Chapter 641: A Thousand Phoenixes, Ten Thousand Phoenixes

Boom!

Like a thousand peals of startling thunder detonating in a single sound.

Wang Shan Xuan pressed the fat Daoist Priest flat against the deck as he crawled, and the tower ship beneath them had long since crashed into the scorched earth.

"Gather your Qi, collect your spirit, activate the twelve prohibitions of the 'Wish-Fulfillment Flying Boat'!"

"Quick, quick!"

Wang Shan Xuan urged the fat Daoist Priest on in a frantic voice while carefully raising his head to peer into the distance. He saw only howling gale and waves of air like a sea, surging in from some immeasurably far place and spreading as if without end.

"Even if this isn't an evil god, it must be the resurgence of a strange demon of the Fifth Realm or above!"

Wang Shan Xuan's hair stood on end, his heart pounding like a war drum.

You Jing is bizarre and uncanny, the inner and outer face of the present world; within it, a single inch of ground may be a foot outside, or ten thousand li, a hundred million li—beyond all telling, a realm of monstrous strangeness.

An ordinary cultivator here could hardly shake this scorched earth, let alone raise such terrifying giant waves and gale.

He had explored You Jing for many years and had even personally witnessed the true transmission of the Poison Dragon Academy, 'Wei Yinghe', ambush and slay a Fourth Realm strange demon; the peril of it remained unforgettable to this day. But the scene before him was terrifying beyond that Fourth Realm strange demon by heaven knew how many times.

"Ah!"

The fat Daoist Priest broke out in a cold sweat, but his reaction was swift. With a low roar, a blue-grey light burst from his body; the light fell upon the tower ship, and the whole vessel shuddered.

Then, from the tower ship above and below, ten thousand vines sprouted, plunging into the scorched earth like the roots of an ancient tree. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a blue-grey great tree several zhang tall.

Boom!

The next instant, the gale came rolling in with waves of air, kicking up billowing clouds of dust and forcing out one lurking strange beast after another, strange soldiers, and even strange lands hidden in the dark that ordinary cultivators could hardly find.

"What the hell is this thing, so fierce!"

The fat Daoist Priest Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi shrieked, clinging desperately to the thick root of the great tree, his fat body flapping about like a kite in the wind:

"I'm done for, Old Wang, get me underground…"

"Shut up!"

Wang Shan Xuan gripped the tree's vines with one hand and formed a hand seal with the other; his Daoist robe shimmered with Jin Guang to shield his body, but in this gale it seemed as if it might go out at any moment.

"Get underground quick…"

"Underground your ass!"

Wang Shan Xuan, driven to distraction, cursed out loud: "Let alone that my Lesser Zhutian Dun Fa has only been cultivated to the seventy-two-layered prohibition—even if I cultivated it to the great perfection of the one hundred and eight-layered prohibition, there's no way to burrow underground beneath the aftershock of a divine ability of this level!"

"This is a divine ability!"

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi shuddered in fright, then screamed and reached out to grab a vine torn off by the gale: "My ship, it can't hold, it can't hold!"

"Forget your broken ship!"

Wang Shan Xuan gritted his teeth and urged his Dharma robe to full power; a thin layer of Jin Guang enveloped them both.

"My ship, my Dharma ship! It's killing me, it's killing me!"

After a long while, the gale eased a little. Beneath the old tree, now only half a trunk remained, Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi knelt on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face.

This Wish-Fulfillment Flying Boat was something he had mortgaged his ancestral property to buy from the 'Wish-Fulfillment Pavilion', staking everything on this expedition into You Jing to make a killing. Now the ship was mostly wrecked and he hadn't earned a single coin; his heart sank as if dead on the spot.

"…"

Wang Shan Xuan stared intently into the depths of You Jing, but one hand had already, unable to resist, pulled out a Communication Sphere.

"You…"

Having wailed for ages without receiving any comfort, Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi turned his head and saw Wang Shan Xuan's face alight with excitement, the arm holding the Communication Sphere trembling.

"Old Wang, you…"

"We're rich!"

"We're rich!"

Wang Shan Xuan suddenly came to himself; a beam of essence-light, almost solid, shot three feet from his eyes:

"That's a Blood Phoenix!!"

"What?!"

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi's whole body jolted, and he whipped his head toward the source of the storm. But it was too far away, and he had never cultivated any pupil-eye art; straining his gaze, he saw nothing at all.

"The Blood Phoenix that the true transmissions of the great clans of the holy lands like Wind-Wanderer and Phoenix Child have posted bounties on!"

