6: Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix

Above the Nine Heavens, the astral wind howled, and Battle Intent surged.

Yuan Feng spread those wings burning with Nanmingli Fire, dyeing the entire sky a crimson gold.

Countless birds soaring from the canyon were like moths to a flame under the reflection of the blazing fire, their wing edges gilded with a layer of flowing light.

"If you want to fight, then let us fight!" Yuan Feng let out a long cry, her sound waves shattering auspicious clouds for tens of thousands of miles.

With a flap of her wings, the flames exploded in a ring, knocking back the three closest Golden Immortal Rank Snow Eagles.

One of them had its tail feathers immediately ignited by Nanmingli Fire, falling from the clouds with a mournful cry.

A giant green bird was the first to react, its jade-like tail feathers tracing seven streaks of green light.

"Fellow Daoist, excuse my offense!"

As it spoke, two swirling storms condensed in its claws, causing tiny cracks to appear in space.

This was a natal Divine Ability containing the power of the Innate Xun Wind, capable of even tearing apart a Cultivator's Divine Soul.

Yuan Feng neither dodged nor avoided it, allowing the storm to sweep over her.

Before the great bird could rejoice, it saw that the Xun Wind, powerful enough to level mountains, was completely swallowed by a streak of fiery red.

Yuan Feng's right wing chopped down like a heavenly blade; the great bird hurriedly raised its wings to block.

With a crisp "crack," the left wing that had once blotted out the sun was snapped off at the root.

The great bird screamed as it fell, smashing a ten-thousand-foot deep pit into the rock wall.

"Who else?"

Yuan Feng circled ten thousand feet high in the air, her fire feathers fluttering down.

The divine phoenix plume now transformed into thousands of fire feathers circling around her.

Every feather that landed turned into a sea of fire, burning the canyon into a furnace.

Seven Taixu Cloud Rocs flew over in a formation, but Yuan Feng merely glanced at them with contempt before suddenly vanishing as flowing fire.

While the Taixu Cloud Rocs looked around in panic, the sky suddenly brightened.

They looked up and saw a sight they would never forget.

Yuan Feng used the Nanmingli Fire to condense a ten-thousand-foot flame dharma idol.

Its wings blotted out the sun, and every plume flowed with dao rhyme.

As she dove down, the seven Cloud Rocs were like they were being squeezed by an invisible hand, their bones popping throughout their bodies.

The oldest one wailed, "Phoenix Lord, have mercy!"

The other Cloud Rocs bowed their heads one after another, showing their submission.

Seeing this, many surrounding creatures gave up competing with Yuan Feng and landed behind her to show their submission.

Just as the hundred birds were intimidated, a purple bolt of lightning split the sea of fire.

A thunderbird wrapped in electric light arrived through the air, accompanied by a thunderstorm with every flap of its wings.

It was transformed from a young bird that received the baptism of heavenly lightning at the beginning of the Great Desolation; its roots were also extraordinary, and it had already reached the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm.

"Fellow Daoist, do you dare to take my nine-fold Lightning Tribulation?"

As the thunderbird shrieked, nine purple lightning orbs formed around its body.

Within them, the Qi of Zixiao Divine Lightning faintly surged.

Yuan Feng finally showed a solemn expression.

She crossed her wings in front of her chest, the flames condensing into crimson-gold armor, clearly signaling for it to bring it on.

"Good!" the thunderbird shouted and then flapped its wings.

The surrounding space was instantly filled with the power of lightning, and those lightning orbs also began to become extremely unstable, liable to explode at any moment.

Boom!

When the first lightning orb exploded, the clear sky for ten thousand miles suddenly turned into a lightning prison.

Yuan Feng was blasted down three thousand feet, her left wing charred black.

The second lightning orb followed immediately; she spat out her natal essence fire to resist.

The shockwave from the explosion cleared the clouds for ten thousand miles around.

The third...

The fourth...

...

When the seventh lightning orb fell, Yuan Feng had been driven deep into the ground.

The thunderbird cried out triumphantly, "The King of Birds should wield the lightning of heavenly punishment. Submit..."

