Chapter 58: Dragon Phoenix!
Qing Ming, standing by, looked at Jiang Yun. Compared to just moments ago, Jiang Yun now had an ethereal quality about him, as if what stood there was not a physical body but a soul.
Seeing this, a look of gratification appeared in Qing Ming's eyes. "Congratulations on stepping into the Spirit Realm soul."
Jiang Yun smiled at Qing Ming's congratulations. Although there was still a vast gap between him and his goal, every increase in strength was worth celebrating, was it not?
With a thought, Jiang Yun, whose soul power had greatly increased, sensed a strange fluctuation in the magma below. This fluctuation gave Jiang Yun a familiar feeling.
It was the sensation of the Fallen Heart Flame. Having entered the Spirit Realm, Jiang Yun could now sense it without relying on the attraction between heavenly flames.
This little Fallen Heart Flame would eventually be his for the taking. Jiang Yun did not rush to find it. Instead, he turned his gaze to the huge dried corpse of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix.
This corpse had been only at the peak of the seventh rank in life. It had died in that secret realm. Jiang Yun had also seen many magical beast corpses there, many of which were stronger than this one.
Perhaps they had all been part of the forces that once protected this continent.
Due to the long time since its fall, the corpse no longer showed the appearance of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix, a magical beast overlord. Only the pair of jade-like bone wings, ten zhang wide on its back, indicated its identity.
"Those wings are quite a good item. Even for a Dou Zong, they would be a fine treasure."
"What..."
"Do you have an idea?"
Watching Jiang Yun examining the bone wings, Qing Ming glanced at them and offered his opinion and question.
Jiang Yun withdrew his gaze and shook his head. "They are indeed a good thing for a Dou Zong, or even a Dou Zun. But for me, they are somewhat of a chicken rib."
The Demon Phoenix Wings were indeed a fine item. But Jiang Yun already possessed an Earth Class movement technique. With the enhancement of spatial power, his speed was no worse than the Heavenly Demon Phoenix's. There was no need to go through the trouble.
"In ancient times, the magical beast world produced overlord after overlord — the Taixu Ancient Dragon, the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, the Nine-Colored Devouring Heaven Serpent, the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake, and so on. But with the passage of time, only the Taixu Ancient Dragon remains. The others have all dissipated into the river of time."
Jiang Yun spoke eloquently about the Heavenly Demon Phoenix before him. Qing Ming, however, appeared indifferent. To him, the Taixu Ancient Dragon and the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix were insignificant. Only the divine beasts of the Great Thousand World's Divine Beast Realm could move him.
Jiang Yun was not surprised. As an Immortal-grade supreme treasure, having high standards was normal.
"The magical beast world has seen two true sovereign beasts — the Sovereign Dragon Phoenix. It possessed the characteristics of both the Taixu Ancient Dragon and the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix. It was the true sovereign of magical beasts."
Even Qing Ming was moved upon hearing "Dragon Phoenix." Even he had never heard of a Dragon Phoenix appearing in the Great Thousand World.
The Dragon Phoenix was said to be created from the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit. And the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit only had a very small chance of being born when a Taixu Ancient Dragon and an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix died at the same time.
The combination of the bloodlines of two different magical beast sovereigns was truly a matter of fate. Perhaps the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan of the Great Thousand World had never produced a Dragon Phoenix because their bloodlines were too dominant and could not merge. Thus, the Dragon Phoenix had always existed only in legends.
Qing Ming had never imagined that this small Dou Qi Continent, which had the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan capable of producing a Dragon Phoenix, had actually produced one twice.
Even if the bloodlines of these two were not top-tier compared to the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan of the Great Thousand World, once they combined, the resulting Dragon Phoenix's bloodline would surely be top-tier, no worse than the top divine beasts on the Divine Beast Ranking.
Ultimately, how far it could grow would depend on itself. But that did not change the fact that the Dragon Phoenix was the number one bloodline on the Dou Qi Continent.
"You are thinking..." Qing Ming understood at once. He immediately grasped Jiang Yun's idea. Outside, there was a Taixu Ancient Dragon with the most terrifying bloodline in this world. But even so, Qing Ming had to admit that Jiang Yun's idea was bold.
"How could that be?" Jiang Yun, knowing what Qing Ming was thinking, laughed and shook his head. If Dragon Phoenixes were that easy to produce, they would not have appeared only twice in the history of the Dou Qi Continent.
