Blue Phoenix

An He was gathering momentum. He was advancing rapidly, and his body was surrounded by the three superimposed heavenly daos.

His scythe was shining red with Hui Yue’s blood that it had consumed and it was trembling. The blood had ignited its fighting spirit entirely, and it could not wait to devour the blood of Lan Feng and Hui Yue.

Hui Yue and Lan Feng knew that they had to do something to stop the momentum that An He was gathering, but both were uncertain how to do so.

Hui Yue had already used his two superimposed daos alongside the Celestial Sword, but in every exchange, he had been at a disadvantage because of his lack of a third dao.

He had used his strongest formation, an ancient grandmaster formation merged with the essence of a star, but even this had just managed to char some of An He’s clothes and hair.

He had used his Nine Peach Leaves, but every time he had used these hidden weapons all they achieved were small cuts over An He’s body. Sometimes they would draw a bit of blood, but mainly they just left marks on his skin.

The only attack which had caused some damage to An He was Lan Feng’s Phoenix Descent, but the damage that Lan Feng sustained was at least as bad, if not worse.

“I have a plan,” Hui Yue said after a bit of time while sighing. “It’s dangerous, but it could work.” he continued and then frowned.

“The only problem is that we somehow need to keep An He pinned down, he cannot follow me.”

“I will do it,” Lan Feng said instantly. “I cannot withstand too many of his blows since I do not have a weapon of the same category as the Celestial Sword, but I should be able to withstand some of his blows since I am a divine beast with a refined body and two heavenly daos.”

“Also, I will make sure to avoid as much damage as possible. When it comes down to it, I just need to ensure he does not follow you. Even if it costs me my life, I will succeed!”

Hui Yue felt his heart warm when he heard that Lan Feng was willing to face death for the sake of allowing Hui Yue to attack.

Anyone looking at the battle could easily be mistaken that Hui Yue was trying to escape and left Lan Feng to die, but Lan Feng showed that he trusted Hui Yue with all his being.

Hui Yue and Lan Feng were closer than brothers, and Hui Yue knew that if they had to, both would give their life for the other. The moment he looked down and saw the determination on Lan Feng’s face was something he would never forget, and he nodded his head as he shot high into the air. His plan was simple; he wanted to use the one attack that had already shown success, but he also knew that Lan Feng’s Phoenix Descent was stronger than his own.

That was unless Hui Yue drew upon the drop of blood essence that he had gained from the Vermilion Bird in the Formation of Life’s trials.

Hui Yue knew that this would seriously wound him. He had already merged with the drop of blood from the Vermilion Bird so to burn it was the same as burning his own life and blood essence, but to kill An He, Hui Yue was willing to take the chance.

Hui Yue was like a beam of light that flew multiple kilometers into the heavens above the battlefield, and finally, after reaching the distance he wished, he took a deep breath.

He found the blood within his body and started to combust it. This caused a flaming Vermilion Bird to appear around his body, and a resounding bird cry echoed out over the entire battlefield, stunning many of the minor figures.

Hui Yue was not going to stop with just this. “I am sorry, please bear with it,” he whispered to the Divine Beast world. “Your creators were forced into an eternal slumber and their descendants trapped for millennia, let us get our vengeance!”

After this, he drew upon the lifeforce of the Divine Beast world, an ability that only Crowned Sovereigns could do, and he could feel how his body was being infused with energy in such massive waves that it felt like tidal waves were washing over him.

Having combusted his blood essence and drawn on the Divine Beast world’s energy, Hui Yue started his Phoenix Descent.

He was like a blazing meteor as he descended. He shone like a star in the middle of a bloody sea of death and slaughter, and many of the minor demons and humans stopped their fights to see this phenomenon that had suddenly appeared high in the sky in the middle of the battlefield.

An He had been spouting a sinister grin as he had tortured Lan Feng, but suddenly he felt an approaching calamity. Just as he was about to move out of the way, he felt how his body was being held in place by two massive blue phoenix wings.

“What are you doing you dumb bird; we will both die!!” An He sneered, but Lan Feng’s eyes were calm and collected, and his soul was tranquil. Lan Feng had long since been willing to exchange his life for An He’s, and now that he had been tasked with pinning down An He, he would do so till his last breath.

Hui Yue felt sorrow in his heart, but he did not hesitate. He knew his brother better than anyone else, and if he hesitated now, Lan Feng would never forgive him.

Thinking this, Hui Yue sped up even further, and in seconds he collided head-on with An He.

A cracking sound could be heard before a loud explosion rang throughout the whole battlefield. The explosion was the biggest so far seen in the battle yet if one did not count the explosions from the Overlords’ fight.

It was devastating. The world started to shake; the colors in the world faded for a moment, and a burning inferno exploded out together with a loud phoenix cry. The Vermilion Bird’s blood essence was being burned rapidly, and it only lasted for a brief moment, but Hui Yue used every single ounce of it to push the force of the impact onto An He.

