Chapter 638: Blood Phoenix Devours the Heavens

The You Jing has changed!

Feeling the strange trembling of the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber, Li Yuan's heart jolted, and he could not help but think of Chi He Lian's divination.

The Cloud Demon descends, and jade and stone alike are incinerated…

"That old ghost Cloud Demon's contingency is within the You Jing?"

Li Yuan's heart tightened. He paid no heed to observing the crowd—some aghast, some furious—at Wan Wan Zhuliu being smashed to death by his hand. With a shift of thought, he had already plunged into the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber in his palm.

With the augmentation of six Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, and given that the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber was in the midst of an inexplicable trembling, even without acknowledging a master, he instantly sensed the Fu Mo Dao Mi Jing.

"Lii!"

Almost at the same instant, an indescribably terrifying shriek exploded directly in Li Yuan's mind!

Boom!

The greatest sound is hard to hear; the greatest image has no form.

The instant the shriek exploded, Li Yuan felt only blackness before his eyes, as if a colossal mountain were bearing down on him. In less than an instant, it had ground all his senses to dust.

Terrifying!

Terrifying!

In that flash, Li Yuan felt himself choking.

The world in his perception seemed to vanish in an instant. Inexpressible darkness swallowed him, bringing him a fear he had never known before.

"What the hell is this thing!"

After a momentary daze, Li Yuan snapped back to himself with a start. He gasped for breath, cold sweat soaking his clothes, his heart pounding violently.

The terror of that shriek, in his perception, was second only only to the unnameable roar of the colossal god during his 'Heaven-Bestowed Register' ceremony.

"Li boy?!"

Laitou Monk and Tiancan Daoist were both startled, but Li Yuan had no time to explain. He gripped the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber tightly once more.

Hum~

A momentary shift of light and shadow.

Compared to the Shan Xuan Jing Mi Jing and the Yang Sheng Mi Jing, the Mi Jing within the Fu Mo Dao was exceedingly simple: one and only one dragon-shaped saber peak, thrust upside-down into the earth, no one knew how many hundreds or thousands of zhang tall.

At this moment, that saber peak thrust into the earth was trembling violently, as if an invisible great hand were reaching down from the clouds above, slowly drawing the saber out.

"Someone is seizing the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber from outside the You Jing?"

This thought flashed through Li Yuan's mind, but when his gaze followed that saber peak upward, the thought was instantly dispelled.

Wuu~

An immense shadow streamed down from nowhere, shrouding the entire Fu Mo Mi Jing.

"This is…"

Li Yuan peered into the distance. Relying on the Bafang Temple token, his gaze could pass through this Zuo Mi Jing to observe the Dao You Jing.

Then, he saw a bird!

A divine bird shrouded in black mist, its crimson feathers like raging flames, as vast as the stars themselves!

This colossal bird soared with wings spread at the extreme heights of the You Jing. As it opened its beak to inhale and exhale, the You Jing itself trembled, and countless strange beasts were swallowed into its maw.

He even saw the Bafang Temple radiating its ghostly light!

"Blood Phoenix!"

The instant he faintly discerned the outline of that divine bird, the name leapt into Li Yuan's mind. This bird's appearance was strikingly like the Blood Phoenix recorded in the Tongshi Sphere.

"No way…"

Li Yuan's heart hammered like a war drum; he had already guessed the identity of this phoenix.

The evil god 'Blood Phoenix,' being hunted by the great clan and Grotto-Heaven Dao heirs such as Shan Xuan Xuanjing Daozi, Ying Ying Shan Xuan Long, Fa Huan Fa Huan Yi Tong, Feng Feng Wu Ding, and Feng Huang'er!

"This fierce?!"

Li Yuan felt his scalp go numb.

In his perception, this evil god's aura was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea; merely gazing at it from afar gave him a terror of suffocating to death.

"Those Grotto-Heaven Dao heirs actually dare to hunt something like this…"

On the city wall, Li Yuan's whole body went cold. Meeting the questioning gazes of Laitou Monk and the others, his voice was even somewhat hoarse:

"The You Jing…"

"Zheng~"

Before Li Yuan's words had fallen, he heard an explosion ring out from within the city. He jerked his head up and saw a blazing purple-gold light within the city, the shadow of a divine spear manifesting between heaven and earth.