Admittedly, Zi Yan would eventually become the third Dragon Phoenix.
The Heavenly Demon Phoenix was a descendant of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix. Its essence blood would not be very useful to him. He just wanted to see if he could extract the blood of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix.
If he could, then...
Swish —
Two cold gleams flashed. A pair of jade-like bone wings fell into Jiang Yun's hands. They felt cool to the touch, yet within that coolness was a trace of warmth.
The bone wings were slightly translucent. With the naked eye, one could clearly see the strange energy flowing within them.
This was the essence of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix clan. Most of their inherited Dou Techniques require the coordination of these wings.
Putting away the bone wings, Jiang Yun raised his right hand. The black-and-white Saint Demon Flame surged from his palm, transforming into a cyan light screen that covered the entire dried corpse.
Under the cover of the flame, the fragile dried skin did not turn to ash in an instant. Instead, it slowly curled up.
The flame dove into the corpse through two large openings at the wings, calcining the pale white flesh within.
As the flame calcined, the exposed pale white flesh continuously emitted hissing sounds. Its volume also continuously shrank within the flame.
As time passed, the flame continued to calcine. The Heavenly Demon Phoenix's corpse slowly disappeared, eventually condensing into a drop of cyan-red blood.
In the end, Jiang Yun obtained a clump of light-red Heavenly Demon Phoenix essence blood and a cyan-red crystal — its magical core.
But Jiang Yun did not stop the flame's calcination. Instead, he continuously intensified the flame, calcining the clump of essence blood.
After a while, Jiang Yun frowned and stopped the flame. He sensed that the essence blood had indeed been slightly purified, but the effect was negligible. If he continued calcining like this, it would take forever.
Moreover, Jiang Yun realized that this bit of Demon Phoenix essence blood was not enough to extract the bloodline of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix.
He would have to find another way.
The Snake-People tribe could awaken their ancient bloodline through the calcination of a heavenly flame. What was the principle behind that?
Could this method be applied to all magical beasts?
It seemed he would need to visit the Snake-People tribe. If he could understand the principle behind it, could those extinct ancient magical beasts reappear on the continent?
Putting away the Demon Phoenix essence blood and the magical core, Jiang Yun let out a long breath. He circulated his cultivation method to restore the depleted Dou Qi in his body.
"It seems you failed." Qing Ming looked at Jiang Yun, whose eyes had opened, and spoke with a hint of teasing.
Jiang Yun showed no discouragement. He smiled and shook his head. "It was just an experiment to begin with. No harm in failing."
Seeing that Jiang Yun was not affected, Qing Ming nodded reassuringly. As long as his spirit was not crushed, everything else was fine.
Then, Jiang Yun fashioned the dead Bodhi Tree into a small sphere and tied it with a red string.
"What do you plan to do next?" Watching Jiang Yun finish his tasks, Qing Ming looked at him and asked, essentially inquiring about his future plans.
Jiang Yun put away the remaining items and took out a black token engraved with a "Soul" character. On the back of the token was another character for "Human." This was one of Guardian Xuan's relics.
Soul Hall guardians were divided into three levels — Heaven, Earth, Human. Guardian Xuan was the lowest, a Human-level guardian. This gave some indication of the Soul Hall's immense power.
Looking at the token before him, a flickering light passed through Jiang Yun's eyes.
Hearing Qing Ming's question, Jiang Yun put away the token and stood up. Looking at the magma below, he spoke. "To go see the senior who has been calling out to me."
A hint of amusement appeared in Qing Ming's eyes. "That guy is persistent. He is almost dissipated, yet he still spares no effort in using his soul power."
"Perhaps he sees me as his last lifeline."
"But things down there are not simple." Looking at Jiang Yun, Qing Ming's expression suddenly became serious. He said meaningfully, "I suspect that this place contains the greatest opportunity on this continent."
Jiang Yun's heart stirred. Qing Ming had discovered the Ancient Emperor Mansion underground. That made sense. Although Qing Ming had not yet recovered his full strength, he was still an Immortal-grade supreme treasure capable of contending with a Heavenly Sovereign.
"What is it?" Jiang Yun asked curiously. This was somewhat beyond his realm of knowledge, so he took a rare opportunity to play dumb.
"Now is not the time. You will know when the time comes." Qing Ming, however, shook his head. He had already seen the blood relationship between Zhu Kun and Zi Yan. Unfortunately, he had not yet recovered much of his strength and could not rescue the other.
