Chapter 1257: A Big Commotion

After completing his preparations, which took him less than half a day, Lu Ye once again set off towards the gathering of cultivators.

A hundred miles away, he stopped, observing from a distance. He could clearly see the situation: hundreds of cultivators still formed a large circle, with the radiant gourd darting back and forth within it, yet unable to escape the encirclement.

Regarding how to break through the defense of this large circle, Lu Ye had his own considerations. Rushing in blindly to drink the spiritual liquid would undoubtedly be a death wish. The cultivators there were currently maintaining a silent understanding, mostly gathered in groups of two or three, supporting each other. If he charged in alone, he would surely be besieged once he provoked their collective anger.

Therefore, a powerful and decisive assault was needed—an eruption that would make the assembled cultivators wary. Only then would there be a chance of success!

Lu Ye possessed such a technique, but it was difficult to activate under normal circumstances. The ever-changing nature of combat rarely provided him the space to fully utilize it.

However, this technique was perfectly suited for the current situation. A hundred-mile distance and a fixed target provided ample time and space to build up momentum.

In that case... it was time to cause some chaos!

Lu Ye felt a thrill he hadn't experienced in a long time. Deep down, he relished such excitement and madness. When his cultivation was lower, whether on the Spirit Stream Battlefield or the Cloud River Battlefield, he had often single-handedly confronted numerous enemies and successfully retreated. As his cultivation advanced and his fame grew, he gradually lost that kind of enjoyment.

Now, however, was a good opportunity.

He ascended into the air. His initial speed was not fast, but as he advanced, his spiritual power and vitality began to surge, and his speed rapidly increased!

After ten miles, his body had transformed into a fiery red streak of light, resembling a flying meteor.

Spiritual light flickered across his body's surface, as countless Yin and Yang primordial elements began to emerge. They interconnected and interlocked, gradually engulfing his form.

Twenty miles in, Lu Ye himself had vanished, replaced by a gigantic, fiery red egg. Its shell was streaked with red patterns resembling flowing lava, and it seemed to possess its own life, expanding and contracting with Lu Ye's forward momentum, as if breathing.

At thirty miles, its aura grew even stronger. The fiery red egg had also grown a size larger, and the breathing-like rhythm of life about to be born within it became even more pronounced.

At fifty miles, as this gigantic fiery red egg tore through the sky, it left behind a trail of scorched black marks, as if even space itself had been incinerated.

At seventy miles... The hundreds of cultivators gathered in a circle finally sensed something amiss. A sudden, inexplicable warning arose in each of their hearts, as if a tremendous crisis was descending upon them from the unseen. Cultivators on the side closer to Lu Ye's path had detected something as early as fifty miles out, but no one knew what it was. Now, this sense of crisis was growing clearer and stronger.

"What is that?" someone exclaimed. It was a cultivator facing Lu Ye's direction of travel. Although everyone's attention was focused on the radiant gourd and the surrounding enemies, such a phenomenon was impossible to ignore.

As his words fell, everyone looked in unison. They saw a fiery red streak of light rapidly hurtling towards them, and through its concealment, they could vaguely discern the shape of a large egg within.

This sudden, anomalous development left most people bewildered. However, some more experienced cultivators instantly recognized the truth: "It's a secret technique!"

Though they didn't know what kind of secret technique it was, its thunderous approach alone indicated that its power would be formidable.

If it was a secret technique, there had to be a practitioner. From the looks of it, the practitioner was clearly hidden within that large egg!

"This person wants to steal the treasure!" someone roared in anger.

This instantly incensed everyone. Hundreds of cultivators had gathered here, and after a long struggle, they still couldn't decide the ownership of the radiant gourd.

Although the scene wasn't chaotic, anyone attempting to seize the treasure would inevitably be targeted and attacked by others.

Many had already died for this reason.

While they were enduring hardship and fighting fiercely, someone dared to charge in so arrogantly, attempting to snatch the treasure!

Undeniably, the opponent's thunderous momentum and imposing power had instilled a sense of crisis in everyone. However, as top prodigies from various realms, their resolve was not easily shaken. If they were to scatter in fear of such a display, it would only benefit this suddenly appearing, furtive individual.

The opponent was concealing their identity within that large egg, not even daring to reveal their true appearance. What right did they have to claim the treasure?

In such a situation, if the radiant gourd were to be snatched away, they would not be worthy of being called prodigies of their respective realms.

Therefore, even though they were secretly astonished by the techniques displayed by the newcomer, no one retreated. In fact, a sense of shared animosity towards the common enemy instantly arose.

Regardless of who ultimately obtained the radiant gourd, it would be one of the hundreds present. Outsiders were not to interfere!

A figure stepped forward from the crowd, moving to the outer perimeter of the large circle. Facing the direction from which the red light was approaching, he loudly declared, "I am Nan Xiong of Yaotian. Are there any fellow Daoists willing to lend a hand and stop this fiend?"

At such a moment of shared animosity, all that was needed was a leader. Nan Xiong of the Yaotian Realm stepped forward at the opportune moment. He possessed both the strength and the qualification.

