NABC Chapter 1986: Phoenix Dance for 9 Days
Chapter 1986: Phoenix Dance for 9 Days
Chapter 1986: Phoenix dances for nine days
Beyond the Thousand Lotus Realm, high in the sky, atop the swirling, dense demonic clouds, Liao Ruiheng, dressed in a vibrant red robe yet standing tall and straight like a pine tree, stood leisurely with his hands behind his back.
On his handsome, almost otherworldly face, the previously languid expression suddenly shifted slightly, and a playful, ambiguous smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Liao Ruiheng slowly turned his head, his strange eyes, one black and one red, seemed to pierce through the barriers of space and unintentionally swept towards the towering figure in black armor opposite him, Kuang Yezhou.
"Hehehe..."
A soft, gentle laugh, like a lover's whisper, flowed from Liao Ruiheng's lips.
“Kuang Yezhou, look, that interesting little guy inside just quietly picked three more ‘fruits’…”
Liao Ruiheng paused slightly, his tone shifting to a rougher, more masculine voice as he continued:
"However, this time, two big fish have come looking for him. One is the Qu family girl who has reached the Xuan Yuan Dao Foundation stage, and the other is a master at the fifteenth level limit. Do you think this interesting little array cultivator can create another miracle like before?"
Kuang Yezhou naturally knew who the little guy Liao Ruiheng was talking about was—Chen Fei, the cultivator with mid-fifteenth-level cultivation who, in this Thousand Lotus Demon Realm, had successively killed three late-fifteenth-level and two mid-fifteenth-level demon cultivators with his exquisite array formations.
Faced with Liao Ruiheng's question, which was full of mockery and probing, Kuang Yezhou's crimson aura, as bright as the sun, rippled slightly.
He slowly raised his eyelids, his gaze as calm as an eternal, unchanging pool, and glanced indifferently at Liao Ruiheng, his voice steady and devoid of any emotion:
"This realm was personally set up by you with the Thousand-Petaled Demon Lotus as its core. You can see through everything within it with just a thought. As for the outcome, you already know it perfectly well, so why ask any more questions?"
"Oops..."
Hearing Kuang Yezhou's blunt and unforgiving words, Liao Ruiheng was not annoyed at all; instead, he burst into even more cheerful laughter.
The laughter started as a rough male voice, but as it grew, it gradually became delicate and charming, eventually transforming into a silvery, bell-like female laugh.
"Kuang Yezhou, you're still as boring as ever."
Liao Ruiheng extended a pale, almost translucent hand and gently covered his lips. His eyes, brimming with an indescribable allure, said:
"If we knew the answer to everything in advance, wouldn't life be much less fun?"
"It's like watching a wonderful play; if you've already seen the ending, where's the surprise and anticipation when you watch it again?"
As Liao Ruiheng spoke, his gaze turned to Kuang Yezhou again, his heterochromatic pupils gleaming with the excitement of a child discovering a new toy.
“Kuang Yezhou, it’s too boring to just look at it directly. How about we make another bet based on this kid’s current situation?”
"Let's bet on whether he can survive this attack from the combined forces of the Qu family girl and Dou Yanfeng."
"The bet, the same old rules, one Primordial Origin Crystal, how about it?"
Upon hearing the word "bet," Kuang Yezhou's usually calm and collected brows finally furrowed slightly, a wrinkle that was almost imperceptible.
His voice remained calm, but a clear refusal was evident in his tone:
"I'm not as prone to gambling as you are!"
"Hey……"
Seeing that Kuang Yezhou refused so decisively, Liao Ruiheng couldn't help but let out a sigh that sounded both regretful and coquettish.
But he clearly had no intention of giving up. Instead, he turned his attention back to the Thousand Lotus Realm below and began to analyze it on his own.
"Throughout the entire Demon Lotus Realm, it's not uncommon for someone at the mid-stage of the fifteenth rank to defeat someone at the late-stage of the fifteenth rank, but..."
Liao Ruiheng's tone shifted slightly, his voice quietly returning to its rugged masculine form, now with a touch of seriousness:
"To be able to kill five high-level demonic cultivators in succession is truly remarkable. Especially considering that he relied mainly on formations rather than his own supernatural abilities."
