C1848 Coming Here Would Only Bring Him Trouble!
"Demon Phoenix!"
"Demon Sovereign!"
In the northern reaches of the Quietus Continent, the Demon Palace stood majestically. There, numerous Ninth and Eighth Level demon clan experts, along with human practitioners of the Demon Spell, paid homage to the manifested shadow of a phoenix in various ways.
This entity was the fusion of a Demon Soul and Demon Blood.
She had assumed the form of a human woman, much like the one Yu Yuan had encountered in the Dim Starfield, yet she possessed a pair of expansive purple wings.
The Demon Phoenix, with her striking features, lacked the mysterious throne but floated serenely above the Demon Palace.
Her gaze, however, was intently focused on the Desolate Swamp of the Profound Sky Continent, as if she were concocting some grand scheme.
Tucked away in a corner of the hall, Xu Zixi, known as the Python Queen, knelt in a respectful bow, her luminous eyes brimming with fervor.
Through her understanding of the Demon Spell, she discerned that the Demon Phoenix before her was indeed a long-standing clone within the Demon Palace.
This clone possessed a Demon Soul, but the Demon Blood bestowed upon it was scant, resulting in a clone whose independent will was strong but whose combat prowess was diminished due to the insufficiency of Demon Blood.
For this reason, when the Demon Palace Sovereign commanded the alien beasts and great demons to wage war in the Dim Starfield, and Tan Xiaotian and his allies sought to destroy the Demon Palace, this clone, which had not received an ample infusion of blood energy, chose to descend with the Demon Palace, lying dormant deep beneath the hall.
But now...
Xu Zixi distinctly sensed that the blood energy of the Supreme Demon Phoenix was being steadily infused into the Desolate Swamp!
This signified that the formidable powers the Demon Palace Sovereign had kept at bay were now being channeled into the Boundless Great World through some arcane means!
"Command all demons of the Demon Palace, and those who practice the Demon Spell, to assemble at the Demon Palace."
The ethereal Demon Phoenix cast a detached glance at her subordinates below and conveyed her decree.
"At once, my Lord!"
"We shall heed the edict of the Demon Sovereign!"
The demon and human powerhouses below responded in unison.
The Demon Phoenix gracefully unfurled her wings, unleashing a surge of spatial energy, and in an instant, she materialized in the skies above the Desolate Swamp, departing from the northern expanse of the Quietus Continent.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The thick clouds of mist and smoke above the Great Swamp, as if sensing danger, naturally attempted to form a barrier.
From within the mist, the Demon Phoenix cast a frigid gaze toward a specific location deep within the Great Swamp and declared, "Your ancestor has not returned to the Great Swamp, nor has he ventured to the Starry Border. Instead, he has gone to the Gray Domain alone."
"Since he has made his choice, then... all of you shall perish."
With a flap of its wings, the Demon Phoenix wielded the laws governing the blood of all living creatures within the Great Swamp, sending an invisible lattice crashing down upon the land.
Crack! Boom! Boom!
The eternal protective bloodline secret array, woven by the Desolate God to safeguard the Great Swamp, was now torn asunder by the Demon Phoenix's arcane bloodline in his absence.
The once white mist was abruptly stained with purple, drifting down like gossamer fabric.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, an Eighth Level silver-backed ape's crown burst open, a gory stream of blood and flesh soaring into the sky before merging with the purple haze.
One by one, the second, the third, countless mighty demons followed suit.
Moon Swallowing Ape, Water Serpent, Poison Horn Rhino, Lightning Ferret, gold-stripped beast...
All the great demons who defied the Demon Palace to follow the Desolate God, regardless of their bloodline rank, met a gruesome end under the full display of the Demon Phoenix's blood magic.
This included every one of the Desolate God's progeny!
In a single breath, tens of thousands of demonic beasts and creatures were reduced to mere skeletons cloaked in the Great Swamp.
Their blood, flesh, and organs, now mingled in a torrent of vital essence, were extracted by the purple mist, transforming into a formidable force at the Demon Phoenix's command.
Deep within the Great Swamp, at the site of the "Destruction Nest," Zhong Chichen, now a Colorful Divine Dragon, writhed in agony, his elegant, elongated dragon form impaled by numerous sharp branches. His cries of anguish filled the air.
Even in his dragon form, he remained trapped within the nest. The branches that ensnared him grew in tandem, their spear-like ends still embedded in his dragon flesh.
Clutched within his draconic maw was the enigmatic Time Book, its every mystery now unleashed by him.
Sands of time spilled forth from the tome, cascading over his body. Unable to employ the laws of space to free himself from the nest, his sole desire was to bring time to a standstill.
Regrettably, the "Destruction Den" had been tainted by the Demon Phoenix's power, diminishing the strength of the Time Quicksand.
Time refused to stand still within Zhong Chichen's dragon form.
It merely slowed to a crawl.
This deceleration of time was localized to his dragon body and the "Destruction Den," which lessened the rate at which the branches drained his dragon blood.
He was unaware of the catastrophic events unfolding in the Dark Wing Starfield.