"The Da Huang Jia Hai Purple-Gold Spear!"

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched, and he gripped the violently struggling Fu Mo Dragon God Saber tighter.

"Don't even think about it!"

A sharp rebuke came from within the city. Qin Li Shixian, who was pursuing Shen Shen Qisheng, had phoenix eyes brimming with killing intent. She gripped the purple-gold great spear tightly, surging true-gang energy billowing forth.

"Hm?!"

In the strange land outside the city, Pang Pang Wenlong, whose brow had not even been affected by Wan Wan Zhuliu's death, frowned deeply. He raised a hand to blast back the entangled Qian Yan Fa Master, then turned and struck out with a Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm.

Boom!

The divine palm rent the air, spanning several dozen li like a rainbow piercing the sun, extinguishing the violently surging purple light.

Qin Li Shixian staggered, pressing the trembling purple-gold spear back down beneath her palm.

"Is this a Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing choosing its master?"

Pang Pang Wenlong was inwardly startled and doubtful, but before he could think it through, he heard two cries of alarm. Yuan Qing Daoist and the others, locked in fierce combat with Wang Jin and Wu Wu Yingxing, all leapt into the air at once.

A dragon-shadow woven of azure light roared as it shot skyward, with a wooden stake woven of three colors following close behind.

They were precisely the Three-Element One-Qi Stake and the Two-Color Azure Dragon Armor.

"It can't be a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing choosing its master!"

Pang Pang Wenlong raised his hand and struck two Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palms, helping Daoist Feng Yuanqing and the others suppress the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, but his heart could not help but sink, a vague unease stirring within him.

"This…"

On the city wall, seeing several Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing erupt in succession, Li Yuan's heart sank, and he instinctively activated the Soldier-Controlling Register.

At this moment, even excluding the Tian Huo Yin fused within Dun Tian Zhou, he carried a full six Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing on his person!

Hum~

On the gray stone platform, starlight shimmered, and the various weapons within the Soldier-Controlling Register gleamed brilliantly, seemingly unaffected.

"Good, the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing I command aren't affected…"

Li Yuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

With the augmentation of the Soldier-Controlling Register, he could easily suppress the rampaging Demon-Subduing Dragon God Blade, but if these six Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing also went berserk, he could not hold them down.

"I hope that Blood Phoenix is just passing through."

Li Yuan was about to exit the Soldier-Controlling space when, as if sensing something, he looked toward the pale-white flame on the Listening-Wood Register.

This pale-white flame, which came from Xuandaozi, had shown no movement since arriving on the gray stone platform; no matter how he sensed it, all he got was the single phrase, "If a person is not burdened by form."

But now, he faintly sensed something amiss and could not help but focus his spirit to investigate.

"If a person is not burdened by form…"

"…Evil God…"

"…slay…ritual…"

Perhaps because he was within the Soldier-Controlling space, the fluctuations within the pale-white flame came in broken snatches; after a long time of deciphering, Li Yuan still did not gain much.

But connecting it with the purpose of Xuandaozi and the other Cave Heaven True Inheritors in their pursuit of the Blood Phoenix, he could roughly guess what this pale-white flame was trying to convey.

"Slaying the Blood Phoenix completes the entry ritual?"

Thinking of that enormous phoenix bird in You Jing that had even wanted to swallow the Eight Directions Temple, Li Yuan was instantly at a loss.

He prepared to exit the Soldier-Controlling space, but watching that pale-white flame flickering ceaselessly, far more active than before, his thoughts could not help but stir.

"This flame's fluctuations are very active. The reason they're broken and intermittent might be because of the Soldier-Controlling space's isolation. If I let it out…"

Watching that ceaselessly leaping flame, Li Yuan was somewhat tempted, yet also somewhat hesitant.

Having witnessed the Blood Phoenix's might with his own eyes, it was hard for him not to be tempted by the ancient sect that Xuandaozi and these Cave Heaven True Inheritors were willing to pursue even an Evil God just to enter.

