Chapter 386: It was like a deity, looking down upon all beings

I had no hesitation, striding straight toward the Mysterious Phoenix; as my palm faced its head, I withdrew the Cangwu Dark Seal, chanted the shamanic incantation, and activated the Dream-Building Illusion Mirror.

The next moment, behind the Mysterious Phoenix, golden feathers kept sprouting, the plume on its head also emerged, the Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook on its chest vanished, its bloody wound healed, it abruptly turned, its long tail feathers resplendent in five colors, stunningly beautiful.

It raised its head and let out a cry; the phoenix's cry echoed through the entire shrine, its wingspan of about three meters unfolded, circling upward around the main deity's throne, reaching the top, then it turned and looked down—at that moment, it was like a deity, looking down upon all beings……

Blood kept trickling from the corner of my mouth; this is the price of dream-building.

The Mysterious Phoenix wanted too much; it not only wanted wings, but also strength, and even to become a Buddha and a god!

Only then would it have enough strength to face Jie Luan.

And its strength relies on my own mana to sustain it.

The more it demands, the greater my loss.

But now, we have no choice!

The next moment, the Mysterious Phoenix dove downward, straight toward Jie Luan.

Jie Luan obviously hadn't expected that, in this situation, the Mysterious Phoenix would choose to cooperate with me.

He hadn't expected either that I, who had once been persecuted by the Mysterious Phoenix, would understand its meaning without any communication, and without hesitation, truly exert all my strength to lift it up.

The Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook repeatedly struck at the Mysterious Phoenix; it dodged left and right, but after a few moves, the hook pierced its chest again.

But soon, the wound healed automatically again, and the Mysterious Phoenix had already flashed behind Jie Luan, its long beak pecking at the back of his head.

Jie Luan immediately turned to meet it……

Thus we exchanged blows; the Mysterious Phoenix was hit repeatedly, each time healing automatically, while the deadly weapon Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook seemed like a heavy punch striking cotton—utterly ineffective.

Meanwhile, blood kept flowing from the corner of my mouth, my throat surging with blood, I didn't know how much longer I could hold on.

Jie Luan finally realized this move was useless.

He put away the Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook, lifted his robe, sat cross-legged, one hand placed palm-forward on his chest, the other constantly turning his prayer beads, murmuring words.

As he moved, the dozens of Buddha statues, large and small, on the main hall seemed to come alive, their lips moving, the endless Buddhist chant like a great net descending from above.

No, that was not Buddhist chant.

That eerie tune was like demonic sound pouring into the ears, cascading down.

The Mysterious Phoenix's flying form began to wobble, the whole main hall trembling…… I realized that when Jie Luan focused his spirit and gathered his qi to drive these statues to cast spells together, exerting pressure on us, he had no spare energy left to control the dream realm.

Obviously, the Mysterious Phoenix knew this well.

Its earlier provocations were meant to anger Jie Luan, to make him reveal a weakness.

After all, in a real fight we could not defeat Jie Luan, and I couldn't sustain myself much longer either.

So, from the very beginning, what the Mysterious Phoenix wanted was not to defeat Jie Luan, but…… to save me!

After another circle, its crimson eyes looked at me, and it nodded at me.

I immediately restrained myself, fingers placed before my lips, eyes fixed tightly on Jie Luan.

Jie Luan, as if waking from a dream, suddenly turned his head to look at me.

At the moment our eyes met, I spat out that word: "Break!"

The next moment, the dream realm collapsed with a roar; my body swayed, the surrounding light kept dimming and darkening, my ears buzzed, until the weak voice of the Mysterious Phoenix came: "Yes…… sorry……"

My consciousness was jerked back, and only then did I realize we had truly returned.

We returned to the bottom of this deep ravine.

But unlike before, obviously, the Luan Formation was gone.

The Mysterious Phoenix's body was riddled with blood holes, clinging to the ravine wall on its last breath.

It was about to give out.

In the dream realm, under the aid of shamanic arts, it seemed it would never be wounded, because its wounds could heal themselves.

But that was merely an illusion.

The damage inflicted by the Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook was real; after breaking out of the dream realm, its wounds remained.

It gasped with its beak wide open, blood flowing from its eyes, mouth…… everywhere.

It apologized to me; though it could not speak, it blurted out those few words at the critical moment, to save me, to atone.

I did not respond.

The Mysterious Phoenix is a puppet; its final remorse cannot conceal the evil it once did.

That is all fact.

It obviously didn't need my response either; it merely used its gaze to guide me to look at its chest, reminding me to retrieve my spirit bone.

The Taotie Fierce Formation had been broken, the Luan Formation withdrawn as well; now the resonance between my spirit bone and me was exceptionally clear.

I reached out and pressed against the Mysterious Phoenix's chest.

The Mysterious Phoenix closed its eyes, somewhat lacking strength, its head continually tilting back.

Firelight glowed on the lower left and right sides of its chest; as I moved, it gradually seeped out of the Mysterious Phoenix's body, rushing into mine.

At that moment, the Mysterious Iron Chain locked on its leg rang again; the Mysterious Phoenix looked at me anxiously, I held my breath, gathered all my mana, and just as something came whooshing up from the earth, I gritted my teeth and finally gathered all my spirit bone into my body.

The Mysterious Phoenix's body went limp, its wide-open eyes having lost their former luster.

Something broke through above the ravine, and immediately I saw a white flood-dragon tail.

As the flood-dragon tail coiled around my waist and lifted my body, I saw the Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook burst from the earth and pierce the Mysterious Phoenix's chest once more.

The Heaven-Earth Mandarin Duck Hook kept stirring the Mysterious Phoenix's corpse, flesh and blood flying everywhere, it was searching for the spirit bone!

Unfortunately, it could not find it.

The flood-dragon tail had already wrapped around me and rushed out of the ravine; the next moment, I fell entirely into Liu Junyan's embrace.

Then I heard him issuing orders: "The formation array has been broken; everyone, hear the order—clear out completely, mop up, refill the deep ravine and all passages beneath Wufu Town; act quickly, the water flow is expected to surge back at dawn, everything must be finished before then!"

I heard a chorus of "Hear the order!"

I lay on Liu Junyan's shoulder, utterly devoid of strength, blood continuously streaming from my mouth, staining his back red.

Inside my chest it felt like a fire was burning, especially the area below my shoulder blades, which was scorching and painful.

Liu Junyan held me and ran toward Dang Pu, while ordering someone to fetch Bái Sōnglán.

By the time we got back to Dang Pu and Liu Junyan set me down on the sofa, I was already a wreck.

My face was deathly pale, my mouth full of blood, yet firelight flickered in my eyes, my head of white hair blazing like snow, one hand pressed hard against my chest, yet I still tried to speak.

But as soon as I opened my mouth, I vomited blood.

Li Qingying rushed over, wanting to pat my back and help clean me up, but she didn't dare to act.

Liu Junyan's large hand pressed onto my back, sending true qi into me.

But as soon as his hand touched me, he visibly flinched from the heat.

Yet he did not let go, and a steady stream of true qi kept flowing into my body.

I finally felt a bit better, I stopped vomiting blood, grabbed Li Qingying's hand, and with difficulty managed to say: "Hand… phone…"

Li Qingying was almost in tears: "What time is it now, why do you want a phone?!"

Even though she didn't understand, she muttered the words and still brought over the phone.

I shook my hand opening Ferry, typed: "main hall of a temple about thirty meters tall in China…"