Wang Shan Xuan steadied his heart, yet still could not hide his excitement:

"I've already submitted the mission. I just need those few to confirm it, and I can claim the bounty—one hundred million Yuan-coins!"

"Is it really a Blood Phoenix?"

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi's face flushed red, his whole body trembling with excitement.

In recent years, no small number of great events had occurred in Tian Shi Yuan, but for Seekers-of-the-Gloomy like them, the true transmissions of the various holy lands hunting the Blood Phoenix was unquestionably the most sensational event of all.

No need to hunt it, no need to intercept it—merely discovering a trace of the Blood Phoenix, reporting the lead through the Communication Sphere, and once confirmed, a bounty of one hundred million Yuan-coins.

"My Lesser Cave-Void Divine Eye has already been cultivated to the one hundred and three-layered prohibition, nearly great perfection; there's no way I could be wrong… Damn, here it comes again!"

Wang Shan Xuan's words were drowned out before he finished by a tremendous roar; the airflow that had emptied out for who knew how many tens of thousands of li suddenly reversed, and wave upon wave of air surged back.

Boom!

The terrifying wave of air surged back; the old tree, already half-broken, could no longer hold its roots and was swept up into the sky by the gale.

"Wind-Averting Mantra!"

"Ding Shen Fa!"

"Demon Rhinoceros True Form!"

"Thick-Earth Wind-Breaker…"

……

In the gale, the two men's faces turned blue, their eyes nearly splitting from their sockets; the magic power they had accumulated gushed forth, blazing out in layer upon layer of spell-light, but in the blink of an eye it had already dimmed and vanished.

"This is the Blood Phoenix's divine ability 'Heaven-Devouring'!" Gripping the tumbling old tree for dear life, Wang Shan Xuan had pushed his Lesser Cave-Void Divine Eye to its utmost, and saw a sight that filled him with despair.

Terrifying currents of air ravaged across the boundless scorched earth, and those caught up in them were far more than just the few of them — among them were many Seeker explorers whose fame and strength far surpassed their own.

But beneath the lingering waves of that divine ability, they were just as wretched and wailing as the rest; no spell could cover the lingering waves that originated from the Blood Phoenix.

"It's over!"

The spell he had squeezed dry his magic power to unleash was snuffed out like a candle flame by the gale; Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi's face was full of despair, and the magic robe on his body had been torn to shreds.

"Is this the power of a deity?"

Looking at the enormous phoenix bird in the far distance that resembled a deity, Wang Shan Xuan's heart turned icy cold.

But he was unwilling to give up, desperately squeezing out the magic power within his body to resist the sweeping gale, while also ceaselessly activating his magic eye, trying to find a path to survival.

But to his despair, wherever his magic eye reached, he could not even see a single wisp of spell-light; the only thing growing clearer was the shadow of the Blood Phoenix, whose spread wings could blot out the sky.

Boom!

As if an instant, yet also as if a long while later, Wang Shan Xuan's despairing heart suddenly trembled as he heard a deep, drumbeat-like thunderous roar.

"This is?"

The instant the great roar exploded, Wang Shan Xuan activated his magic eye and gazed into the far distance, only to see the void in the distance boiling as a crimson giant warship tore through the sky.

It was a giant warship with eighteen full decks from top to bottom, its entire body crimson like burning fire; the divine patterns on its hull roamed about, like thousands upon thousands of flame divine phoenixes raising their heads in unison.

"Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship!"

The instant he glimpsed that crimson giant warship, Wang Shan Xuan's heart finally relaxed, immensely grateful that when he had handed in his mission earlier, he had chosen the Phoenix Maiden of the Fire Phoenix clan.

The Fire Phoenix clan's Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship might not be as famous as the Poison Dragon Academy's Five-Vein Dragon Boat, but its speed was the fastest; when pushed to its utmost, it could flee through the void and break through realms.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort came from within the Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship, and a rainbow of fire-like light burst forth from it — it was a woman clad in a blazing flame magic robe, divine light wreathing her body.

Wang Shan Xuan strained his magic eye to its widest, yet still could not glimpse that woman's features; he only saw her right hand open, pulling a mottled dark-red war banner out of the void,

swing her arm and wave it!

Hum~

Visible flames streaked across the dark heavens like auroras, and wherever the light passed, even those terrifying airwaves stalled for a moment.

Then, the gale abruptly vanished!

"After all, it was once a deity; even though it has lost its Dao and fallen, this divine ability 'Heaven Devouring' is still terrifying enough. If I had not been at the edge, with my current strength, even with the 'Thousand Phoenix Banner' and 'Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship' in hand, I could not have quelled the storm."

