Chapter 315: Phoenix's Soul?
The massive maw of the Azure Dragon's shadow descended like the vault of heaven. In an instant, the surrounding starry sky completely vanished, replaced by an endless, boundless darkness.
Boom...
Yun Che's mind roared, his entire spiritual world seeming to collapse under the impact in an instant. Although he had already mentally prepared himself, he still hadn't expected this mental assault to be so terrifying. He let out a loud roar, focused all his spirit, and roused every ounce of his will... but subduing the opponent was out of the question—even defending himself was utterly impossible... he was completely powerless.
He had suffered countless injuries in his two lives, but his soul had never collapsed, and his willpower was as tough as steel. Yet under the assault of the Dragon God's Soul, within just a few breaths, he was on the verge of collapse. He felt like a thin wooden boat tossed amidst raging waves, perhaps in the next second, he would be completely swallowed by the sea.
He had thought that since the Primordial Azure Dragon allowed him to attempt fusing with the Dragon God's Soul on his own, it meant this wisp of the Dragon God's Soul should be within the scope of his ability to fuse, albeit with greater difficulty. But at this moment, he realized he was gravely mistaken. The intensity of this wisp of divine soul far exceeded his expectations by countless times... Even with his extremely strong willpower overcoming the fear of absolute suppression, he was utterly powerless to resist, like a young rabbit that, even if fearless, could never truly overpower an eagle.
Crack!
Yun Che's entire upper body trembled, and a clear snapping sound came from his chest... His spirit was completely suppressed by the Dragon God's Soul, even on the verge of being devoured. Diverting some of his spirit to fuse with the Dragon God's Marrow became impossible. The Dragon God's Marrow directly broke through all suppressions and began rapidly moving through Yun Che's bones... Yun Che's complexion grew paler and paler, sweat poured from his forehead like rain, and even his tightly clenched teeth began to weaken.
“Alas...”
The Primordial Azure Dragon let out a long sigh and muttered to himself: “Could it be that my perception was mistaken? He has the Evil God's Mysterious Vein, the Desolate God and the Mysterious Art, the Celestial Wolf's power, the Phoenix's bloodline... but no divine soul at all? Yet why do I always faintly sense the aura of a divine soul on him...”
“Perhaps I really was wrong.”
“A mere human soul can never fuse with a divine soul. Even if it were a tiny remnant soul, being able to hold out for a full ten breaths with his own soul power without complete collapse is already a miracle. It seems his talent in soul power is no less than his profound power. Since that is the case, I might as well help him complete it...”
Amid the Primordial Azure Dragon's low chant, a mass of azure-blue light slowly descended from the air. Just as the blue light was about to envelop Yun Che, it suddenly halted there, and from the air came a faint “Oh?” from the Primordial Azure Dragon.
On Yun Che's forehead, the flame mark belonging to the Phoenix bloodline suddenly appeared at that moment... It was a golden flame mark, and this cluster of golden flame was actually burning!! Though it was just a mark, it swayed with blazing, dazzling golden fire.
“This... could it be?” The Primordial Azure Dragon, as the foremost among divine beasts, now had a clear note of astonishment in his voice.
Yun Che's sea of spirit, which had been on the verge of collapse, suddenly blazed with endless flames. The "starry sky" that had been devoured by the azure-blue dragon shadow reappeared. Around Yun Che, a vast, boundless sea of golden fire emerged. Above the sea of fire, a large crimson-golden bird spread its wings and cried out. Its body stretched ten thousand miles, almost as large as the azure-blue dragon shadow, its entire form burning with golden flames. As it raised its head and cried to the heavens, dozens of surrounding stars simultaneously ignited and turned into flying ashes in an instant.
Roar!!
Screech!!
The azure-blue dragon shadow and the golden large bird cried out simultaneously, but the cry of the golden large bird seemed even more piercing than that of the azure-blue dragon shadow. It burst forth with crimson-golden light, and terrifying flames soared into the sky, wildly gushing out to form countless massive solar prominences that filled the entire starry sky, each one capable of engulfing a star... As the crimson-golden wings flapped, all the solar prominences flew toward the azure-blue dragon shadow. When they were about to approach it, they all converged into a single small “sun” of extreme heat and dazzling soul-piercing brilliance, completely engulfing the massive body of the azure-blue dragon shadow...
Roar... Roar!!!
The azure-blue dragon shadow resisted and counterattacked, but that small sun was far too terrifying. Even this wisp of the Dragon God's soul was completely suppressed. Its resistance lasted less than thirty breaths before, with the silencing of its roars, it instantly shattered and scattered into blue stars drifting across the sky...
Yun Che's body shook violently, and he fell flat on his back, his consciousness sinking into silence.
After Yun Che fell unconscious, a long time passed before he woke up. The Phoenix mark on his forehead slowly faded. After a long silence, the voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon came again from above: “So my perception was not mistaken... I just didn’t expect that the Phoenix's Soul would give you such a great gift. It seems it, like me, admires your talent and disposition... or perhaps, like me, it also saw that terrifying thing...”