Silence descended onto the battlefield. Everyone close to the impact had been either decimated or killed. Only the stronger experts of the heavenly dao rank had been able to survive, but even they had not come out of it unscathed.

As the explosion slowly died out, Hui Yue, dizzy and severely wounded from redirecting so much energy and power, fixed his eyes on what was left in the chaos he had just created.

He could feel that Lan Feng was still alive. His soul had not been wounded, but he was in intense pain.

Noticing this, Hui Yue was fearful that since Lan Feng had survived maybe An He had as well.

Hui Yue scoured the surrounding areas. Many Blood Demons were looking at him with murderous eyes, but no one dared to come forward. The strong were feared, and no one knew if he could pull out another of these attacks, and thus they stayed at a safe distance.

The sky slowly returned to normal, and the smoke that had appeared from the explosion also cleared up.

An He and Lan Feng were still locked together by Lan Feng’s wings. However, one of his wings had been completely severed. Half of it had disintegrated and turned to nothing, while the tail feathers, and many other feathers on the body, were completely burned off.

An He was not in a much better state. His head was cracked open, his brain was exposed, and his body was broken all over. He did not have a refined body, and since Hui Yue had managed to wound him seriously, he had a hard time hanging on.

Seeing this, Hui Yue rushed forward to finish An He, but Lan Feng lifted his wing that had escaped relatively unscathed. He then used all his energy to retreat backwards and as he left An He his sharp claws sliced outwards as fast as lightning at An He’s throat, separating his head from the neck.

He then shot out with his talons and caught the soul that was trying to escape, and crushed it completely. A wail sounded out, but it was quickly silenced only leaving nothingness behind.

An He, the person who had caused Hui Yue and Lan Feng untold amounts of trouble and was the reason they were always on the lookout for danger, had become nothing at the hands of Lan Feng dying a relatively uneventful death. Having succeeded, both Lan Feng and Hui Yue looked at one another, but neither laughed. Both were smirking wryly. Their clothes were in tatters, and both were severely wounded. Lan Feng had given up an arm, and Hui Yue had sacrificed almost his entire body during the fight, but they had taken a gamble and came out ahead against an opponent that was more than their equal.

“Let’s take some pills,” Hui Yue sighed. He had wounded his longevity, even his own blood essence was wounded, but he understood that he was one of the leading figures in this war and no matter what he had to give it his all.

Lan Feng shed a few tears as he was reliving the hell that An He had forced him through, but he quickly wiped his eyes, took the pills, and restored as much energy as possible.

After a few moments, the two elders from the eastern and western regions appeared. Both were in a messy state, but they did not seem wounded. Wang Ju Long also appeared right after, and she too seemed to have had an easy time.

The three of them gathered around Hui Yue and Lan Feng. “Consume some pills. We will guard you for the next hour,” Wang Ju Long said, and the other two nodded their heads.

Although an hour sounded like a long period of time, it was truly not a lot for a God. The war had already been going on for more than a day now, but no victor was in sight.

While Hui Yue and Lan Feng were busy consuming their pills, restoring their energy, healing their bodies, and resting their souls, the rest of the war continued to unfold in front of them.

Cai Jie had been lost from his group and was fighting on his own. But, suddenly he found himself back to back with Hu Yong, the rhinoceros that he had fought back in the red realm.

These two had spoken a lot together during all their journeys as they felt that after their first battle in the red realm they were like brothers. But during this meeting, they had been caught in a dangerous situation.

Cai Jie and Hu Yong had been treading deeper and deeper into the Blood Demons’ side of the battlefield, and they had been surrounded by a horde of demons. Although they had many pills and ate them one after another, they were running low after a day. Although they were trying to retreat, they were being forced from the human side by the Blood Demons that had surrounded them, and at this point, their lives were in danger.

“We have to break out!” Hu Yong said as he was in his beast form. He was a massive beast that stood in front of Cai Jie, and he rammed straight into the demons throwing them all over the place.

Hu Yong was now taking the brunt of every attack, and his body was bleeding profoundly, but he did not slow down or hesitate. His eyes were filled with a drive to get back to the humans’ side, to get back to safety, and he savagely stomped on Blood Demons, threw them to the sides with his horns, and made a path through the carnage for him and Cai Jie to escape through.

As they reached the humans’ side of the battlefield, Cai Jie and Hu Yong headed to a safe area, but it was not until then that Cai Jie noticed Hu Yong was having a hard time breathing. His body was riddled with wounds, blood had coagulated on his body, and he was without any more strength.

“I can’t go any further,” Hu Yong said with a weary voice. “Do not worry, I have lived a fulfilling life,” he said. “I had brothers and friends, I lived for many years, and I was sure that my life would end the day that the red realm exploded, but instead I got to experience the wonders of the galaxy! It’s time for me to go and experience a new life. But first, make sure to tell Yue that I am proud to be his follower, his friend, and tell him that he has to emerge victorious! We have to win this war!”

Having spoken, Hu Yong could no longer keep flying, and he collapsed. He fell from the heavens into the sea of corpses that lay beneath the battlefield on the open plane that now ran red with blood.