Chapter 27: The Might of the Divine Phoenix

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

Accompanied by a piercing phoenix cry, a massive, colorful bird with the head of a chicken, the wings of a crane, and the tail of a peacock descended from the nine heavens. At first, it looked like a mere kite in the distance, but it grew larger and larger until it loomed overhead like a gargantuan mythical kun blocking out the sun.

Everyone watching the beast trembled in fear.

"What is this? Is it a phoenix?"
"Great Elder, this must be an auspicious omen from the heavens! Could it be that the Second Mistress is pregnant?"

The Great Elder, currently suffering from severe injuries, would have slapped him to death if he could—the Second Mistress was nearly seventy!

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! Who was it that kicked me just now!"
"Ah! This beast can actually speak?"

A disciple of the Piao Miao Peak muttered this just loudly enough to be heard. The phoenix’s killing intent flared instantly as it opened its massive beak. With a rhythmic contraction of its throat, a torrent of fire erupted, consuming the disciple before he could even react. As he collapsed onto the snow, transformed into a human torch, he wailed in agony, but the flames refused to be extinguished. Within moments, only a pile of white bones remained, which soon frosted over.

Watching their companion from the Shake Mountain Realm perish in this frozen hellfire, the rest of the group was terrified. What kind of monster was this? What kind of fire was that?

"I am the Divine Phoenix! If anyone dares call me a beast again—"
"I know! It’s the dog that the Great Elder kicked earlier..."
"??? *Gurgle!*" Another blast of fire erupted.
"Ah!"

Just like the man before him, he became a human fireball, rolled into the snow, and soon turned into a heap of bones. Now, everyone went silent; no one dared say a word. They assumed the beast located them by sound, so staying quiet was their only hope.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! Who was it that kicked me!"

Seeing no one respond, the Divine Phoenix unleashed another wave of fire. A line of five people caught fire one after another, turning into skeletons. It wasn't sound—the beast could see perfectly well!

The remaining seven, including the disciple from the Ling Kong Realm, all pointed at the Great Elder.

"It was him!"
"You! A bunch of ungrateful, treacherous wretches!"

The Great Elder sat in the snow, shivering and gnashing his teeth. He hadn't expected to be betrayed so quickly; none of these disciples had a shred of backbone! They wanted to have a backbone, but this beast was too terrifying, and its true fire was indiscriminate.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! You old scoundrel, so it was you!"
"No, no, no! It wasn't me! It was him!"

As he spoke, the Great Elder grabbed a nearby disciple to use as a human shield.

"You old beast! I respected you so much, yet you are this shameless! Second Senior Brother, save me!"

The man held by the Great Elder was only in the Zhou Tian Realm. Although the Great Elder was injured, he was still easily overpowered. Seeing no escape, the man begged the Second Senior Brother from the Ling Kong Realm for help.

"Right, I was mistaken! It was him! He was the one who kicked it!"

The Second Senior Brother realized the situation; it was better to sacrifice a Zhou Tian Realm disciple than to lose a Great Elder of the Diamond Realm. He quickly changed his tune. As he spoke, he glared at the other six, silently threatening them. Seeing this, the others tremblingly shifted their fingers from the Great Elder to the man he was holding.

When it came to cultivation, the Hundred Flowers Valley were all trash, but when it came to mob tactics and finger-pointing, they held the absolute advantage. They weren't about to give up this chance to kick a man while he was down. Li Gan, lying on the ground, was the first to point his right hand at Ye Buqun.

"Divine Phoenix, it was that old man with half a face; he gave you a kick with his left leg!"
He then raised his left hand to point at the Second Senior Brother. "And then this man gave you a kick with his right!"

The people of the Hundred Flowers Valley understood immediately. They all raised their hands, pointing fingers at one another.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! Divine Phoenix? Hahaha, I believe you! I was indeed kicked twice!"
"Quick, form the Piao Miao Nether Shield!"

The Second Senior Brother felt the danger and began weaving seals. The other five followed suit. A "Soft Outside, Hard Inside" Nether Shield was formed. The disciple caught by the Great Elder seized the chance to break free and sprinted away. Sadly, he had only taken three steps when a leaf sliced through his body—the leaf had been flicked by the Great Elder, who was still holding his hands in a delicate gesture.

This scene chilled the hearts of the others. They had all been framed, and the disciple had only been trying to survive. They had lived together for years and cared for one another, yet the Great Elder wouldn't even grant him a path to live. Suddenly, *bang, bang!* The Nether Shield formed by the five disciples collapsed on its own.

"What are you doing?"

The Second Senior Brother was shocked to see them abandon the shield and shouted in a panic. The Great Elder, being severely injured, relied entirely on their combined shield; the one he could form alone could only protect himself.