"Look, the complex array he set up is still being added to and perfected. The level of mastery of array formations he demonstrates is truly extraordinary, tsk tsk tsk!"
In the end, Liao Ruiheng let out another cryptic laugh, sometimes as gentle as a woman's, sometimes as rugged as a man's.
When mixed together, they created an extremely eerie and chilling tone.
Even the seasoned cultivators of the Tianhai Pass camp in the distance felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this eerie laughter.
Faced with Liao Ruiheng's almost incessant analysis and temptation, Kuang Yezhou still did not respond. He simply turned his head slowly back and cast his gaze once again toward the Thousand-Petaled Demon Lotus Realm below.
The scene reflected in Kuang Yezhou's eyes was focused on a seemingly ordinary forest within the realm, which was the area where Chen Fei had set up the Five Elements Formation.
Although Kuang Yezhou verbally refused to make the bet, he was not truly indifferent to Chen Fei, the array cultivator, and the dangerous battle he was about to face.
"Ha ha……"
Liao Ruiheng observed Kuang Yezhou's subtle actions closely, and he couldn't help but let out another low chuckle. This time, his voice had completely reverted to its rough male tone, carrying a hint of understanding and mockery:
"Men, they really are all two-faced creatures!"
Within the Thousand Lotus Realm, on that forest clearing cleverly disguised by the Tai Xu Reversal Array, the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed as if water could drip from it.
Chen Fei stood quietly at the core of the formation. His gaze calmly swept over Qu Yuanzhu, whose aura was as deep as the sea, and then he glanced slightly at Dou Yanfeng to the side. His eyes flickered slightly as he quickly calculated and evaluated.
"Lord Qu..."
Dou Yanfeng, standing to the side, couldn't contain himself any longer. He cast a questioning glance at Qu Yuanzhu in front of him and asked in a low voice:
"Should I, Dou, make the first move to test the strength of this formation?"
Qu Yuanzhu's eyes, seemingly veiled in mist, remained fixed on Chen Fei within the formation. She did not see the panic and fear she had expected on Chen Fei's face, which only intensified the interest in her eyes.
Qu Yuanzhu nodded gently, and said in a soft voice as if afraid of disturbing something, "Alright, make your move."
"Yes!"
Having received Qu Yuanzhu's approval, Dou Yanfeng's eyes flashed with a terrifying light, and he let out a deep, muffled roar.
"boom!"
A demonic aura far more violent and intense than any demonic cultivator before him, like a star suppressed for ten thousand years, suddenly erupted from his body.
The surrounding space distorted and trembled slightly because of this terrifying aura.
The Blood Coffin of the Underworld!
Dou Yanfeng suddenly lifted his hands upwards, and a huge coffin, its entire body dark red and seemingly cast from congealed blood, appeared out of thin air above his head.
This blood coffin was about three zhang long and one zhang wide. Countless twisted, painful demonic patterns and ghostly faces were carved on its body, exuding an aura of death, decay, and misfortune that was so thick it was impossible to dispel.
It's as if just one glance would draw your soul into it and condemn you to eternal damnation.
Inside the formation, Chen Fei looked at the familiar blood coffin, his gaze shifting slightly.
The supernatural power he used was exactly the same as that of the previous demonic cultivator, but the aura they exuded was completely incomparable.
"open!"
Dou Yanfeng's eyes blazed with bloodlust. He raised a hand wreathed in dark demonic energy and gently patted the blood coffin above his head.
"Crench!"
A sickening scraping sound suddenly rang out, and the heavy coffin lid slowly slid open a crack.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
In the next instant, an extremely cold and yin aura, seemingly from the deepest part of the Netherworld, poured out wildly from the cracks in the coffin like a burst dam of the Styx River.
Wherever this chilling aura of the Netherworld passes, the void seems to freeze, light is swallowed up, and all life rapidly withers and annihilates, turning into an absolute realm of deathly silence.
With a terrifying, all-destroying force, it swept towards the formation where Chen Fei was, seemingly intending to completely submerge and freeze everything within it.
