C1804 Phoenix Shrine
The purple palace ascended gracefully into the sky, its walls, bricks, and eaves—reminiscent of refined iron—radiated a resplendent divine glow. Vast and boundless demon energy emanated from the edges of the grand structure, compelling all Monster Lords and Beast Kings to instinctively feel the urge to bow in reverence.
Ancient demonic patterns, ancestral beast totems, and intricate arrays tied to bloodlines successively emerged on the palace walls. Green Willow, the Moonfang Tiger, and other Dark Deities experienced an odd sense of connection with their ancestors upon gazing at the palace.
Green Willow, pressing a finger to the corner of his eye for a closer look, envisioned a giant green serpent, akin to himself, purifying the waters within the Star River. It dawned on him that the supreme Dark Phoenix had long deciphered all the bloodline mysteries of one of his ancestors, and these secrets were now etched into the legendary Phoenix Shrine.
"She's been taken to the Phoenix Shrine?" Green Willow's vertical pupil widened in astonishment as he instinctively sought out Ape.
"Yu Zhu, that girl..." Ape, who had retreated next to the Moonfang Tiger, exclaimed with a grimace. While shouting, he also shook his furry arm, asking, "Snow, you've been with her for so many years. Have you ever seen her invite anyone into the Phoenix Shrine?"
Astral Tiger shook its head.
Unlike Shadow's Keep, the purple palace known as the Phoenix Shrine was eternally linked to the supreme Dark Phoenix. Wherever the Phoenix Shrine appeared, there too would be the real body of the Dark Phoenix. Most of the time, the Phoenix Shrine drifted through the extraterrestrial Star River, rarely staying in one place.
Yet, when the Phoenix Shrine was sighted, the Otherkin experts, cosmic giant beasts, and ninth-level alien beasts of the Star River immediately recognized the presence of the Dark Phoenix—her real body, no less. To behold the Phoenix Shrine was, in essence, to behold the supreme Dark Phoenix herself.
Shadow's Keep, situated in the Everlands, served as a sanctuary for all who attained the status of a Dark Deity. It was also the venue for significant evilkind councils. Special rituals related to the inheritance of bloodlines were conducted within the hallowed halls of Shadow's Keep.
Many distinguished Monster Lords had the privilege of entering Shadow's Keep. However, not even the Moonfang Tiger had ever set foot in the Phoenix Shrine, the very embodiment of the supreme Dark Phoenix.
For tens of thousands of years, the only one known to have entered was the aged Kylin. His entry was a consequence of grave injuries sustained during a battle in the extraterrestrial realms, injuries so severe that he was on the brink of death. It was under these dire circumstances that the Dark Phoenix ushered him into the Phoenix Shrine. The Kylin, who should have perished, miraculously survived within the shrine, emerging with life essence infused within him.
The Ape was privy to this event, yet even the newly ascended Dark Deity, the Astral Tiger, had not caught wind of it. Yu Zhu, on the other hand, was the second individual to be taken into the Phoenix Shrine by the Dark Phoenix following the old Kylin.
"I just can't make sense of it, I really can't!" The Ape, scratching his head in bewilderment, felt increasingly that something was amiss. The Dark Phoenix's profound affection for Yu Zhu was unlike anything he had witnessed in his lifetime.
At that very moment, the massive phoenix shadow, which commanded universal awe, descended upon the towering totem-poles, as though dispersing itself.
Then, the totem-poles that had previously failed to penetrate the realm's wall began to follow the breached openings, one by one, into the heart of the Primal Blood Continent.
Boom! The sanguine world within the wall shattered into fragments, with numerous blood-colored clouds torn asunder by the totem-poles, becoming chaotic and disordered clusters.
Yu Yuan, who had been steadfastly defending atop the Dragon Slaying Stage, suddenly found that all control was lost.
It all began when the violet-gold spear breached the wall. The spear, forged by the little spinosaurus and imbued with bloodline mysteries, had merged with the extraordinary dragon form to become a unique Divine Weapon. Moreover, it was a blade that the supreme Dark Phoenix wielded with deadly efficacy.
With this weapon, the metal magic concealed within, now elevated by the Dark Phoenix's power and demon energy, became so incisive that the blood-colored wall meticulously erected by the Solar Meridian could no longer hold.
In the ethereal expanse of the Primal Blood Continent, the totem-poles, refined by the Dark Phoenix's vital energy, coalesced into thick strands of purple lightning. Almost instantly, they reformed into a slightly smaller figure, humanoid in shape, with a pair of expansive purple feathers.
In a secluded area of the Star River, Yu Yuan had once encountered and battled the Dark Phoenix, whose features were exquisitely beautiful yet somehow awkward when combined. She grasped a violet gold spear, transformed from the little spinosaurus, in one hand. The dragon tendons of the little spinosaurus had become the vital veins within the spear, and with her demon energy infused, they manifested the bloodline rules she had mastered.
Her demonic shadow, though significantly smaller than the one beyond the wall, still dominated half of the Primal Blood Continent's skies. Her expansive wings pressed against the crystalline blood-colored canopy, breaking through parts of the arcane blood mist's secrets and siphoning the concealed vital energy.
