Chapter 61: The Awakening of Fen Yu

Hundreds of Black Feather Army demon guards, their spirits already shattered by Gu Chang’an’s relentless assault, found their eyes blazing crimson under the influence of the royal bloodline horn. Their reason was instantly replaced by a fervent, uncontrollable killing intent.

Their demonic energy surged, and they abandoned their siege on Gu Chang’an without a second thought. Turning as one, they surged towards Shen Zhaoqing, who stood alone in the rear, like a black, putrid tide.

They had gone mad! Utterly insane!

These creatures resembled fanatical cultists, their eyes fixed on a single target, oblivious to all else.

“Holy crap!”

Shen Zhaoqing instinctively blurted out the words.

“Shen Zhaoqing!”

For the first time, Gu Chang’an’s voice carried a clear note of urgency.

She desperately wanted to rush to Shen Zhaoqing’s aid, but the colossal wolf phantom, formed by their battle array and now equally enraged, along with the three fearless Nascent Soul great demons, clung to her like a swarm of vipers. Every move they made was a suicidal strike, aiming to perish together.

They understood perfectly that if they could just pin down this sword immortal of the Qingyun Sect for three breaths—no, even for a single breath—their comrades behind them would be more than enough to tear the troublesome human woman to shreds.

In that moment, Gu Chang’an was rooted to the spot, forced to watch as the deluge of death drew ever closer to Shen Zhaoqing.

Boom—rumble—rumble—

A deep, thunderous roar erupted from the depths of the earth without any warning.

The entire ground shuddered violently.

The tremor was so sudden and intense that the charging Black Feather Army demon guards stumbled as if drunk, swaying and losing their footing. Their relentless advance faltered.

“Hm?”

All humans and demons halted their actions, their faces etched with surprise as they felt the increasingly violent tremors beneath their feet.

“An earthquake?” a leopard demon asked instinctively.

“Nonsense! This is the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain; its ley lines are stable. How could there be an earthquake?” A nearby bear demon rumbled, refuting the claim.

The battle reached an eerie standstill, interrupted by this sudden, anomalous shift in the heavens and earth.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Zhaoqing scrambled backward several steps, putting more distance between herself and the red-eyed demons. She patted her chest, a lingering sense of dread washing over her.

‘Good heavens, even the sky couldn’t bear to watch, could it?’

Yet, she quickly realized that the situation was far more complicated than a mere earthquake.

As the ground tremors intensified, an indescribable heat began to permeate from deep within the earth.

The very air seemed to ignite.

The surrounding snow melted at a visible rate, giving rise to vast swathes of white mist. The plants and trees in the forest withered and blackened rapidly, as if all life had been sucked from them.

A pungent, sulfurous scent of scorching permeated everyone’s nostrils.

“This aura… something is wrong!”

Yuanchao, who was still locked in combat with Gu Chang’an, also paled. As a demon prince, his understanding of this land far surpassed anyone else’s. While the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain was dangerous, it had never experienced such terrifying anomalies.

This scorching aura was no ordinary fire; it carried an absolute pressure, a primal force stemming from bloodline and divine soul, as if some terrifying entity that had slumbered for eons was about to awaken.

“Look at the sky!” Someone shouted.

Everyone looked up in unison.

At the peak of the tallest main mountain of the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain, the summit, once covered in pristine white snow, was now a fiery crimson.

The mountain rocks were melting, transforming into surging magma that flowed down the slopes.

A massive lava lake was rapidly forming at the very top of the peak!

Glug… glug…

Innumerable colossal bubbles rose from the center of the lava lake, as if something was about to burst forth from beneath the scalding, viscous liquid.

Crack—

A massive fissure, spanning the heavens and earth, radiated outwards from the main peak in all directions.

The entire Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain seemed on the verge of being torn apart by this immense power.

“Caw—!!!”

A piercing shriek, high enough to rend the clouds and shatter stones, sharp enough to tear at one’s divine soul, erupted violently from the lava lake.

The sound waves materialized into a tangible shockwave that swept across the entire battlefield.

Core Formation demon guards, with their weaker cultivation, bled from all seven orifices and screamed as they clutched their heads and collapsed, their divine souls severely damaged.

Even powerhouses like Gu Chang’an and Yuanchao felt their blood churn and their primordial spirits ache.

Then, before the terrified eyes of everyone present, a colossal figure, wreathed in burning azure-blue flames, shot skyward from the boiling lava lake.

It was a giant bird.

A monstrous bird… with only one leg.

Its sheer size was immense; its wings, when spread, were vast enough to obscure the sun.

Not a single normal feather adorned its body; instead, it was covered in constantly flickering azure-blue divine fire. Each pulse of the flames caused ripples in the surrounding space.

Its aura was ferocious, ancient, filled with destruction and hatred, far beyond anything any living being on the scene could compare to.

Soul Transformation Realm.

This was a living, ancient great demon from the Soul Transformation Realm.

“Bi… Bi Fang… It’s the ancient fierce bird Bi Fang!” A knowledgeable demon elder cried out the legendary name, his voice trembling and distorted. The color drained from his face, replaced by an expression of boundless terror.

Bi Fang.

Its appearance signified an outbreak of fire in the region.

Legend had it that this was an ominous bird, bringing endless fire and destruction. Had it not been annihilated with the other gods and devils in the ancient war ten thousand years ago? Why was it here?

Fen Yu had awakened.

Her one intact eye burned with the eternal fire of hatred, coldly sweeping across the battlefield.

“Golden Crow’s bastard…”

A hoarse, icy voice, as if composed of the wails of countless vengeful spirits, resonated across the heavens and earth.

Bi Fang, Fen Yu, had spoken.

Her voice was steeped in ten thousand years of unyielding malice and deeply ingrained hatred.

“…Die!”

The instant the words fell, she made no superfluous movements; she simply opened her beak.

Whoosh—

A torrent of azure-blue divine fire, like a breached celestial river, surged forth. It carried a terrifying heat capable of incinerating all things and scorching divine souls, spanning hundreds of feet to engulf Yuange’s position.

This attack completely ignored everyone else.

Black Feather Army demon guards caught in the path of the fire stream couldn’t even scream before they were reduced to ash the moment they touched the azure-blue flames; not even their demon cores remained.

The entire attack was precisely targeted and utterly professional, aiming to completely erase Yuange, along with the very ground beneath her, from this world.

What was happening?

“Princess!” The few demon guards closest to Yuange, loyal to her, roared as they tried to rush forward to her rescue, but a sweep of the residual flames instantly transformed them into wailing torches, dying in agony.

“Hahahaha! Good! Excellent!”

On the other side, Yuanchao first froze, then erupted into a fit of ecstatic laughter.

‘Heaven helps me! Truly, heaven helps me!!’

He had been racking his brain for a way to eliminate Yuange, his thorn in the side, only to discover that the depths of the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain concealed an ancient monster with a blood feud against the Golden Crow bloodline.

This was perfect; he wouldn’t even need to lift a finger.

“All Black Feather Army demon guards, heed my command! Retreat! Everyone retreat!” Yuanchao decisively ordered in a loud voice. “Do not provoke that Bi Fang. Surround that Qingyun Sect woman and her human companion for me. Anyone who dares to save that little bastard bird will be killed without mercy!”