Chapter 771

The woman of the Le family tossed the ancient lamp into the air, parted her lips slightly, and spat out a wisp of white infant flame to ignite the lamp.

With both hands forming a lotus mudra, she murmured a low, obscure incantation; a white lotus bloomed beneath her, as if a celestial fairy stood gracefully upon it.

The incantation carried an indescribable primordial aura. Suddenly, the bronze lamp trembled, and nine identical ancient lamps flashed into existence.

After circling briefly, they arranged themselves into a triangular formation and rotated slowly in midair.

The woman flicked her jade fingers, sending nine distinct magical seals into the lamps; blue light flared, and nine lamp flames floated gently upward, converging at the center of the "triangular" formation into a single blue flame the size of a human head.

With a "puff," the woman spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the blue flame; the fire surged upward by a foot, blindingly brilliant.

Moments later, a clear cry rang out, and a blue bird, one foot long, emerged from the flames.

The bird was light and graceful, with long blue feathers and a pair of fiery red eyes that gleamed like gemstones—it was a magnificent blue peacock.

It gazed aloft with haughty demeanor, spotted the Le woman below, tilted its neck slightly, and uttered an ancient primordial tongue from its beak.

The Le woman bowed deeply three times before the bird with reverent posture, speaking the same ancient tongue in return, engaging in conversation.

The emaciated old man, seeing this, showed a trace of solemnity on his face.

Suddenly, the Le woman halted her ancient incantation, flipped her hand, and produced a pink, unnamed spherical bead that emitted a fragrant aroma, its nature unknown.

Upon seeing the bead, the blue peacock showed delight, opened its beak, and expelled a cloud of blue mist that directly sucked the bead into its mouth.

With a "zzzzt," a halo of light rose around the bird, followed by blue flames erupting from its body, transforming it into a colossal firebird.

With a piercing cry, it spread its wings and soared skyward; the fire spiritual energy within a ten-li radius suddenly became unstable, and every cultivator or mage using fire-based techniques immediately felt their spell power halved—astonishment surged through them.

Countless fire spiritual energies flowed like myriad rivers into the sea, streaming into the bird's body; its form swelled rapidly, and its blue flames grew even more dazzling.

All cultivators within a ten-li radius froze mid-action, staring in shock at the blue firebird; the ambient temperature had risen instantly, and even with protective talismans and artifacts, they felt as if standing beside a furnace—every heart trembled.

Yet when they saw the peacock within the blue fireball, the mages' faces lit up with ecstatic joy.

"It's the Sacred Avian! Master Le has summoned the Sacred Avian!"

"We will win this battle!"

Some mages shouted aloud, then launched frenzied attacks on their opponents, visibly elated.

The emaciated old man, witnessing the bird's divine might, showed a rare smile on his face.

The black-robed woman of the Yin Luo Sect gazed at the blue peacock within the flames, her eyes flickering with a strange expression; suddenly she spoke:

"To command the fire spiritual energy of heaven and earth, this Sacred Avian must be at least at the Soul Transformation realm. No wonder you treat it as your final resort. Yet though its realm is high, upon its emergence its spiritual power was only around Nascent Soul early stage; even after absorbing so much fire spiritual energy, it has barely risen to late stage. This must be a fragmentary body, correct? Otherwise, you would never have lost so badly against the Tusu."

"Madam Lu, truly exceptional—you saw through it at once! The Sacred Avian is indeed not the true body descended, yet even so, it is no trivial matter. A normal Nascent Soul late-stage cultivator would be no match." The old man glanced at the black-robed woman and spoke calmly.

"Indeed, the ability to harness heaven and earth's spiritual energy is a great technique accessible only to Soul Transformation cultivators. Merely this alone places it nearly invincible." The black-robed woman nodded, her tone carrying a hint of envy.

Seeing this, the old man chuckled softly and said nothing more.

The seven elderly men who had flown out wielding ancient treasures had just used several ancient artifacts to slay a few mages when they spotted the giant bird within the blue fireball—faces filled with horror.

"Worse! This beast looks terrifying—ordinary cultivators cannot stand against it. We must stop it." The leader, a gray-robed elder, cried out, his face pale.

"Then what are we waiting for? Quickly use the Tai Zhen Seven Treasures to destroy this demon! This avian clearly does not belong to this realm—cannot let it cast spells and harm others!" Another elder, upon hearing this, shouted fiercely, then transformed into a streak of yellow light and shot straight toward the blue fireball.

The others followed immediately. The gray-robed leader hesitated slightly, sighed, then turned into a golden rainbow and flew after them.

As the seven men reached the vicinity of the blue flame, the Mulan Sacred Avian had seemingly completed its absorption of fire spiritual energy—its body now stretched over twenty zhang long. It lowered its head slightly and immediately spotted the seven cultivators charging toward it with hostility.

Instantly, its eyes flashed with murderous light; it flapped its wings, and countless blue fireballs the size of fists surged forth, pelting the seven men.

