Chapter 640

Evil God Blood Phoenix!

On the city wall, the grandmasters who heard Li Yuan reveal the change in the You Jing all turned pale; Pang Pang Wenlong, who had glimpsed the Blood Phoenix's true form in the You Jing through the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber, narrowed his pupils sharply.

"Blood Phoenix…"

Huang Huang Longzi, who had squeezed his way over, also wore an extremely grim expression; among everyone present, none knew better than he how terrifying an Evil God truly was.

That was a true Gu Gu Shentong wielder!

Even its remains, eroded by the You Jing's aura after its fall, still possessed the supreme might to grasp stars and seize the moon, to inhale and exhale the Milky Way!

"This Evil God is probably just passing through, right?"

After a deathly silence, Long Long Yingchan spoke up to ask, his gaze sweeping past Li Yuan and landing on Huang Huang Longzi:

"It shouldn't crawl out of the You Jing, should it?"

Compared to Li Yuan, who had only had his Tong Shi Ball for a few years, this visitor from beyond the heavens surely knew far more.

"That's… very hard to say."

Huang Huang Longzi wiped the cold sweat from his brow; regarding Evil Gods, he truly had no way to fathom them, nor had he ever paid attention to news of such beings before.

He had never heard of an Evil God tearing through the world's barrier to descend from the You Jing into reality, but what manner of place was Tian Shi Yuan?

The place where the gods shine down!

What Evil God would dare descend there?

"At least it can't come out for now."

Li Yuan offered a forced reassurance, taking the Fu Mo Dragon God Saber from Pang Pang Wenlong's hands.

"What do you mean?"

Nie Xianshan inquired.

"If the sky falls, there are tall ones to hold it up."

Li Yuan did not answer, but Long Long Yingchan caught on; seeing that everyone was too tense, he reminded them: "Don't forget, there's still the Ba Fang Miao."

"Right, there's still the Ba Fang Miao!"

"Yes, the Ba Fang Miao!"

At the mention of the Ba Fang Miao, everyone's spirits lifted, and the oppressive mood of moments ago eased somewhat.

The Ba Fang Miao weighed heavily in the hearts of all the grandmasters present; even Huang Huang Longzi breathed a slight sigh of relief—the Ba Fang Miao should have the power to suppress an Evil God.

Otherwise, it could not have drifted through the San Yuan Fa Jie domain for so many years.

"What this old man just saw, that Blood Phoenix had not yet been able to touch the Ba Fang Miao."

Pang Pang Wenlong's brow eased, then he looked toward Huang Huang Longzi and began asking about information regarding this Blood Phoenix.

Li Yuan had no time to spare for their conversation; his spirit was stretched taut as he peered into the You Jing through this Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

Whoo—

The moment he focused his mind, Li Yuan heard the howling of fierce winds; even separated by the Fu Mo Mi Jing, he felt as if heaven and earth were swaying and he could not control himself.

Within the You Jing, gales raged without cease, countless sands and dust churned; even the eerie lands hidden deep underground could not withstand the Blood Phoenix's inhalation, and one after another they burst forth from the earth.

Under Li Yuan's gaze, eerie land after eerie land, eerie beast after eerie beast, eerie weapon after eerie weapon—all struggled to shoot skyward, wailing as they vanished into the Blood Phoenix's maw.

"Ah!"

Li Yuan heard a roar of furious rage.

Yun Yun Yeshan, the eerie demon commanding a nine-story tower ship, was struggling violently; his eerie land was far more complete and far larger than the others, containing far more gathered eerie beasts and eerie weapons within.

His savings in life had been far richer and deeper.

But even he was utterly unable to resist the Gu Gu Shentong of the Evil God Blood Phoenix; no matter how his eyes bulged with fury, no matter how he roared without cease,

he could only rise into the air in unwillingness and despair, and finally, under Li Yuan's gaze, was swallowed into the Blood Phoenix's mouth without so much as a single chew.

"So it just died like that…"

Gazing at the You Jing where Yin winds howled as if doomsday had arrived, Li Yuan's chest heaved on the city wall; even surrounded by people, he felt waves of cold air rising unbidden from the depths of his heart.

