202: The Disguised Holy Son and the Crisis of the Heavenly Roc

The Savage World, outer fringes of Black Wind Canyon.

"Captain Li, are you really not coming back with us?"

Lei Meng held the box containing the Cyclops' crystal core, looking at Zhou Wannian (Han Li) with a worried face as he packed his gear.

"This mission is already more than finished. Going deeper would mean entering the territory of the Fei Ling Clan. Those birdmen aren't ancient beasts, but they're even more xenophobic. If they see a member of the Human Race, they'll skin and debone them on the spot!"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Zhou Wannian patted Lei Meng on the shoulder and casually tossed over several golden Talismans (high-grade escape Talismans he had comprehended from the golden palace jade book).

"Take the brothers back to Tianyuan City to report. Just say I'm tracking a wounded ancient beast and might be back late."

"Keep these Talismans for your own safety."

"Yes! Take care, Captain Li!"

Lei Meng and the others didn't stand on ceremony any longer. They gave Zhou Wannian a deep bow, then activated their escape lights and sped off toward Tianyuan City.

Once the group was far away,

Zhou Wannian's smile faded, and he turned to look at the mountain range deep in the wilderness that was perpetually shrouded in thunderclouds.

"The seventy-two branches of the Fei Ling Clan, the Tian Peng Clan..."

"Only by obtaining the Tian Peng Clan's supreme technique, the 'Tianpeng Traversing Art,' can I Cultivate the True Spirit Transformation within the 'Twelve Transformations of the Awakening Insects' and push my Physical Body to its true Peak."

"More importantly..."

Zhou Wannian touched the wind thunder wings on his back. Although these wings had been integrated with dragon tendons and the wings of a Silver-Winged Nightsha, their speed was becoming somewhat insufficient in the high-end battles of the Spirit Realm.

"I need to restock."

"Tiezhu, activate the 'Racial Disguise Protocol'."

"Understood, Master. Target race: Fei Ling Clan, Tianpeng branch. Analyzing physiological characteristics..."

*Clack clack clack.*

The Black Sha Guard armor on Zhou Wannian's body disassembled and was stored in his storage bracelet. Immediately after, a layer of nano-scale biological gel covered his entire body.

"Simulating Demonic Qi frequency... adjusting bone density... adapting dorsal wing interface..."

Ten breaths later.

Zhou Wannian's appearance underwent an earth-shattering transformation.

His original human features vanished, replaced by a more handsome and demonic face, and his pupils turned a pale gold. Most strikingly, with a *poof*, a pair of massive wings spanning thirty feet unfurled from his back; their feathers were silver and white, and their surfaces were wreathed in electric arcs.

This was the product of perfectly combining the wind thunder wings with Shapeshifting Spells.

"Beep. Disguise complete. Current identity: A long-lost... noble of the Tian Peng Clan?"

Tiezhu's electronic voice carried a hint of uncertainty.

"No."

Zhou Wannian flapped his wings, feeling the active power of wind and thunder in the air, and a wicked, wild smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"I am a 'Saint'."

...On the edge of the Tian Peng Clan's territory, Thunder Roar Valley.

This was the outermost part of the Tian Peng Clan's controlled area, where thunderstorms raged year-round.

"Run! Senior Sister Lei Lan! Don't worry about me!"

A Fei Ling Clan youth with wings on his back and only a Late Stage Core Formation cultivation lay in the mud, covered in blood, shouting desperately toward the front.

Not far ahead of him, a tall, cold, and beautiful Fei Ling Clan woman (Lei Lan) in silver armor held twin swords, standing firm against a group of hideous pursuers.

The pursuers were also members of the Fei Ling Clan, but their wings were crimson, and their bodies emitted a scorching Aura of fire poison.

The Chirong Clan.

A high-ranking clan among the seventy-two branches of the Fei Ling Clan, and the arch-enemy of the Tian Peng Clan.

