36: Phoenix's lingering memories, the way of heaven is a cage!

A thousand li away from the Northern Snow Plains.

In the Southern Border, deep within the geothermic veins of a rarely visited active volcano.

Lava flowed slowly in the underground channels, emitting scorching heat.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on a piece of basalt, glowing red from the magma, his eyes tightly shut.

The environment here was the polar opposite of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Cave, filled with violent fire Spiritual Qi, perfectly suited for him to digest his recent gains.

The power of the Phoenix Divine Blood surged within his body.

With every heartbeat, the Demon Heart, branded with a Phoenix totem, refined both the inhaled fire Spiritual Qi and the stagnant Devilish Qi, converting them into the purest Formless Life Essence.

His cultivation was constantly assailing the Bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Just as his mind was immersed within his body, preparing to make a push and Breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage,

A sudden change occurred!

Deep within his Divine Soul, the Legacy imprint from the Phoenix Egg, roused by the Earth's core fire in this place, erupted with a roar!

Om—!

Jiang Chen's consciousness seemed to be instantly pulled into a kaleidoscope of memory corridors by an irresistible force.

Countless fragmented, shattered images, like a grand epic film, unfolded in his mind with a boom!

He “saw” it.

It was a world with no sky and no land.

The entire world was a vast and boundless Sea of Chaos.

Innumerable colossal and powerful Innate Divine Demons, whose forms defied description, roamed, battled, and slumbered in the Chaos.

True Dragons fed on stars.

Phoenixes underwent Nirvana in destruction.

Qilins trod upon the long river of time.

White Tigers wielded the Origin of slaughter.

It was a barbaric, primitive, and chaotic era, yet it was also filled with infinite vitality.

Power was the only rule.

Survival was the only truth.

This world had no “Heavenly Dao,” no “Law,” and no “Karma.”

All things grew wildly.

However, the scene shifted.

A “light” descended.

That was no ordinary light.

It was a “will” that transcended all of Jiang Chen's understanding, transcending space, time, and even all dimensions.

Like a ruthless programmer, it began to “legislate” for this chaotic world.

It said, let there be light, and so Yin and Yang separated from the Chaos.

It said, let there be order, and so chaotic energy was sorted into “Spiritual Qi.”

It said, for every effect, there must be a cause, and so the net of “Karma” began to weave.

The “Heavenly Dao” was born.

Those Innate Divine Demons, accustomed to power and freedom, rose in rebellion.

They tried to tear apart the net called “Law.”

However, in the face of that “will,” their resistance seemed utterly laughable.

Jiang Chen saw a Chaos Demon Ape, towering between heaven and earth, wielding a giant club, roaring as it smashed towards that “will,” but upon contact, its body and Divine Soul were disintegrated into the most basic energy particles.

The Law of “Power” it represented was stripped away by that “will,” and then “bestowed” upon a new, compliant Acquired race.

He saw a True Dragon soaring through the Nine Heavens, its Dragon Sinews forcibly extracted and refined into “Heaven and Earth Dragon Veins,” thereafter controlling clouds and rain, becoming a tool of the “Heavenly Dao.”

He saw a Phoenix reborn in fire, its wings broken; its “immortality” was altered into “Nirvana,” each Rebirth making it weaker, its memories wiped, eventually completely submitting to the “rules.”

A “formatting” targeting the Divine Demons of the old era began.

Their power, their Laws, and even the very concept of their existence were one by one stripped, altered, and distorted.

Then, these “castrated” powers were taken as spoils by the “Heavenly Dao” and randomly “bestowed” upon those weak Acquired beings who obeyed it.

These “blessed” fortunate ones were the so-called—

Children of Destiny!

At the end of the memory, Jiang Chen saw that the revered “Heavenly Dao,” high above and feared by all living beings, was in essence a gigantic and precise—

Prison!

And the so-called Children of Destiny were the “administrators” and “shepherds” chosen by this prison to maintain its rule, suppress rebels, and harvest the world's Origin!

Boom!

Jiang Chen's consciousness broke free from the memory, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, there was no shock, no fear, only a sudden enlightenment.

He finally understood why he “had no destiny.”

Why the Heavenly Dao could not deduce his trajectory.

Because his existence did not belong within the program of this “prison”!

He was a Chaos remnant from the “pre-Heavenly Dao era,” a wisp of remnant Soul that fortunately escaped when the world was “formatted”! A “BUG” that the “prison” could not identify or program!

His “Deprivation” System was not bestowed by external forces.

It was the instinct of a “predator of the old era,” etched deep within his Soul!

It was the unwilling roar of those imprisoned Innate Divine Demons!

“So, that’s how it is...”

“I am not going against the Heavens.”

“I am just... going home.”

Having understood this, the power within Jiang Chen's body underwent earth-shattering changes.

The Myriad Laws Dao Body no longer passively fused the plundered talents.

It began to actively trace back to the “source” of these talents!

The Hundred Herb Spirit Body began to converge towards the legendary Divine Wood “Jianmu” that supported heaven and earth.

The Undying Demonic Heart began to trace the world-destroying Origin of “Rahu,” the ancestor of all demons.

The Phoenix Divine Blood, meanwhile, began its ultimate transformation towards the true “Southern Bright Vermilion Fire”!

His power, his essence, all were rapidly leaping towards a more ancient, more primordial, more powerful “Divine Demon” level!

And just as Jiang Chen was immersed in this transformation,

A stinging, burning pain suddenly came from the Phoenix totem newly branded on his heart!

