Chapter 89

Over Qingmu Province, the winds and clouds changed color.

The Qingluan divine bird spread its wings, and the green burning sky flames were like an angry sea, wherever they passed, the space was burned and distorted, the primeval forest below turned into scorched earth at a speed visible to the naked eye, rivers evaporated, and rocks melted. That high temperature was not ordinary fire, but the Qingluan True Flame containing a trace of the phoenix true fire origin, enough to burn everything and burn the soul.

And the starlight figure fighting with it had equally heaven-defying means. He/she seemed to be the master in charge of the stars in the sky, and with every gesture, countless star phantoms appeared, condensing into huge star shields to resist the green flames, turning into sharp star blades to slash the sea of fire, and there were even chains made of pure star power, like having life, shuttling through the void, entangling toward the huge body of the Qingluan, trying to bind and seal it.

Every collision between the two erupted with earth-destroying power, and the shock waves spread like ripples, tearing the clouds hundreds of miles away to pieces. If it weren't for the fact that the battle area was sparsely populated, and both sides seemed to intentionally control the scope of the impact, I fear it would have already caused countless lives to be ruined.

Lin Xuan stood outside a safe distance, the Chaos energy around his body flowed naturally, easily resolving the energy aftermath that swept over. The "Eye of Breaking Delusion" was fully urged, carefully observing this rare high-level duel.

"The person in the starlight... the use of star power has reached the realm of perfection, far exceeding my current understanding of the 'Zhou Tian Star Art.' His Dao method is grand and upright, and what he induces seems to be the real stars of the heavens, not borrowing external objects." Lin Xuan felt a secret awe in his heart, "Could this person be the legendary successor of the 'Star Palace'?"

He had seen a few words about the "Star Palace" in some ancient miscellaneous notes. It was said to be an extremely ancient and mysterious orthodoxy, with few disciples, but each of them was proficient in the Star Dao, in charge of star observation, array deployment, and deducing heavenly secrets, transcendent and rarely intervening in secular disputes.

"And this Qingluan..." Lin Xuan's gaze turned to the extraordinary green divine bird, "Its bloodline is pure, and the Qingluan True Flame is infinitely powerful, but it seems... the aura is a bit unstable? Like it's injured, or is in some special state?"

Just as his thoughts were turning, the situation on the battlefield changed suddenly!

The starlight figure seemed unwilling to fight for a long time, his hands formed an incomparably mysterious seal, and he chanted clearly in his mouth, as if resonating with the stars in the sky in the dark.

"Stars of the heavens, listen to my command! Star Fall · Demon Suppression!"

In an instant, stars appeared in the daytime! Countless star phantoms lit up in the sky, and although it was daytime, their light pierced through the clouds and was clearly visible! The boundless power of the stars crossed endless space, gathered on the starlight figure, and turned into a dark blue star phantom with a diameter of more than a hundred feet, condensed to the extreme, with the supreme majesty of suppressing all demons and judging all living beings, slamming down toward the Qingluan!

The power of this strike had already exceeded the category of ordinary early-stage Spirit Transformation, inducing the resonance of the laws of heaven and earth!

The Qingluan let out a long cry mixed with anger and a trace of fear, it felt a fatal threat! The green flames all over its body burned crazily, its wings closed suddenly, wrapping itself into a huge green fireball, and countless mysterious phoenix runes appeared on the surface of the fireball, trying to resist this earth-shattering strike!

"Boom——!!!"

The dark blue star and the green fireball slammed into each other!

A terrifying explosion that could not be described in words occurred! Between heaven and earth, it seemed that only the two colors of blue and green were crazily intertwined and annihilated! A huge energy light ball expanded rapidly, completely swallowing the figures of both sides, and then turned into a ring-shaped shock wave that swept everything, crazily spreading in all directions!

Lin Xuan's face changed slightly, his figure retreated rapidly, and at the same time, the Chaos Dao Seed operated, and the Star-Nether Light laid down a thin but seemingly capable of isolating everything gray light curtain in front of him.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle——"

The violent energy shock wave hit the light curtain, making a teeth-aching sound, the light curtain rippled violently, but eventually blocked it steadily. And a mountain range far behind Lin Xuan collapsed and shattered like a sandcastle under this shock wave!

When the light dissipated slightly, I saw that the green fireball around the Qingluan had shattered, and there were several wounds deep to the bone on its extraordinary body, and the blood flowing out was also green-gold, emitting a hot and sacred aura. Its aura became extremely withered, its eyes dim, obviously suffering heavy injuries under the "Star Fall · Demon Suppression" just now.

