Chapter 536: The Phoenix Divine Bird

"Oh no! Oh no!"

The mountain giant seemed to be stumped by Lin Jue's question.

As it straightened its body and looked around at the devastation it had caused, it was suddenly filled with panic and heartache, feeling unbearable distress.

"Yao Hua... Yao Hua..."

As it muttered, mountain stones from the Immortal Yuanqiu Immortal Realm gathered on their own to mend its right foot.

The mountain giant also slowly climbed back up.

"It's all Yao Hua's fault..."

The mountain giant muttered, ignoring the Daoist on its forehead. It turned its head, its gaze fixed on the six-tailed white fox in the distant sky, which was fighting with several feathered snakes.

"Good Fuyao, be careful!"

Lin Jue shouted, simultaneously pointing downward.

Flowers Bloom in an Huakai Qingke!

With his current Daoist cultivation and magical power, and his mastery of this spell, although he could not reach the level of the ancient emperors and great powers who could make flowers bloom across half the landscape with a single thought, he could still make flowers bloom across countless mountains with a single point if he prioritized breadth over intensity.

"Zzz..."

Two beams of golden light shot from the mountain god's eyes, illuminating a bright golden path through the forest under the night sky. Countless birds and beasts looked up in panic.

Seeing this, the fox immediately transformed into a clear breeze and vanished.

At the same time, a spring breeze swept across the Immortal Yuanqiu Immortal Realm. The mountain giant, formed from high mountains, was already covered in vegetation, and now, all of it bloomed with various kinds of flowers.

Some were bright red, some were delicately pink, some were pure white like a patch of snow, and some were light purple like mist and clouds. This fierce and irritable mountain giant thus became colorful and charming.

But for the mountain giant, this was not pleasant.

"Flowers Bloom in an Huakai Qingke" suppresses both earth-element objects and things that gather spiritual aura and magical power. If it weren't for the fact that it was the incarnation of the Immortal Yuanqiu Immortal Realm itself, supported by the spiritual aura of the entire realm, it would likely have been on the verge of shattering.

"Ah!!"

With a cry of pain, the golden light shifted, tracing across the horizon along with its wail.

"Swoosh!"

The Paulownia divine tree in the distance, taller than the mountains, slowly toppled over.

On its trunk, a slanted break glowed with fire.

"You are being too irrational."

Lin Jue said, reaching out to summon—

The sky suddenly churned with a mass of dark clouds, incredibly vast, with lightning snakes surging and electric light cracking within.

Lin Jue was naturally not using lightning to strike this high mountain, but he had glanced at his junior sister, who was fighting the giant snake below, his senior brother, who was constantly stopping the rare birds and beasts, and those feathered snakes chasing the fox.

"Rumble..."

Thunderbolts descended continuously, striking the feathered snakes and the giant snake.

However, at this moment, another voice echoed between heaven and earth:

"You are indeed being too irrational."

This was a gentle male voice, coming from afar.

Lin Jue looked in the direction of the voice and saw, in the direction where the Paulownia divine tree had collapsed, another huge golden-red divine bird spreading its wings and soaring into the sky.

The divine bird was enormous, its feathers a classical red and pure gold, as if glowing. It was extremely beautiful and incomparably noble. It barely needed to flap its wings; with a single spread, it naturally soared from the distant forest, and half the night sky and the forest seemed to be illuminated.

A clear phoenix cry shook everyone's heart and soul.

Lin Jue, standing on the stone giant's forehead, his junior sister in the distant forest, his senior brother on another mountain peak, the fox just emerging from the ground, and the sparrow chasing the human-faced crow all turned their heads involuntarily, staring blankly at the divine bird.

At this moment, it seemed to be the most beautiful thing in heaven and earth.

Only the lightning clouds in the sky continued to descend, illuminating the forest, the earth, and each stunned face.

"Golden Phoenix... follow me to fight Yao Hua..."