"After all, it is the remains of a deity. Even though its 'Dharma Heaven' was torn apart by that one, with strength less than one or two tenths of its former self, it is still no trivial matter. Young Master must not underestimate it…"

"Who would dare underestimate a deity? However, if I already possessed a shattered dharma ring and the realm of Core Shattering and World Refining, and then waved the Thousand Phoenix Banner again, could I break through its divine ability?"

"Young Master must remember, the entrance ceremony of Tai Huang Tian does not necessarily require slaying an evil god…"

"Does Nanny Yan think me that reckless? It was merely a feeling in my heart."

"Mm… Young Master is a talent of heaven and man, with deep foundations, but if you wish to match the remains of this evil god, merely a shattered dharma ring and Core Shattering and World Refining may not be enough. At the very least, you would need to condense the hundred and eight great prohibitions within the 'Thousand Phoenix Banner' into…"

"Nanny Yan…"

Wang Shan Xuan only felt the world spin, and could only vaguely hear a conversation between an old and a young voice; the last sentence seemed to be addressed to him:

"That Seeker explorer, considering that you chose to hand in your mission to this Young Master first, I shall step in and save you. Go claim your reward yourself!"

Wang Shan Xuan only vaguely saw a flash of red light, and then was already tumbling and falling onto the scorched earth.

……

Whooosh~

The Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship traversed the sky.

On the eighteenth deck, an old woman with sallow skin wore a solemn expression; beside her, the Phoenix Maiden stood leaning on her banner with one hand, gazing into the distance at the Blood Phoenix that stretched across the dark heavens like stars and moon:

"Nanny Yan, I've heard that to seek entry into those ancient sects, besides 'slaying an evil god,' there are other methods. I wonder if you've heard of them?"

"This old woman has indeed heard of them, but comparatively speaking, slaying an evil god is more practical. The so-called saying 'enter the heavenly gate when fate allows' is truly illusory and vague — what does 'fate' even mean?"

The old woman called Nanny Yan shook her head.

The Fire Phoenix clan ranked among the foremost of the Tian Shi Yuan's Ten Thousand Clans List, with a long and ancient lineage; naturally, within the clan there were records concerning those ancient sects that hid within the depths of infinite dimensions yet faintly loomed over all domains.

But as far as she knew, 'slay the evil god, perform the great ritual' was the most widely circulated and most practical method; she had personally witnessed an unrivaled prodigy use this method to gain entry into 'Tai Huang Tian.'

"Fate…"

The Phoenix Maiden softly murmured the word once, did not ask further, and instead looked toward the Blood Phoenix in the far distance:

"Nanny Yan, that Blood Phoenix suddenly revealing itself must mean something is amiss. Could it have been intercepted by 'Feng Feng Wu Ding,' 'Ying Ying Shan Xuan Long,' 'Shan Xuan Xuanjing Daozi,' and the others?"

"Not very likely."

Nanny Yan answered very certainly:

"Those few all carry the various offerings for the ritual. If they had intercepted the Blood Phoenix, the great ritual would have begun by now, but this old woman has not detected the aura of a ceremony."

"Then, it falls to me to begin this great ritual!"

The Phoenix Maiden's sword-brows lifted; looking at that extremely ferocious Blood Phoenix, she was not only unafraid, but seemed somewhat eager to try: "A long night invites many dreams. Nanny Yan, please make your move now."

As her thoughts rose and fell, the giant warship beneath her trembled as well, as if it would tear through the sky the very next instant.

"Young Master, please calm yourself."

Nanny Yan, however, narrowed her eyes slightly: "This old woman vaguely senses an unusual aura confronting that Blood Phoenix… mm, allow this old woman to borrow the Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship to divine a thing or two."

"Confronting the Blood Phoenix?"

The Phoenix Maiden's gaze sharpened, and the giant ship beneath her abruptly slowed: "Then I must trouble you, Nanny…"

"Young Master, please wait a moment."

Nanny Yan bowed slightly, then promptly dropped to the ground sitting; a pale yellow light radiated from her body, sinking into the giant ship like ripples of water.

With a 'hum,' the Ten Thousand Phoenix Ship's hull trembled violently; the divine patterns roamed and transformed into ten thousands of fire phoenix shadows, wandering and softly crying out, converging upon the deck.

Under the Phoenix Maiden's gaze, they formed a crimson light-shadow that went from blurry to clear.

(End of this chapter)