……

"Qian Yan…"

Yun Yun Yeshan on the nine-story tower ship was about to urge the Qian Yan Fa Lord when he suddenly heard a deep, resonant bell toll. His heart leapt, and he saw the Emperor Qian's expression change drastically as the Great Sun Jin Lin Bell in his hand tore through the air and rose.

"How dare you!"

Yun Yun Yeshan raised his hand to seize the soaring great bell, but the moment his hand lifted, his face changed drastically.

An indescribable strange force came from You Jing, descending upon his piece of Cursed Land with an unstoppable momentum, like an invisible, terrifying great hand trying to drag him back into You Jing!

"What is that?!"

Yun Yun Yeshan was shocked and furious. He could no longer spare a thought for the Jin Lin Bell that had taken to the sky. He formed hand-seals with all ten fingers, using the tower ship beneath him to suppress the trembling Cursed Land, and at the same time roared:

"Fellow Daoist Qian Yan, something has changed in You Jing, help me suppress—"

"This aura…"

The Qian Yan Fa Lord, who was entangled with Pang Pang Wenlong within the Cursed Land, reacted faster than Yun Yun Yeshan. Long before Wan Wan Zhuliu's death, He had already sensed something amiss.

As this piece of Cursed Land trembled, He finally identified this qi:

"This is the Blood Phoenix's Heaven-Devouring Art!"

"Qian Yan…"

Yun Yun Yeshan urged again, but the moment he opened his mouth, his words turned to shock and fury:

"You dare?!"

The Qian Yan Fa Lord said not a word. The instant He identified this qi, His figure spun and He had already vanished from Yun Yun Yeshan's piece of Cursed Land.

So fast was He that not only did Yun Yun Yeshan fail to react, but even Pang Pang Wenlong, whose attention had briefly wandered, had no time to stop Him. The Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm he instinctively struck landed in the Cursed Land—Boom! —and the earth split apart.

"Not good!"

In the distance, Wu Wu Yingxing withdrew, watching the host of Grandmasters pursuing the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, his face uglier than could be.

The changes came too fast; he simply could not react in time.

It seemed like only a moment's distraction, and Wan Wan Zhuliu was dead, the Qian Yan Fa Lord had fled…

"How are we supposed to fight this?"

As if sensing Pang Pang Wenlong's gaze, Wu Wu Yingxing's hands and feet turned cold.

Even with the Cursed Land and the Qian Yan Fa Lord, Yun Yun Yeshan could only barely fight Pang Pang Wenlong to a draw; only by counting Wan Wan Zhuliu in did they have the slightest chance of victory.

But now…

"This…"

Wu Wu Yingxing reacted quickly, but Yan Yan Tianxiong, who was fighting Long Long Yingchan in the distance, reacted faster still. The instant the Qian Yan Fa Lord fled, a streak of blood-light rose from his body, and he turned and left.

Long Long Yingchan raised his brows slightly, but did not pursue. Instead, he vaulted into the air to help True Person Feng Yuanqing suppress the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

"Something has changed in You Jing!"

The Qian Yan Fa Lord had fled, but Pang Pang Wenlong suddenly stopped in his tracks, sensing the crisis coming from You Jing. Yet he reacted extremely fast; with a single thought, he had already vaulted into the air.

Behind him, the shadow of the Great Sun shimmered with light, and the Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm blotted out the sky as it struck toward Yun Yun Yeshan on the nine-story tower ship, whose face had changed drastically.

Although he did not know what change had occurred in You Jing, he would not let slip any opportunity.

"Stop!"

Yun Yun Yeshan was shocked and furious, but how could Pang Pang Wenlong possibly stop? He roared as he parried dozens of palms, and could no longer simultaneously suppress the Cursed Land:

"Fellow Daoist Pang, hold your hand. This old man has a method that can break the calamity of the Burning Sun…"

"Boom!"

Pang Pang Wenlong stood in cold silence, his palm strikes only growing fiercer and more vicious, the enormous nine-tiered tower-ship being battered by him until it nearly capsized.

"No!"

Yun Yun Yeshan's eyes nearly split with rage. The instant the nine-tiered tower-ship capsized, he could no longer withstand the invisible strange force from You Jing, and with a furious roar vanished along with the strange ground outside the walls of the Divine Capital.

(End of this chapter)