Xue Wei had never guessed that Lan would simply lean back in his chair and just let him ask all the questions he had. It was clear that this Thunder Flame Crown would not be easy to get from how Lan was acting. 

"Okay, first off. Is Xiao Lei my biological uncle?" Xue Wei asked. This was one of the most important questions he had to ask. He needed to know.

"He is. He is your mother's brother. He is also an Azure Dragon. The Azure Dragon Clan is in decline, though. Right now, only three of your kind exists in the clan, and you are one of them. I guess you only count as half an Azure Dragon, though, so you could say that two and a half experts exist in the Azure Dragon Clan."

"Was my father my real father?" This was Xue Wei's second question. 

"Yes, he was. Though he was a simple apothecary, he was indeed your real father. He had no actual strength or anything going for him, but it is not always strength that matters." Lan sighed as if he was reminded of something. His usually cheerful expression faded to sorrow, his eyes turning slightly misty. 

It lasted for the briefest moment, but they all noticed it. And they all tactfully decided not to point it out. 

"If he is my real father, and Uncle Lei is my real uncle, then why would he kill my father?" Xue Wei asked the question that had been in his heart ever since he had understood the true ins and outs of the attack on Lingyun Town. 

Lan hesitated. "I cannot answer this question for you," he answered after deliberating a bit. "If you want an answer, you should go to your uncle. This is something personal and the reason behind it is complex. I know the answer, but I feel that the right person to give you exactly this answer has to be your uncle."

Xue Wei muttered for some time before he nodded his head. This made sense. It was a very important question and Lan was after all not involved. Although he was not involved, it seemed as if he still knew what had happened. 

"I am half human, half Sovereign Beast. How did I manage to be born? Is it not against the laws of this world that a mixed breed can appear?" This was another question that had troubled Xue Wei for a long time, and he hoped that Lan could shed some light on his confusion.

"It is not that it is completely impossible," Lan said seriously. "There is one way in which the child is able to survive. However, this method is very drastic and no beast is willing to do it, even if they knew about it." 

"To give birth to a mixed child, the mother needs to fuse her own life essence into the child. She has to feed the child her own life for it to survive. At the same time, the mother is unable to eat anything, as anything she consumes will be poison to the child. Many who have attempted would have died long before the child was born, but your mother was different."

"Your mother was a Sovereign Beast. Not only this, she was the one who was considered the Holy Maiden of the continent, so she had a very strong life essence, and at the same time, she had a tenacious will that let her stay alive until the day you were born. She traded her life for yours."

Lan sighed when he said this. What Xue Wei's mother had done was clearly an emotional thing to do, so he could not help but reveal a look of admiration. It was clear that he understood the feelings that Xue Wei's mother had – the urge to give one's life for someone else. 

Xue Wei was quiet. He had long since given up on feeling the warmth of a mother as she had died when he was born, but now he understood that she had always loved him unconditionally and gave her all for him. Was there really any greater love than this in the world? 

With this in mind, Xue Wei's heart became heavy despite the warmth he felt. To think that the reason he was alive now was because of his mother making the ultimate sacrifice for him. This was something he could not even have imagined before. 

"What does being the Holy Maiden of the continent imply?" Xue Wei then asked with a frown. Lan had mentioned it before, but he was unaware of what exactly it was. 

"It is the Sovereign Beast with the purest bloodline," Lan answered readily. "It is the beast that they wish to sacrifice for the sake of mutating every Primordial Beast elite and council member so that they can take over the continent once more."

"They wanted to sacrifice my mother?" Xue Wei was stunned. Lan sighed. "This is a world where the strong survive. This is how it is. The purity of her bloodline was outstanding, so her lot in the world was to be prey for those selfish members of the council."

Xue Wei took a moment to ponder what he had been told. "So my mother's bloodline was extremely pure, but mine is rather muddled?" 

"Although I have managed to unlock the bloodline of the Azure Dragon and managed to get my hands on the inheritage, my bloodline is nothing to brag about. Why would they want me when my uncle is still alive? He is alive, right?" Worry suddenly appeared in Xue Wei's heart. If his uncle died, would he not be all alone in this world?

"Xiao Lei is still alive, don't worry." Lan nodded his head seriously. "Although Xiao Lei has a strong bloodline, actually better than the average Azure Dragon, you have something he does not have," Lan said mysteriously while looking at Xue Wei. 

