The Endless Promise

142. The Black Aura

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Rumours of the Demon King's return were sweeping through Sky Realm and the Mortal Realm.

By this time, Zhurong Tianlong's rule was fairly established, his sister, Zhurong Fen, had become the Floral Deity, and Fei Yun had become the Fate Immortal.

By now, Bailong had seen far too much bloodshed and he determinedly went around healing as many mortals as possible, regardless of their fate. This made Immortal Jin and his followers protest, saying Tianlong was allowing his friend to do as he pleased!

Of course, Tianlong and Fei Yun would 'punish' Bailong by grounding him in his villa... after which they would still visit to keep him company!

But not too long after Fei Yun became Fate Immortal, matters began to arise, and an odd rift reared its head between Tianlong and Bailong...

At first, it was simple matters... Each time Bailong spoke against some enemy, Feng Yuexia, the Sky Empress would make remarks like,

"It must be so good to have such a powerful friend who keeps things in control..."

or,

"What worries can the mighty Sky Emperor have? There are even friends close enough to act on their own... Even if they challenge your orders, wouldn't it be for good...?"

or jokingly,

"Shouldn't you ask Immortal Yin what he thinks first? We must all consider his opinions, musn't we...? He holds much sway over you..."

Now, the first few times she uttered such words, Bailong had directly challenged,

"Please do not say things like, 'challenging his orders' or 'holding much sway over him'. Won't it sound like you're trying to sow discord and make the Sky Emperor insecure? Hmm...?"

The Empress had scowled, clearly annoyed that Bailong had seen through her ploy, but with a bit of forced smiles and cajoling, the matter went away.

However, seeds were slowly planted and constantly watered by her and those around Tianlong.

Each time Bailong performed some good deed in the Mortal Realm, Immortal Jin and his followers would bring forth a slew of accusations...

"He's stealing the Sky Emperor's thunder!"

"Isn't he deliberately making things difficult for his friend?!"

"He's much too arrogant to fall in line!"

"After all, he's more powerful than our Sky Emperor... How can he respect or obey him?"

"Who knows? He might also think our Sky Emperor is too young and weak to handle things on his own..."

And all the while, whispering right in Tianlong's ear was Feng Yuexia herself.

She had become the closest person to Tianlong, as the Three Friends now had numerous duties and mostly met only a few times a year.

The closer Tianlong drew to Yuexia, the more power she held over him, and she would often cajole Tianlong into taking steps she knew Bailong would counter.

This led to silent rifts...

Once, to prove he had truly forgotten the sins of Yuexia's past, Tianlong insisted on placing more Peacock Clan Members within Central Sky Realm.

Bailong swiftly reminded Tianlong that quite a few of the past traitors had been from the Peacock Clan, and he tried talking him out of it. But when that failed, Bailong quietly got Liwei's father, the Bird King, to stop it.