Chapter 533: Fire Phoenix Reappears

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Two hundred zhang high in the sky, Lu Ye's body was wreathed in surging flames, even obscuring the golden light from his Golden Body Command.

As the flames surged, profound and intricate yin and yang duality swiftly unfolded and merged.

The spiritual energy stored in the two Spirit Gathering runes was depleted, and Lu Ye's internal spiritual energy also drained rapidly. Only when his own spiritual energy was nearly half exhausted was the complex runic structure completed.

Many cultivators from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge stared blankly at the strange spectacle in the sky.

What entered their vision was an oval-shaped egg, resembling a beast egg. However, its surface shimmered with numerous intricate and complex patterns, completely enveloping Lu Ye.

The shimmering light resembled a peculiar breathing.

As the Ninth-Order cultivators continuously attacked, the egg floated and sank in the air.

What exactly was this?

Everyone was filled with doubt and apprehension, but they all felt a violent and dangerous aura emanating from the spiritual energy egg.

Some had a bad premonition and began to flee into the distance. Even the Ninth-Order cultivators felt a warning sign, their skin prickling as if pierced by needles.

At this moment, inside the spiritual energy egg, Lu Ye continued to channel his spiritual energy, injecting all his remaining power into the formed runes until his own river of spiritual energy completely ran dry.

The spiritual energy egg's light grew increasingly dazzling, its fiery red color resembling a great sun hanging in the sky.

“Something's wrong, run!”

A Ninth-Order cultivator shouted, no longer daring to remain in place.

Seeing this, many Ninth-Order cultivators scattered and fled.

No matter what Lu Yiye was doing, the current scene surpassed their imagination. It was crucial to quickly leave this perilous place.

Without external force bombardment, the spiritual energy egg, two hundred zhang high, swiftly plummeted downwards.

As it fell, a dense web of cracks suddenly appeared on the egg's surface, as if something was about to burst forth from within.

A terrifying aura spread in all directions as the spiritual energy egg cracked, even distorting the very void itself.

Crackling sounds…

Intense cracking sounds emanated, until a certain moment…

“Screech…”

A clear and resonant cry pierced the sky, deafening. As the cry resounded, the spiritual energy egg completely shattered.

Flames surged and swirled. From within the flames, two enormous wings were the first to appear, followed by a magnificent and agile form.

Ghost Shadow, who had already fled tens of miles away, heard this familiar sound. He couldn't help but shiver, looking back in panic. The scene that met his eyes made his body and mind tremble.

It was a beautiful form with a wingspan exceeding a hundred zhang and a body length over two hundred zhang. The magnificent figure trailed long tail feathers, enveloped in blazing flames, yet it brought an aura of death.

The Fire Phoenix Rune, reappeared in the world!

He had seen this entity before, back in the Spiritual Stream Battlefield. It was also crafted by Lu Yiye. On that occasion, Lu Yiye had forcefully breached the defenses of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators, storming into the Myriad Poison Forest. With this single move, he had instantly annihilated nearly two hundred Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators.

At that time, Ghost Shadow had also fled early, thus avoiding disaster.

After that incident, for a long time, that beautiful form was the source of his nightmares.

How incredibly similar the scene witnessed today was!

The difference was that the Fire Phoenix seen this time was larger than the previous one, and its image was more lifelike; the feathers on its body were clearly discernible.

This was undoubtedly related to Lu Yiye's cultivation advancement. The last time he used this move, he was only at Heavenly Seven cultivation, but now he was at Cloud River Third-Order. The difference in cultivation was still significant.

Ghost Shadow felt extremely fortunate. Fortunately, he had run early; otherwise, he would surely be caught in this crisis now and face a grim fate.

The sky-obscuring Fire Phoenix figure swooped down from the sky. Its violent might made many Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators feel as if a mountain was pressing down on them, and the scorching heatwave filled them with despair.

A distance of two hundred zhang approached in the blink of an eye.

Just as the magnificent figure was about to crash into the ground, it suddenly veered, gliding past at a height of only a dozen zhang from the ground.

Its massive wings gently flapped. Wherever it passed, space twisted, flames engulfed, and even the earth began to melt.

Screams suddenly erupted, and then abruptly ceased.

Even though many Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators began to flee before seeing the Fire Phoenix's full form, it was already too late. As the enormous figure passed, others were swept away and consumed by flames, their lives withering rapidly.

Such might could only be barely withstood for a moment by the Ninth-Order cultivators; however, it was merely resistance…

It felt like an instant, yet also like a thousand years. When the Fire Phoenix's figure uncontrollably crashed into a small mountain, what remained in its wake was a ground full of scorched earth and withered corpses.

The chaotic situation slowly subsided. The scattered Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators cautiously halted their steps. Those cultivators not in the Fire Phoenix's path secretly rejoiced at having saved their lives, but those who were in its path were not so lucky.

