Chapter 277: Fight to the Bloody End
The peacock is known as Nanke, also called the Southern Bird, and when describing its innate bloodline, the latter term is generally used.
Flowing within Nanke's body was the true blood of the Southern Bird. This blood was bone-chillingly cold, turning to frost and ice upon meeting the wind, far surpassing the techniques of the Northwest Snow Mountain Sect by many times over. Apart from the blood of the Profound Frost Dragon, it would be difficult to find such an extremely cold substance anywhere in the world. What made the Southern Bird's blood even more terrifying was its potent toxicity; even the most powerful demonic beasts could not resist it.
The mottled blood flowed from Nanke's wrist onto the sword hilt, then stained the Parasol Tree Longbow. If it had been an ordinary person, they would have died in that previous moment. But Xu Yourong did not. She was not frozen into an ice sculpture by Nanke's blood, nor was she infected by the toxins within it. This was because she was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Phoenix; the true blood of the Heavenly Phoenix flowed within her veins. Her blood possessed infinite light and heat, capable of burning everything.
The battle at the summit of Muyu Peak had reached its final stage. Xu Yourong and Nanke had finally begun a contest of their innate bloodlines. In the preceding fight, they had already proven that in terms of cultivation realm, strength of will and consciousness, and even sword techniques and archery, their levels were almost identical. Now, it came down to whose blood could burn this world or freeze it.
In the demon realm, in the human world, and in White Emperor City by the Red River, countless legends held the phoenix as the king of all birds. Logically, Xu Yourong seemed destined to emerge victorious in this contest of innate bloodlines. Yet one must not forget that in those countless legends, there was always a proud and aloof peacock gazing coldly upon the world of birds—a peacock that never heeded the phoenix's commands.
If the phoenix could truly easily overcome the peacock, how would the peacock dare to disobey and still possess its own cold pride and freedom? This illustrated a very simple truth: the greatest difference between the peacock and the phoenix lay in choices shaped by temperament and worldview, while the strength of their bloodlines was actually quite close.
Xu Yourong and Nanke's blood continued to flow, staining and coating the sword hilt, the blade, and the bow. Then it fell upon the cliff face between them, where even the hard rock began to burn fiercely.
The entire summit of Muyu Peak began to burn. Whether it was the golden, radiant holy flames or the mottled, dark, cold ice-fire, both were true flames, seemingly capable of scorching the very soul.
Two immensely powerful auras, born from the clash of these noble and proud bloodlines, continuously escalated. The illusory realm set up by the old qin-playing man could no longer hold. With a dense series of crackling sounds, it shattered into countless pieces of transparent glass, then vanished into the night sky.
A wave of light burst forth from between Xu Yourong and Nanke, spreading in all directions, reaching hundreds of miles in an instant! The Muyu Mountain Range in the night was illuminated as bright as day. The vast grassland before the peak suddenly blazed with light. On the periphery especially, the wild grass seemed to truly catch fire. The faint, sinister, and terrifying sounds deep within the grassland abruptly ceased. Countless powerful demonic beasts hidden there, sensing the two supremely noble and mighty auras contained within the light wave from the peak, dared not make any rash moves.
"Truly remarkable," Liu Xiaowan said, staring in shock towards Muyu.
This couple of demon generals had been stationed on the outskirts of the grassland to prevent Zhexiu and Qijian from escaping. After finishing dinner and washing the dishes, they had not expected such a terrifying battle to be unfolding on the distant peak.
Teng Xiaoming placed the bowls into the basket and asked, "Should we go over and help?"
With the strength of their consciousness, they could clearly feel the intensity of the battle atop Muyu Peak. That golden flame from the Heavenly Phoenix's true blood was simply too bright.
"It's too late," Liu Xiaowan shook her head. "And Her Highness wouldn't appreciate us meddling. Since the Military Advisor said Xu Yourong is doomed, then she is certainly doomed."
The illusory realm that had isolated Muyu Peak and its solitary mountain path from the Zhou Garden world was broken. The Black Dragon, floating high in the night sky, could finally see the scene below for the first time. Only then did she realize that Xu Yourong had already left long ago, and that fated battle had already begun.
By now, many people within the Zhou Garden had noticed the battle atop Muyu Peak. Though they couldn't see the details or know who was fighting whom, the raging fire on the summit and the terrifying, powerful auras faintly emanating from within it were enough to shock and awe them.
Not the Black Dragon. She looked down upon the two young women on the peak, her vertical pupils filled with cold indifference, even a hint of disdain. If she were here in her true form, not just a separated soul, no matter how fiercely the two women fought on the peak, a single casual breath of dragon's breath from her would likely extinguish that fire.
"A small world, two little birds playing with fire. Ants clinging to a locust tree boast of a great nation; mayflies trying to shake a giant tree—how easy is that?"
She mused these words with slight mockery, but in the next moment, she suddenly noticed that the blood and fire burning atop Muyu Peak exuded a presence that even made her somewhat wary... So, those two young women were not ordinary little birds. If their bloodlines were fully awakened, they would be on the same level as her.
