bewildered glances, pondering why Chu Chengfeng suddenly decided to break the seal.