Amidst the scorched earth, a figure stood erect. This person was surprisingly a Ninth-Order cultivator, but at this moment, he stood motionless. His entire body was charred black, his hair and clothes completely burned away. Though life still lingered, he was gravely wounded. With such injuries, he desperately needed a healing cultivator's intervention, or he certainly wouldn't live much longer.

Streaks of light shot into the sky. The Ninth-Order cultivators who had miraculously survived rushed towards where the Fire Phoenix had fallen. In moments, they were close. Looking around, they saw Lu Ye lying pale amidst the scorched earth, his eyes blankly staring at the sky, seeming to lack even the strength to move.

However, given their past experiences, no one dared to approach Lu Ye too closely now. Heaven knew what other tricks he might pull.

Some gritted their teeth, filled with shock.

They had originally thought Lu Yiye was going to self-destruct. Who knew he possessed such astonishing abilities? This time, countless cultivators from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge had died.

But even if they knew Lu Ye's plan, they couldn't stop it. With the Golden Body Command protecting him, Lu Ye wasn't worried about them attacking him at all.

Unless they fled beforehand, but in that case, Lu Ye could seize the opportunity to escape.

Lu Ye paid no heed to this person's curses. At this moment, he only felt golden stars dancing before his eyes. His entire body was weak and powerless, and he felt completely drained.

Not only that, his skin was cracked inch by inch, and his entire body was stained blood-red.

The last time he activated the Fire Phoenix Rune was like this, and this time was no different...

His strength was still insufficient. The side effects of activating the Fire Phoenix Rune were simply too great. With his current strength, as long as he had enough time and spiritual energy, activating it wasn't difficult, but controlling it was almost impossible. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up crashing here; he would have long since ridden the Fire Phoenix to pursue and kill as many Ninth-Order cultivators as possible.

Streaks of red light, like fireflies, drifted over from a certain direction, falling into the battle imprint on the back of his hand.

Those were the merits contributed by the deceased Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators.

At the same time, on the hunting list suspended high in the sky, Lu Yiye's name, which was about to fall out of the top ten, flickered slightly and then instantly ascended to the top.

Originally, his hunting points were 7,110. Now, they had directly become 15,620, more than doubling.

Such a massive amount of hunting points deservingly placed him at the top of the list. One must know that the previous number one only had less than nine thousand points.

The increase of so many hunting points undeniably indicated that Lu Ye's single Fire Phoenix attack just now had killed at least forty to fifty Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators.

Compared to the total number of Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators gathered nearby, this number was very small, less than 10%. This was mainly because when things looked bad earlier, the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators scattered and fled. The Fire Phoenix could only eliminate enemies in one direction and was powerless against those in other directions.

Crack...

A faint crisp sound seemed to echo deep within everyone's minds. As this sound resonated, the blood-red light screen shrouding the world shattered like a mirror. Dazzling sunlight bathed the area, and Lu Ye squinted his eyes.

The hunting ground closed!

And coincidentally, it closed right after he had reclaimed the top spot on the hunting list.

To say this was unrelated to his luck, Lu Ye wouldn't believe it for a second. Things weren't that coincidental; there must have been some manipulation by Heavenly Secrets.

But for his current predicament, the closing of the hunting ground seemed to hold little significance. Numerous Ninth-Order cultivators surrounded him, and he himself was utterly exhausted. Escape from this place was out of the question.

The closing of the hunting ground caused a stir, especially for the Ninth-Order cultivator who was originally ranked first, who was so frustrated he almost spat blood.

If the hunting ground had closed ten breaths earlier, he would have been at the top of the list and received a top-grade Spring Spirit and nine golden spirit talismans as rewards. But this difference of ten breaths made him miss out on a top-grade Spring Spirit reward.

How could he not be furious? He felt heaven was blind. What was the point of letting someone destined to die claim the top spot on the hunting list?

Numerous golden lights drifted down from the sky, falling onto the Ninth-Order cultivators present. Lu Ye also received some; the golden light landed on the back of his hand, forming an imprint.

This was Heavenly Secrets distributing rewards.

At the same time, a realization dawned on Lu Ye. With that golden imprint, he could exchange it for his rightful rewards in the Heavenly Secrets Treasury.

So, Heavenly Secrets distributed rewards this way. He had thought various benefits would be directly bestowed, but now it seemed he needed to make a trip to the Heavenly Secrets Treasury himself.

That was more reasonable. After all, there were always some who found it inconvenient to receive Heavenly Secrets' rewards at that specific moment. They could retrieve their rewards at their leisure when it was convenient.

But precisely because of this, many Ten Thousand Demon Ridge powerhouses felt helpless. Once the Golden Body Command vanished, Lu Yiye would undoubtedly die, and the rewards for being at the top of the hunting list would naturally vanish with him. What a pity.

As for temporarily sparing his life and killing him after he retrieved the rewards, that was out of the question. After Lu Ye's recent stunt, would any Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators dare to spare his life now? They were all just waiting for the Golden Body Command to disappear before making their move.