C1622 A Crouching Bird Takes over the Nest
At the edge of the Starry Border, Lim Zhuyun stood within a rare stone crafted in the likeness of the Ember Waters, surrounded by thirty-six Totem Pillars. She was as still as an ice sculpture. Directly in front of her, a thick Totem Pillar, half-buried in the sea, rose above the water. The exposed portion was etched with intricate and mysterious demonic patterns, glowing faintly purple. Those who gazed upon it for too long would notice the patterns seemed to come alive, dancing like a phoenix.
Lim Zhuyun, who had been trying to decipher the ancient Bloodline Secret Techniques of the Demon Race from these Totem Pillars, found her soul consciousness, like a wisp of mist, clinging to the Demon Race Totem Pillar before her. To her astonishment, the demonic patterns began to animate, morphing into a mysterious purple phoenix that unfurled its wings in a display of splendor. Suddenly, a brilliant purple light burst forth from the eyes of the phoenix!
She marveled at the sight. Previously, when she had sensed this Demon Race Totem Pillar with her soul, she would sometimes see a dancing phoenix, but its eyes were always dim. Now, the luminous eyes of the phoenix caused her own to bleed, yet she was oblivious to the pain.
Unbeknownst to her, the half-submerged Totem Pillar had already taken flight from the sea. Upon realizing her eyes were bleeding, she wiped away the blood with her sleeve and looked again. The Totem Pillar had ascended beyond all others, standing tall in the heavens like the mightiest of pillars, a colossal purple eye suspended in the sky, surveying everything below – the deep sea, islands, Yin Corpses, and all the marks left by the Chaos Roc, including the profound laws it had comprehended.
The other twenty-nine Totem Pillars, whether in the deep sea or on nearby islands, now seemed to awaken and ascend one after another. However, the five Totem Pillars representing the Nagas remained unmoved, showing no response.
In that moment, Lim Zhuyun sensed the Ancient Fey Formation she had chosen come to life.
Boom!
A dazzling purple radiance, carrying the power to obliterate heaven and earth, burst forth from the highest Totem Pillar.
The cry of a phoenix, soul-stirring, echoed through the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Yin Corpse King, interred beneath the island's surface, didn't even manage a single moan before being obliterated by the demonic energy, his body dissolving into blood.
The chilling aura of death that clung to him was also purged in an instant.
An evil cultivator of the Unrestrained Stage, silenced forever by the onslaught of demonic energy.
The Yin Corpses he had enslaved met their end just as quietly, scattered across the burial grounds of the islands.
Lim Zhuyun's complexion drained of color in shock.
She had assumed that the Chaos Roc's mishap outside had triggered the Ancient Fey Formation's malfunction, resulting in the demise of the Yin Corpse King and the reduction of the Yin Corpses to ash.
But as she was about to employ the Bloodline Secret Technique left by the Chaos Roc to reach out to it...
A faint purple shadow began to emerge within her own blood.
The shadow took the form of a majestic purple Demon Phoenix.
"Demon Palace, Sovereign..."
Lim Zhuyun murmured internally, realizing that the storied Demon Palace Sovereign had, in an incomprehensible manner, connected with the rare stone at the Starry Border through her blood and the corresponding Totem Pillar.
She had become the conduit, the eyes of this entity.
Her choice to align with the Ancient Fey Formation upon her breakthrough to the Unrestrained Stage was, in fact, a design of that very being.
That being had permitted the Chaos Roc to carry the Totem Pillar away into the cosmos, to be tempered by the energies of the stars, all in anticipation of the day when reclaiming it would be effortless.
The thirty-six Totem Pillars, along with the microcosm that mirrored the Ember Waters and the rare stone forged from gold metal, had changed hands in an instant.
Lim Zhuyun listened to the voice that traveled from a distant realm.
Gazing upon the Totem Pillar that stood for the ancient Demon Phoenix lineage, she briefly hesitated before making her choice to kneel.
