Chapter 636: The Phoenix Crosses the You Jing!

"What a huge bird!"

The human-headed monster bird tilted its face skyward, its features full of astonishment.

Relying on the Dao Soldier Pagoda, its eyesight was extremely sharp; through the enormous shadow that shrouded the entire Bafang Temple Secret Realm, it saw the phoenix soaring within the You Jing.

It was a great bird, crimson all over like blood, its outstretched wings of unknown span—even with the human-headed monster bird's current eyesight, it could not glimpse its full form.

It could only see the countless feather plumes on its wings like divine blades, and the faint grey-black layer covering its body.

Compared to the phoenix's own crimson hue, that grey-black was thin as mist, yet this mere thin layer lent the fire-red phoenix an additional air of uncanny strangeness.

"This is a Blood Phoenix that has been tainted by the You Jing and lost its true self!"

This thought flashed through the human-headed monster bird's mind.

The next instant, it felt a chill all over its body; Dong Dong Ershisan's figure had already vanished into the ancient temple on the mountain peak, and then a thick fog surged forth, filling the entire Bafang Temple Secret Realm in the blink of an eye.

Weng~

The humming sound of the white fog expanding too fast echoed between heaven and earth.

Beneath Bafang Mountain, inside the Dao Soldier Pagoda, Han Han Chuijun and the others who had not taken part in the battle of the Divine Capital looked around belatedly; just as they were bewildered, they heard a long cry explode through the air, piercing the clouds.

"Lii!"

Han Han Chuijun, who had just stepped out of the Dao Soldier Pagoda, felt darkness before his eyes and nearly fell headfirst to the ground.

And beneath Bafang Mountain, Zhou Ying's figure flickered in and out; he, who barely counted as a living person, was nearly shattered by that sharp cry, and he looked up in horror.

The sound wave that came from who-knows-where exploded within the cave heaven, and the gale it raised blew away the clouds shrouding the mountain ranges.

"This, this is…"

Zhou Ying stumbled and grabbed the stone stele at the foot of the mountain, shocked to discover the stele trembling violently.

"Not right!"

He looked around in panic.

When was it ever the stone stele trembling violently?

The plants beside him, the mountain steps before his eyes, the boundless mountain ranges in the distance, and even the earth beneath his feet… were all trembling violently.

"Twenty-three Master, that damned bird has gone mad!"

In the strange stone forest on the mountain peak, the human-headed monster bird, clinging desperately to a strange rock, cried out in a shrill, distorted voice, its face full of shock and fury:

"This is the divine ability 'Swallowing Heaven' of the Undying Divine Phoenix!"

The Blood Phoenix clan cannot be considered a great clan within the San Yuan Fa Jie domain, but its name is widely known, for this clan descends from the 'Undying Divine Phoenix' of the primeval era!

That being is famed alongside the Prison-Suppressing Dragon King, the World-Swallowing Serpent, the Eternal Night Candle Dragon… the number one famed demon of the primeval era!

Legend has it that when the Undying Divine Phoenix opened its mouth to inhale and exhale, the stars swayed and the realms trembled; it even openly defied the Origin Divine Dynasty at its peak, and was a peerless monster that wished to swallow the Origin Divine City whole in a single gulp!

Though this Blood Phoenix is far inferior to its ancestor, it likewise possesses the power to devour heaven and earth!

"It's merely a passing strange beast—what is there to panic about?"

A soft rebuke came from within the ancient temple.

The thick fog on the mountain peak suddenly dispersed; Dong Dong Ershisan stood atop the ancient temple on the peak, and his figure likewise appeared above the Bafang Temple within the You Jing.

Wu~

Dong Dong Ershisan stepped onto the temple roof, and the entire Bafang Temple immediately grew still.

He looked around; the Blood Phoenix was soaring past at an extreme height, merely letting out a soft cry, yet every stretch of heaven and earth within his sight was shaking.

The scorched earth of the You Jing outside Bafang Temple was trembling violently; in the darkness, countless fierce and vicious strange beasts fled in panic.

But how could they withstand that terrifying suction like the devouring of heaven and earth?

Like fledgling swallows returning to the grove, they leapt into the air, shrieking, roaring, and wailing as they were sucked into the Blood Phoenix's slightly parted sharp beak; even the strange lands hidden in the gloom were trembling violently!

Dong Dong Ershisan swept a glance and saw dozens, even hundreds, of strange lands—some broken, some intact—emerge from the darkness.

Those strange lands were lone mountains, or temples, or giant pagodas, or dense forests… within the strange lands, black dragons coiled their bodies, or Bai Hu crouched upon the ground…

With Dong Dong Ershisan's eyesight, he could even see the twelve 'thin threads' connected to Bafang Temple trembling—those were the twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, of one body and one origin with Bafang Temple.

"This fiend, when alive, must have been on the verge of touching the 'Upper God' realm—who killed it?"

Dong Dong Ershisan raised his head slightly.

