Chapter 423: Stellar Power

Starlight wove into a halo, encircling his massive body, and the huge membrane wings spread in the starry sky, forming an eternal scroll.

Muscles forged from the stars slowly rose and fell, tightening, concentrating all strength within.

His claws opened, all the starlight began to fly backward, and within the dragon pupils flashing with gold light was reflected the huge firebird burning in the void before him.

Charging complete, the power of the galaxy flowed through his body.

This was purely a fortunate accident; even he now could not possibly know everything happening in this world, let alone the secrets of the depths of the universe.

Even after charging was finished, he felt the surrounding cosmic energy gathering, boundless and endless.

So now it's time to get down to business.

At this moment, the phoenix made no attacking move, merely watching Jiang Xia rapidly replenish the magic power drained within him by multiple resurrections as he continuously drew in cosmic energy.

Each time he dies he becomes stronger, the limit of magic power his body can hold increases, but each rebirth consumes his original strength; on the sun he had no chance to recover himself, but now he does.

Composed of flames, its huge wings unfurled in the cold, dark starry sky, with flames surging over the phoenix's body.

He needs no other power; he only needs to stay alive, and the burning flames naturally grant enough magic to fill his body, as well as the Blazing Prison Fire that burns everything to ash.

While the two equally massive monsters hovered in space, silence lingered until the Hellfire and Stellar Power fully calmed, and the phoenix spoke with a voice mingled with wrath:

"In gratitude for you releasing me, I can forgive your offense, but now I must return to Earth and burn that mage to ashes!"

Having recovered, the phoenix felt the power filling his body; this unimaginable strength finally gave him the nerve to face the monster before him.

Nevertheless, though he had the nerve, he did not immediately launch into an endless battle, for his temper had been greatly tempered by the sun's scorching.

It seems that after undergoing the transformation of life and death, the phoenix finally learned what humility is, and when encountering an equal, he finally learned to reason.

As the saying goes, only overwhelming force can make one begin to reason.

Jiang Xia's dragon wings beat, his massive body surged forward in an instant, stirring up a gale in the silent void of space.

He did not answer the phoenix; from the start he had come solely to slay it completely—kill is kill, no need for extra words, he had no interest in learning the phoenix's mental journey during its time on the sun.

If he truly wanted to know, he could examine its memories after completely devouring the phoenix, rather than chatting idly here.

A hurricane mixed with the radiance of a dragon's spiral burst forth in an instant at unimaginable speed, shaking space; behind him appeared a rainbow woven from starlight, like the Queen Mother parting the Milky Way with a jade hairpin, clearing the sky.

Faced with Jiang Xia's absolute violence beneath the galaxy spanning the sky, the phoenix quickly reacted, the wings formed of Hellfire unfurled behind him, and extreme flames and light burst forth.

Both sides charged simultaneously, as cries and dragon roars echoed through the universe, the pupils filled with gold‑like molten lava revealing undisguised killing intent.

There were no complex magic formations, no chaotic incantations, no elegant and splendid combat—only instinct‑driven slaughter.

The only difference from ordinary beast fights is that they are monsters possessing special abilities.

Boom—

Two different beams of light, like colliding meteors, slammed together with tremendous force across the vast starry sky, kicking up flames and meteors while bursting into splendid fireworks; each impact carried unmatched force, and the collision of cosmic power with Hellfire in the silent void brought a glimmer of brightness.

Their battle moved from the Sun to Uranus, then to Neptune, and finally drew ever closer to Earth.

The satellites hovering in Earth's orbit were instantly destroyed by the intersecting forces, their electromagnetic systems completely failing in the energy surge, rendering them useless.

All satellites above Earth lost contact, mysteriously turning from high‑tech machinery into space junk, losing their observation channels; only a telescope could now glimpse their true form.

Yet in that earth‑shaking roar, Jiang Xia opened his dragon fangs bristling with sharp teeth and fiercely bit into the molten fire's feathers.

The phoenix screamed in pain, its sharp claws, wreathed in flame, viciously raked at the silvery‑white scales.

But the thin sapphire film flowing over those silvery‑white scales stubbornly blocked his attack.

The dragon's great jaws snapped shut, splendid feathers scattering like blossoms, as Jiang Xia forcibly tore off the phoenix's wings, leaving a huge gap in the massive firebird's body.

Jiang Xia spread his rear membrane wings; dozens of rings instantly condensed, gathering wind and lightning beneath his dragon wings, and power erupted violently.

Stellar Power began to gather, enveloping everything within tens of kilometers in its attack range; at the instant Jiang Xia swung his wings, a sapphire light pillar burst from the rings with a violent piercing roar, like a pillar holding up the heavens.

His body had absorbed most of the cosmic energy, so of course he wanted to test just how far this galactic power could go.

At the moment Jiang Xia unleashed his attack, the phoenix, whose body he had forcibly devoured in part, stared at the light pillar shooting straight at him.

He first staggered, as if still not recovered from the pain.

But the instant he saw the attack descending, he let out a fierce, furious shriek.

The fury emitted by this flame‑like giant bird seemed ready to ignite the whole world, brimming with savagery.

That maddening cry, infused with Hellfire's flames, gradually merged into one, and the piercing blue light slowly illuminated his flame‑like body.

"How interesting—previously, knowing I could revive the dead, I went mad and spared no one, yet now I feel a tremendous fear of death, and even in desperation I can unleash great power." Jiang Xia said, looking at the phoenix with praise.

The loss of life is a solemn process; Jiang Xia has never harmed a life worthy of respect, even if he could revive them after killing them.

Those who rely on their power to continually reshape the world while treating life as trivial truly inspire disgust.

The taboo against life must not be trifled with; if one treats living as a game, as a replayable pastime, then continuing thus he would likely regard all human lives as mere strings of numbers.

Anyway, all it takes is a flick of the hand for them to return, while ordinary folk lacking power cannot know how many times they have died.

Then, human life would truly be regarded as weeds.

Someday he will grow weary of restoring the world, and even feel aversion toward his original motive of saving people.

By then, those ordinary people might truly have died, vanishing from everyone's memory.

Guilt does not disappear when the offender is saved; if unchecked, it will only intensify. (End of chapter)