Why had the "Destruction Den," supposedly under the tight rein of the Secular Bird Queen, been penetrated by the blood energy of the Demon Phoenix, bridging two realms and time to channel the Demon Phoenix's power back to the Boundless Great World?
How had the Demon Phoenix come to grasp the intricate secrets of space?
Zhong Chichen was at a loss.
"Ancestor!"
Loong Jie, bellowing with fury, spanned the sky with his perfected "Golden Body of Extremes." His claws, gleaming like molten gold, relentlessly tore at and shattered the branches.
Yet, once the splintered branches were released from his grasp, they swiftly reconnected.
Loong Jie tirelessly smashed the lethal branches, but Zhong Chichen's cries of agony persisted, his voice growing fainter by the moment.
Mo Baichuan, having called forth the pill furnace named Flowing Flames, watched the two beleaguered Dragon Gods, unsure of how to intervene.
For now, he had only heard the piercing cry of the Demon Phoenix; its form remained unseen.
Nearby, the Chamber of Commerce members around the space teleportation array witnessed the transformed Demon Clansmen beside them burst and perish.
The reverted Demon Clansmen were reduced to mere skin and bones, their viscera and flesh merging with the heavens.
The Chamber's people gazed skyward, bewildered.
Then, amidst the subtle purple haze, they beheld the elegant silhouette descending from the north of the Quietus Continent.
"Do you, who have sealed the gods with earth fire, seek vengeance for Yuwen Hao?"
The Demon Phoenix, finally making its presence known within the thickening purple blood fog, sneered with lush lips, gazing down at Mo Baichuan with contempt.
Whoosh!
The Dragon Slash Platform materialized gracefully, with Yu Yuan standing upon its luminescent surface in his true form.
Beside him, Mo Baichuan also gazed at the revealed Demon Phoenix and inquired, "What fraction of your strength is this?"
"Why do I find you everywhere?"
Had he not appeared, all might have been well. Yet, with his arrival, the Demon Phoenix seemed to spiral into greater madness and irrationality.
Boom!
A vast demonic blood talisman emerged within the deep purple haze, dominating the skies above the Great Swamp and exerting a force that ensnared countless beings.
From the Profound Sky Continent to the Quietus Continent, the Heavenly Source Continent, and the boundless seas, the first to succumb to the Demon Phoenix's influence were the insects and flies. In an instant, they perished, drawn to the colossal blood talisman above the Great Swamp.
"Mo Baichuan, Loong Jie, Zhong Chichen, and you!"
With a cold smirk, she declared, "I will harness the blood energy of all living creatures to confront your challenge. First, the loyal followers of the Old Ape within the Great Swamp, then the mindless mosquitoes and insects. Next, the scattered great demons and monsters that do not align with the Demon Palace!"
"If this continues, I shall prey upon the feeble mortals!"
"All the mortals across the empires will have their blood energy stripped away to fuel my battle strength."
"Boundless Great World..." Her gaze was icy and resolute. "I am prepared to forsake it."
Her proclamation thundered like a sonic wave, emanating from the Great Swamp and echoing across the high skies of the continents, leaving every emperor in the human realm pale with dread.
The Sword Sect, Profound Sky Sect, Devil Palace, Red Devil Sect, Babel Chamber of Commerce...
Every human cultivator, regardless of their former allegiances, felt a chill grip their hearts upon hearing the Demon Phoenix's words and realizing the magnitude of her power.
Was the Demon Phoenix intent on bringing about the apocalypse?
Zu Ann and Qin Luo, the two exalted beings, could no longer remain composed and hastened toward the Great Swamp with utmost urgency.
In the Sword Sect, Du Yuan was seething with rage, commanding his messengers to urgently contact Lin Daoke and to seek out Jee Ningshuang by any means necessary.
The practitioners of the Devil Palace were using secret methods to urgently reach out to Tan Xiaotian, imploring their Demon Lord to return at once.
Cao Jiaze of the Profound Sky Sect, along with several other Unrestrained Stage powerhouses, were desperately trying to figure out how to contact Han Miaoyuan to help them restore order amidst the chaos.
The world was in turmoil, with both human and demon hearts filled with unending dread.
To the mightiest among them, the Demon Phoenix, once considered the epitome of strength, now displayed a chilling indifference to the fate of all living creatures in the Boundless Great World, sending everyone into a state of panic.
Few were privy to what had truly transpired in the Dim Starfield.
Even fewer knew that the actual form of the Demon Phoenix, along with the Phoenix Shrine, was in the Dark Wing Starfield, summoning a Beast God from another realm to confront the Secular Bird Queen, the Supreme Intelligence, and Tan Xiaotian.
But one thing was clear to all: the Demon Phoenix was enraged, driven to an unfathomable level of madness.
"Yu Yuan, perhaps it's best if you leave the Boundless Great World and cease to appear before her," Zu Ann suggested, holding the Skywatch Mirror, his expression one of deep concern. He was trying to persuade Yu Yuan, who had arrived to resolve the crisis. "I have this nagging feeling that your presence might be making things worse. If you were to leave, perhaps she might find her calm."