Previously, although he had known of the Evil God Blood Phoenix's existence, first, the distance was too great; second, regarding this Evil God—one eroded by the You Jing's aura and reduced to an Offering used by the true-inheritance disciples of the various holy lands to sacrifice to ancient sects—he had not paid it much mind.

He had not expected this Blood Phoenix to be so ferocious and violent; merely a single cry from within the You Jing was already so terrifying.

'If I had been in the You Jing earlier…'

Li Yuan could not help but imagine it, and his breathing grew somewhat labored.

Putting himself in its place, if he were Yun Yun Yeshan, he feared he too would be unable to withstand the Blood Phoenix's inhalation, no matter how much the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing augmented him.

This kind of power had already surpassed his imagination.

A silence fell over the city wall.

After learning the origins of this Blood Phoenix from Huang Huang Longzi's mouth, even Pang Pang Wenlong and Long Long Yingchan fell silent; the rest had even less to say.

Everyone present was a grandmaster of the Yideda Sect who had merged the three essences, their minds clear and sharp; the reason for their silence was that they all knew very well—facing such a terrifying existence, anything they might say was meaningless.

If the Ba Fang Miao could hold it back, that would be fine; but if it couldn't…

"This You Jing is truly fraught with peril beyond compare."

After a long while, someone finally spoke—it was Fang Fang Sanyun; his gaze swept past Li Yuan and landed on Pang Pang Wenlong: "You were right; to pass through the You Jing, no amount of preparation can ever be excessive."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands toward Li Yuan in apology:

"You dared to pass through the You Jing to go to Tian Shi Yuan—you are truly a man of great courage; regarding the San Mei Yin, this old man was narrow-minded."

Hearing these words, the grandmasters of the Yiganda Sect who had been silent also turned their gazes to Li Yuan one after another; the resentment they had harbored over his monopolizing several Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing suddenly vanished without a trace.

This really didn't look like any good assignment.

"…"

Daoist Li tugged at the corner of his mouth; if Fang Fang Sanyun's face had not been utterly sincere, he would have thought the old fellow was mocking him.

"This matter…"

Long Xi Xiang furrowed his brow, but before he could speak, Long Long Yingchan pressed a hand on his shoulder. He frowned and looked over, but the latter only shook his head.

"Huff!"

At this moment, Pang Pang Wenlong had also digested the information he had learned from Huang Huang Longzi. He took a deep breath and dismissed everyone.

Although the imperial court people had already been captured by him, Ducheng was still in turmoil and still needed to be pacified and stabilized.

After the crowd dispersed, only Li Yuan, Pang Pang Wenlong, and Huang Huang Longzi — whose brow was tightly furrowed as he ceaselessly worked his fingers in divination — remained on the city wall.

"This You Jing is truly fraught with danger."

Pang Pang Wenlong sighed, wanting to say something, but unsure how to begin.

Regarding his understanding of You Jing, he far surpassed Long Long Yingchan. In years past, Long Mo Dao Ren had often taken him into You Jing to seek the relics of predecessors.

Precisely because of this, he granted every request of Li Yuan, wishing he could fetch all the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing for him, and had overruled all objections to strike against the imperial court.

All of it, only to spare Li Yuan worries from the rear, so that his journey to Tian Shi Yuan might be a few degrees smoother.

Before, he had felt he had done quite a bit, but after glimpsing that Blood Phoenix, he suddenly realized that compared to the dangers of You Jing, what he had done was still far from enough.

Li Yuan's heart was heavy, but Huang Huang Longzi had recovered some of his spirit, though his brow was still tightly furrowed and his face full of sighs:

"The dangers of You Jing are ten thousand times more dreadful than the two of you imagine!"

Huang Huang Longzi's voice was low: "This realm of heaven and earth has been severed from inside and outside by the Eight Directions Temple. The strange lands the two of you have seen are merely the transformed remains of cultivators who fell after entering the Dao within your realm of heaven and earth — they hardly count as dangerous."

"But the true You Jing encompasses the strange lands transformed from the countless cultivators who have fallen across myriad realms over hundreds of millions of years! To say evil gods are everywhere and strange demons roam the land would not be an exaggeration!"

