Chapter 150: Phoenix Rebirth — Despicable, Inferior Humans!
The leader's quiet words earned only respectful nods.
Moments later, his subordinates dispersed into the shadows and vanished.
Three days passed.
Then, a deafening roar split the skies.
"Wretched, inferior humans—you all deserve death!"
A blazing sphere streaked across the heavens like a miniature sun, trailing fire in its wake. Its radiant storm swept over the dark-robed cultists below.
Wherever it passed, unending flames erupted—souls ignited on the spot, their bodies reduced to ash before they could even scream.
"Master! It's too strong! Our losses are catastrophic. Should we intervene?"
But the leader raised a gloved hand, halting the panicking figure beside him.
"Patience," he said coolly. "There's a reason I command, and you are merely a disciple."
His tone turned almost indulgent. "In service to the Sacred Church, every sacrifice made for the mission is a noble one."
He regarded the young man knowingly. In that zeal, he saw his own reflection.
He, too, had once been hungry for strength—for recognition.
Born with only a rank-one spirit power and a common martial soul, he had chased dreams of supremacy, only for reality to crush them.
Then he discovered the forbidden secret: devouring the blood of others to accelerate cultivation.
The lure of swift power had sealed his fate. He joined the Holy Spirit Church and never looked back—rising now to one of its mid-level commanders.
The new recruit before him reminded him of that same naïve ambition.
"Hold position," he ordered darkly. "When it enters the Phoenix Prison Array, victory will be ours. It will be trapped—utterly. There will be no escape."
"For the Holy Church!"
The others echoed the chant as flames raged above them.
"A pack of lunatics!" the fiery being snarled overhead. Its voice trembled with fury—half-human, half-divine.
Everywhere it flew, the land died. Fields blackened. The air shimmered with heat. Even when it soared past, its fire lingered, eternal and untamed.
Suddenly the entire sky blazed white.
Sensing danger, the flame-sphere faltered midair, trembling slightly before trying to retreat.
A cold shout answered from below.
"Too late! Activate the Phoenix Prison Array!"
Light twisted. Space shifted.
The brilliant sphere vanished from open air—only to reappear in a boundless white void.
Flames burst outward in all directions, turning the entire endless expanse crimson—yet no matter how violently it struggled, no escape could be found.
The blazing creature quivered in disbelief.
I'm trapped.
"Despicable humans!" it bellowed. "How dare you!"
…
Far away, Jiang Chen's group hiked lazily across the slopes, oblivious to the battle raging ahead.
He followed the main column at a leisurely pace while Huo Yun'er trotted beside him, dutifully offering her water bottle every few minutes.
"Master ancestor, are you thirsty?"
"I'm fine," he replied with a calm smile. "You drink it."
Blushing, she nodded quickly and took a few sips.
By now, no one found her behavior strange.
At first, Huo Yun'er's shameless devotion to Jiang Chen had drawn glares of jealousy from girls and sighs of envy from boys—how could a girl chase so brazenly?
But when they learned the two had been promised to each other since birth and were just teasing affectionately—it all made sense.
Now people simply chose the "if you can't beat it, ignore it" approach.
As for Gu Yue and the Snow Empress—always orbiting around Jiang Chen—everyone had long since stopped being surprised.
Some men are just born unfairly blessed, they thought bitterly.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen remained unaware—or simply didn't care.
He turned toward the Snow Empress, his tone soft. "Do you sense anything?"
Closing her eyes, the Snow Empress focused. Her long lashes quivered slightly, her icy complexion a picture of cool beauty.
After a moment, she opened them again.
"There's a strong anomaly ahead—a power of flame. It's almost as strong as mine."
Almost—meaning weaker than the Ice Dragon King's essence that resided within her.
Her words were spoken telepathically.
After all, discussing "Ice Dragon King" business with Gu Yue around wasn't exactly wise.
So, using a unique spiritual encryption technique—developed partly with the Evil Eye Clan and refined through the Federation's soul network—they could communicate safely.
Even if someone like Gu Yue intercepted it, decrypting the channel would take time—by then, the conversation would already be over.
Of course, they rarely used this system except for sensitive matters.
This, right now, was one of those moments.
"A power equal to the Snow Empress, and of fire?" Jiang Chen mused. "Could it really be… the phoenix?"
If it was truly that mighty, it might be the real thing. But since it was weaker than a Dragon King, perhaps it wasn't a true divine phoenix.
"Gu Yue?" he asked aloud.
She frowned after scanning the horizon with spiritual sense.
"That's impossible," she said coldly. "The phoenix race was annihilated by the dragons ages ago. There shouldn't be a single one left."
Still, uncertainty tugged at her thoughts. She quickly sent a telepathic message to Di Tian for confirmation.
Though she was the Silver Dragon King—inheriting the Dragon God's wisdom and divine consciousness—she had no memories of the original Dragon God.
She was a newborn incarnation, born on Douluo Continent after the Dragon God's fall.
Even Di Tian, who had once received the Dragon God's personal teachings, likely knew more about the ancient races than she did.
With a final glance toward the concealed observers ahead, Gu Yue retracted her spiritual aura.
Under the watchful eyes of the Federation, showing her full power here was too great a risk.
Sensing the presence of a phoenix was more than enough for now.
"There's definitely some kind of phoenix ahead," she said at last, her voice low. "But its vitality feels… unstable."
"Then we'd better check it out," Jiang Chen replied.
Gu Yue nodded, curiosity gleaming faintly in her silvery eyes.
If it truly was a surviving phoenix, perhaps she could pry some secrets from it about the old divine era.
Without another word, she veered off the main path onto a side trail. Jiang Chen took Snow Empress's hand, motioning for Huo Yun'er to follow.
Xu Xiaoyan, noticing the shift, tugged at Xie Xie's sleeve nervously.
"Hey—hey! Where are they going?"
(END CHAPTER)
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