And the starlight figure also seemed to have consumed a lot, the starlight around his body dimmed a lot, but his momentum was still strong. He/she did not give the Qingluan a chance to breathe, his figure flashed, and he had reached above the Qingluan, condensing a long spear made entirely of star power in his hand, the tip of the spear pointing directly at the Qingluan's head, and he was about to give the final blow!

A trace of sadness and unyielding flashed in the Qingluan's eyes, it seemed to want to struggle, but it was already at the end of its rope.

Just at this critical moment!

A sudden change occurred!

"Sizzle!"

An extremely subtle, almost imperceptible black light, like a poisonous snake, shot out from a forest ruin below that had been destroyed by the energy aftermath, its speed exceeding the limit of spiritual sense perception, the target was not the Qingluan, nor the starlight figure, but... the void node between the two that had become extremely unstable and full of space cracks due to the fierce collision!

The black light shot accurately into the void node!

"Hum——!"

The already fragile space balance was instantly broken! The void node twisted and collapsed suddenly, and then erupted into an incomparably chaotic space storm that tore everything apart!

The appearance of this space storm was without warning, and its power was huge, instantly involving the starlight figure who was preparing to give the final blow and the dying Qingluan at the same time!

"Humph!" The starlight figure let out a muffled grunt, obviously not expecting this change, his starlight exploded, forcibly stabilizing his figure, resisting the tearing of the space storm, but he was also temporarily trapped and unable to attack the Qingluan again.

And the already heavily injured Qingluan was even worse, letting out a painful wail, its huge body like a falling leaf in the wind in the space storm, torn with wounds, green-gold blood spilled into the sky, its aura became weaker and weaker, and it looked like it was about to be completely torn apart by the storm!

Lin Xuan's eyes condensed! Someone was hiding in the dark, deliberately triggering the space storm, what was the purpose? Stirring up trouble? Or... reaping the benefits?

He didn't have time to think, his eyes fell on the Qingluan. This Qingluan was a top-level divine bird, its essence blood, true feathers, and even the inner core (Luan Pearl) that might exist, were all priceless treasures. More importantly, it seemed to know something, such as why the Star Palace successor was chasing it?

In the blink of an eye, Lin Xuan made a decision.

His figure moved, "Earth-Shrinking Inch" was displayed, ignoring the chaotic space turbulence, shuttling like a ghost, and instantly appeared beside the Qingluan's huge head. The prototype of the Star-Nether Light domain quietly unfolded, temporarily isolating the raging space force.

He reached out and pressed it on the Qingluan's cold forehead, pure Chaos spiritual power mixed with a trace of star power containing vitality, passed into its body, temporarily protecting its vitality that was about to collapse.

The Qingluan's eyes, which had been closed in despair, opened suddenly, seeing Lin Xuan close at hand, its eyes were first alert, then felt that the pure and vast spiritual power, which was completely different from the Star Palace successor, had no malice, but instead carried a sense of comfort and protection, the alertness in its eyes faded slightly, turning into a trace of confusion and prayer.

"If you don't want to die, don't resist." Lin Xuan transmitted his voice, his voice calm but carrying an unquestionable power.

His other hand drew a void in the air, forcibly tearing open a short-term stable gap in the chaotic space storm, pulling the Qingluan's huge body, and slamming into it!

The second after they disappeared, the starlight figure finally forcibly opened the shackles of the space storm, and the starlight became blazing again. He/she looked at the empty place, and the space gap that was rapidly healing, and a trace of anger seemed to flash across the face shrouded in starlight.

"The aura of Chaos... it's you again! Variable!" A cold and ethereal voice, as if coming from above the nine heavens, carried a trace of imperceptible anger.

His/her gaze was like electricity, sweeping over the forest ruins below, but did not find the trace of the dark hand that released the black light, obviously the other party had already escaped.

"Hidden rats, and... the Chaos successor who stirs up trouble." The starlight figure snorted coldly, and did not pursue, seemingly having concerns, or having other important matters. His/her starlight flowed, the figure gradually faded, and finally disappeared completely, as if it had never appeared.

A sudden Spirit Transformation-level battle ended with both sides suffering, a third party intervening, and the target being mysteriously rescued, leaving only the devastated earth and countless panicked bystanders.

In a desolate mountain stream tens of thousands of miles away from the battlefield.

The space twisted, and Lin Xuan stumbled out with the Qingluan, which had shrunk in size but was still three or four feet long and dying.

