117: Chapter 117

The surface of the banner shook violently.

The twisted runes upon it seemed to come to life, wriggling and breaking free to transform into pale, skeletal phantoms.

The shrill wails did not come from the ears, but bored directly into the depths of the marrow.

As the banner slowly waved, the surrounding light dimmed. A bone-chilling Yin Qi gathered from all directions, surging into the expanding and solidifying giant ghost head.

The white bone banner surface suddenly snapped open, and countless translucent silhouettes broke free from their restraints and surged toward the sky.

Those twisted faces roared silently, and the resulting airflow made the surrounding air thick and cold, like ice water soaking through the marrow in the dead of winter.

Ling Xiao, who was observing the battle, heard a lowered voice coming from his side.

"You shouldn't have appeared here."

The voice paused, then continued, "The purple flames in his eyes are dancing, and the curve of his lips looks as if he has already tasted the flavor of blood."

Ling Xiao turned his head.

"The electric lights in his hands are like living things, ready to pounce and tear his opponent to shreds at any moment."

Xu Rufeng sat cross-legged nearby, the tip of his tail lightly tapping the ground. "He also said, knowing he would die, why did he still come?"

"And the one opposite replied with a smile—"

Xu Rufeng deliberately dragged out his tone, "'Because I wanted to see you so much, my dear elder brother.'"

A brief silence followed.

"...Xu Rufeng?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

"Commentating."

Xu Rufeng narrowed his eyes. "And also trying to keep the atmosphere from being so tense.

How's the effect?"

Ling Xiao redirected his gaze to the battlefield, only to find that he could no longer focus on observing the operational trajectories of those two Magic Treasures.

Those words just now were like fine thorns pricked into his mind.

Wanted to see you?

What a load of nonsense.

A wave of discomfort rose in his stomach.

Xu Rufeng's tail quirked even higher, clearly satisfied with the ripples caused by the stone he had casually tossed.

It was a pity he couldn't showcase this 'talent'...

...to more of an audience, which caused a faint trace of regret to flicker in his heart.

"Elder Brother."

Ling Yunzi's transmission cut in at this moment. "Have you chosen? Which Inner Core do you plan to take?"

"...You aren't actually going to help, are you?"

Xu Rufeng instantly lost his enthusiasm.

Who takes it seriously when someone talks big?

Why are you actually following up on it?

He secretly gritted his teeth.

Wasn't it said that the most trusted weapon of the Yao Race is their own body? Wasn't it said that a Life Magic Treasure is usually not easily shown to others? Then what was the deal with these two terrifyingly powerful things before them?

"They are both at the level of Low Grade Magic Treasures."

Ling Xiao's voice chimed in, "Furthermore, they are not brothers."

One was a Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python.

The other was a Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake.

"Then what is their relationship?"

"There is no relationship."

Ling Yunzi replied, "On the contrary, since ancient times, these two Bloodlines have been mortal enemies who will not rest until one is dead."

---

The umbrella ribs woven from thunder-light propped up a net of electricity in the air.

The flagpole formed from white bones stirred up a foul wind.

The roar of the two Magic Treasures colliding was like a mountain splitting apart.

A dark red light seeped from the gaps between the scales of the Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python, while cyan-gold patterns floated along the edges of the Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake's spread wings.

They intertwined, tore, and crashed in the air, each contact erupting with an ear-piercing shriek.

The translucent silhouettes surging from the banner constantly bombarded the lightning umbrella Formation. Whenever a vengeful soul touched the electric glow, it would explode into a cloud of grayish-white mist.

Wherever the mist spread, vegetation rapidly withered, and honeycomb-like erosion marks appeared on the surface of the rocks.

Ling Xiao noticed an old injury on the tail of the Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python—the scales were slightly misaligned, and the muscles there would unnaturally tense whenever it exerted force.

Meanwhile, the movement of the Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake's left head was slightly sluggish, its neck turning with an imperceptible stiffness.

"The left head has suffered a heavy blow."

Ling Yunzi's transmission sounded again, "It was pierced by a Black Iron chain three years ago."

"The other's tail has been broken before."

Ling Xiao added, "Judging by the healing marks, it was likely bitten off by one of its own kind."

Xu Rufeng tilted his head. "So now it's two cripples brawling?"

"It is two ancient Bloodlines settling an old debt."