Faced with this terrifying attack that could instantly kill even an ordinary late-stage fifteenth-level cultivator, Chen Fei's expression remained calm and composed.
Red Lotus Karmic Fire Burns the Sinful Array, Activate!
Chen Fei pointed his right hand like a sword and gently tapped the formation beneath his feet.
"Wow!"
A clear and resounding phoenix cry suddenly soared into the sky from the core of the formation.
"boom!"
The entire Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire Burning Formation suddenly erupted with a dazzling crimson light, and countless pure flames of power rapidly converged and condensed under the formation's activation.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a giant fire phoenix with a wingspan of tens of feet.
This fire phoenix is composed entirely of burning red lotus karmic fire, with each feather clearly visible, radiating a terrifyingly high temperature that can burn away all the sins of the world.
"Whoosh!"
The fire phoenix gracefully circled once in the air, then let out an even higher-pitched cry. With a sudden flap of its wings, it transformed into a streak of crimson light that tore through the sky, heading straight for the overwhelming chill of the Netherworld without flinching.
"boom!"
In the next instant, the extremely yang and powerful Red Lotus Karmic Fire and the extremely yin and cold Nine Netherworld Cold Qi collided violently like two giant stars.
A massive, earth-shattering explosion erupted instantly.
"Chucky!"
A deafening sound of extremely dense energy annihilating each other.
Half of it was an extreme chill that seemed capable of freezing the soul, and the other half was a raging inferno that seemed capable of incinerating everything. These two terrifying energies with completely opposite properties were frantically intertwining, colliding, and eroding each other in the air.
It created a huge energy vortex, churning everything around it into chaos.
The evenly matched clash resulted in a bizarre stalemate.
The endless stream of Netherworld chill emanating from the blood coffin was completely unable to extinguish the fiery phoenix in a short time.
Meanwhile, the fiery phoenix, supported by the continuous energy of the great formation, stubbornly resisted the erosion of the cold air and kept emitting high-pitched phoenix cries.
With each flap of its wings, countless crimson fire rains down, fiercely battling against the surging chill.
"Oh?"
Qu Yuanzhu, who had been quietly watching the battle from the sidelines, couldn't help but brighten slightly when she saw this unexpected scene. Her eyes, which seemed to be covered with mist, lit up slightly.
She gently raised a slender, jade-like hand and gracefully clapped her hands with her fair, almost translucent palm. Her voice remained soft, yet carried an undisguised hint of admiration.
"With a cultivation level at the mid-stage of the fifteenth rank, to withstand the Nine Nether Blood Coffin at the limit of the fifteenth rank and actually manage to hold its own, that's remarkable, truly remarkable!"
However, Qu Yuanzhu's seemingly complimentary words sounded like the most biting sarcasm to Dou Yanfeng.
A dignified level 15 limit cultivator can't even defeat a mid-level level 15 array cultivator?
Dou Yanfeng stared intently at the still calm figure in the formation, the killing intent in his eyes like a tangible sword, almost piercing through his pupils.
"Break it for me!"
Dou Yanfeng roared, and the demonic energy within his body began to surge even more frantically into the blood coffin above his head, attempting to crush the obstacle in front of him with absolute power.
His eyes had turned completely crimson, and the veins on his forehead bulged like writhing dragons, clearly indicating that he had pushed his demonic energy to its limit.
"Buzz!"
The dark red blood coffin floating in front of him emitted a violent hum, and the twisted demonic patterns on the coffin seemed to come alive, writhing and flashing wildly, emitting an even denser and more ominous bloodthirsty aura.
"Boom!"
Dou Yanfeng took a sudden step forward, causing the entire earth to tremble violently. He stretched out his right palm, which was wrapped in dark demonic energy, and pressed it hard on the end of the blood coffin.
"boom!"
A surge of demonic energy, several times more violent than before, poured into the blood coffin like a burst dam.
"Whoosh!"
In the next instant, the enormous blood coffin was forcefully propelled by Dou Yanfeng, transforming into a dark red meteor that tore through the void, carrying a terrifying aura that could crush everything and bury all things, and crashed straight into the fiery phoenix that was still circling and crying in front of it.
