Chapter 361: Catching a Bird (Congratulations to Alliance Master 20230505021948214! )
Chapter 361: Catching a Bird (Congratulations to Alliance Master 20230505021948214! )
Myriad Beast Mountain Range.
The Horned Dragon and the Demonic Blood Flood Dragon strained to pull the carriage forward. On top of the carriage, an iridescent azure plume was fixed, upon which flames seemed to burn.
“Remember my instructions. Follow the last route, and linger around the area where we encountered that bird a few more times. . . ”
Sitting cross-legged inside the carriage, Fang Xi mildly instructed the Horned Dragon, “Your life or death depends on this time. ”
Upon hearing this, the Horned Dragon immediately nodded frantically.
Only then did Fang Xi sit back in the carriage, lost in thought.
After parting ways with Feng Bingxian, he reverted to his original appearance, then prepared to traverse the Myriad Beast Mountain Range and return to the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
Although the Palace Master had enthusiastically and strenuously tried to retain him multiple times, Fang Xi never actually considered remaining in the Profound Ice Palace indefinitely.
The reason for such ostentatiousness on this return to the Three Kingdoms Alliance, even going so far as to affix a plume to the carriage roof, was naturally that Fang Xi had recalled a nemesis from his grudge list—the Green Fire Luan!
When he had traversed the Myriad Beast Mountain Range back then, he had been targeted by this third-order, superior-grade demon bird, and had been relentlessly pursued all the way out, in an utterly humiliated state.
This time, returning home in glory, he naturally intended to reclaim his dignity.
Fang Xi had always harbored a strong fixation on his 'Dragon and Phoenix Carriage' plan.
And with his current cultivation, even if he encountered a fourth-order shapeshifting great demon, he could still escape even if he couldn't defeat it, so he was naturally fearless.
...
After settling all matters, Fang Xi touched his storage ring, and a fist-sized luminous pearl appeared. It emitted five-colored light. Just by holding it, Fang Xi felt the spiritual energy in his surroundings become much denser.
“A Spirit Source Pearl. . . and it’s merely a lowest-grade Spirit Source Pearl, yet it already possesses such an effect. ”
A hint of a smile appeared on his face, and he immediately entered the Mountain Sea Pearl's cave-heaven.
Within the cave-heaven, a colossal demonic tree, covering the sky and obscuring the sun, nearly enveloped the entire space. Its roots blanketed the earth, and its canopy spread across the firmament, resembling a World Tree.
At the main trunk of the demonic tree, there was a cave-dwelling.
In a corner along the edge, an ice mountain emitted bursts of chill.
Fang Xi swept his Divine Consciousness, and after confirming the state of the 'Illusory Destruction Heart Orchid', he walked into the cave-dwelling.
Splash, splash!
In the pond, lotus petals floated, and a fresh fragrance overflowed.
Streams of spiritual springs circulated along a specific formation throughout the entire cave-heaven, causing the spiritual energy within to reach around the second-order.
Fang Xi formed hand seals with both hands, sending a surge of magical power into the pond.
Gurgle, gurgle!
A spring eye suddenly burst forth, sending countless splashes of water everywhere, revealing a spiritual spring eye in the pond.
“Go! ”
Fang Xi tossed the Spirit Source Pearl, and the pearl transformed into a streak of light, immediately disappearing into the spring eye.
He immediately formed hand seals again, countless magic seals shooting out like a windmill, as he silently adjusted the flow of the formation.
Not long after, everything returned to normal.
Fang Xi silently savored the feeling, sensing that the spiritual energy within the cave-heaven was indeed a tiny bit denser than before, and was slowly increasing.
“What a pity. . . one Spirit Source Pearl is a bit too little. The spiritual energy in the cave-heaven can probably only barely reach the quasi-third-order level. . . I still need more spirit source items. ”
He sighed, then went to the study and continued to read. . .
Regarding matters of the outside world, Fang Xi was not anxious in the slightest.
After all, under normal circumstances, at the speed of the Demonic Blood Flood Dragon and the Horned Dragon, it would take at least two or three years to reach the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
And his encounter with the Green Fire Luan had occurred in the deep parts of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range, when their journey was halfway complete.
In other words, there was still at least a year's journey to reach that demon bird’s lair.