Ling Yunzi corrected him, "Look at the floating patterns on the banner—those are incantations drawn with pigment ground from the marrow of their enemies.

And the scales embedded in the umbrella ribs; every single one comes from the molted skin of a Phoenix-Feathered Snake."

In the center of the battlefield, the Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python suddenly retracted its lightning umbrella.

All the electric light instantly collapsed into a fist-sized purple light ball.

The Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake swung its flagpole almost simultaneously, and those circling vengeful souls rolled back like a tide, condensing into a white bone shield before it.

At the moment the light ball collided with the shield, no sound was made.

Only a circular ripple spread out in all directions.

Wherever the ripple passed, the ground sank three feet, and all the gravel was simultaneously turned to dust.

Xu Rufeng instinctively leaned his body back.

"Now that's more like it."

He muttered, "Was everything before just a warm-up?"

Ling Xiao did not answer.

His gaze was tightly locked onto that cracking white bone shield—black liquid seeped from the cracks, dripping onto the ground and corroding deep holes.

The surface of the purple light ball was also covered in web-like fine lines, and the jumping electric glow within was rapidly fading.

The stalemate lasted for about three breaths of time.

Then the shield exploded.

The light ball shattered.

The violent impact sent both giant snakes flying simultaneously, crashing heavily into the mountain walls on either side.

The roar of the collapsing rock echoed for a long time, and the raised dust obscured half the sky.

When the dust settled slightly, Ling Xiao saw the Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python struggle out of the rubble. Nearly thirty percent of the scales on its left side had peeled off, and the exposed flesh was covered in charred burn marks.

The situation for the Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake was even worse—its middle head hung limp, its neck bone showing an unnatural bend, and the flagpole had broken into two pieces, lying at its feet.

But neither of them stopped.

The Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python opened its mouth and spat out an Inner Core, its surface entwined with dense lightning patterns.

The remaining two heads of the Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake hissed simultaneously. The banner of the broken pole moved without wind, and those scattered vengeful souls regathered, transforming into a twisted spear.

Xu Rufeng held his breath.

This time, there was no probing, no maneuvering.

There was only the most primitive, all-or-nothing slaughter.

The airflow at the edge of the teleportation Formation was torn to shreds.

Xu Rufeng took a half-step back to avoid the oncoming foul wind.

Only two colors remained in his vision: a thick, blood-like dark red, and a light-swallowing deep black.

They twisted and surged upward, dyeing the sky like a giant, rotting mass.

Every impact made the ground beneath his feet tremble. The sound was not thunder, but more like the muffled crack of some massive living creature's bones breaking.

Interspersed within was intermittent screeching, like iron scraping against rock.

A large area around them had been cleared out.

He glanced at his side.

The other two had also retreated, standing on the same invisible line as him.

Rush in? Now was not the time.

Waiting became the only reasonable posture.

But something was not right.

He narrowed his eyes.

It was one thing for those with low cultivation to hide, but those three figures whose auras were clearly a notch stronger also chose to stay away from the battle, each occupying a corner and watching in silence.

What were they waiting for? Waiting for those two to decide a winner? That didn't make sense.

The shimmering Formation was right there, intact and with clear patterns.

Stepping in and leaving should have been an easy task.

Unless...

A thought surfaced.

Unless none of them had gotten what they were supposed to get.

Xu Rufeng's fingertips unconsciously touched a spot in his sleeve.

Hidden there was a warm, hard object with a faint pulse.

If those three Demon General Realm experts really returned empty-handed... was it because of poor luck, or had this tomb already been mostly looted? Whichever the answer, their purpose for staying here became suspicious.

Perhaps they were waiting for suitable prey.

And his side just happened to be carrying something that might attract greed.

"Those two,"

He sent his question via transmission, his gaze still locked on the two figures clashing violently in the distance.

"Their silhouettes are sometimes clear and sometimes blurred in the energy turbulence, and their faces are actually somewhat eerily similar. To look so alike yet not be of the same race but mortal enemies instead? Their origins... are very special?"

Special enough to make the other three willing to wait?

Wait for them to both be injured, and then join forces to rob others? Or perhaps not even let those two go?

"They are both Bloodline Atavists."

Ling Xiao's voice sounded directly in his consciousness, flat and without ripples. "The remnants of ancient Dragon species, hybrids of the direct lineage of the Ancestral Dragon and the descendant of some Great Demon.