"Heaven is unkind and treats all things as straw dogs! The Great Elder is devoid of virtue and treats our lives like weeds! We refuse to throw our lives away for him!"
"You beasts! You—I am your Great Elder!"
"Hmph! The junior brother was right; you are just an old beast! Fend for yourself!"

With that, the five of them retreated rapidly and fled! The Divine Phoenix didn't chase them; it only wanted to eliminate those who had kicked it.

"Er Dan! Those beasts have run off! You must protect me!"

The Great Elder looked at the Second Senior Brother in desperation, coughing up another mouthful of blood onto the snow. The Second Senior Brother's eyelids twitched; he was lucky if he could protect himself today.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! Will you two kill yourselves, or shall I do it for you?"

Before they could beg for mercy, the Phoenix didn't wait.

"Fine, I’ll do it myself!"

Disregarding martial ethics wasn't just for villains—it was for beasts too!

"*Gurgle!*" Another blast of fire surged toward the Second Senior Brother. It hit the Nether Shield, sizzling as the pale green barrier of true energy shook, then burst like a bubble, turning into steam. The fire swept over the shield, turning the blue inscriptions bright red, then golden, then black.

*Crack, crack, crack.*

With a few crisp sounds, the inscriptions shattered. The Second Senior Brother abandoned the shield and pushed off the ground, shooting toward the clouds! He fled, throwing back one last remark: "Great Elder, go in peace! I will ask the Sect Master to avenge—!"

Before he could finish, the Divine Phoenix took a deep breath and exhaled a torrent of fire a thousand feet long, dancing in the air like a soaring fire phoenix.

"Ah!"

The man shrieked as a cluster of flames engulfed his backside. No matter how he slapped at it, the fire wouldn't go out. Moments later, he plummeted from the sky, wailing and rolling in the snow. As a Ling Kong Realm practitioner, his body was tough; he struggled for a long time, his skin and muscles roasting, yet he kept moving. He only died when he rolled up to the Great Elder. Unlike the others, who had been reduced to bones, his body wasn't completely cremated; his skin had burned away, leaving charred meat clinging to his bones.

The repeated, inhumane displays of fire made the rest of the Hundred Flowers Valley group forget the cold. They hurriedly extinguished their own small fires, terrified that the Phoenix might see them shivering and decide to "warm them up" with a blast of its own.

The Great Elder, trembling, ignored his injuries and scrambled to his knees.

"Great Divine Phoenix of the Nine Heavens, have mercy! I was blind and offended you! Please, Great One, be magnanimous and treat me like a fart—let me go!"
"Chirp, chirp, chirp! Great Divine Phoenix of the Nine Heavens? Hahaha, I quite like that title!"
"Yes, yes! Only you in all the world are worthy of such a title!"

The Great Elder realized that flattery worked. The beast loved to be praised, so he would praise it to the high heavens!

"Chirp, chirp, chirp! You’ve pleased me. Very well, that kick you gave me is forgiven!"

The group from Hundred Flowers Valley felt a sense of dread. It could be reversed just like that? This Phoenix wasn't very smart!

"Thank you, Great One! Thank you!"

The Great Elder kowtowed while scooting backward, then jumped up to run.

"Stop! Did I say you could leave?"

The Great Elder slammed on the brakes, not daring to move. The image of the Ling Kong disciple being shot out of the sky was still fresh in his mind, let alone his own severely injured state.

"Great One... what other commands do you have? Didn't you just say... it was forgiven?"
"Chirp, chirp, chirp! I can overlook the kick, but you injured my master! That is an unforgivable crime!"
"Ahhhhh! You faithless beast! I'll fight you to the death! If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

The Great Elder, realizing he’d been played, was consumed by rage. "No, he's going to self-destruct his sea of energy!" Li Gan screamed.

A Diamond Realm self-detonation was like a nuclear fusion reaction in the body, causing the energy sea to burn and expand until it exploded. The destructive power was like a small ten-thousand-ton nuclear bomb, capable of obliterating everything within a ten-kilometer radius.

"Chirp! Divine Phoenix spreads its wings!"

Just as the explosion was about to expand, the Phoenix dived, spreading its massive wings to shield the group. As it landed, its claws dug into the ground, sending a hundred feet of earth flying into the air.

"*BOOM!!!*"

A heaven-shaking roar erupted, the ground trembled, and the snow was blasted into the sky. A massive wave of heat followed, accompanied by a deafening, rolling roar. The heat wave shattered the earth, then slammed into the Phoenix's outspread wings. The wings hissed and crackled, the smell of burning feathers filling the air. The claws dug deep trenches into the ground as the heat pushed the beast backward.

Long after the heat dissipated, the surrounding hills and valleys were reduced to ash, the trees charred skeletons. For ten miles, it was a living hell.