This strike already contained all the power that Dou Yanfeng could muster at this moment.
He would use this absolute power difference to decide the fate of the world with a single coffin!
At the core of the formation, Chen Fei quietly watched the terrifying blood coffin crashing down like a world-destroying meteor, his hands forming a profound and unfathomable hand seal in front of him.
"Wow!"
"Qiang!"
The clear, melodious phoenix cry that had originally been a single sound suddenly split into two at this moment.
A high-pitched, stirring sound, like a thunderclap from the heavens!
A melodious and gentle stream, like a clear spring in a secluded valley!
Immediately afterward, under Dou Yanfeng's gaze, the enormous fire phoenix burst forth with dazzling crimson-gold light and split in two.
The one on the left transformed into a smaller, but more agile and swift firebird, its entire body burning with blazing white yang flames, radiating the supreme yang energy that could scorch the heavens and boil the seas—it was a phoenix.
The one on the right transformed into a more elegant and slender fire spirit bird, surrounded by dark red flames, exuding the aura of ultimate yin rebirth—it was the Phoenix.
The moment the phoenix and the dragon appeared, they intertwined and spiraled into the air, drawing two perfect arcs of flame.
A terrifying power, even more magnificent, harmonious, and inexhaustible than that of the single fire phoenix before, suddenly erupted.
A blazing wave of flames, centered on the phoenix and the dragon, swept wildly in all directions, scorching and distorting the surrounding void, as if to transform this entire world into a kingdom of flames.
Seeing this sudden change, Dou Yanfeng's eyes narrowed slightly, but his hands did not stop moving in the slightest. He did not believe that his attack could be blocked.
This blood coffin, imbued with all his power, crashed into the vortex of flames formed by the phoenix and the dragon, carrying an unstoppable momentum.
"boom!"
A more intense and terrifying explosion than any before suddenly resounded throughout the entire world.
The dark red Netherworld chill and the crimson phoenix fire clashed fiercely once again.
This time, the destructive energies did not immediately annihilate each other, but instead formed a huge energy sphere.
On one side was extreme darkness, and on the other side was intense light. The two clashed, squeezed, and eroded each other wildly inside the sphere, emitting a series of ear-piercing shrieks that sent chills down one's spine.
"Buzz!"
An even more violent energy shockwave than before erupted from the energy sphere and spread outwards in all directions.
"Boom!"
Dou Yanfeng, who was at the very center of the explosion, felt an immense force being transmitted back along the blood coffin, causing his body to tilt backward uncontrollably.
Dou Yanfeng stared intently ahead, where the dark red blood coffin and the phoenix and dragon were once again locked in a delicate stalemate.
Although the blood coffin was still slowly moving forward, the speed was outrageously slow, and every inch it moved forward required a large amount of magic energy.
It was still blocked! How is that possible?!
An indescribable sense of frustration and anger burned through Dou Yanfeng's internal organs like poisonous fire.
"Burning Origin?"
A crazy thought flashed through his mind, but it was only fleeting before Dou Yanfeng forcibly suppressed it.
If you have to resort to burning your own essence to deal with a mere mid-stage 15th-level array cultivator, then even if you win, it will be a disgrace.
However, without burning its own essence, it would probably be unable to do anything to the formation in front of it in a short time.
Dou Yanfeng stared intently at the still calm figure in the formation, the resentment in his eyes almost solidifying.
Qu Yuanzhu, who had been quietly watching the battle from the sidelines, saw Dou Yanfeng's shameful and indignant expression.
A deeper interest emerged in her beautiful eyes, and she turned her gaze back to Chen Fei in the formation.
"What a remarkable person! He managed to put Dou Yanfeng in such a predicament. I'm getting more and more curious. Just how many more interesting tricks do you have up your sleeve?"
The moment this thought flashed through Qu Yuanzhu's mind, her delicate eyebrows suddenly twitched slightly, and a half-smile appeared on her face.
"Interesting, it's getting more and more interesting!"
In the next instant, Qu Yuanzhu's figure disappeared from the spot without warning, and when he reappeared, he had already arrived at the rear edge of the great formation.
Qu Yuanzhu slowly turned around, her eyes, seemingly capable of seeing through illusions, gazing at a seemingly empty area ahead. A playful smile curved her lips.
"This concealment technique is quite good; you almost managed to slip away!"
As Qu Yuanzhu finished speaking, an invisible wave rippled from her fingertips, sweeping across the open space in front of her like ripples on water.
"laugh!"
A subtle ripple in space appeared, and a figure suddenly emerged from the water, appearing abruptly in the spot where Qu Yuanzhu was looking. It was Chen Fei.
Dou Yanfeng, who was locked in a stalemate with the phoenix in the distance, was startled when he heard Qu Yuanzhu's voice. He turned his head sharply and looked over. When he saw the figure that had appeared outside the formation at some unknown time, his expression changed slightly.
"When did he run away? I didn't even notice!" A surge of anger at being tricked instantly rose to Dou Yanfeng's head.
Dou Yanfeng let out an angry roar and pushed forward with both hands.
"boom!"
Amidst the explosion, Dou Yanfeng temporarily forced the phoenix and the dragon back. Then, his figure instantly appeared behind Chen Fei, completely blocking Chen Fei's last path back into the formation.
"Lord Qu, I am utterly useless; I almost let this brat escape!"
Dou Yanfeng stared fiercely at Chen Fei's back, his gaze seemingly wanting to devour him alive, but he still didn't forget to apologize to Qu Yuanzhu in front of him, his tone full of remorse and self-reproach.
"It doesn't matter..."
Qu Yuanzhu waved her hand gently. She didn't even turn her head to look at Dou Yanfeng. All her attention was focused on the cultivator she had caught red-handed.
Qu Yuanzhu stretched out a fair, jade-like hand and gently covered her red lips, letting out a soft laugh like the tinkling of silver bells:
"You are truly a remarkable person. I'm almost reluctant to kill you. I'll keep your soul for now and play with it properly; it will surely be very interesting!"
Qu Yuanzhu's voice was as soft as a lover's murmur, but the coldness and cruelty in her words, which regarded human life as worthless, sent chills down the listener's spine.
Faced with the encirclement of two level 15 ultimate demonic cultivators, and Qu Yuanzhu's words full of mockery and killing intent, Chen Fei slowly raised his head. His gaze calmly fell on Qu Yuanzhu's face in front of him, without the slightest panic. Instead, he revealed a faint smile.
Chen Fei's voice was clear and steady, as if stating a given fact: "I will not keep your souls."
"Ok?"
Upon hearing this, Qu Yuanzhu's alluring eyes narrowed slightly. She extended a slender finger and gently tapped Chen Fei. Her voice still carried a hint of laughter, but the temperature within it suddenly dropped a few degrees.
"Such arrogant words will make me not want to keep your soul!"
Looking at Qu Yuanzhu's feigned coquettishness, Chen Fei's smile deepened. He slowly raised his right hand and gently placed his thumb and middle finger together.
Then, under the slightly doubtful and disdainful gazes of Qu Yuanzhu and Dou Yanfeng, Chen Fei lightly snapped his fingers.
"Snapped!"
A crisp, soft sound rang out in the silent woods, as if it were merely a matter of flicking away dust from the corner of a garment.
negligible.
However, at the very moment the snap of the fingers ended—
"Boom, boom, boom!"
A terrifying roar, seemingly coming from the heavens, suddenly exploded.
The next instant, Qu Yuanzhu and Dou Yanfeng turned their heads to look around. The scenery around them began to twist and change wildly, as if the whole world had been torn apart and moved by an invisible giant hand.
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding environment had changed dramatically, and a strange world shrouded in five-colored light appeared before them.
At the same time, a terrifying gravity, so heavy it was suffocating, pressed down on them like a towering mountain.
Immediately afterwards, countless jet-black weak waters, exuding an extremely cold aura, surged out as if from the deepest hell, transforming into countless viscous water chains that frantically coiled around their limbs and bones.
The teasing smile that had been on Qu Yuanzhu's face froze at that moment.
(End of this chapter)