The Yaotian Realm was one of the renowned top-tier realms. Looking across the starry sky, among the realms controlled by humanity, it was only slightly inferior to the Yellow Dragon Realm.

If Gu Yulou were here, he would naturally step forward. But since Gu Yulou was absent, Nan Xiong felt it was his undeniable responsibility. He was a decisive individual; once he realized this, he naturally took the lead.

A cloud of followers emerged!

Among the hundreds of cultivators, more than thirty immediately stepped forward, lining up behind Nan Xiong, ready to follow his lead. The convergence of these powerhouses sent their auras soaring to the heavens.

It wasn't that more people didn't want to step forward; it was just that for interception, spell cultivators and sword cultivators were clearly more suitable, as they could employ techniques from a distance. Other factions were slightly less effective.

Furthermore, sufficient personnel still needed to remain to maintain the encirclement and prevent the radiant gourd from escaping.

Therefore, those who stood behind Nan Xiong at this moment were almost exclusively spell cultivators and sword cultivators.

There was no need for further words. As Nan Xiong made the first move, streams of colorful light, mixed with whistling flying swords, surged forward to meet the incoming red light.

At eighty miles, the large egg, into which Lu Ye had transformed, crashed headlong into a storm of various spells and sword qi, immediately feeling immense pressure.

Fortunately, the large egg itself possessed extremely strong protection. Furthermore, with the momentum built over the previous eighty miles and Lu Ye's frantic infusion of spiritual power, it was not something that could be easily intercepted.

Once the attacks began, they continued relentlessly, without a hint of stopping. Under everyone's gaze, cracks began to appear on the surface of the large egg, showing signs of impending fragmentation.

Seeing this, everyone felt a sense of relief. It seemed the opponent's technique was merely a bluff, impressive in appearance but lacking in practical power.

However, this was also related to the strength of those present. Each of them possessed formidable foundations. With such a combined force, who in the vast starry sky, among the Divine Sea realm, could possibly withstand them?

They wanted to see which individual had such audacity to act in this manner.

At ninety miles, the surface of the fiery red egg was covered in dense cracks, with continuous cracking sounds emanating from it, as if it could shatter at any moment.

Someone sneered, "Overestimating himself." They secretly rejoiced that they hadn't been intimidated by this individual, and were fortunate that Nan Xiong had stepped forward. Otherwise, relying on just a few people truly wouldn't have been enough to stop such an assault.

Someone else shouted, "Push harder, he can't hold on!" As the words fell, a crashing sound echoed, and the fiery red egg finally succumbed to the barrage of attacks, shattering with a bang.

Some laughed, others observed intently, eager to see the true face of the one who had been hiding.

Only a few cultivators with keen eyesight sensed something was amiss. This included the leader, Nan Xiong. He vaguely perceived that the egg's shattering didn't seem to be entirely due to their interception; there was also a hint of the opponent actively performing it!

Why?

There was no time to ponder, because at the exact moment the large egg shattered, a clear, resounding cry pierced the sky, deafeningly loud. Accompanying it was the sudden unfurling of a vast expanse of fiery red light!

Everyone's pupils suddenly constricted.

Looking out, they saw the figure of a noble giant bird, engulfed in fierce flames, with a wingspan reaching a hundred zhang. With a slight tremor of its wings, it swept across ten miles, as if even the sky itself was about to ignite.

"A Fire Phoenix!" someone cried out in astonishment.

They had expected some furtive, hiding individual to be concealed within that large egg. Yet, when the egg shattered, they didn't see any hiding coward. Instead, they witnessed one of the Four Divine Beasts!

The Grand Beginning Realm... How could there be a Fire Phoenix here? Immense doubt surfaced in everyone's mind.

"It's not a Fire Phoenix, it's just a secret technique!" Nan Xiong gritted his teeth and murmured.

Although the Fire Phoenix appeared incredibly lifelike at first glance, as if it were a true living creature, he still spotted some flaws. This was not a real Fire Phoenix at all, but the manifestation of a secret technique.

Spell cultivators could also cast techniques resembling a Fire Phoenix, but compared to what they saw now, both in spiritual essence and sheer scale, they were vastly inferior.

This Fire Phoenix technique was simply not something a Divine Sea realm cultivator could unleash. An Incarnation realm cultivator might, perhaps, but it was only a possibility!

Even as he reminded others, Nan Xiong's forehead still throbbed with veins. Was this truly created by someone participating in the Divine Sea dispute?

Who could it be?

It had to be said, his assessment was not wrong. At the Divine Sea realm, it was indeed impossible for anyone to cast a Fire Phoenix technique of such magnitude. Lu Ye couldn't do it either, but if he was given enough time to build up momentum, he could turn the impossible into the possible.

When his cultivation was insufficient, this single Fire Phoenix technique would have drained him of all his spiritual power. Now, with his Divine Sea Eighth-Layer cultivation, he could cast it at will. However, to ensure the full power of this technique, Lu Ye had poured most of his spiritual power into it!

Since his recovery was simple, he didn't have to worry about insufficient spiritual power affecting his subsequent plans. This was what created the massive figure of the Fire Phoenix they now saw.