"Well, I cannot tell you what it is yet," he said with a sigh and shook his head. "Also there is a chance of you becoming a real monster in the future! Who knows what might happen when you travel to the different continents. I look forward to seeing your performance."

"Also, let me give you some bonus information: you are not the first mixed breed to be born in this world, but you are the only one alive right now!"

Xue Wei widened his eyes in shock. If he was not the first, who was? He suddenly felt a longing to know the fate of others in the same position as him, but he dared not ask.

Instead, he came to the most important question he had wanted to ask for a long time. "Where is Uncle Lei currently?" 

"Xiao Lei made a deal with the Primordial Beast's Council of Elders," Lan began explaining. "To be allowed five years together with you, he had to give up his freedom and be a captive of the Elders for the next hundred years. If he tries to escape, they will let Chu Huiyin do what she pleases with both you and your uncle, and she will definitely sacrifice his blood to the Elders."

"Where is he held captive?" Xue Wei's eyes flashed dangerously. He knew that he was too weak to charge into the Council of Elder's territory to free his uncle as he was right now, but he was not going to let him suffer for a hundred years just because they had spent five years together. Furthermore, he really needed to know why Xiao Lei had killed his father.

"I should have answered enough questions for now," Lan said, smiled, and then turned to look straight into Xue Wei's azure eyes. "Do not forget the Thunder Flame Crown. I want it as a token of your appreciation. Now go rest for today. Tomorrow, I will see you off to Heping Kingdom, and from there I will help you make a trans-dimensional tunnel towards the Demon Phoenix Continent. I can not have you getting lost on the way."

"As for how you will return to the continent of Chang'an, well, how you do that is something you'll just have to figure out by yourself."

Having said what he wanted to say, Lan clasped his hands behind his back and casually exited the room, leaving Xue Wei, Lin Xiao, Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi alone in the room. 

It was not before now that Xue Wei saw Lin Xiao's expression of utter disbelief as he stared at him.

It was clear as day what he was thinking. It almost seemed as if someone had taken a brush and written 'you are a mix between a human and a Sovereign Beast?' on his forehead. 

It took some time for Lin Xiao to realize that the other three were staring at him. He coughed slightly before he flushed slightly red. "Well, I guess I made the right decision in following you," he said, coughing again. "It is definitely not going to be boring with the three of you around me." He grinned. Never once did it cross his mind to try and tame Xue Wei; he had already approved of these three as his friends and as individuals whom he respected, especially Xue Wei who had gone so far as to dress up as a woman just to get the answers he needed.

"We have until tomorrow to relax and prepare," Xue Wei finally said. "Set your minds at ease. We are going to return to the Kingdom of Heping to pay our respect to my late brother Tie Haolong. After we have done that, our objective is to paint the entire kingdom red in blood! It is time to get revenge for the time they forced us to flee!”

None of the other three had ever met Tie Haolong, but both Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou had heard about him before. Lin Xiao, however, was completely clueless, so the next long time was spent with Xue Wei narrating his experiences in the Kingdom of Heping when he was still very young. 

Although the Kingdom of Heping had ultimately been correct and that he was indeed somewhat of a beast, he was not going to let them off easily. They had killed his brother and he was going to let the blood flow freely!

Xue Wei was not some righteous person. He did not care about right or wrong, all he cared about was to protect the ones he was close to. Those who he deemed friends were people he would die protecting, while everyone else could go do whatever they wished for all he cared. 

"What do you think the Demon Phoenix Continent is like?" Hei Gou asked with longing in his voice. He caused Xue Wei and the others to pause. 

"I don't know," Xue Wei shook his head. "I hope it is different from here. But from what I could understand from Lan's words, it should be."

"Still, strength is all that matters," Bai Tianyi cut in, "and our strength can be considered mediocre as we are. Although we are not Saints or even Sky Knights, we do have an Earth Knight in our midst." 

The others nodded their heads in agreement, all eyes turning to Lin Xiao. Xue Wei stood up and patted his shoulder. "In the future, we will rely on you the most," he said seriously. Lin Xiao grimaced. He was fully aware that these experts, despite being weaker than him on paper, had a lot of aces up their sleeves that he could not easily handle. 

The rest of the day quickly pa.s.sed with the four friends discussing what the Demon Phoenix Continent would be like. They were all extremely eager to go there. They had never before set foot outside of Chang'an, so it was without a doubt the most exciting journey they were about to embark upon. Although they were forced to leave their continent of birth, they did not feel too much regret. They all knew that they would return one day, stronger than ever before.