Shura's Wrath

Fire God’s Bulwark

“Why are you here then? And why… were you calling me? It feels like you seem to know me,” Xi Ling slowly asked.

“Haha,” the ancient voice laughed. “I was willing to become an Undead to preserve my soul so that I could wait for you to come here.”

“Wait for me?” Xi Ling said in shock as she pointed at herself.

“That’s right. You possess the Phoenix Royal Clan’s final bloodline and power, and you are my final concern… my child. I’m your father.”

“…!!” Xi Ling’s mouth opened as she dumbly stared ahead. “Fath…er…?”

The concept of a father was very faint in Xi Ling’s mind, and when she heard that the voice was actually her father, she felt shock and nothing else. This was because from when she was born, she had been by herself, without any parents or friends. There was no one who she could talk to or rely on. Just like that, she had grown up in loneliness. Afterwards, during the Demon Beast Clan’s catastrophe, she had used up all of her yet-to-mature flames in order to save some innocent animals, destroying a wave of Demon Beasts. Her flames had shocked the Demon Emperor and the 10 ancient demon beasts, and under their attacks, she had been captured and locked up by them… for a whole 10,000 years.

From when she had been born to until very recently, she had spent her entire life with loneliness and darkness as her companions. The first person who had ever shown her warmth and kindness was Ling Chen, which was why she had vowed to forever follow him. Within her life, she had never had the concept of a father.

“That’s right, I’m your father. Your mother was the Golden Crow, who disappeared before your birth. My union with your mother was perhaps a mistake – at least, it caused great unrest within the entire Phoenix Clan, and it was the root of the Phoenix Clan’s demise. However, I do not regret it at all. 10,000 years ago, in order to save the Forgotten Continent, your mother used all of her power to destroy the Demon Beast Clan and in the process severely wounded the Demon Emperor, causing him to die 5 years later due to the Flames of the Nine Suns that she left within his body. However, your mother was also severely wounded by the Demon Emperor and other Demon Beasts, and she died before you were born. However, your mother did not feel sad about dying – after all, there can only ever be one Golden Crow. If she didn’t die, you would never be born.

“As for me, I died long before your mother. It’s just that the Phoenix Royal Clan has a special Soul Rebirth, which allowed my soul to continue to exist long after my body died. This allowed me to watch over you. 2 months after your mother passed away, I saw you being born. 3 years later, I saw you accidentally enter the Demon Beast Clan’s territory, and you were forced into dire straits by the Demon Beast Clan. By that time, the Demon Emperor was on his dying breath, and your flames evoked the fear of the Demon Emperor as well as all of the Demon Beasts. They did all they could to destroy you, so I used my soul origin energy to protect you so that they couldn’t harm you at that time. However, in the end, they used a special Darkness power to seal you off… I tried to undo that seal for many years… and by that time, I was reaching my time limit.”

“10,000 years ago, that mysterious power that prevented the Darkness energy from hurting me… came from you?” Xi Ling asked as she stared ahead. The question that had been burning within her heart for 10,000 years had finally been answered.

The Undead Phoenix warmly laughed as it continued to speak, “At that time, I was unable to save you. However, I didn’t believe that the Golden Crow and the Phoenix Royal Clan’s bloodline would be extinguished like that. The Phoenix Clan has never committed any crimes, and the Golden Crow’s power exists to destroy disasters in this world, so fate definitely wouldn’t destroy our clans. As such, I always believed that you would one day escape or be saved by someone… In the end, I moved my soul, corpse, and origin energy to the Underworld that I had discovered not too long ago. I hoped that a miracle would happen, and I was not disappointed.

“The dense deathly aura turned my corpse into an Undead and also awakened the power within my body. A hundred years ago, my soul and consciousness were reawakened, allowing me to remember my former memories. The reason I would rather become an Undead than completely die is because our Phoenix Royal Clan’s power awakens after one is 3,000 years old, and the new Phoenix God is guided by the previous generation’s Phoenix God. After this happens, what they will have will no longer be normal Phoenix flames but the Phoenix God Heavenly Flames.

“As such, I continuously waited for you here, year after year. After becoming an Undead, my control of fire has been continuously weakening, and the origin flames within my body are no longer controlled by me. They’re leaking out more and more, creating a sea of fire that grows larger and larger, which will cause disaster for the Undead. Luckily, I didn’t wait for nothing, and you’ve finally come… my child.”

“What Phoenix Royal Clan; what memories reawakening… I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Xi Ling shook her head, her mind extremely chaotic.