"Ptooey, ptooey!" Li Gan, who had been hiding behind the Phoenix's tail feathers, lifted his head and spat out some dust.

Everyone else began to rise from the ground, disheveled and covered in cuts from stones and branches, but miraculously, no one was seriously injured.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

Following the sound, they saw that the massive, colorful Divine Phoenix had vanished. In its place was a bald, roasted chicken, hopping toward them on white, scalded wings. Looking at the harmless, delicious-looking chicken, no one dared to show disrespect; they all bowed their heads, trembling.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

The roasted chicken no longer spoke; it only chirped, having lost its ability to communicate. It hopped over to Li Xiaoxue, who was being supported by the others, and nudged her unconscious form with its beak.

"Chirp, chirp... chirp..."
"Manager Mo, what do we do now?" the others asked.
"Sigh, we don't know who this young lady is. If she doesn't wake up, we won't know where to send her!"
"Great One! Wake up! Great One?" Mo Youqian said, gently shaking Li Xiaoxue.
"Chu Linfeng... come back..."

Li Xiaoxue had used the ultimate technique—a move only someone of the Ling Kong Realm should be able to perform—twice in one day. The first time had drained her sea of energy. This time, even her soul had been pushed to the brink of leaving her body. She was in a deep coma, yet she kept calling out Chu Linfeng’s name.

"She keeps chanting the Valley Master's name; she must be an old acquaintance! Since she sacrificed herself to save us, we must take her to Deep City to reunite with the Valley Master!" Mo Youcai stood up, pacing back and forth as he spoke to the group.

"Grandpa Mo, I have a half-baked idea," the one-armed Li Gan said, rubbing his chin.
"If it's half-baked, don't say it!"

Mo Youcai’s lip twitched. Tang Ying and Li Gan were the same—one had a broken brain, the other had a brain with only one string.

"I think it's ten-to-one!" Li Gan persisted. "Grandpa Mo, think about it. Our Valley Master is handsome and possesses incredible skills! And this lady, she’s beautiful and equally formidable! They’re a match made in heaven!"
"Li Gan, what are you spouting?" Just as Mo Youcai was shocked, Li Xiaoxue began muttering again.
"Chu Linfeng... I'm sorry... my father should have asked for your consent... don't go..."
"That's it! That's definitely it!" Li Gan jumped up.
"What did you guess? Tell us!" the others urged.
"I've read this in novels! The heroine's father forces a marriage, the heroine runs away, and the hero chases after her!"
"That doesn't fit! Now the man is running and the woman is chasing!"
"Sigh, it's the same principle! Our Valley Master is extraordinarily talented. A woman chasing a man... it's like a veil! This is bad, Grandpa Mo!"

Mo Youcai was confused, but it did feel like it might be true.

"This lady isn't an old acquaintance of the Valley Master—she's an old flame! She's come here to steal him away from our two young mistresses!!!"

The group was horrified. What were they to do? This woman could hold off a Diamond Realm practitioner and had a terrifying spirit pet. If she was here to steal him, the two mistresses were no match for her.

"What do we do? We must not let her meet the Valley Master and the two mistresses, or the mistresses will fight her to the death!"

Mo Youcai wrung his hands anxiously, then looked at the roasted chicken beside Li Xiaoxue and knelt down.

"Great Divine Phoenix, please tell us where you and the Great One come from, so we can escort you both home!"

"Chirp, chirp, chirp," the chicken tilted its head and chirped, still saying nothing. It was a far cry from the intelligent Divine Phoenix of moments ago.

"Haha, this little chicken must have been knocked back to its original form. It’s no different from a normal chicken now!" Tang Ying laughed foolishly.

The others turned pale! They hurriedly covered Tang Ying’s mouth and tackled him to the ground, terrified he would say something else. But the chicken acted as if it didn't understand a word, just chirping without any sign of breathing fire. Had Tang Ying actually been right?

"This is difficult. One is in a coma, the other can't speak. But since they saved our lives, we can't just abandon them in the wilderness." Even the experienced Mo Youcai was at a loss.

"Manager Mo, make a decision! Some of them ran away; if they come back for revenge, we’re all dead!" someone reminded him anxiously.

"Everyone, gather round," Mo Youcai said, clenching his fist. "We can't leave them behind. We’ll take them back to Deep City to care for them, but she must not meet the Valley Master or the mistresses. Once we reach Deep City, we’ll pick a secret location to take shifts caring for her. Keep this a total secret!"

He looked at Tang Ying and added with a fierce glare, "If anyone lets even one word slip, I'll have Li Gan twist off their arm! Do you hear me?"
"Yes!"

The group quickly fetched a stretcher, someone picked up the chicken, and they hurried toward the airport.