Otherwise, given Zi Yan's relationship with Jiang Yun, he would not mind releasing him. That would provide Jiang Yun with some security in this world.
Still, the timing was off. Better not to mention it now, to avoid adding unnecessary worries.
Surely his father in-law (Zhu Kun), having waited so many years, could wait a few more? After all, he had been sleeping well and had not felt much until recently when he was awakened. Now, could he still sleep? Every passing moment was an agony.
Jiang Yun understood. He knew Qing Ming probably could not release Zhu Kun. So he did not press further.
"Let's go. Let's go see that little one down there."
Nodding, Jiang Yun leaped down into the magma below. Midway, a thin layer of white flame tightly covered him, as if he were wearing a white garment.
Although the magma below contained the race of Fire Lizardmen that Tuo She Ancient Emperor had captured to guard the perimeter of his mansion — with Dou Zun and Half-Saint among them — they generally did not appear above the magma, as if bound by some prohibition.
With his Spirit Realm soul power, as long as he did not provoke the Fire Lizardmen, he would not be discovered.
Although they possessed fire beads that could accelerate cultivation, Jiang Yun was not very interested in such things.
Why expend the effort hunting them when he could just take out a pill to trade for resources?
Or better yet, directly use the Saint Demon Flame's devouring power to slaughter them all.
In the boundless, endless magma, all that met the eye was crimson. This crimson world was utterly lifeless. It was this uniform monotony that was most trying.
As time passed, Jiang Yun arrived at a dark red magma that made one's heart palpitate. He raised his hand and wiped. A faintly glowing translucent ring of light floated up from within the magma vortex.
Jiang Yun's figure moved. He entered the space inside. His gaze fell upon a skeleton that had long since turned to bone. The skeleton emitted a faint fluorescence. And the flame floating above the skeleton was the Fallen Heart Flame.
There were only so many wild heavenly flames in the world. For this region to have produced two Fallen Heart Flames in succession — it could only be said that this was truly the site of Tuo She Ancient Emperor's tomb.
The heavenly flame, so precious in the outside world, did not attract Jiang Yun's attention at this moment. Instead, his gaze fell upon that skeleton.
"Sigh —, I never expected that your soul power, young friend, would reach the Spirit Realm. Truly, the younger generation inspires awe."
After a long moment, a sigh sounded. A burst of white light suddenly erupted from the skeleton. The white light slowly condensed into a human form. When the white light dissipated, a clear human figure appeared before Jiang Yun.
The figure wore a white robe. His hair and beard were snow-white. His face was aged. A faint glimmer shone in his calm eyes. The moment this illusory figure appeared, a faint pressure spread out.
"Six-Star Dou Wang, Spirit Realm soul. Young friend's talent is truly humbling." The illusory figure took a look at Jiang Yun and spoke unhurriedly, a hint of envy in his voice.
A faint, calm smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Yun's mouth. He cupped his hands and smiled. "Senior, your repeated soul fluctuations must have been to draw this young one here, I presume?"
Flame Sovereign's expression stiffened. He spoke in a low voice. "To be honest with you, young friend, this old man is Flame Sovereign. I fell here hundreds of years ago, leaving only this remnant soul to barely survive. Within ten years, I will dissipate between heaven and earth. A few days ago, sensing your aura and that of the Fallen Heart Flame, I decided to take a gamble."
"If you are willing to save me, this Earth Class high-level Dou Technique — the Five-Wheel Separating Flame Art — along with this Fallen Heart Flame, will be yours."
As he spoke, Yao Tianhuo crooked his finger. A white ring flew out from the pile of bones and landed in Yao Tianhuo's hand.
A light-white scroll was taken out from the ring. On the scroll were painted birds and beasts covered in flames.
He tossed it again. The Fallen Heart Flame on the skeleton and the Five-Wheel Separating Flame Art successively fell before Jiang Yun's eyes.
To be honest, Jiang Yun was very interested in this Dou Technique — both a flame control method and an array technique. Although he carried the inheritance of a spiritual array master, he was still young. He had not memorized the inheritance of a spiritual array grandmaster. He had now reached the stage of exploring on his own.
Thus, it was necessary to learn about the arrays of the Dou Qi Continent.
Looking at Flame Sovereign, who was somewhat nervous — after all, Jiang Yun was the stronger party. A Spirit Realm soul was enough to annihilate him.
Jiang Yun chuckled lightly. He put away the scroll. "Deal."