96: The identity of the mysterious old man!

Only an old couple remained as original residents of Phoenix Village. The entire village was very quiet at night, and Lin Yue silently listened to the old man's lamentations.

After a long while, he finally spoke up and asked.

"Old gentleman, how can I find this Phoenix?"

"I accidentally said a bit too much. I'll take you there."

The old man seemed somewhat lonely. He revealed a smile and patted Lin Yue on the shoulder.

After a burst of dizziness and disorientation, Lin Yue and the old man had already vanished.

When his vision cleared again, Lin Yue began to survey his surroundings.

This was a volcanic crater. Below was searing hot magma, and the surrounding area was barren, covered entirely in volcanic rock.

"Is this where the Phoenix resides?"

"That's right. Go down from the entrance, all the way to the bottom, and you'll find it."

Following the old man's gaze, Lin Yue looked downward. Besides the boiling magma, he saw a winding path leading down; that must be the way.

"Ding, you are affected by the abnormal status 'Searing Heat'. Your magic resistance is reduced by -50%."

Lin Yue had just reached the entrance when he received the status notification from the System.

This was even with the effect of the heart-protecting mirror reducing the magic resistance penalty to fifty percent. Without it, it likely would have been reduced by a hundred percent.

It was equivalent to his magic resistance simply disappearing.

"From here on, you're on your own."

The old man looked at the magma below and waved his hand to say goodbye.

"Wait, old gentleman. If I get the chance, I will definitely find a way to take you two out of here."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's expression filled with bewilderment and surprise.

"Young Man, do you really have such a thought?"

To put it plainly, the two had only had one fight and one meal together. The old man never expected Lin Yue to say such words to him.

Lin Yue nodded solemnly. For an old man and woman to be sealed in a ruin for hundreds of years, it was no different from being in prison.

A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. The heart-protecting mirror given by the old man was a very rare piece of special equipment. If it were truly possible to take NPCs away, Lin Yue would definitely not be stingy.

"Good, good, good. Then I'll thank you in advance."

The old man seemed somewhat moved, and his eyes grew moist.

Although he really wanted to tell Lin Yue that it was impossible—he himself was a master of spatial arts and hadn't found a chance to leave in hundreds of years.

Much less Lin Yue, who understood nothing of Spatial Power; there was even less of a chance.

But he appreciated Lin Yue's sentiment.

"This old man's name is Di Jiang. Go on, Young Man, I have high hopes for you."

After saying this, the mysterious old man vanished, as if he had never appeared.

At first, Lin Yue didn't pay much attention, but after walking down a few steps, he suddenly reacted.

Di Jiang?!

Holy crap, is it really that Di Jiang from mythology?

No wonder his use of Spatial Techniques was so superb.

After all, in history, Di Jiang was a master of space.

However, the Land of the Final End was not a myth after all. The Di Jiang here was just a frail old man in his twilight years.

Putting the old man out of his mind, Lin Yue quickly walked toward the bottom of the volcano. The ruin of the Four Divine Beasts had only just begun, and he had already consumed a lot of time in this Instance.

He had to hurry up and pass the trial.

The mountain path was rugged and narrow. From time to time, magma would erupt and splash onto the surrounding walls.

This was an active volcano and extremely dangerous. If the Phoenix weren't here, Lin Yue would never come to such a place.

With the addition of five points of movement speed, Lin Yue's current movement speed had reached thirty-two points.

This included boosts from equipment and skills.

In short, the increase in movement speed greatly enhanced Lin Yue's map-clearing speed.

In more than five minutes, he reached the end of this winding volcanic path.

All around was constantly churning magma. On the left side of the mountain, Lin Yue saw a massive cave entrance.

Presumably, this was where the Divine Beast Phoenix resided.

Even from a distance, Lin Yue could feel an extraordinary aura of fire in the air.

He entered the cave without hesitation. What met his eyes was a very spacious cavern inside the mountain, roughly the size of a large stadium.

Located right in the center of the cavern, Lin Yue saw his target for this trip.

From a distance, a Phoenix dozens of meters tall was lying on the ground, dozing.

The moment Lin Yue's gaze landed on it, it woke up!

"Adventurer!"

Just like the Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast, the Divine Beast Phoenix could speak human language.

"I have not seen an Adventurer for a very long time!"

Accompanied by a loud cry, the Phoenix curled its body and transformed into the size of a normal woman.

Crimson wings were behind her, and her entire body was covered in feathers like raging fire.

Though she had a beautiful face, she had the body of a beast.

"I've come looking for clues about the Chaos Class Change."

"I know your purpose."

With a slightly neutral voice and a half-human, half-beast appearance, Lin Yue knew that Divine Beasts like this generally had no gender distinction.

"If you want to obtain clues for the Chaos Class Change, you must fight me and gain my recognition."

Just as Lin Yue expected, the Phoenix, who had been bored for hundreds of years just like the old man, wanted to fight at the drop of a hat.

For the Phoenix, a person had to undergo a baptism of blood and fire. Only by fighting it would it know if the person before it had the potential to become a Chaos User.

"Then let's do it."

Lin Yue pulled out niman-thunder punishment, already prepared for battle.

Abruptly.

From all around the mountain, countless amounts of magma began to pour in. In just a few seconds, the ground began to sizzle and smoke, forming a river of magma that continuously spread outward.

According to the speed of the churning magma, it would reach Lin Yue's feet and cover the entire floor in just a few minutes.

"Good grief, it even comes with a field card?"

Joking with his mouth but never stopping with his hands, a Chain Fireball had already crashed down onto the Phoenix's head.

-9188

-9199!

The Fireball Spell dealt damage, but Lin Yue could see that this was entirely the damage brought by True Damage.

With thirty-two thousand magic power plus True Damage, Lin Yue should theoretically be able to deal nearly forty thousand damage.

But now, the direct damage of the Fireball Spell had disappeared, replaced only by True Damage.

On the other side, the Phoenix was also somewhat surprised.

Reasonably speaking, fire magic should be unable to harm it, but Lin Yue's fireball attack actually carried a piercing power that injured its true body.

Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens!

Accompanied by a high-pitched Phoenix cry, the Phoenix flew into the air, and the feathers surrounding its body sprayed fire in all directions.

Endless flaming feathers covered a huge area of a hundred meters like raindrops.

-15555!

-18888!

Swoosh, swoosh!

Sounding like sharp swords piercing the air, Lin Yue quickly took damage under the coverage of the super-large flaming feathers.

Just from this one Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens!

At least several thousand flaming feathers fell simultaneously.

The attack was simply too dense!