Chapter 7: Do You Know Who I Am?

Flame Phoenix shifted the tone of the conversation, her voice tinged with emotion.

“Besides, her foundation is completely ruined—it’s impossible to repair. She has neither the qualifications nor the ability to inherit her predecessor’s legacy.”

“If you wish to take a disciple, there are countless people across the world willing to call you their master.”

“So why go against the Grand Flame Empire for the sake of someone so utterly useless?”

“It would be far better to abandon this broken girl. I can assure you, not only will we overlook what happened today, but we will also welcome you as an honored guest of the Empire. We’ll find you an exceptional disciple—one that will surely satisfy you.”

Having said this, Flame Phoenix turned to Su Chen and offered a warm smile.

It was subtle, but carried a hint of allure never seen on her before.

This was the Grand Flame Empire’s revered goddess of war—the inviolable general worshipped by all the Empire’s soldiers—

And yet today, she smiled like that at a man.

Even the Emperor of the Grand Flame had never received such a smile.

In that moment, even the eunuch, who had been trembling in fear, found himself momentarily dazed by Flame Phoenix’s charm.

But Su Chen simply grabbed her by the throat.

“You’re a clever woman. Unfortunately… too clever for your own good.”

His hand tightened slightly.

To Flame Phoenix, the pressure was suffocating.

She began to struggle for breath, but her eyes remained calm as she stared at Su Chen.

As if she felt no fear at all.

The tension in the room rose sharply, one wrong move and the whole situation would explode.

The eunuch instinctively shrank back, trying to minimize his presence.

The guardian glared in fury, yet strangely made no move to resist.

Su Chen’s hand remained locked around Flame Phoenix’s delicate neck, causing her face to flush a deep red.

Her breathing grew more labored by the second.

Just as the system feared that its host was truly about to destroy a beautiful flower…

A soft, faint moan rang out.

It wasn’t loud, but everyone present had profound cultivation—

Even the system, without cultivation, was all-seeing and all-hearing.

[Ximeng’s awake?]

Su Chen turned his head slightly, looking toward the source of the sound.

Through the gaping hole in the grand hall doors of the treasury, he spotted a familiar little girl, her head swaying groggily as she stumbled into view.

“Master.”

Ximeng’s eyes widened as she took in the scene, and she cried out in alarm:

“Master, that’s Sister Phoenix!”

“What are you doing?!”

“You know her?”

“Just a little game.”

Su Chen replied calmly, loosening his grip on Flame Phoenix’s throat with no hint of pity for the beauty before him.

Thud—

Cough, cough…

Flame Phoenix collapsed into a half-seated position on the ground, one hand supporting her body, the other clutching her bruised, purpling throat.

But her eyes followed only the figure of the man who had just threatened her—his receding back.

Step. Step. Step…

Su Chen strode into the treasury, and along the way, casually picked up a fine ceremonial robe from among the relics.

He gently draped it over Ximeng, who had just emerged from her medicinal bath.

He discarded Flame Phoenix like she was nothing, yet took such care to keep Ximeng from catching a chill?

This scene struck each of the onlookers differently.

“Good thing my disciple wasn’t exposed,” Su Chen muttered with a satisfied smile, seeing Ximeng’s cheeks glowing pink.

“M-Master, thank you,” the little disciple said softly, lowering her head in embarrassment when she realized how damp her body still was.

“Aww? Don’t mention it. You’re my disciple—it’s only natural for me to take care of you.”

***

BOOM—

A deafening explosion echoed across the skies.

A massive bolt of lightning streaked through the heavens, and within that flash, the shadow of a dragon soared, looming high in the sky.

In the very next moment—

A man clad in imperial robes appeared in midair.

His face was stern and commanding, and the dragon that had just appeared now flanked him, claws bared in a protective stance.

A majestic aura, vast as the endless rivers and seas, instantly filled the sky.

The man hovered above, his presence overwhelming, radiating authority as he shouted: “How dare you defile the treasury of the empire—”

His voice was thunderous, like a great bell tolling across the heavens.

His icy gaze swept over the crowd, chilling each person to the bone, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on their heads.

When his eyes landed on the ruins of the national treasury—

A surge of fury burst forth, and the sky itself darkened in response.

But just as his words rang out—

With a crisp “pop” sound, his entire figure shattered like a soap bubble.

Just like that—gone?

Even the ominous clouds in the sky seemed confused, pausing for a heartbeat before fading away.

Sunlight returned to the land.

What began as a grand and awe-inspiring entrance…

Ended with a bizarre and almost comedic twist.

‘Was it that the mightiest sovereign in the thousand-year history of the Flame Empire was simply too weak?’

‘Or was it…’

‘That this lunatic was just too strong?’

Su Chen lowered his hand and muttered, “I don’t like people talking down to me from above…”

The Flame Emperor likely never imagined that his projection would be destroyed for such a petty reason.

Talking down from above?

Su Chen didn’t like it.

That was all.

Direct, violent, and absurdly casual.

But that projection—

It had cost ten years of cultivation.

Destroying it meant more than just losing ten years of effort—it meant the loss of a drop of essence blood.

And that drop of essence blood… could very well have determined the emperor’s future ceiling in martial cultivation.

***

“How dare you!”

“You actually dared to destroy my—”

The enraged voice echoed once more.

The Flame Emperor’s projection reappeared.

The dragon-shadow returned, lightning flashing in accompaniment.

The sky darkened again, brimming with the fury of an approaching storm.

But this time, his tone lacked the same ease and arrogance as before.

“The emperor’s voice is hurried, his breath labored, and the projection is much fainter than the last time… it seems…”

As the people in the field whispered their suspicions, the Flame Emperor’s fury surged again.

BOOM—

Another thunderclap.

Su Chen struck again with a light, almost effortless punch.

It looked weak, as though it carried no real force, and it clashed comically with the emperor’s mighty posturing.

But—

The Flame Emperor’s projection, infused with 80% of his strength, shattered once more.

That made twenty years of cultivation lost, and two drops of essence blood gone—both tied to the emperor’s future potential.

A collective gasp escaped the crowd.

Even the eunuchs, bodyguards, and the Flame Phoenix herself couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.

Hidden soldiers in ambush nearby were equally stunned.

“You dare… I am the Flame Emperor—”

BOOM—

“Wait, I have someth—”

BOOM—

“I am—”

BOOM—

“…”

“…”

Everyone knew Su Chen was strong—

But no one expected him to be this domineering.

Eventually, even the emperor seemed to realize there was no dealing with Su Chen.

The projection did not return.

But shortly after—

A real figure, far more substantial than a phantom, approached at lightning speed, streaking down like a cannonball.

BANG—

As he landed, the ground erupted beneath him, and soil flew in all directions.

A figure, awe-inspiring and unmatched, leapt out from the crater.

Gone were the illusory dragons, but his presence—his lifelong aura of command—still made others instinctively yield.

“Enough. I am the Flame Emperor!”

The emperor stood with a stormy expression, his voice cold.

His face showed a mix of humiliation and rage, but beneath it all was an unshakable pride—

The pride of a ruler, confident in his status and authority.

But in the very next moment, a resounding slap brought him crashing back to reality.

And this time, he truly seemed to settle down a bit.