"Hehe, Lei Lan, stop struggling."

The leader of the Chirong Clan was a burly man at the Early Stage of Soul Transformation. He held a burning spiked mace, and his gaze toward Lei Lan was filled with lust.

"Your Tian Peng Clan has already declined! You can't even scrape together two candidates for this 'Saint Ceremony.' If the ceremony fails this time, you'll be stripped of your status as a major clan and become vassals of our Chirong Clan!"

"Instead of being a slave then, why not serve me well now? I might even spare your life!"

"In your dreams!"

Lei Lan grit her teeth. Her left wing had been broken, and blood stained her silver armor, but her eyes remained defiant.

"My Tian Peng Clan only has ghosts who die in battle, not slaves who live on their knees!"

"Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

The burly man's face darkened.

"Then die! Brothers, kill the boy and take the woman alive!"

"Kill!"

Over a dozen Chirong Clan warriors pounced with sinister grins. fire poison Spells filled the sky, raining down like a meteor shower toward the exhausted Lei Lan.

Lei Lan closed her eyes in despair.

"Grand Elder... Lei Lan has done her best..."

Just then,

*BOOM!!!*

The thunderclouds in the sky suddenly seemed to receive a summons from some monarch, converging frantically.

A thick bolt of silver lightning did not strike the ground; instead, it hovered eerily in mid-air.

Immediately after,

A figure stepped out from within that silver lightning.

Golden eyes, silver hair, and wind thunder wings on his back.

He was like the Dominator of lightning, standing proudly above the firmament.

"So noisy."

The figure spoke indifferently. His voice wasn't loud, yet it drowned out the thunder filling the sky.

"Fighting and killing in the place where I am napping..."

"Did you have my permission?"

The Chirong Clan leader froze and snapped his head up.

"Who?! Show yourself!"

He sensed the other's Aura... Early Stage Soul Transformation?

"Hmph! Just a lone Tian Peng Clan brat! Perfect, buy one get one free!"

"Get down here!"

The spiked mace in the burly man's hand flew out, transforming into a crimson fire dragon that roared as it charged toward the figure.

Zhou Wannian (now going by the name Li Feiyu) looked at the fire dragon with a flash of disdain in his eyes.

"Playing with fire?"

"Before my wind and thunder..."

Zhou Wannian simply gave the wings on his back a light flap.

"Wind Thunder · Divine Punishment."

*Crackle!*

Without any incantation,

Thousands of golden electric arcs (a disguised version of Evil-Warding Divine Thunder) instantly erupted from the wings on his back.

*Boom!*

Before that aggressive crimson fire dragon could even get within a hundred feet of Zhou Wannian, it was blasted into dust by the golden lightning.

Immediately after,

Lightning fell like rain.

"Aaaaagh!!!"

The Chirong Clan warriors below let out shrill screams.

The golden lightning seemed to have eyes, accurately striking the crown of every Chirong Clan member's head. Furthermore, this lightning contained an 'Evil-Warding' attribute that made their very Souls tremble; for people like them who cultivated fire poison evil arts, it was pure poison!

In the blink of an eye,

Over a dozen Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Chirong Clan elites were all turned to charcoal.

Only the lead burly man remained, smoking all over and kneeling on the ground, looking in terror at the 'god' in the sky.

"You... what kind of lightning is that?!"

"Is this the Tian Peng Clan's 'Tianpeng True Lightning'?! Impossible! Tianpeng True Lightning isn't this strong!"

Zhou Wannian slowly descended.

The massive wind thunder wings folded behind his back, creating a gale that made it hard for Lei Lan to keep her eyes open.

He walked up to the burly man and stepped on his head.

"Chirong Clan?"

Zhou Wannian looked down at him with cold eyes.

"Go back and tell your Clan Chief."

"The Tian Peng Clan..."

"With me here, it will not fall."

"Scram!"

With a flick of his toe, Zhou Wannian kicked the half-dead man into the horizon.