The ancient voice paused for a moment before softly replying, “You don’t need to immediately understand this. Just remember, my child, that all you need to do is live well. You possess the Phoenix Royal Clan’s bloodline as well as the Golden Crow’s bloodline, and you contain both our Clans’ hope. Don’t think about using your power to save the world, and you should ignore those catastrophes. I just want you to be able to live well… if anything, I hope that you can remember that at least.

“Now, close your eyes and receive our Phoenix Royal Clan’s most important Awakening Ceremony. To be able to see this day, the 10,000 years of waiting were all worth it. I don’t have any more regrets. It’s just that I’ve caused unforgiveable disasters in the Underworld, and I will not be able to make up for it…” The ancient voice gradually died down, and a piercing cry sounded out from within the sea of flames. Following this, boundless raging flames descended from the sky, falling onto Xi Ling’s dazed body and completely enwrapping her…

At that moment, there was also a ball of fire burning around Ling Chen’s body, which had persisted for a long time. The fire’s temperature went from scorching, to boiling, to warm, and finally became incredibly comfortable. This caused Ling Chen’s expression to go from being savagely twisted, to peaceful, and then to the point that he could close his eyes and moan.

“Ding… you have been baptised by the ‘Phoenix God Heavenly Flames’, and have received the special skill [Fire God’s Bulwark].”

A system announcement sounded out in Ling Chen’s ears as the flames around him quickly disappeared. Ling Chen opened his eyes and saw that the boundless sea of flames around him was quickly extinguishing, and most of the flames around his body were gone, with only a faint layer of fiery light around his body.

“Fire God’s Bulwark? This name…”

Even until now, Ling Chen didn’t know what had happened after he had been swept into the sea of flames, much less what the flames around him that had prevented him from moving were doing. As such, when he heard the system announcement and the mention of the Thunder God’s Bulwark, his heart trembled as he quickly looked at the special skill’s description:

[Fire God’s Bulwark]: An ultimate blessing granted by the Phoenix Royal Clan’s soul’s power. The power can only be given once, and it will cause one’s soul to take great damage. After receiving this blessing, the target will receive the Phoenix Royal Clan’s bloodline’s protection. Effect: Absorbs any type of Fire element damage. Can absorb Fire element damage and convert it into HP, MP, or store it within one’s body to release at will, causing massive Fire damage.

Ling Chen’s jaw dropped, and he felt flabbergasted.

When he had first heard the name ‘Fire God’s Bulwark’, he had a feeling that it would be something like this, but after reading the skill’s description, he was given a big fright. It was almost exactly the same as the Thunder God’s Bulwark given by the White Tiger, and it was just as heaven-defying! With the Fire God’s Bulwark, not only would Fire attacks not be able to hurt him, but it would also give positive effects. In other words, after receiving similar effects from the Aquarius Orb with respect to water and from the White Tiger with respect to Lightning, he could now do the same with Fire! What’s more, he could store Fire attacks like with the Thunder God’s Bulwark and release the stored Fire attacks into more powerful Fire attacks!

Ling Chen stared at the quickly receding flames, and he simply couldn’t understand how such a good thing had just fallen into his lap for no reason! Back then, he had received the White Tiger’s Thunder God’s Bulwark, which Qi Yue had called ‘fate that even the heavens would be jealous of’, because the Thunder God’s Bulwark was an ultimate blessing that might not appear for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years! After the White Tiger fell, it would be the final time. And now, he had received a similar blessing but with respect to Fire. What’s more, it had come without any reason. Back then, he had helped the White Tiger, so it was not surprising for the White Tiger to give him such a thing. Today, he had not done anything, yet he had received such a big gift; Ling Chen simply felt as if he was dreaming!

Wait, no way! He couldn’t actually be dreaming, would h… Ling Chen pinched his face and then looked up as he stared in surprise. As the flames receded, a golden orb of light appeared within his vision.

“Xi… Ling?” Ling Chen muttered as he looked at the orb of golden light, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Xi Ling was standing about 10 steps in front of him, and had her eyes tightly closed, a peaceful look on her face. However, she had become about half a head taller, and her hair had grown longer. It was so long that it was to the point that it reached her perky bottom. Her face became more beautiful and less youthful, and she gave off a more mature air…Before, Xi Ling had looked like a 12 or 13 year old girl, but she now looked around 16 or 17 years old!

However, it was definitely still Xi Ling, causing Ling Chen to call out her name.

However, her flame-red clothes were gone, and they were replaced by a dress that was of the exact same style, but it was a dazzling golden colour! What’s more, the fires burning around her were brilliant and beautiful golden flames.