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Atop Muyu Peak, two noble but utterly different types of blood mingled. Two flames, one bright and one dark and flickering, also merged. This was the fusion of blood and fire. Across the layers of flame and the gleaming surfaces of the sword and bow, Xu Yourong and Nanke's eyes met, and their spiritual worlds vaguely connected.
In an instant, Xu Yourong saw many images: scenes from Snow Old City, scenes from the Demon Palace, and scenes from the childhood of that girl who looked like she was gathering pigweed.
Conversely, Nanke saw very few images—only the small stone bridge outside the Eastern Divine General's Mansion, the willow catkins beneath it, and the campus of the Azure Radiance Thirteen Divisions.
Nanke made no attempt to conceal anything. She was cold and aloof, unafraid of anyone, even an opponent like Xu Yourong, seeing her true heart. Yet, for some reason, Xu Yourong, who should have been more radiant, had, over years of cultivation, intentionally or unintentionally veiled her spiritual world with many layers of gauze.
"The phoenix truly is the most hypocritical creature. To become the master of that rotten throne, do you have to live so pettily? You might as well just die."
Nanke looked into her eyes and spoke coldly within their connected spiritual world.
Xu Yourong did not respond to that. Instead, she asked calmly, "Do you want to die together with me?"
Nanke's expression was indifferent. "I'm not afraid of death. You are. So if we die together, you'll definitely be the first to go."
Xu Yourong raised an eyebrow slightly. She disliked this way of fighting, and she disliked Nanke's way of speaking. She believed that life and death were things to be revered, not to be mentioned so flippantly.
Nanke stared at her and said, "You humans always believe in that cliché: the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Since that's the case, you're even more afraid to die, because you still have many responsibilities on your shoulders."
Xu Yourong asked calmly, "And what about you? As the Demon Princess, don't you have responsibilities to bear?"
Nanke's gaze was cold. "I have dozens of siblings. The responsibilities I need to bear are very few—only my own desires and my teacher's expectations."
Xu Yourong was silent for a moment before saying, "Does your father know about this? If you die today in the Zhou Garden, will something happen between your teacher and your father?"
It was a simple conversation, about life, death, and responsibility. Neither side was debating principles; they only wanted to make the other understand how unafraid of death they themselves were, and why the other should necessarily have reason to fear it.
This exchange took place within their connected spiritual worlds, and the attack was also spiritual.
Clearly, Xu Yourong's carefully considered words achieved none of the intended effect. Nanke's expression remained indifferent, utterly unconcerned with her own life or death, or the future of the demon race.
"What the Divine Race needs are powerful offspring and the glory of victory. As long as I can kill you and prove that the Divine Race's bloodline is forever the noblest, how could my Imperial Father be grieved or disappointed? He would only be happy to compose a few long poems to be engraved on my tombstone."
Having said this, Nanke took a step forward. Her indifferent gaze became incredibly resolute. Between her hands gripping the sword hilt, the speed of her blood flow suddenly increased.
With this step, a crack appeared in a cliff face hundreds of feet away, and a boulder several feet wide tumbled into the abyss.
The Southern Cross Sword shone even brighter. One blade was before her, like a true galaxy; the other was behind her, like a peacock spreading its tail, blocking the rain of arrows coming from all directions.
The cold, mottled blood turned into countless flames, burning fiercely on the cliff. Her expression remained indifferent, as if she felt no pain, nor any fear of death.
She looked into Xu Yourong's eyes and spoke one last time in the spiritual world: "You are indeed very strong. To kill you, of course, I must shed more blood."
Xu Yourong's expression remained serene, showing no sign of fatigue. But after two consecutive days and nights without sleep or rest, rushing through the wilderness using holy light to heal the wounded, she was actually very tired.
How could she defeat Nanke, who had already gone mad?
Only by trading blood for blood.
With a slight movement of her will, blood gushed like a spring from between her hands gripping the longbow. The holy golden flames burned fiercely, warming the rapidly chilling cliff top once more.
That holy and powerful aura continuously radiated from her body.
Two powerful auras clashed, surging from the summit of Muyu Peak into the night sky.
A faint *crack* was heard from somewhere far away. In the depths of the night sky, a crack appeared on a seemingly transparent curved surface, and then a meteor fell.
This was the Zhou Garden. That meteor was probably not a real one, but it wasn't a Parasol Tree Arrow either. The meteor landed somewhere around Muyu. With a thunderous roar, the entire mountain range began to shake—a section of the cliff on Muyu's flank completely collapsed.
Xu Yourong and Nanke looked at each other, paying it no heed.
Their blood flowed without cease, their auras continuously rising.
More and more crackling sounds echoed in the night sky, giving birth to more and more meteors, all falling towards Muyu.
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(This chapter was written last night and scheduled for release. I've been on a plane and at a rehearsal site all day today, so there's definitely no way I could write. Everyone was very interested in the scene of Yourong shooting her arrow and raised some questions—it really hit the spot for me. I'll post a picture on my WeChat public account. Yes, sit down! Also, the chapter title means exactly that. I haven't played mahjong in a long time. I actually really like it, but my cervical spine... well, everyone knows about that occupational hazard. Finally, pat pat.)