“Hm?”

Jiang Chen frowned.

He “saw” it.

In his Divine Soul's perception, deep within the Imperial Palace of the Great Qian Dynasty, countless billions of li away,

A pair of majestic, noble, and extremely cold Phoenix eyes seemed to cross the endless Void Realm, penetrate the thick earth, and precisely lock onto him!

That was a true, adult Phoenix, having lived for countless years!

The Protector Divine Beast of the Great Qian Dynasty!

It had sensed the “abnormal demise” of a kindred Bloodline.

And the “theft” of that Origin power!

Those Phoenix eyes, crossing the Void Realm, did not launch any substantial attack.

It merely “looked” at Jiang Chen coldly.

The next moment.

An invisible, unavoidable, and malicious Law power descended out of thin air, branding itself upon Jiang Chen's True Spirit.

【Ding!】

【You have received the curse of the “Phoenix True Spirit.”】

【Curse effect: Enemy of All Fowl.】

【From this moment on, your body will permanently emit an aura of a “Bloodline traitor” that only avian Yao Beasts can perceive. You will be relentlessly hunted by all avian Yao Beasts, their hatred level depending on the nobility of their Bloodline.】

The moment the curse took effect, Jiang Chen felt a strange “negative” connection establish between himself and the birds of the world.

Within a hundred li radius, all birds flying over the volcano, whether ordinary birds or low-level Yao Fowl, instantly bristled.

They seemed to have seen the ultimate natural enemy, screaming madly, fleeing in all directions, with even a few crashing into the mountain wall and dying due to excessive panic.

This was the power of the curse.

More malicious and pervasive than any wanted order.

From now on, wherever there were birds, he would be the brightest target.

However.

Faced with this vicious curse, which was enough to make any Cultivator's scalp tingle, Jiang Chen's face showed not a hint of panic; instead, he burst into laughter.

“Haha... Hahahahaha!”

His laughter echoed in the scorching lava tunnel.

“So that’s it!”

“Heavenly Dao (Prison), you really can't directly erase me!”

After the baptism of the Phoenix remnant memory, Jiang Chen's understanding of this world had risen to a whole new level.

He understood the weakness of the “Heavenly Dao.”

As a precise “program,” it could not handle him, this “BUG,” and could not directly send down thunderbolts to erase him.

It could only create trouble for him through “rules,” through its “administrators” and “shepherds.”

For example, letting Zhao Wuliang hunt him.

For example, letting Han Li hunt him.

For example, instigating the Phoenix True Spirit to curse him.

These were all means within the “rules.”

And as long as it was within the rules, there were loopholes to exploit, and possibilities to be utilized!

“You want me to be the enemy of all fowl, to give me no peace?”

The smile in Jiang Chen's eyes turned cold and cruel.

“Then I will turn your trick against you and make the entire avian Yao Beast race my next ‘menu’!”

This curse, for him, was not trouble.

It was a precise “radar” for screening prey!

He immediately calmed his mind and communicated with the token of the Shadow Tower's highest authority in his Sea of Consciousness.

“Shadow S-level database, filter all ‘Children of Destiny’ related to ‘avian Yao Beasts’ within Zhao Country.”

Om!

A massive amount of information surged into Jiang Chen's mind like a tide.

After rapid analysis and screening by the Eye of Insight, a name quickly appeared before him.

【Target: Qin Yu.】

【Identity: Former Inner Sect Disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. Due to jealousy and framing by a Senior Brother, he was falsely accused of stealing a Sect treasure, had his cultivation abolished, and was expelled from the Sect. He is currently being hunted by a Sect Elder.】

【Destiny Anchor Point: During his escape, in despair, he will fall into the “Ten Thousand Demons Valley.” At the bottom of the valley, he will accidentally awaken and contract a Golden Winged Great Peng Bird cub that has been sleeping for a thousand years, using his own blood.】

【Subsequent Trajectory: With the Divine Speed and combat power of the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird, Qin Yu will counter-kill his pursuers, regain his innocence, destroy his enemies, and after a series of Opportunities, lead the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird to return to its ancestral Origin, re-manifesting its ancient Divine Might, eventually becoming a Grandmaster of Beast Taming, renowned throughout the world.】

What a standard Child of Destiny script.

Trash, falling off a cliff, gaining treasure, counter-killing... all elements complete.

Jiang Chen looked at this information, the smile on his face growing wider.

Golden Winged Great Peng Bird.

That was a legendary ancient Divine Beast, said to be on par with True Dragons and Phoenixes!

Its Bloodline was far nobler than that of a Snow-Treading Dragon Colt.

If he could strip away this Luck and talent... his Myriad Laws Dao Body would surely transform again!

“Ten Thousand Demons Valley...”

Jiang Chen stood up and brushed off the dust from his body.

He looked in the direction indicated in the intelligence.

That place was one of the most famous Yao Beast Forbidden Grounds in Zhao Country, inhabited by tens of thousands of powerful Yao Fowl; even a Golden Core Cultivator entering it would face certain death.

For others, it was a dead end.

For him.

A person with a “Public Enemy of All Fowl” super taunt BUFF walking into a place full of avian Yao Beasts.

That wasn't courting death.

That was walking into a self-service cafeteria.

“Qin Yu, your Opportunity is quite good.”

“Now, it’s mine.”

Jiang Chen's figure transformed into an afterimage, disappearing into the depths of the lava geothermic veins.

His next hunting ground had been determined.

Ten Thousand Demons Valley!