"You are confused. This is not Jun Niangniang Yao Hua, but merely a descendant of Jun Niangniang Yao Hua."

The golden-red phoenix looked exactly like the embroidery on the phoenix robe of a certain dynasty's empress. It landed on a mountain behind the mountain giant, as if standing on a small pebble. Several long tail feathers trailed behind it, almost dragging from the mountain top to the ground, draping a cloak over the mountain.

"Not Yao Hua..."

"Even if it were Jun Niangniang Yao Hua, so what?" The Golden Phoenix spoke in a gentle voice. "Jun Niangniang Yao Hua has already been defeated, and Lord Lord Tianweng did not pursue or exterminate her. The outcome between the two sides was decided long ago. Moreover, Emperor Ming has already resigned and retired. Even if he were here, he would likely not strike at Jun Niangniang Yao Hua again, let alone a mere junior?"

(Note: The text breaks here, but the translation continues the thought.)

"Yao Hua has returned... surely to contend with the human gods... surely to fight the Nine Heavens... Lord Tianweng has resigned... the current Lord Tianweng should also fight Yao Hua again..."

The mountain god's voice still sounded like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting.

"That is a decision for Lord Tianweng to make. Jun Niangniang Yao Hua is not someone you can fight either." The Golden Phoenix spoke. "And this is not Jun Niangniang Yao Hua. If it were Jun Niangniang Yao Hua, you would have been annihilated several times over already."

"You are a Phoenix... You stand with the Nine-Tailed Fox... You don't stand with the Nine Heavens human gods?... You don't fight... I will fight..."

"This is not Jun Niangniang Yao Hua."

"Yao Hua dares to come here..."

"Your brain has been beaten broken by Jun Niangniang Yao Hua; I will not say more to you."

The divine bird simply turned its head, looked at the few people here, and then spread its wings, flying to the top of the huge mountain giant. It stretched out its wings, covering the giant's eyes. The golden-red light radiating from its body shone on the huge mountain giant, which was covered in vegetation and flowers, painting it with divine colors.

The mountain giant could no longer see, so it had to pace aimlessly on the spot. It wanted to reach out and brush the divine bird off its head, but it had no fingers, and its arms were too thick to reach its head, making it look very clumsy.

"Stop being confused! You'll disturb Lord Tianweng's rest later!"

Upon hearing this, the mountain giant finally quieted down a little.

"Ah..."

A human-faced crow flew past under the bright moon, bruised and swollen, chased by a sparrow. As it flew, it cried out:

"Didn't steal the fruit! Didn't steal the fruit!"

The Phoenix divine bird remained on the giant's head and asked the few people: "Why have you come here?"

"Thank you, Third Shixiong, for the help." Lin Jue bowed. "We came specifically to find you, hoping to request a few phoenix feathers."

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Without the Golden Phoenix making any move, several of its finest feathers flew from its body, tracing several golden-red lines in the night sky as they shot toward Lin Jue.

Lin Jue formed a sword finger and held his hand in front of him.

The feathers stopped instantly.

When he opened his hand, the feathers were before him.

The phoenix feathers were all the size of a palm, primarily red with golden patterns, resembling auspicious clouds, looking almost identical to the phoenix feather Jun Niangniang Yao Hua had gifted him in the mother-of-pearl box back then.

"You should leave quickly; otherwise, if this mountain god becomes confused again, you will disturb Lord Tianweng's nap."

The Golden Phoenix said, its eyes flashing with golden light.

A large hole appeared behind it. Outside the hole was also a forest under the moon, but it was not as strange as the mountain peaks before them; in the middle, there were faint traces of village houses and bamboo rafts at a ferry.

"You dare to let Yao Hua go..."

The mountain giant began to stir again, pacing on the spot, creating movements like an earthquake, constantly reaching out to grab the divine bird on its head, even shooting golden light from its eyes, making the divine bird's wings glow with transparency.

"Thank you, Third Shixiong!"

