Chapter 75 – The Hundred Birds and the Dragon's Dread
The atmosphere over the entire continent suddenly vibrated at a frequency that bypassed the ears and struck directly at the soul. In the bustling streets of Heaven Dou, the quiet corners of Star Luo, and the frozen peaks of the North, a phenomenon of mythic proportions unfolded. A phenomenon that will be known I the future as:
"The Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix."
Every bird-type Spirit Beast, from the common forest sparrow to the majestic 100,000-year-old Emerald Swan (Bi Ji), ceased their movements. A primal, genetic command overrode their instincts. In an instant, millions of wings fanned out, and every avian creature turned toward the Sunset Forest. They did not just fly away; they landed, tucked their heads, and bowed in a rhythmic, terrifying silence.
Soul Masters with bird-type martial souls fared no better. In various academies, students screamed in confusion as their martial souls manifested involuntarily. A Spirit Elder with a Woodpecker soul found himself pinned to the ground by his own spirit, forced into a kowtow. Even the arrogant, the strong, and the old felt their spirits kneeling within their sea of consciousness.
•••••••••
In the Supreme Pontiff's Hall, Bibi Dong stood by the window, her hand gripping the cold stone sill. The moment the pulse hit, her dual martial souls—the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul-Eating Spider Emperor—shrank back in fear, but her heart soared.
"Lakan..." she whispered, her voice thick with an emotion she hadn't felt in decades.
It was a profound pride, the kind a queen feels for her king. But as the "ONE" bloodline resonated through the continental ley lines, it triggered the "Dual Cultivation" bond they had forged in the Sacred Spring. Her body remembered the weight of him, the heat of his Manhood rewriting her meridians.
Bibi Dong feels a tingling naughty sensation, her body reacting as a woman would to a true Progenitor.
A flush of deep crimson crept up her neck. Her legs felt weak, and a familiar, honey-like fluid began to trail down her thighs, soaking into her silk robes. The Rakshasa's lingering corruption tried to twist the feeling into something dark, but the Sovereign's light in her soul purified it into a raw, biological "heat." She wasn't just his Empress; she was a woman who had been "claimed" by a God-vessel, and her body craved the repeat of that divine union. She wanted his legacy to take root within her, to bear the fruit of this new world they were building.
••••••••
Elsewhere, the shockwaves found those connected to his Diwa.
Shui Bing'er. In the Diwa Academy, she collapsed onto her bed, her Ice Phoenix martial soul letting out a cry of pure ecstasy. Because of her Baybayin Vow, she felt Lakan's breakthrough as if it were her own. Her ice didn't just feel cold; it felt Absolute, anchored by the heat of her man's advancement.
Ling Yue (Sun Crested Phoenix Douluo): Standing guard at the Academy's gates, she felt her newly evolved spirit expand. She looked toward the Sunset Forest, a tear of joy carving a path through the war-paint on her face. "The Sun has truly risen," she murmured, her golden flames turning white-hot in sympathy.
Ma Hongjun. The Shrek student clutched his chest, his Evil Fire Phoenix erupting without his command. The obese boy was forced to his knees, his bird spirit bowing so low its beak touched the dirt. He felt a terrifying, paternal authority pressing down on him—a father-fire calling home a wayward spark.
Zhu Zhuqing & Tang San. Even the non-avian felt it. Zhuqing, as Lakan's "Shadow," felt her agility increase as the world's "rhythm" became clearer. Tang San, traveling with Tang Hao to find the Blue Silver King, stumbled. His half-beast blood boiled in protest. His Blue Silver Grass withered for a moment, as if the "King of the Forest" had just been demoted to a mere weed by the "Sovereign of the Sky."
The Lake of Life:
Deep within the Great Star Dou Forest, at the edge of the Lake of Life, the reaction was the most violent.
Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, was in the middle of a healing ritual. When the pulse hit, she didn't just bow; she collapsed into a full kowtow, her forehead hitting the moss with a dull thud. Her wings trembled uncontrollably.
"Bi Ji! What are you doing?!" Zi Ji (the Hellish Demon Dragon) shouted, her draconic pride bristling.
"I... I can't stop it," Bi Ji wheezed, her voice filled with a religious terror. "The Ancestor... the Origin is back. My blood is singing for its Master!"
Suddenly, the Lake of Life began to boil. A silver light erupted from the depths, and Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon King, emerged. Her violet eyes were wide, but they weren't filled with the usual calm. They were filled with an ancient, ancestral dread.
As she sensed Lakan's "ONE" bloodline, a memory belonging to the Dragon God surfaced—a memory of a war fought before time began, long before humans even became Gods. She saw the Dragon God, the undisputed master of the beast world, locked in a struggle with a ten-colored blur of absolute Creation: the Phoenix God(the Phoenix God is Simulating the abilities of the Dragon God, hence the color)
The Dragon God had won that war, but the cost had been a severe injury and his own sanity. He had been so afraid of the Phoenix's Creation power that he had ordered the systematic extinction of the Blue Demon Birds—the ancestors of the Phoenix.
"He is back," Gu Yuena whispered, her voice trembling. "The one who can simulate the Laws. The one the Dragon God feared most."
Di Tian, the Beast God, landed beside her, his black dragon scales shimmering. His reaction was a volatile mix of respect for a fellow King and a territorial rage that threatened to burn the forest down.
"My Lord," Di Tian growled, his golden eyes fixed on the Sunset Forest. "This Sovereign has taken the blood of our enemies and woven it into a human shell. Shall I end him before he fully molts?"
Gu Yuena looked at Bi Ji, who was still prostrate on the ground. She realized that if Di Tian attacked, half of the bird-type beasts in the forest might turn against the dragons. The Great Extinction was no longer a hidden history; Bi Ji's blood knew the truth. The Dragon God had murdered their progenitors out of fear.
"No, Di Tian," Gu Yuena said, her gaze darkening. "We cannot fight a Phoenix in its first bloom. Not when the Sea God and the Angel are also watching. But remember... a Phoenix only lives to burn the old world down. And we are the oldest thing left."
The Dragon Valley:
Thousands of miles away, in the hidden pocket dimension known as the Dragon Valley, the air grew heavy. This was the graveyard of the divine dragons, a place of bones and lingering sorrow.
At the very core of the valley, beneath a mountain of skeletal remains, a consciousness that had been stagnant for eons began to stir. It wasn't a full soul, nor just a memory. It was the Divine Will of the Dragon God, the fragmented Ego that refused to dissipate.
It felt the "ONE" bloodline. It felt the Phoenix God that it once tried to banish from existence.
A low, subterranean rumble shook the valley. The dragon bones groaned, and for a split second, a pair of eyes—massive, multi-colored, and filled with a madness that spanned eons—opened within the darkness.
"The Bird... still... sings..."
The consciousness didn't have a body, but it had a target. The Phoenix Sovereign had just painted a bullseye on his soul for every draconic entity in the multiverse.