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“There’s no way his speed is faster than ours. These past two days, we’ve mostly searched the western region. It seems he must be hiding in the eastern region... He tricked us again!”
“If I don’t tear him into a thousand pieces myself, I’ll never be able to vent my hatred in this life!” Fen Moli said through gritted teeth. Before encountering Yun Che, he would never have believed that he would one day be repeatedly driven to the brink of fury by a junior.
He, a Half-step King Xuan, a top figure dominating Cang Feng, was being toyed with by a junior! And the last time, he was tricked for two whole days before realizing it... If he could catch Yun Che, even chopping him into meat paste might not fully vent the resentment in his heart.
“What’s going on here?”
What appeared before the seven people was an empty stretch of land. In this Death Wasteland, the deeper one went, the more complex the terrain and the stronger the profound beasts. But the land before them was unusually empty. Looking around, there wasn’t a single profound beast in sight, and even the roars of profound beasts couldn’t be heard.
On the empty land, a low hill and the cave below it were particularly conspicuous.
“This was clearly caused by a fight. The strength of both parties was at least at the peak of the Heavenly Xuan Realm.” Fen Moli surveyed the terrain. “But this fight should have taken place a year or two ago. It seems someone came here a year or two ago and clashed with some powerful profound beast here.”
Fen Moli’s gaze then fell on the conspicuous cave. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and his expression darkened. The faces of the other six also clearly revealed cold smiles.
“Yun Che, you really have chosen a good place to bury yourself... This time, let’s see where you can run!”
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As soon as Yun Che’s consciousness awakened, he jolted upright and quickly inspected his sea of spirit.
Upon inspection, his entire being was stunned.
It was undoubtedly his own soul, incredibly familiar yet utterly strange. Because his sea of spirit had transformed from an ocean into a true starry sky! Vast and powerful beyond even his own comprehension. The spiritual force it generated seemed capable of devouring any spiritual entity, and it could not be threatened by any spiritual entity.
This... is this really his own soul?
Such a soul had completely surpassed the limits of humanity; it should not exist in a human at all.
Another abnormality came from his body. He quickly inspected his bones and found that the marrow flowing within them had all turned a golden yellow! A faint golden light was even emanating from the surface of his bones! The marrow, which had been as fragile as cotton, had become as tough as molten gold. His bones, already extremely hard from being tempered by the Great Dao Pagoda Art and dragon blood, were now several times more solid! So solid that he was sure that even if he struck his own arm with his heavy sword at full force, he couldn’t break a single bone!
“You’re awake? It seems you’re surprised.”
The voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon sounded in Yun Che’s ear. Yun Che looked up and said, “I succeeded? But I clearly remember... clearly remember...”
Yun Che’s last soul memory was of seeing a giant fire bird suddenly appear in his sea of consciousness and then engulf the azure-blue dragon shadow with overwhelming flames...
What was that giant fire bird? Why was it in his sea of spirit?
“That’s right, you succeeded. The Dragon God’s Marrow and the Dragon God’s Soul have been perfectly fused by you. The entire process was much shorter than I expected.” The Primordial Azure Dragon spoke slowly. “And all of this was thanks to the Phoenix soul force within you.”
“Phoenix... soul force?” Yun Che was astonished. He frowned slightly and said, “But how could I have Phoenix soul force?”
Back in the Phoenix Trial Ground, he had been granted three drops of Phoenix blood and a Wind God Pill, and had consulted a fragment of the “Phoenix Ode Scripture.” But none of these had anything to do with the Phoenix Soul... How could there be a Phoenix Soul in his body? And if there was, why had he never known?
“The Phoenix soul force has always existed within you, but it was not fused with your soul. Although it resided in your sea of spirit, it was an independent existence. Two years ago, when I first encountered you, I sensed it, but I never expected that this strand of Phoenix soul force left in you would actually be the most precious wisp of the Phoenix’s soul... Your reaction tells me you were unaware of the Phoenix Soul’s existence. It seems the Phoenix Spirit quietly gave you a great gift.”
Yun Che looked up slightly. At that moment, his eyes moved, and he suddenly remembered that before he left the Phoenix Trial Ground, the Phoenix Spirit had projected a golden light toward him, and then the color of the mark on his forehead had turned golden...
“...I should perhaps give you a special gift... This is a special power that I can only use once in my lifetime, but I think I will never have the day to use it. And you, bearing the power of the Evil God, your future is destined to be extraordinary. Granting this power to you will be most fitting. As for what this power is, you will naturally know when you use it...”
“Could the gift it spoke of... be a wisp of the Phoenix’s soul hidden in my sea of spirit?” Yun Che murmured to himself.
“No!” said the Primordial Azure Dragon. “It is indeed a wisp of Phoenix soul, but it’s not just a simple Phoenix soul. It is an extraordinary ability unique to the Phoenix. Even I could not truly identify its existence before it actively released its power. Its strength goes far beyond just soul protection.”
“Then what kind of power is it?” Yun Che pressed.
“Hehe...” The Primordial Azure Dragon smiled calmly. “When you use it, you will naturally know.”
These words from the Primordial Azure Dragon were exactly the same as what the Phoenix Spirit had said back then.
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