Speaking to this point, Huang Huang Longzi gnashed his teeth somewhat: "Among the many disciples my Poison Dragon Academy has dispatched over the years, those sent to seek out You Jing have suffered the heaviest casualties. This business of seeking You Jing and exploring secrets is truly the worst of the worst assignments!"

Li Yuan glanced at him.

He too was a person who carried a Tongshi Orb, and he had no little understanding of You Jing. Its danger was naturally extreme, but it was not as exaggerated as Huang Huang Longzi made it sound — 'evil gods everywhere, strange demons roaming the land.'

'This is meant to intimidate Old Pang.'

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, but the gnashing of teeth on Huang Huang Longzi's face at the end did not seem feigned…

The more Huang Huang Longzi spoke, the more animated he became, but Pang Pang Wenlong's brow instead gradually eased:

"What is your cultivation?"

"Hmm?"

Huang Huang Longzi started.

"Although your aura is vastly different from warriors like us, as if you cultivate some 'Daoist arts' or 'magical arts,' in this old man's view you are still only at He Yi Jing Fa Jie — not even a match for Wan Wan Zhuliu before he forged his Divine Palace…"

"Am I wrong?"

Pang Pang Wenlong looked at him calmly, a faint flame seeming to flicker in his eyes.

"You…"

Huang Huang Longzi's eyelid twitched, and he said in a low voice: "Your foresight is keen, Senior. This poor Daoist has indeed only recently reached He Yi Jing, and my learning is not refined either, but I dare say I am not inferior to that Zhenwu King."

"Is that so?"

Pang Pang Wenlong neither affirmed nor denied. Huang Huang Longzi still wanted to say something, but was cut off by a wave of his hand:

"This old man's heart and spirit are unsettled today. Whatever you wish to say, come back in a few days!"

Having spoken, he pressed a hand on Li Yuan's shoulder, and without waiting for Huang Huang Longzi's reply, had already vanished from the spot.

……

Boom!

Yin wind shrieked like a thunderstorm, tearing apart great swathes of scorched earth.

"Lii~"

From within the darkness came a cry, and a colossal phoenix soared at an extreme height within You Jing. After a single gulp and inhalation, it slowly lowered its head, as if it had sensed something, and let out another cry.

"That wretched beast!"

On the dimly flickering roof of the Eight Directions Temple, Dong Dong Ershisan's face was dark as water, and a good deal of annoyance had already risen in his heart.

In all the years the Eight Directions Temple had drifted through the myriad realms, it had encountered no few evil gods, but most of the time, those evil gods who had lost most of their spiritual intelligence could not even detect the Eight Directions Temple.

The few exceptions had been casually dealt with by him.

But now, this spirit puppet body of his had suffered considerable damage, and if he were to act, it would inevitably affect the Eight Directions Temple's emergence this time.

Moreover…

"The aura of that wound…"

Looking at the wound that pierced clean through the Blood Phoenix's chest, Dong Dong Ershisan's gaze darkened slightly. Still, he forcibly restrained the urge to act, activated the heart of the spirit puppet, and drew the Eight Directions Temple to vanish into the gloom.

"Lii!"

The Blood Phoenix gave a long cry that shook the Eight Directions.

Even more terrifying gales ravaged within You Jing.

A hundred li, a thousand li, ten thousand li…

……

……

Woooo~

Faint, indistinct ghostly light drifted down.

In the endless scorched earth, there came from time to time low roars and hisses.

"This Combat Hall's matchmaking is seriously messed up — I'm only second-tier, how did it match me with a fifth-tier beast?!"

In the void a thousand zhang above the ground, on a flying boat no larger than a speck of dust, a Daoist-robed youth slammed his Tongshi Orb hard onto the deck, the fat on his face quivering.

"Lost again?"

Not far from him, a thin youth squinted as he gazed up at the ninety-three 'stars' suspended high above You Jing. Hearing the noise, he did not even turn his head:

"Practicing for nearly five hundred years and the Combat Hall still hasn't killed its way into third tier — you've truly disgraced your ancestors!"

"Wang Shan Xuan!"

The fat Daoist Priest flared up in rage, but the moment the curse left his mouth, his vision went black and someone slapped him down onto the deck.

"Shut your mouth!"

Wang Shan Xuan's voice was low, laced with shock and fury:

"Shit, we've run into a big one!"

(End of Chapter)