Within the blood-hued Otherworld, Yu Yuan witnessed the disintegration of a colossal three-dimensional blood-patterned array. The blood magic, etched into the Solar Meridian over endless years, appeared thoroughly shattered as she thrust the spear through it upon entering the Primal Blood Continent.
Yu Yuan heaved a deep sigh, realizing that further resistance was futile. He promptly utilized the Dragon Slaying Stage to escape the blood-colored barrier. "It requires a tremendous amount of power to seal the spiritual wisdom of the Solar Meridian. Hence, it cannot incessantly channel ice energy into this barrier," Ji Ningshuang explained from outside the crystalline wall, as she watched the supreme Dark Phoenix from the Everlands penetrate the barrier.
Yu Yuan, fully aware, nodded in agreement. "Let's head back." With those words, he reappeared among Reid, Grec, and the central group of Star-Spawned Terror elites.
Like the Demon Gods around him, he looked up at the Dark Phoenix, which now claimed half of the Primal Blood Continent's sky. He observed the bloody breaches swiftly healing over. Reid's expression was one of bitter resignation. "We still can't escape."
Flekke of the Nightfiend glanced at Yu Yuan and then back at the imposing shadow beneath the bloodied firmament, astounded. "Did she seal the breaches she discovered?" "It appears so," Grec replied, his voice tinged with defeat.
"Why?" Flekke exclaimed, "Is it just to prevent us from leaving? And the Untamed outside, why didn't she let them in as well?"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The wall of the Primal Blood Continent grew increasingly transparent, and the blood mist that obscured the outside view and perception swiftly vanished, revealing the interior scene to the Untamed, the Moonfang Tiger, Green Willow, Lin Zhuyun—who hesitated to come closer—and a host of beast kings.
"What does this mean?"
Green Willow, the Dark Deity, was baffled. The force that writhed to seal the bloody breaches was unmistakably that of the Dark Phoenix herself.
Why, after breaching the wall of the Primal Blood Continent and creating those bloody holes, would she seal the realm once more? Shouldn't she be calling everyone in? With the Demon Army numbering in the hundreds of thousands and a massive throng of beasts, just pouring through those bloody holes into this world would overwhelm Reid, Flekke, Grec, and all the branches of the Sky Fiends and Blood Fiends.
She had rallied such a formidable force of demons and beasts for this very moment. Victory seemed assured, and she could have wiped out all the Sky Fiends of the Primal Blood Continent in one fell swoop, yet she stopped.
Green Willow was at a loss.
"She..."
Untamed pursed his lips. As he was about to shift into his demonic form and descend, he abruptly halted the violent transformation of his bloodline when the holes closed. He remarked, "I've said it before, nothing she does is driven by logic or reason! The reason we've been at odds for years is precisely because she acts on her own whims!"
The imposing tiger remained silent, equally perplexed and internally critical.
But he dared not voice his thoughts.
"Hmph."
Inside the Primal Blood Continent, as if overhearing the Dark Deities' murmurs, she faced away from the outer stars with her colossal wings, and without turning around, she coldly huffed, "I summoned you here to have the alien beasts from the Star River converge. I simply wanted you to herd them into the Primal Blood Continent."
"Such menial tasks are naturally yours to handle. I certainly won't bother doing them myself."
"Moreover, I want you all to witness! To see who reigns as the true King of the Monsters within the boundless realms of the Star River!"
"Just watch. I don't need your assistance. Your role is merely to handle the menial tasks."
"…"
The Dark Phoenix's words stung like a harsh rebuke to Ape and left Green Willow, who had ascended to the status of a Dark Deity, feeling humiliated.
She summoned us here just to be her lackeys, to herd these creatures into the Primal Blood Continent?
What's the point of calling us if not for battle, not for a blood-soaked fight?
Untamed and Green Willow silently seethed with resentment.
In contrast, the extraterrestrial beast kings were utterly captivated by her commanding presence, convinced that one who could lead the beasts and disrupt the cosmic order was indeed someone of her caliber!
Why should the rulers of the Star River always be the Sky Fiend, the Starborn, the Shadowkin, the Shura, and the enchantress?
Why not the alien beasts?
Why should it be the Great Demon God Bertain who manipulates the fate of this world and makes decisions at his whim, rather than the exalted Dark Phoenix they venerate?
Suddenly!
The grand Phoenix Shrine burst into a tapestry of divine light high above, emitting the low growls of myriad beasts and unveiling a vision of a world where archdemons and alien beasts subjugated the inhabitants of the Everlands, the Shura, the Sky Fiend, the enchantress, and the Starborn.
In this world, the evilkind and the beasts were the sovereigns, with beautiful Starborn maidens grooming them, enchantresses serenading them, and Shura warriors serving as their underlings.
It was a world beyond the wildest dreams of the evilkind and beast kings, now vividly unfolding before their eyes!
It was a vision of the supreme Dark Phoenix's grand aspirations, the embodiment of her deepest desires and pursuits, the ultimate expression of her bloodline's divine law!
She aspired to forge a new world order, one where she, along with her evilkind and beast kings, would usurp the current power structure!
Roar! Howl! A chorus of roars!
Tens of thousands of archdemons and extraterrestrial beast kings were stirred into a frenzy by this spectacle. Their thunderous roars seemed to declare to all beings that the King of the Monsters they revered was destined to revolutionize the heavens and earth, dethroning Bertain to become the supreme power!
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