Before it could finish, the sea of magma suddenly boiled.

A Phoenix burning with seven-colored flames soared into the sky, trailing a fire tail that stretched for hundreds of millions of miles.

The flames were mixed with traces of purple lightning; she had actually absorbed part of the power of the Lightning Tribulation!

"The eighth lightning, come!" Yuan Feng activey met the lightning orb.

At the moment of contact, her figure suddenly vanished, dispersing into thousands of fire feathers.

The lightning orb lost its target and was instead wrapped and refined by the fire feathers.

When Yuan Feng appeared behind the thunderbird, every one of her feathers pulsed with thunder and fire.

The thunderbird turned around in panic, only to see that Yuan Feng's claws had already gripped its lightning core.

This was the vital point of its Divine Ability, yet it was now layered in Nanmingli Fire.

"There is no need for the ninth lightning," Yuan Feng's voice echoed through the Nine Heavens. "I will show you what true heavenly might is."

She cried out to the heavens, the earth trembled, and nine pillars of fire shot straight into the sky.

In an instant, the entire sky of the Great Desolation began to burn, as countless fire rains poured down.

Under the baptism of these heavy flames, the thunderbird screamed continuously.

With a "crack," a fissure appeared in the lightning core, and it finally lowered its proud head:

"Thunderbird... Ling Ming... is willing to submit!"

"Greetings... Phoenix Lord."

When the fire rain stopped, the canyon had turned into a glazed plain.

All birds, regardless of race, bowed down toward that blazing sun in the sky.

Yuan Feng withdrew her flames to reveal her true form, her tail feathers extending into three thousand Dao-principle chains, connecting her own dao rhyme with the hundred birds.

In a daze, she seemed to feel a connection of Luck.

At this moment, she could clearly sense a path stretching for hundreds of millions of miles.

This path had no visible end, but it seemed to lead toward where the Dao resided.

Seeing the grand sight of a hundred birds facing the Phoenix, Qing Wu could not help but feel some shock.

"It seems Yuan Feng was still drawn to the fork in this road."

"I just don't know if Yuan Feng's fate will change with his arrival."

In fact, this was also his first test regarding the major and minor trends of the Great Desolation.

As an important character on the upcoming stage of the Great Desolation, could the Phoenix Clan really be absent?

Or rather, without Yuan Feng leading the birds and establishing the Phoenix Clan...

Would another king appear to take her place?

Regarding the warning to Yuan Feng, Qing Wu believed he had done enough.

Now it depended on how she chose.

If Yuan Feng continued to choose to be the Lord of All Birds and entered the struggle of the Great Tribulation...

Then as her "elder brother," Qing Wu could only risk the backlash of the Great Dao to cut ties with her.

If he couldn't change Yuan Feng's fate this time, it would mean that defying heaven to change fate was truly impossible.

Qing Wu also had no confidence that he could protect her through the upcoming Great Tribulation.

After all, under the Great Tribulation, everyone was equal.

How many Innate Sacred Beings who considered themselves extraordinary had fallen in the Great Tribulation, becoming a grain of tribulation ash?

And Qing Wu was just an inconspicuous Supreme-Grade Acquired Spiritual Root; what could he really do?

Yuan Feng looked at the many birds below who were worshipping her.

The throb in her heart became increasingly intense.

The words almost escaped her mouth to accept their worship and become the Lord of All Birds.

Just then, a green leaf slowly drifted down.

Yuan Feng raised her slender hand and held it in her palm.

"Wutong, are you watching?"

The leaf suddenly jolted, a voice faintly emerged from within, and then it turned into debris and was blown away by the wind.

Yuan Feng smiled slightly, a flash of clarity appearing in her beautiful eyes.

Then she looked down at the many creatures still waiting for her answer with lowered brows.

She shook her head gently. "My ambition does not lie here. Please find another Dominator."

After speaking, ignoring the many stunned gazes, only a flicker of fire remained in the Void Realm where Yuan Feng had been standing.

Yuan Feng departed gracefully.