...
One day, Fang Xi was sitting cross-legged beneath the demonic tree, holding a scroll on teleportation formations, painstakingly comprehending its contents.
Beside him, the Taisui remained a quiet mound of flesh, not moving in the slightest.
This demon beast's demonic qi had already reached the second-order limit after consuming an Earth Origin Pill.
Then Fang Xi had once had a sudden whim to feed a Golden Core he obtained from the Red Sun Realm to the Taisui. . .
However, the Taisui wouldn't eat it at all.
Perhaps the item was too hard, or perhaps its attributes were incompatible; in any case, the Taisui couldn't digest this kind of Golden Core.
In Fang Xi's opinion, the Golden Cores from the Red Sun Realm were best forged into a special type of magical artifact for use.
For instance, the 'Seven Star Pill Chant' of that Young Palace Lord had greatly inspired Fang Xi.
If he were still in the Core Formation realm, he might have utilized the principles of this technique to try and forge an extremely formidable magical artifact.
However, now that he was already a Half-step Nascent Soul, he naturally looked down on the meager power of the Seven Star Pill Chant.
“It seems I still need demon beast inner cores. . . Fortunately, there shouldn’t be a shortage of third-order demon beasts in this Myriad Beast Mountain Range. I still have a bit of the Demonic Blood Flood Dragon’s essence blood and inner core on hand. . . ”
Although this flood dragon inner core would be put to best use by giving it to the Horned Dragon, that useless lug would be lucky enough to even be allowed to live, even if it atoned for its past mistakes this time. In terms of value, it was far inferior to the Taisui; this was the difference between an ornamental fish and staple food. Naturally, Fang Xi was inclined to feed the flood dragon inner core to the Taisui.
It was just that he had no plans to start attempting to refine the 'Crossing Extinction Pill' yet, so he wasn't in a hurry to act.
Suddenly, Fang Xi rubbed his brow. Through the soul contract, he felt the terrified emotions of his spirit beast, the Horned Dragon.
“Has it taken the bait? ”
His eyes lit up, and he immediately flew out of the Mountain Sea Pearl.
In the sky, the Horned Dragon, pulling the carriage, flew through the clouds and mist, desperately fleeing for its life.
Behind it, however, was a massive azure fireball!
This fireball emitted a scorching temperature, and what's more, it flew with utterly swift speed, actually blocking the carriage in the blink of an eye.
Chirp!
A clear cry!
From within the azure fireball, an incredibly majestic great bird flew out.
It resembled a colossal peacock, yet when it spread its wings, it was like a phoenix. Each of its plumes shimmered with iridescent light, as if burning with azure flames.
Third-order, superior-grade demon beast—Green Fire Luan!
Fang Xi's old foe from his last traversal of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range had finally appeared!
“It really is you! ”
A streak of azure light flew out from the carriage, transforming into Fang Xi's figure.
He gazed at the Green Fire Luan, a triumphant smile appearing on his face: “You had a good time chasing me last time, didn’t you? Well, your old pal is back! ”
“Chirp! ”
The Green Fire Luan clearly sensed the late-stage Core Formation magical power emanating from Fang Xi. It flapped its wings first, spitting a ball of azure flame from its beak!
This was the ‘Green Luan Fire’!
It was one of the ten renowned spiritual flames in the cultivation world, said to be connected to the legendary True Spirit, the ‘Green Luan’!
This Green Fire Luan was suspected to possess a trace of the True Spirit Green Luan’s meager bloodline!
This was also the reason Fang Xi had never forgotten about it.
After all, the True Spirit Green Luan was rumored to be a divine beast capable of battling immortals!
And the Green Luan’s mother was the incredibly powerful ‘Phoenix’!
The moment this ‘Green Luan Fire’ appeared, Fang Xi felt his own Withered Glory Chant magical power slightly heat up.
Even several streaks of Azure Wood Divine Light Sword Qi that he casually sent out were directly ignited, turning into azure smoke and dissipating in mid-air.
“Good. . . this spiritual flame is not bad. It’s mine! ”
Fang Xi laughed heartily.
Last time, he had been utterly distressed by the Green Fire Luan's pursuit; on one hand, he dared not engage in a major fight within the Myriad Beast Mountain Range.
