Chapter 34: Stop, Drop, And Praise The Sun
Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range
As Emilio continues to fly deeper within the mountain range, he finally comes across the Phoenix village, and then lands a bit outside of town.
Emilio then begins to approach the village, with one of the villagers seemingly stopping him and asking him to identify himself.
Emilio asked the reason behind the villagers being on edge with the man then responded by saying.
"Good sir, It is by no fault of your own, as we are under threat by a group that refers to themselves as The Black Demon Mercenary Group".
Emilio asks. "I understand then, but on another note, why is this village under such a powerful curse as all of you seem crippled at profound?".
The man let out a sigh and addressed the listener as "Good Sir". He explained that the village was under a curse inflicted by the Divine Phoenix, as a consequence of one of their ancestors misusing its flames. The ancestor had unintentionally harmed over 32,000 innocent people with the flames, many years ago.
Emilio then asks the man if he might be able to speak to the Phoenix, with the man then going wide-eyed and saying "I am not of the authority to allow that. I shall take you to our chief, and he will decide".
The two men, then traverse the village with the villagers, looking at Emilio in almost all, as they have not seen any new travelers in a long time after a couple of minutes of walking, the two then reach the home of the village leader.
The leader then identifies himself as Fang Baichuan and addresses Emilio by saying, "Honorable, Senior. I cannot grant your request as I fear the response of the Phoenix may be even worse than the curse it has laid upon us".
Emilio then simply smiles and says "I understand your fears, but how about a trade? I will deal with the mercenary group that is hounding your villagers, and in return, you will allow me to see the Phoenix, and I promise on my cultivation that nothing harmful will affect the village".
After a brief moment of contemplation, the Village Elder gave his response to Emilia's proposal. "I shall permit it. However, you must first prove that the mercenary group has been taken care of before gaining entry into the Phoenix trial grounds."
Emilio then bows and says "Thankyou for accepting the deal. As for the mercenary group, you don't need to worry about them anymore because I've already dealt with them".
The Village Elder then looks towards Emilio with suspicion, then asks a couple of his men to scope out the location of the mercenary group. After a couple of minutes, the men return, almost pale, and say, "Lord Elder, the mercenary group has been dealt with as every single one of their heads is missing".
( If you're wondering what Emilio did, he simply used his cultivation sense to scan for the location, and then, using that scan for reference, he opened up portals between their necks and heads and then closed them.)
The Village Leader then looks to Emilio with a fearful gaze and asks in a stuttering tone, "Venerable Senior, would you like to see the Phoenix trial grounds?". He asks in a shaky tone.
"Rest assured, my friend, you have nothing to fear from me," Emilio said with a smirk. "In fact, what's to come may just be the best thing to happen to your village in years. So, lead the way!"
Then two men, along with a couple of villagers curious about what was going to happen, approached the Phoenix trial grounds; Emilio immediately entered the trial grounds with No Fear on his face as he was seemingly as relaxed as if he wasn't approaching a divine beast.
The door then shuts behind Emilio; soon enough, a large fiery presence can be felt in the room, and a booming voice appears and asks, "Who dares enter the Phoenix trial grounds?!".
"Hello, It is I. Emilio Reese, Profound God of Freedom and Evolution, and I have come to bargain with you Divine Phoenix".
The voice scans Emilio for his cultivation base and, to its horror, finds that she cannot read him. It was as if he was a part of the universe that was ever adapting and growing at heights that the Phoenix had not seen before.
The Phoenix then revealed itself and bowed to the profound God, and said in a respectful tone, "I welcomed the profound God of freedom to my home and asked why he was here?".
Emilio then says, in a respectful tone of voice, "Divine Phoenix, I have not just come to seek your trial; I have also come on behalf of the villagers as I believe they have suffered enough for the transgressions of those made hundreds of years ago and respectfully asks that you remove the curse crippling your people's potential".
The Phoenix quickly responds by saying "I shall lift the curse off the village should you do me this favor. I can sense that you hold yourself in multiple worlds, multiple universes, and I ask that you take these villages into yourself so that they may grow unhindered under the arms of freedom".
Emelio then responds, smiling brightly, and says, "Don't worry Divine Phoenix. I was planning on taking them in as they look like they could do with some good luck",
And after Emilio says that, the marks on each of the villagers disappear, signifying the end of the curse with some crying at the end of their torment.
The Phoenix then says "Venerable Senior for thanks for aiding the villagers. The trial is unnecessary for one as humble as yourself because even I can sense that even though you are a God, you do not carry the capriciousness of most profound deities".
Emilio then says with almost a downcast smile. " I would be lying if I said I wasn't selfish. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to seek my happiness by helping others. But even if I had the power to help them all, I knew I wouldn't be able to because that would go against what freedom represents".
The Divine Phoenix then gives an almost understanding smile, and it says "yes, that is the dilemma with free will. It is as strong as steel yet as fragile as glass. Profound deities would take this for granted, but you understand its value".
Emilio offered the divine being a chance to leave that place. He proposed to reconstitute its body without harming its inheritors, giving it the freedom to explore the universe or reside with its clan on the planet he created for them in the Heavenly Nexus Realm.
The Phoenix then responds joyously by saying"Yes, it is boring here. There's nothing to read or do but sit and sleep; it is awful". Emilio then proceeds to faceplant as the almost childish nature of the Phoenix emerges.
But before Emilio can begin to reconstitute from the Phoenix, she then says"Here, take a drop of my blood to gain the abilities of a Phoenix. It shall not devour your bloodline, seeing its strength but shall evolve you further, as well as half of my cultivation arts; the other half, I assume you can find yourself".
As the blood reaches Emilio's forehead, a brilliant, all-encompassing flame surges forth from his body, imbuing him with even greater power and a new kind of immortality fueled by the fiery essence of the phoenix. This mystical force now shields him against all manner of physical and spiritual harm, even that which stems from the very source of fire itself.
Emilio forged generosity by pocketing the ode to the Phoenix Arts into his inventory and then sending his thanks to Phoenix. He then proceeded to recreate the form of the Phoenix.
(New Body for Phoenix)
Once the body was created, the Phoenix proceeded through the portal that Emilio had created to reach his realm. He then exercised his control over space to open a portal that led back to the village.
Although outside of the trial grounds, the villagers have gathered, bowing to Emilio, with the village chief thanking him profusely for his generosity.
Emilio then responds by saying people of the Phoenix clan. "I know how you have suffered under the yoke of oppression, under the helplessness of your own weakness. But to you now, I offer you a choice. If you join with me and enter my realm, you shall know peace under the eternal Phoenix you so carefully worship; it is there now waiting for you".
Emilio then opens a portal to a city he has created on the Heavenly Nexus, with the Phoenix sitting proudly atop the tower, looking at them all. At that moment, the villagers made a choice, and all of them bowed again to Emilio before entering the portal, thanking him profusely for saving them from their dire fate.
(The City of Embers Rise)
As Emilio smiles and says proudly "Another day, another group of people liberated from their fates and now to meet a certain proud lizard". As Emilio flies toward his next destination. as Emilio flies towards his next destination.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone