The woman surnamed Yue raised the ancient lamp into the air, slightly parted her lips, and exhaled a wisp of white infant flame from her mouth, igniting the lamp. With her hands forming a lotus-shaped seal, she murmured low and obscure incantations. A white lotus bloomed beneath her, as if she were an immortal fairy standing gracefully upon it. The incantations carried an indescribable aura of ancient wilderness, and suddenly, the bronze lamp trembled, producing phantom images. Nine identical ancient lamps flashed into existence, swirling briefly before arranging themselves in a triangular formation, rotating slowly in the air.
With a flick of her jade-like fingers, the woman surnamed Yue sent nine differently colored spell incantations toward the lamps. A brilliant blue light erupted as nine flames floated out from the lamps, converging at the center of the triangular formation and merging into a single blue flame the size of a human head. With a soft “puff,” she spat a mouthful of vital essence blood onto the blue flame, causing it to surge violently, growing by a foot and emitting a dazzling radiance.
Moments later, a clear cry rang out as a foot-long blue bird emerged from the flames. The bird was slender, with long blue feathers and a pair of fiery red eyes that sparkled like gemstones—it was a resplendent blue peacock. With an arrogant gaze, it glanced around and immediately spotted the woman surnamed Yue below. Tilting its head slightly, it uttered ancient, wild words from its sharp beak.
The woman surnamed Yue bowed deeply three times to the bird, her expression reverent, and responded in the same ancient tongue. The withered old man, witnessing this, showed a trace of solemnity on his face.
Suddenly, the woman surnamed Yue ceased her incantations and flipped her hand, producing a fragrant, pinkish orb of unknown origin. The blue peacock’s eyes lit up with delight at the sight of the orb. Opening its beak, it released a blue mist that sucked the orb directly into its mouth.
With a sizzling sound, a halo of light rose around the blue bird, followed by blue flames erupting from its body, transforming it into a colossal firebird. With a piercing cry, the bird spread its wings and soared into the sky. Within a radius of ten miles, the fire spiritual energy became unstable. All cultivators and mages employing fire-based techniques suddenly found their spells weakened by half, leaving them astonished.
Countless strands of fire spiritual energy converged toward the blue bird like rivers flowing into the sea. The bird’s body swelled rapidly, and its blue flames grew even more dazzling.
All cultivators within the ten-mile radius paused in shock, their gazes drawn to the blue firebird. The surrounding temperature soared instantly, making it feel as though they were standing beside a furnace, despite their protective barriers. A sense of dread filled their hearts.
However, when the mages caught sight of the peacock within the blue flames, their faces lit up with ecstasy.
“It’s the Sacred Bird! Master Yue has summoned the Sacred Bird!”
“This battle is ours!” some mages shouted excitedly before launching frenzied attacks on their opponents.
The withered old man, witnessing the bird’s divine might, allowed a rare smile to cross his face. The black-robed woman from the Yin Luo Sect, however, watched the blue peacock in the flames with a strange glint in her eyes. “To manipulate the fire spiritual energy of heaven and earth—this Sacred Bird must at least be at the Divine Transformation stage. No wonder you consider it your final trump card. However, though its realm is high, its spiritual energy upon emergence was only at the early Nascent Soul stage. Even after absorbing so much fire spiritual energy, it has barely reached the late stage. This must be a mere avatar of its true form, no? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have suffered such a crushing defeat against the Utsu people.”
“Lady Lu, your insight is truly remarkable. Indeed, this is not the Sacred Bird’s true form, but even so, it is no small matter. No ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator could stand against it,” the old man replied calmly, glancing at the black-robed woman.
“Indeed, the ability to harness the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is a grand divine ability only accessible at the Divine Transformation stage. With this alone, it is nearly invincible,” the black-robed woman nodded, her tone tinged with envy. The old man chuckled but said nothing more.
Meanwhile, the seven old men wielding ancient treasures had just slain several mages when they caught sight of the enormous bird within the blue flames, their faces paling in horror.
“Not good! This demonic beast looks terrifying. Ordinary cultivators are no match for it—we must stop it!” the lead gray-robed elder exclaimed, his expression grim.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s use the Seven Supreme Treasures to destroy this beast! Clearly, it doesn’t belong to this realm—we can’t let it wreak havoc!” another elder roared before transforming into a streak of yellow light, charging toward the blue flames.
The others immediately followed suit. The lead gray-robed elder hesitated briefly but sighed and flew after them as a golden streak.
By the time the seven reached the vicinity of the blue flames, the Mulan Sacred Bird seemed to have completed its absorption of fire spiritual energy, its body now over twenty zhang long. Lowering its head slightly, it spotted the seven cultivators approaching with hostility. A fierce glint flashed in its eyes as it flapped its wings, releasing a dense barrage of fist-sized blue fireballs toward them.
Before the seven elders could launch their attacks, a scorching wind swept over them, instantly making their bodies unbearably hot. Their hearts clenched in alarm. Seeing the onslaught of blue fireballs, a long-browed elder slapped his storage pouch and flung out an exquisitely crystalline ice net. The net glowed white, capturing numerous fireballs within it.
The long-browed elder smirked, but his expression abruptly paled. The fireballs within the net exploded, causing the net to melt and vanish in the blue flames. The freed flames coalesced into a fiery pillar, barreling toward the group with terrifying force.
“Go!” The lead elder swiftly activated his ancient treasure—a hazy white mirror—which flew out and unfurled a curtain of white light, blocking the blue flames.
The others, witnessing the destruction of the long-browed elder’s treasure, gasped in shock. Realizing the extraordinary nature of the blue flames, none dared to use ordinary magic treasures.
“Quick, activate the Demon-Sealing Grand Formation to trap this beast!” the lead elder bellowed. The others hastily obeyed, summoning their ancient treasures.
A red ruler, a yellow halberd, a command token, a small cauldron, a jade fan, and a ruyi scepter rose into the air, encircling the giant bird. With a resonant hum, their spiritual light merged with the mirror’s radiance, forming a seven-colored barrier that not only held back the blue flames but also encased the bird.
Enraged, the blue bird opened its beak and pecked downward, releasing a massive, cone-shaped blue beam that vanished in a flash. Below, a tall elder suddenly felt his command token tremble violently before being sent flying back with a thunderous boom.
Terrified, the elder frantically cast several spells to halt the token’s momentum, but it only slowed slightly before continuing its deadly trajectory. Just as it was about to strike him, a figure flashed beside him, placing two hands on his shoulders and channeling a surge of spiritual energy into his body.
“Cast your spells—I’ll assist you,” came the cold voice of the gray-robed elder. Heartened, the tall elder unleashed four or five more spells, finally regaining control of the token just before it struck. Both men exhaled in relief.
The other elders, shaken by this close call, redoubled their efforts, pushing their ancient treasures to their limits. Their combined forces managed to block several more of the bird’s blue beams.
Nearby, the woman surnamed Yue observed the scene before glancing back at the ancient lamp. Hesitating, she chose not to intervene. As long as the lamp’s oil remained unburned, she had to guard it against sabotage.
The withered old man, seeing the Sacred Bird momentarily restrained, showed a flicker of surprise but quickly regained his composure.
He was in no hurry. The Sacred Bird, worshipped by the Mulan Clan for tens of thousands of years, clearly held the upper hand. Though the seven elders’ treasures were formidable, they were no match for the Sacred Bird. It would surely slay them before the lamp’s oil was exhausted. These seven were likely the final trump card of the southern cultivators. With this thought, the old man’s gaze drifted toward the opposing camp, where Long Han stood before a thousand mages, his expression dark.
“To think the Mulan could summon such a beast—this is dire,” Long Han muttered under his breath. Raising his voice, he commanded, “Release the spirit beast statues now! While the Seven Supreme Elders are still holding the beast at bay, let them contribute!”
At his order, dozens of pitch-black beast statues were pushed to the front lines. Several cultivators slapped spirit talismans onto the statues, which vanished into them with a green flash. The cultivators then sat cross-legged, motionless as if asleep.
Moments later, the statues’ eyes glowed with an eerie blue light as they sprang to life, charging into battle without further instruction. The cultivators who had activated them remained seated, heads bowed.
The withered old man, observing from afar, smirked mockingly. Turning to the black-robed woman, he said politely, “It’s time to deliver the final blow. Lady Lu, release your sect’s Bronze Armored Corpses. This will secure our victory.”
“Patience, Brother Zhu. Wait a little longer. Most of our Bronze Armored Corpses are only at the Foundation Establishment level. They’ll be most effective once the southern cultivators’ energy is nearly depleted,” the woman replied calmly.
“Very well. As long as your sect hasn’t changed its mind, a short delay is acceptable,” the old man conceded after a brief hesitation. Her reasoning was sound.
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