They carry a dual Legacy; once they undergo Awakening, their cultivation and killing power are beyond what ordinary Yao Race can compare to."

Xu Rufeng gave a soft "tsk."

He had long heard rumors about the True Dragon Clan's conduct in matters of reproduction.

It was a broad interest that spanned across racial barriers and had persisted for countless tens of thousands of years.

From the first ancestor to the last descendant, it was a consistent trait.

This 'persistence'...

...was truly somewhat speechless.

He just didn't know which ancient Great Demon's lineage the Ancestral Dragon's blood had merged with to give birth to such offspring.

"...They were not obtained through ordinary reproductive methods."

Ling Yunzi's transmission cut in, with an almost imperceptible pause in the middle, as if he were weighing his words. "Your way of putting it is not accurate enough."

Xu Rufeng was stunned for a moment before he caught on. "So it wasn't direct... but rather tainted by aura?"

"Correct."

In even more ancient times, those who were connected to the Ancestral Dragon's Bloodline were called Dragon-kind.

"Rumor has it that the ancient Ghost Vehicle Great Demon had ten heads, and because of a fight with a Dragon-kind, one was bitten off."

The severed head fell to the ground, and blood dripped incessantly from the broken neck cavity.

He swallowed that head, thinking he might be able to grow a new one.

The result was not as desired.

The residual aura of the Dragon-kind was too overbearing. Not only did a new head fail to grow, but the one swallowed into the belly actually gestated an egg.

In the world where Chaos was not yet divided, the Yin and Yang Qi intertwined with each other. At the blurred boundaries and within fresh flesh and blood, entirely new lives could be spawned.

The Ancestral Dragon carried the utmost Yang Qi.

While all living things in the world, whether they fall into the categories of naked, scaled, furry, feathered, or shelled, naturally carry the Yin Qi of the world.

So in the early ages when Chaos Qi had not yet dissipated, new and strange creatures continued to appear.

"The Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python before us has three heads; it seems it has already awakened the ancient Ghost Vehicle Bloodline."

Ling Xiao's voice came through.

The Fire-Scaled Python was originally the species it was born into.

She didn't have much of an impression of this clan; they probably didn't have much of a reputation in the Demon Realm.

After Awakening, it became a Ghost Cart Fire-Scaled Python.

It was considered a rare anomaly among the Yao Race, and its future path of cultivation would be broader.

"Its current Realm is roughly middle-stage Demon General; if it awakens once more, it might be able to break through the boundary."

After the Breakthrough, it would be a Demon Commander.

With such talent, it would have a good chance of entering the Jiao King's sight.

"I see, it's roughly the same reason why Hong Lie, Black Jiao, and the others are heading to the Demon Marquis Bishui's manor."

Xu Rufeng said.

Pausing, he asked again, "Then what about that Three-Headed Phoenix-Feathered Snake next to it? What's its origin?"

"Its origin is even less simple."

Ling Xiao suddenly gave a low laugh, "Have you ever heard of the Yuan Phoenix?"

"...You're not trying to say its ancestor was born from the interaction between the Ancestral Dragon and the Yuan Phoenix, are you?"

Even if it was gestated through aura contamination, Xu Rufeng absolutely would not accept such a mental image!

The main thing was that the three-headed feathered snake was truly ugly.

Its whole body exuded a sinister aura, without even half the grand atmosphere a Divine Beast should have.

He could settle for anything else, but only the Phoenix had to be beautiful in his heart.

"...That is not the case."

It was said that when Chaos first opened, the Yuan Phoenix and the Ancestral Dragon were equal in power, and the former itself possessed both Yin and Yang Qi.

No matter how domineering the Ancestral Dragon's aura was, it could not contaminate the Yuan Phoenix's body.

Besides, the era when the feathered snakes appeared could not be traced back nearly as far as the ancient times.

Phoenix birds, like the Ghost Vehicle, belonged to the category of ancient Great Demons.

Compared to true ancient demons, they were more than a notch weaker.

Not to mention the Yuan Phoenix.

"In ancient times, the Yuan Phoenix gave birth to the Great Peng and the Peacock. After its death, the Phoenix Clan was transformed from its tail feathers."

Among them was a Nine-Headed Phoenix that fought with Baxia in the ancient era.

After being injured, it gave birth to the Nine-Headed Feathered Snake.