He was rooted in Bafang Temple, and his eyesight was far beyond what the human-headed monster bird could match; lifting his eyes, he could see the full form of this Blood Phoenix.

The crimson plumes were covered by grey-black, but the most striking feature was the unnamed wound on the Blood Phoenix's chest that passed straight through from front to back!

That wound was not large, only the size of a fist, but such a tiny wound—whether it was this Blood Phoenix itself, or the You Jing's Dao essence ceaselessly surging into its body—neither could repair it for the moment.

'This Blood Phoenix did not lose itself, but was slain by someone and then lost itself…'

Dong Dong Ershisan, who had been about to act, frowned, a hint of hesitation in his heart.

Bafang Temple drifts among the various realms, opening once every ten thousand years, or once every thousand years—this is not done deliberately, but because Bafang Temple has long lacked a master and must draw upon the Dao essence between heaven and earth.

At present, Bafang Temple's Dao essence is far from sufficient; even if the three great suns released into the Dayun heaven and earth were recalled, it would still fall short by a hundred years' accumulation.

Suppressing this passing phoenix would be easy, but…

"Lii!"

As Dong Dong Ershisan hesitated, another phoenix cry exploded from within the boundless You fog.

This phoenix cry was even more piercing, like the dawn's first light, and it even tore apart the darkness shrouding this You Jing, exposing every strange land hidden within!

The next moment, even the strange beasts hiding within the strange lands wailed and shot up into the sky, throwing themselves into the Blood Phoenix's maw.

The invisible suction even materialized into a tangible gale, ravaging wildly within this stretch of You Jing covered by Bafang Temple, blowing up countless plants, dust, and remains.

……

Boom!

Outside the walls of the Divine Capital, the rumbling sounds rolled like thunder, seemingly never ceasing.

On the city wall, Li Yuan's brows were tightly furrowed; he guessed at the variables that might appear while secretly urging the Palm Soldier Register, ready to act at any moment.

"Those two old ghosts are far too cautious—they won't clash head-on with Old Pang at all, so there's no chance to ambush them… Mm, Wan Wan Zhuliu does fight with bold, sweeping strokes, but he's very likely waiting for me to ambush him…"

Li Yuan kept his eyes on every direction and ears pricked for every sound, fully prepared to launch a sudden strike. But whether it was Wan Wan Zhuliu, Yun Yun Yeshan, or the Qian Yan Fa Master, every one of them was a seasoned old monster—how easy could an ambush be?

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a light flashed in Li Yuan's eyes. Without a second thought he shot forward, his speed astonishingly fast—even Grand Master Master Dading and the Itchy-Headed Monk beside him failed to react in time.

But in less than an instant, both of them also caught on.

Above the city gate, Wan Wan Zhuliu stood suspended in midair, weathering Pang Pang Wenlong's violent, flood-like fist-and-palm astral qi like a boulder. His bladework had reached the divine; though his strength fell short, it was utterly without flaw.

But in the instant before Li Yuan lunged out, his figure had stiffened for a heartbeat!

"Not good!"

His five fingers suddenly clenched tight, gripping the violently trembling Demon-Subduing Dragon God Saber in a death-grip. Wan Wan Zhuliu's pupils contracted sharply.

His lapse had lasted no more than a moment—less than a thousandth of an instant—but which of those watching him was not razor-sharp-minded, a veteran of countless battles?

Li Yuan reacted with extreme speed, and Pang Pang Wenlong's spirit-phase avatar-body was no slower by a hair. The instant Wan Wan Zhuliu's attention wavered, that dazzling, meteor-like Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm—

had already pierced through the Demon-Subduing saber net and was pressing toward Wan Wan Zhuliu's chest!

And Li Yuan vaulted skyward. The Soldiering Talisman quivered softly, transforming into incomparably vast power that reinforced his body. His speed reached its absolute peak, and the Dark Whale Battle Hammer that silently appeared in his palm was all the more ferocious beyond compare.

Extreme speed, joined to the fierce, overwhelming strength of a Grand Master beyond compare—under Li Yuan's urging, it was utterly soundless.

Drifting like a dead leaf, falling like a mountain collapsing!

By the time Wan Wan Zhuliu came back to his senses, the palm seal before him and the heavy hammer behind—he could no longer evade them both!

"Can't dodge them both… hammer or palm?"

For Wan Wan Zhuliu, this was never a real either-or choice.

He acknowledged that Li Yuan's talent was unique across all ages—that having only just entered the Dao, he already possessed the power to slay a top-tier Grand Master—but his hammer could absolutely not compare to Pang Pang Wenlong's Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm.

Even if the palm was unleashed by one of Pang Pang Wenlong's three spirit-phases.

"Hammer!"

In a flash of lightning, he had already made his decision. The Demon-Subduing saber was suddenly raised before his chest to meet that strike of the Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm.

At the same time, layer upon layer of true astral qi surged behind him, wave upon wave, rising to meet the heavy hammer descending in silence!

(End of this chapter)