Chapter 964: Nine Phoenix King

The two monsters exchanged glances, quickly formed hand seals and recited incantations, then threw their last spiritual items into the gray mist on the altar.

"Begin!" Gu Heng gave the order, his voice sounding somewhat strained.

The monsters knew exactly what to do and immediately launched runes towards the altar. It was unclear whether it was their actions or the effect of the last two spiritual items, but the patterns of immortal beasts on the altar suddenly began to glow with strange light, and the white jade altar grew increasingly dazzling. The stone hall was illuminated by the altar, revealing every detail.

At the same time, the gray mist violently churned, and the altar suddenly emitted a deafening hum. Then, a pillar of light shot skyward, hitting the stone ceiling dome in the blink of an eye. The monsters and others were instantly swept away by the aftermath, muffled groans sounding one after another. They hastily retreated to the entrance of the stone hall, channeling their true essence to resist the residual energy, their faces showing expressions of surprise.

No wonder the Demon King had instructed them to set up the formation in such a place. The spiritual formation's power was astonishing; without the ancient restriction, the pillar of light would have instantly shot into the clouds, making the entire Seven Kill Hall clearly visible and inevitably attracting cultivators.

The ancient restriction on the dome shimmered, intercepting the pillar of light. Two powerful forces were in opposition. Fortunately, the ancient restriction was strong enough to firmly hold back the pillar of light, preventing it from breaking through. As the pillar of light struck the ancient restriction, it not only showed no signs of dissipating, but instead grew even more dazzling and powerful. The entire cave dwelling trembled. Even now, they couldn't discern the purpose of this spiritual formation.

Just then, Fairy Caiyi seemed to sense something. She suddenly let out a soft gasp, her beautiful eyes turning to fixate on the altar, a hint of doubt flashing in them. The next moment, the gray mist enveloped by the pillar of light suddenly parted to both sides, revealing a silver glow in the middle, as if a door had opened. From it, a graceful figure stepped out elegantly.

Upon seeing this, all the monsters were utterly stunned. They never imagined that after activating the spiritual formation, someone would emerge from the gray mist. This spiritual formation didn't seem like a teleportation array at all. With the sudden turn of events, Qin Sang suddenly had an ominous premonition, his expression subtly changing.

The moment the figure appeared, the altar stopped trembling, and the pillar of light receded. Finally, the true appearance of the figure became clear: it was a noble-looking woman in palace attire.

"Aunt Jiu?" Fairy Caiyi, seeing the woman's true face, suddenly lost her composure, crying out in surprise, her face filled with disbelief.

"Aunt Jiu... It's her, the Nine Phoenix King?"

"Impossible! How could she be here?"

"Could it be..."

Upon learning the woman's identity, the monsters immediately stirred. This woman was none other than the Nine Phoenix King, a Great Transformation Monster of the Phoenix Clan from the Monster Sea. No one had expected that the Nine Phoenix King, who should have been in the Monster Sea, would suddenly appear in the Seven Kill Hall.

The reason they were able to infiltrate the Canglang Sea was, firstly, because the 'Blood Burning True Art' helped them transform. More importantly, their cultivation levels were not high, and cultivators never suspected there was a secret art that could allow demonic beasts at the Demonic Core stage to transform early, so they weren't on guard. It was different for true Great Transformation Monsters. Both races would undoubtedly be on high alert against them. Every Nascent Soul cultivator passing through a teleportation array would face the strictest inspection. No matter how well a Great Transformation Monster concealed itself, it would be impossible to infiltrate the Canglang Sea via a teleportation array.

Hearing the monsters' discussions, Qin Sang couldn't help but inwardly lament. It was already dangerous enough facing a few pseudo-transformed monsters. He had thought he could escape after completing the mission, but unexpectedly, a true Great Transformation Monster had appeared. He grumbled to himself that he didn't know what the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Human and Witch Clans, and the Orthodox and Demonic Factions were doing. Even Great Transformation Monsters had infiltrated. The Canglang Sea was practically a sieve now.