On the other hand, he was genuinely quite severely suppressed by this demon bird.
At that time, being only in the mid-stage Core Formation, he might not have been able to defeat the opponent.
Even now, having advanced to late-stage Core Formation, and even if he brought out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Fang Xi estimated he could only fight to a draw.
After all, although the Green Luan Fire was not as universally repellent to evil as the Southern Bright Vermilion Bird Fire, it still had a remarkably effective suppressive effect on Yin souls and malevolent spirits.
This was the terrifying aspect of demon beasts possessing True Spirit bloodlines!
Ordinary third-order demon beasts, when facing Core Formation cultivators of the same realm, would most likely be at a disadvantage, only able to surpass them after undergoing shapeshifting.
This Green Fire Luan could already surpass ordinary human cultivators at only the third-order. What would it be like after it reached the fourth-order?
“Green Fire Luan, listen up. Today, unless you allow me to plant a soul imprint and become my spirit beast, you can just wait to be plucked of your feathers and have your inner core extracted, becoming materials instead. ”
Fang Xi flicked his fingers repeatedly with both hands, and streaks of Azure Wood Divine Light appeared, forming a shield wall that barely managed to block the Green Luan Fire, yet he burst into hearty laughter.
A flicker of rage flashed in the Green Fire Luan’s phoenix-like eyes. It suddenly spread its wings, its entire body igniting with azure True Fire, and like a massive fireball, it pounced towards Fang Xi.
Facing this astonishing might, Fang Xi remained unmoving. He merely formed a hand seal, causing an azure light to flash above his head. His Second Primordial Spirit emerged with a grin, and terrifying magical power fluctuations spread out.
The rapidly dashing Green Fire Luan suddenly let out a high-pitched, prolonged cry, seemingly carrying a hint of panic. The massive fireball’s trajectory made a 180-degree turn, rapidly dashing back the way it came. It even seemed to have used some innate divine ability, making its escape speed like lightning and flint!
Evidently, this demon bird knew it was definitely no match for a Nascent Soul old monster, and immediately fled.
And with its escape speed, even an ordinary Nascent Soul old monster might even let it get away.
Seeing this, the Second Primordial Spirit merely tossed the ‘Star-Patterned Chessboard’ in its hand.
In an instant, crisscrossing between heaven and earth, nineteen massive white lights appeared, resembling a giant net that trapped the azure flame within.
Whoosh!
The Green Luan Fire scorched upon the massive white lights, yet it had no effect.
The firelight receded, revealing the Green Fire Luan’s form, its cries carrying panic.
“White pieces are for trapping, black pieces are for killing. . . I’ll reward you with a white piece first. ”
The Second Primordial Spirit pinched up a white chess piece and flicked its finger.
Crack!
The void flashed, and a white piece appeared before the Green Fire Luan as if by teleportation, heavily striking the demon bird.
A few azure feathers floated down from the sky. The Green Fire Luan let out a mournful cry, its entire body actually bound by streaks of white chains, crashing straight to the ground.
Fang Xi slowly descended, coming before the Green Fire Luan. He pinched up a black chess piece: “I am a Nascent Soul cultivator. As a third-order demon beast, becoming my spirit beast won’t put you at a disadvantage. . . I’ll count to three. If you don’t agree, I’ll just kill you directly. Anyway, we have a grudge, and I’d be happy to do so. One, two. . . three! ”
As Fang Xi made to kill, the Green Fire Luan closed its eyes and let out a mournful cry, expressing its intention to submit.
After all, among demon beasts, the strong preying on the weak was inherently the ultimate truth.
“Haha. . . that’s more like it! Why aren’t you opening your sea of consciousness to let me plant an imprint? ”
Seeing the demon bird submit, Fang Xi laughed heartily, his Divine Consciousness drilling into the Green Fire Luan’s sea of consciousness, firmly planting the mark. . .
A moment later, a flash of light appeared at the spot. The Saint Son’s carriage set sail once more, pulled by none other than the Demonic Blood Flood Dragon and the Green Fire Luan!
Around them, the Demon Kings who had originally sensed the commotion and rushed over, immediately shrank back with even greater speed upon seeing this scene. . .
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