Before the exalted Totem Pillar, Lim Zhuyun swore her fealty.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
One after another, purple blood beams shot out from the Totem Pillar, piercing into Lim Zhuyun's chest. They infused her Qi and blood, transforming her body from within.
Lim Zhuyun bowed her head, her face etched with gratitude, as she continuously murmured to herself.
It dawned on her that the Ancient Fey Formation had always been the property of the Demon Palace, never meant for the Chaos Roc to seize.
The moment she began to unravel the secrets of the Ancient Fey Formation, when she chose the path of Dao Integration at the Unrestrained Stage, she had already become part of the Demon Palace.
She was no different from Zhao Yafu, Zhan Tianxiang, and the other cultivators who had joined the Demon Palace while bearing human identities.
She also came to a startling realization that human blood could carry traces of the Demon Phoenix.
Whether it was the blood of humans, mighty demons, birds, or even insects, all living creatures shared a mysterious connection with the Demon Phoenix.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The supreme being of the Demon Palace twisted and rearranged the sky, the seas, and the islands within the rare stone.
The marks left by the Chaos Roc were erased as if scrubbed away by an eraser.
...
Trapped under Taishi's array, the Chaos Roc, unable to escape, felt as though his backyard was ablaze.
The gaunt old man hidden in the Water Foreign Domain leapt up as if his tail were on fire. "Taishi! Yu Yuan! Let's put everything on hold. Can we possibly discuss this later?"
"Discuss it later?" Taishi shook his head with a sinister chuckle. "Or perhaps we should wait until after you're dead?"
Yu Yuan was as crucial as the favored origin blood, a secret of the Grand Yin. The Chaos Roc knew far too much, and he was not someone the Divine Soul Sect could trust. To Taishi, his death was non-negotiable.
He couldn't imagine anything more pressing than the demise of the Chaos Roc.
"Demon Phoenix, I've found the rare stone I had refined!"
"That little wretch, Lim Zhuyun, didn't hesitate for a second. She betrayed me! The marks I left inside her and on the rare stone have been nearly wiped clean."
"The only marks that remain are those linked to me by blood, which can still sense my presence. And now, the rare stone that was once mine is flying towards me!"
The Chaos Roc lamented as though mourning the loss of his parents.
He silently cursed his bad luck. He had stealthily approached, intending to have a discussion with Yu Yuan, but an accidental slip of the tongue had provoked Taishi into murderous intent.
Taishi had even communicated with two other Divine Kings, plotting to ambush and eliminate him at the Starry Border.
As he desperately tried to figure out how to persuade Taishi, the rare stone linked to him by blood was compromised by the Demon Phoenix.
In secret, the Demon Phoenix, who had been scouring the cosmos for him, had managed to track him down using the Totem Pillars.
"Demon Phoenix!"
Taishi's expression turned grim.
Unlike the Chaos Roc, his first thought was that the starry sky, filled only with meteorites, was not an ideal environment for harnessing his Dao Laws.
Engaging in battle with the Demon Phoenix here could potentially leave him wounded.
"I must quickly summon Tianqi and Shehun!"
Facing the supreme entities of the Demon Palace, he had to proceed with caution and decisively seek allies.
"We should evacuate now! Trust me, since her true form hasn't descended, what's the point in killing her proxies in this world? Her demon soul has merged with the stone, with Lim Zhuyun's body, and it will only become more problematic once she meets Yu Yuan and uncovers the truth!"
The Chaos Roc urgently exclaimed.
Taishi's brow furrowed at this, realizing that indeed, now was not the time to confront the Demon Phoenix.
Even if he destroyed the rare stone and eliminated Lim Zhuyun, erasing one of the Demon Phoenix's demon souls would not inflict any real damage on her.
But if she were to learn that Yu Yuan's Yang God had already been forged by the primordial blood...
"Let's make our exit now!" the Chaos Roc pressed.
"Very well."