As soon as he landed, Lin Xuan quickly deployed several layers of concealment and defense arrays, completely sealing the place.

The Qingluan lay on the ground, the green-gold blood at the wound still flowing continuously, it looked at Lin Xuan, its eyes complex, with gratitude, and also alertness, and finally transmitted a weak message with divine sense:

"Human... why... save me?"

Lin Xuan did not answer immediately, but first checked the Qingluan's injuries, his brows furrowed. The injuries were extremely heavy, not only was the physical body damaged, but the demon soul was also shaken, and more troublesome was that a pure and domineering star power remained in its body, constantly destroying its vitality, conflicting with its Qingluan True Flame.

"You heal your wounds first, stabilize your injuries before talking." Lin Xuan took out several top-grade healing spirit pills obtained from the Mystical Realm and purchased, dissolved them with Chaos spiritual power, and sent them into the Qingluan's mouth. His Chaos spiritual power contained the mystery of creation and destruction, and had a miraculous effect on healing, plus the power of the pills, temporarily suppressing the deterioration of the Qingluan's injuries.

The Qingluan felt the gentle but vast power in its body, and the surprise in its eyes became stronger, it did not say more, closed its eyes, and tried its best to guide the medicinal power to heal.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on the side, protecting it while digesting what he had just seen and heard.

"Star Palace successor... the black hand in the dark... and this Qingluan." He felt that he seemed to have been involved in a bigger vortex inadvertently. "That Star Palace successor seems to know me, or rather, knows the identity of the 'Chaos successor.' And the black hand in the dark, the purpose is unknown, but the means are ruthless and precise, definitely not an easy person to deal with."

A few hours later, the Qingluan's aura stabilized a little, it opened its eyes again, and the alertness in its eyes looking at Lin Xuan was much less, and there was a bit more gratitude.

"Many thanks... Fellow Daoist, for the life-saving grace." Its divine sense transmission was smoother, "My name... Feng Xi."

"Lin Xuan." Lin Xuan reported his name and asked directly: "Fellow Daoist Feng Xi, why did that Star Palace person chase you?"

Qingluan Feng Xi's eyes flashed with sadness and helplessness: "They... want my 'Qingluan Origin,' to use it to... sacrifice to the Star Tower, to attract the so-called... 'Ancestor Star' power, to stabilize their... Star Palace Mystical Realm."

Lin Xuan's gaze condensed. Seizing the divine bird's origin for sacrifice? This Star Palace's actions did not seem as grand and upright as its Dao method.

"Do you have any clues about the person who triggered the space storm in the dark?"

Feng Xi shook its head: "Don't know... but its aura... cold and weird, not the same path as the Star Palace..."

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment, it seems the situation is more complicated than he thought.

"What are your plans for the future, Fellow Daoist? Your injuries need quiet recuperation, and I'm afraid the Star Palace people won't give up easily."

Feng Xi's eyes flashed with confusion, it was now heavily injured, and the world was so big, it seemed difficult to have a place to stay. It looked at Lin Xuan, this human who saved itself, had a kind of aura that made it feel at ease and trust.

"I... have nowhere to go. If Fellow Daoist doesn't mind... Feng Xi is willing to... temporarily follow, to repay the life-saving grace." It lowered its head, indicating submission. As a proud divine bird, making this decision was not easy, but it could feel that the person in front of it might be its only chance of survival, and perhaps... might be an even bigger opportunity.

Lin Xuan looked at the heavily injured divine bird in front of him, his thoughts turning rapidly. Taking in a Qingluan with the potential to grow to Spirit Transformation was undoubtedly a huge help, but it also meant taking on the karma associated with it, such as the Star Palace's pursuit.

But he, Lin Xuan, had never been afraid of trouble?

"Okay." He nodded, "You can follow me for now. When your injuries recover, whether you go or stay, it's up to you."

Feng Xi's eyes showed gratitude, and it let out a low, pleasant cry.

Lin Xuan put it into the cave-dwelling magic treasure (imitation), letting it heal its wounds with peace of mind. Although this cave-dwelling magic treasure was only an imitation, the internal space was not small, and there was spiritual energy, enough for Feng Xi to live in.

After doing all this, Lin Xuan withdrew the array and looked toward the east.

The direction of the Imperial Capital, because of this unexpected episode, became more foggy, and more... worth looking forward to.

"Star Palace... dark hand... Qingluan... interesting." He hooked a faint arc at the corner of his mouth, his figure turned into a streamer, and continued eastward.