Lin Jue bowed respectfully toward it.

In his heart, he had a faint feeling—

This Golden Phoenix also knew Jun Niangniang Yao Hua, and the phoenix feather Jun Niangniang Yao Hua had gifted him back then had also come from here.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Jun Niangniang Yao Hua was once a Great Sage of the demon race, equivalent to an emperor of the demon race. It was very normal for the great dragons and phoenixes of heaven and earth to know her.

"Thank you, Third Shixiong!"

"Thank you, Third Shixiong Golden Phoenix!"

The two followed suit and bowed, and even the fox, Cai Li, followed along.

Then, the three did not dare to delay. One transformed into a clear breeze, one turned into a crow, and one floated through the air, all flying toward the large hole ahead.

However, at this moment, it suddenly became quiet behind them.

The mountain giant stopped moving completely.

The rare birds and beasts in the forest, and the sounds of wind and fire, all fell silent.

This sudden silence made Lin Jue notice something unusual, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look, only to see a flash of subtle panic in the divine bird's eyes.

"Lord Tianweng has awakened!"

The divine bird said calmly, but it stared fixedly at them, urging them to leave quickly with its eyes.

Almost simultaneously, a voice came from heaven and earth:

"Why the noise?"

The voice was old and weak, kind and affectionate.

Lin Jue originally didn't think much of it, and even wanted to see what Lord Tianweng looked like, but the divine bird's previous behavior and current gaze made him clearly feel—

The divine bird had been helping them;

They must not stay at this moment.

"Go quickly!"

Lin Jue raised a dark cloud under his feet and suddenly accelerated.

His senior brother, who had transformed into a crow, also turned his head to look, flying unhurriedly, and his junior sister, who had transformed into a clear breeze, also revealed her form, wanting to see what was happening behind them. But hearing Lin Jue's words and seeing his surprise, they both made a decision in an extremely short time and also accelerated to fly forward.

In an instant, thunderclouds gathered beneath them.

"Boom!"

The thunderclouds were visible and invisible, dragging long tails, seemingly still carrying a bit of electric light, and they rushed out of the large hole in one go.

The thunderclouds stopped instantly!

His senior brother and junior sister returned to their human forms. The three stood on the clouds, and the clear night wind blew directly into their faces.

The night at this moment was still the same night, the bright moon was as clear as ever, illuminating the village beneath the distant mountain peaks. However, because there were no lava-like rivers, no burning forests, and no Phoenix divine bird emitting divine light, the entire world seemed unusually quiet, dim, and empty, making people feel somewhat unaccustomed.

Looking back, there was nothing behind them.

There were no groups of Wenma and Qinyuan, no fierce giant snakes and feathered snakes, no mountain giant reaching into the clouds, no noble and beautiful Phoenix divine bird, and no shattered high mountains or red springs on the mountains. There was only a simple, flying mountain, and three thatched huts beneath it.

"What happened? Third Shixiong brother!"

His junior sister looked at Lin Jue in confusion, not understanding why he feared a Lord Tianweng.

"Ying?"

The fox also looked up at him in confusion.

"I don't know." Lin Jue also didn't say that the Phoenix divine bird was urging him to leave. After all, this was still the Flying Dashan, and he couldn't harm those who had helped them. He only said, "Leaving early is always a good thing."

"That's true."

His senior brother understood in his heart and just nodded in agreement.

"It's fortunate we got the phoenix feathers."

Lin Jue reached out and flipped his hand. In his hand were several phoenix feathers, incomparably exquisite.

"It's fortunate we picked up a few fruit pits."

"And filled a pot with red spring water."

"Take them..."

Lin Jue handed the phoenix feathers to them.

Then he opened the cloth bag and released the black dog from within.

Just being blown by the wind, he felt something was a bit strange.

In his heart, there was a faint sense of palpitation, but when he took out the ancient book to flip through it, neither a new page nor a blank page appeared.