Inside the Corpse Puppet Bag, Bai was almost spitting blood from anger.

"A disaster star seen once in a millennium!"

He wished he could go out and curse Qin Sang to his face, but he didn't dare move a muscle, feeling extremely stifled.

"Greetings, Nine Phoenix King!" All the monsters stepped forward to bow, and Qin Sang dared not lag behind, blending in among them.

"Rise," the Nine Phoenix King said, casually glancing at them. She then looked at the somewhat dazed Fairy Caiyi, a fond expression appearing on her face as she teased, "Caiyi, what's wrong? Are you not happy to see Aunt Jiu?"

"How could that be!" Fairy Caiyi became like a bashful young girl, shaking her head like a rattle-drum. "Caiyi just hasn't seen Aunt Jiu for a long time, and I never expected to reunite with you here!" she exclaimed. "Is this spiritual formation a teleportation array that brought Aunt Jiu from her cave dwelling here?"

The Nine Phoenix King gave a wry smile. "If there truly were such a teleportation array, things would be much simpler," she said. "I've actually been not far outside the Seven Kill Hall, waiting for you all to act. This kind of spiritual formation helps me activate the Heavenly Phoenix Plume, allowing me to break through space and teleport here. Of course, had cultivators not first broken an opening in the outer immortal formation, even with the Heavenly Phoenix Plume, I couldn't have broken through the immortal formation."

"The Heavenly Phoenix Plume? Aunt Jiu, you brought it with you too?" Fairy Caiyi cried out in alarm. The other monsters were secretly puzzled, not knowing what the Heavenly Phoenix Plume was. This item must be a supreme treasure of the Phoenix Clan to make Fairy Caiyi lose her composure like that. Could it really be a feather from an ancient Heavenly Phoenix?

"Wait, Aunt Jiu, how are you outside the Seven Kill Hall? How did you get to Canglang Sea? Have we already found a teleportation array that leads to Canglang Sea?" Fairy Caiyi realized the implication of her question, her face filled with joyous surprise.

Gu Heng, who had been silent, suddenly fixed his gaze upon hearing this. "Senior Nine Phoenix King, is Father King also outside the Seven Kill Hall?" he asked.

The other monsters also eagerly pressed for answers. One monster, seemingly eager for chaos, exclaimed excitedly, "Senior, are you going to capture all the cultivators who entered the Seven Kill Hall in one sweep? I am willing to contribute my strength!"

"This is a long story," the Nine Phoenix King replied. "There's no teleportation array, and I didn't cross the storm belt to get here. If there truly were a way to enter Canglang Sea, we wouldn't have tolerated cultivators causing trouble in the Monster Sea and massacring our monster kin all this time, powerless against them!" the Nine Phoenix King said bitterly. "Only I came this time. To send me secretly into Canglang Sea, King Jiao and the others paid a huge price, and I was severely wounded as a result, nearly dying. Fortunately, I brought enough treasures and hid on a deserted island to recuperate for several decades..."

"Was that holy war..." The monsters suddenly realized. Qin Sang also suddenly understood.

Several decades ago, the Monster Sea was suddenly thrown into chaos, with the monster race boldly attacking Heavenly Witch Island. It was said that the situation on Heavenly Witch Island was critical, and the Witch Clan nearly sealed the teleportation array, abandoning the island. Later, the monster race went on to besiege the Human Clan's Great Desolate Island, and only after suffering significant casualties did the Human Clan manage to repel them.

Could the true purpose of the monster race launching that war have simply been to send the Nine Phoenix King into the Canglang Sea? How did they manage it? Qin Sang never expected to hear such a secret. What did the Nine Phoenix King intend to do by infiltrating Canglang Sea? Infiltrating had been so difficult; going back would be almost impossible. The Nine Phoenix King was alone, at most accompanied by a few demonic beasts at the Demonic Core stage who had transformed using secret arts. No matter how strong she was, she couldn't stir up much trouble. What was the point?

The Seven Kill Hall! A thought stirred in Qin Sang's mind. Could the Seven Kill Hall also be the monster race's true, long-planned target?