Having done all this,

Zhou Wannian turned around to look at Lei Lan, who was already dumbfounded.

He put on a gentle (and slightly arrogant) smile and reached out a hand.

"Fellow... clansman."

"Are you all right?"

Looking at this man who was impossibly handsome and possessed unfathomable strength, Lei Lan's heart began to race uncontrollably.

She felt it.

The Aura of 'Tianpeng True Blood' from him was incredibly pure, even denser than the Grand Elder's!

"You..."

Lei Lan subconsciously took his hand.

"Who are you?"

Zhou Wannian smiled slightly, the wings on his back vibrating slightly to emit a clear cry of a roc.

"My name is Li Feiyu."

"A Tianpeng clansman who has been traveling overseas for many years and only recently remembered to come home and take a look..."

"Tian Peng Clan member."

...Half a day later.

Tianpeng Holy City, at the Peak of the Holy Mountain.

"What?! You say you found a lost clansman in Thunder Roar Valley? And he possesses 'Tianpeng True Blood'?!"

The Grand Elder of the Tian Peng Clan, an old man with white hair and beard whose cultivation had reached the Late Stage of Void Refining, was so excited his beard was shaking.

"Yes, Grand Elder."

Lei Lan stood respectfully below him, a hint of lingering shock still in her eyes.

"That Young Master Li's strength is unfathomable. With just one move, 'Wind Thunder Attraction,' he instantly killed the Chirong Clan pursuers. And his wings..."

"What about his wings?"

"On his wings, there seems to be the Aura of the 'Holy Ancestor'!"

"Holy Ancestor?!"

The Grand Elder suddenly stood up.

If that was truly the case, then the Tian Peng Clan was saved!

Originally, for this 'Saint Trial,' the Tian Peng Clan only had Lei Lan as a qualified candidate, and the other slot had remained vacant. If they couldn't get two people together, or if the trial failed, the Tian Peng Clan would be kicked out of the seventy-two branches of the Fei Ling Clan!

"Quick! Please, invite him in!"

The Grand Elder's voice was trembling.

A moment later,

The hall doors opened.

Zhou Wannian walked in with his hands behind his back and a composed stride.

He didn't retract his wings; instead, he deliberately released a faint Kunpeng Aura that had been purified by the void heaven cauldron (he had absorbed the Aura of a Kunpeng feather in the Human Realm).

*Hum—*

The statue of the 'Tianpeng Holy Ancestor' enshrined deep in the hall actually emitted a low resonance the moment it sensed this Aura!

The entire place was in an uproar!

The surrounding Elders all knelt in worship.

"The Holy Ancestor has manifested!"

"This is... the descent of a true Saint!"

The Grand Elder's eyes filled with tears as he hurried to Zhou Wannian and gave a deep bow.

"Heaven blesses my clan!"

"This... Young Master Li."

"This old man has an audacious request!"

Zhou Wannian was overjoyed inside seeing this group of birdmen so excited, but he maintained a reserved expression on the surface.

"The Grand Elder is too polite."

"We are of the same Tianpeng lineage. Whatever you need, please feel free to say it."

The Grand Elder tightly grasped Zhou Wannian's hand as if catching a life-saving straw.

"Young Master Li! Please, you must represent our clan in the 'Earth Abyss Trial' three months from now!"

"As long as you can help our clan maintain its status as a major clan..."

"Our clan's treasures, Cultivation Techniques, and secret arts, even..."

The Grand Elder glanced at the blushing Lei Lan nearby.

"Even our clan's Saintess will be yours to choose from!"

Zhou Wannian raised an eyebrow.

Forget the beauties; the ones at home (Nangong Wan, Purple Spirit, Liu Shuier) already gave him enough of a headache.

But the techniques... "Since the Grand Elder is so sincere."

Zhou Wannian put on a look of being slightly put out.

"Then I..."

"Will reluctantly give it a try."