It was a dark night without much wind. And when that meager wind hit the defenses of Xu Qing’s dharmaboat in Harbor 79, it dispersed into nothing. However, if it had been able to pierce the defenses and sweep through the dharmaboat, it would have found... no one.

Some distance away, Xu Qing waited quietly in the shadows, leaning against the wall of a building, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched his dharmaboat. His eyes were sharp and focused.

I wonder if they’ll come tonight. He looked up at the dark sky. It seems like a good night for killing.

It made him think of his return trip out at sea, when he looked up at those black clouds and caught a glimpse of the hawk-like phoenix.

After retrieving his dharmaboat from Zhang San, he had asked about that entity, and Zhang San told him that it had something to do with the biggest forbidden region in the continent of South Phoenix: Forbidden by the Phoenix. The phoenix was the emperor of that forbidden region, and its name was Flame Phoenix! The place was called Forbidden by the Phoenix because of that phoenix. It was a supreme entity that maintained dominance, not just over...