Before the seven elders could even begin their attack, a wave of scorching wind swept over them, making their entire bodies blaze with heat—they all froze in alarm.

Seeing so many blue fireballs approaching, an elder with long eyebrows slapped his storage bag, then raised his hand and hurled out a crystal-clear ice net.

The net was wondrous—it flared with white light and instantly caught all the fireballs within its mesh.

The long-browed elder smiled faintly, but his face suddenly turned pale.

The fireballs within the ice net exploded violently; the net burned and dissolved in the blue flame, vanishing in an instant. The freed blue flame surged into a fiery pillar, roaring toward the group.

"Go!" The leader, quick-eyed, tossed his ancient treasure—a pale, misty ancient mirror—that flew into the air.

After circling once, white light erupted from the mirror, forming a white curtain that held back the blue flame, preventing it from descending.

Yet the other elders, having seen the long-browed elder's treasure dissolve, gasped in shock—they realized this blue flame was no ordinary thing, and none dared use ordinary magic treasures.

"Quickly, activate the Binding Demon Array! Trap this demon avian!" The leader roared.

The other elders, hearing this, hastily obeyed, tossing out their ancient treasures one by one.

Six treasures—the red ruler, yellow halberd, talisman tablet, small tripod, jade fan, and wish-fulfilling scepter—rose into the air, shooting to positions around the giant bird. After a long cry, their spiritual light merged with the previous ancient mirror, forming a seven-colored veil that not only held back the blue flame but also encircled the giant bird.

Seeing this, the blue bird's eyes blazed with greater fury; it opened its beak and suddenly pecked downward into empty air.

A massive, spear-shaped blue ray flashed once and vanished. Below, a tall elder suddenly felt his summoned talisman tablet tremble violently—CRASH! It flew back with a thunderous boom.

The elder was terrified, his soul nearly fleeing his body; he frantically cast several seals onto the tablet, trying to halt its flight—but the tablet merely paused slightly, then continued hurtling toward him. Just as it was about to strike him, a shadow flickered—two arms pressed onto his shoulders, and a torrent of spiritual power flooded into his body.

"Quickly cast your spell—I'll lend you strength." A cold voice spoke—it was the gray-robed elder's.

Hearing this, the tall elder's spirit surged; he unleashed four or five more seals in one breath, and finally, the tablet halted five zhang away, regaining control.

Both exhaled deeply in relief.

After witnessing this, the other elders were secretly shaken and dared not slacken their vigilance. They pushed their ancient treasures to their utmost limits; their lights interwove, collectively blocking several of the giant bird's blue light spears.

The Le woman, not far from them, watched this scene, glanced back at the ancient lamp behind her, hesitated, and did not move to assist.

As long as the lamp oil had not burned out, she must guard the lamp—could not let it be destroyed by surprise attacks. Otherwise, disaster would follow.

The emaciated old man, seeing the giant bird held back by these elders, showed a flicker of surprise—but immediately returned to calmness.

He was not anxious; this Sacred Avian, venerated by the Mulan tribe for tens of thousands of years, clearly held the upper hand. Though the seven elders' treasures were extremely powerful, they were still no match for the Sacred Avian.

They could certainly kill these seven cultivators before the lamp oil was exhausted. These seven must be Tiannan's final trump card.

Thinking this, the Zhu Shen Master's gaze turned toward the enemy cultivators' formation.

Long Han stood before over a thousand mages, his face grim beyond measure.

"I never expected the Mulan to summon such a demonic avian. This is a serious problem." Long Han's expression remained unchanged, but he murmured softly under his breath.

"Quickly, release the Spirit Beast Statues! While the Tai Zhen Seven are still holding the demon avian, let them contribute something." Long Han's voice rose sharply, cold and commanding.

Upon this order, dozens of glossy black beast statues were suddenly pushed forward by the cultivators. Then several cultivators pulled out spirit talismans and slapped them onto the statues.

A flash of green light—the talismans vanished mysteriously into the statues. The cultivators immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, motionless.

Moments later, the statues shimmered with dark light, their eyes shot out chilling blue rays, and they lifted their paws and stretched their limbs—fully animated.

Without any command, they leapt from their positions and dove into the battlefield, attacking the mages.

The cultivators who had slapped the talismans remained seated, heads bowed, utterly still—as if asleep.

The emaciated old man, watching from afar, showed a hint of mockery on his face.

He turned to the black-robed woman beside him and said politely:

"We've fought long enough—it's time for the final blow. Madam Lu, release your Bronze Armor Corpses. This time, it will secure victory." The old man finished speaking, brimming with self-satisfaction.

"Brother Zhu, don't rush. Wait a moment longer. Most of our Bronze Armor Corpses are only at Foundation Establishment level. We must strike only when the Tiannan cultivators' spiritual power is nearly depleted, to maximize their intimidation." The black-robed woman's eyes flickered several times before speaking calmly.

"This… very well. As long as your sect hasn't changed its mind, waiting a bit longer is no problem." The emaciated old man frowned slightly, hesitated, then nodded in agreement.

What she said did hold some merit.

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