Chapter 1862: Conspiracy

Long Kun was exceptionally excited. He had tried to awaken the Phoenix Wings multiple times before, but all his attempts had ended in failure. While he had briefly experienced the power granted by the Phoenix Wings, the awakening omen generated by the totem had never fully materialized.

It was akin to a powerful martial artist suddenly seizing the opportunity to become a Martial God, yet ultimately failing to take the final transformative step to achieve that status.

As one of Xu Yang's longest-standing companions, Long Kun had always wished to fully inherit the complete Phoenix Totem from Xu Yang. Now, this wish had finally come true.

Long Kun's strength had already reached the level of a true Martial God within the ancient martial arts domain. However, to demonstrate peak strength capable of contending with a Martial God, he would need to face an opponent relatively weak against fire-attribute power.

Against a Martial God primarily cultivating defensive martial arts techniques, it would still be quite difficult for Long Kun to achieve victory. Nevertheless, his overall improvement in strength was undeniable.

The fiery aura emanating from him was now far more powerful than before. Half of this could be attributed to Xu Yang's benevolence, and the other half to Long Kun's own good fortune.

Ultimately, had he not inadvertently wandered into the deepest dangerous areas of the Misguided Mountain Range and been rescued by Xu Yang, he would not have had the chance to push himself to the absolute limit within the newly formed space, thereby achieving a phoenix-like transformation and rebirth.

Merely sensing the incredibly surging fiery aura and powerful life force emanating from him at this moment was enough to demonstrate his extraordinary strength, unlike that of an ordinary martial artist. Xu Yang nodded in satisfaction, observing his current state.

"Excellent. Your successful endurance of this ordeal proves that your cultivation path has entered a completely new phase. Consolidate the new power you can now command.

"The true lineage of the Phoenix has perfectly integrated into your bloodline. I have fulfilled my promise to the Phoenix God. Only now are you truly qualified to be called the successor of the Phoenix's power."

Receiving Xu Yang's approval was arguably the most gratifying thing for Long Kun in his life. Given Long Kun's personality, having just received such a boost in power and indebted to his boss Xu Yang for saving him, his greatest desire was to demonstrate his strength and prove his progress to his boss.

When he regained his composure and glared furiously at the Boneless True Spirit in the center of the formation, the Phoenix Flames burning in Long Kun's eyes and around his body immediately surged back to their peak intensity.

"This is the scoundrel who played tricks and schemes, deceiving me all the way here, and forcefully sealing a part of my soul essence. Boss, why not let me deal with him?"

Before Xu Yang could give Long Kun any orders, the Boneless True Spirit, embodying the middle-aged woman's soul essence, let out a brazen burst of wild laughter.

"Indeed, it was my doing. What can you do to me? If your strength is truly great enough, I will give you a chance to prove yourself."

The Boneless True Spirit seemed to be at its wit's end, with no further means of delaying time.

This time, she began to mobilize her powerful soul essence. The outer shell of the Boneless True Spirit began to emit an extremely strange devouring power, literally engulfing all the surrounding fragmented statues and illusionary elemental stone debris into her body.

Before long, the True Spirit body, originally without bones or flesh, guided by the middle-aged woman's soul power, forged an indestructible and formidable physical body from the surrounding fragments of elemental stone.

However, this so-called physical body had no flesh or blood components; it was purely a body constructed from rocks covered in cracks, designed to house the middle-aged woman's entire soul power.

While Xu Yang and the two others were still puzzled, the petrified body the woman had just acquired did not display any significant power. Instead, it was the crimson light flowing within each crack after the body had formed that particularly caught Xu Yang's attention.

Earlier, when passing by the stone tablet inscribed with the words "Return Home," Xu Yang had deliberately paid close attention.

He had released a soul illusion around the tablet, as a contingency to observe both the tablet and its surroundings.

As the strange patterns on the woman's petrified body began to glow, the clearly visible words "Return Home" on the stone tablet were also quickly covered by this reddish-yellow light.

"Does this woman have some very special power connection with that 'Return Home' tablet? Or was there some formidable power sealed within the tablet that this woman has now activated?"

Such thoughts immediately arose in Xu Yang's mind. However, due to the unique circumstances, he couldn't immediately verify his suspicions; he could only wait and see.

Soon, the words "Return Home" became exceptionally clear.

At the same time, an unprecedented and unique inscription appeared on the cracked surface of the petrified body before them. Xu Yang, Long Kun, and Po Xiao could clearly see that the inscription on the surface of the petrified body was a manifestation of the middle-aged woman's entire soul essence.

Upon seeing this, Long Kun immediately became excited.

"Haha, Boss, I'm too familiar with this aura! It's precisely the method that wicked woman used to suppress my soul essence before. That inscription seals all of her soul power! Watch me smash this inscription on her body with one punch! I'll end this battle myself!"

In fact, at the very moment Long Kun made his move, Po Xiao did not seem particularly expectant. Instead, his gaze fell upon Xu Yang beside him.

He looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated, but out of absolute trust and reverence for Xu Yang, he did not offer his advice.

Little did they know, Xu Yang, their boss, shared the same thoughts as Po Xiao at that moment. Both seemed to have instinctively grasped something very unusual, but they couldn't piece the scattered clues together into a complete picture.

Both of them actually felt that this woman, who had been playing tricks for so long, must have some unknown special purpose. But what conspiracy was this entity truly brewing? Until the truth came to light, no one could guess the final answer.

Since that was the case, Xu Yang simply chose not to stop Long Kun. He watched as Long Kun, filled with anticipation, unleashed his full combat desire. With that punch, incredibly powerful Phoenix Flames erupted, all their might converging on the surface of his fist.