Chapter 1398: A Failed Exploration
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage's body, which was as big as a mountain and much bigger than that of the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage's, was above Inferno Emperor City. Suddenly, he descended rapidly.
Behind him, the Suan Ni Grand Sage followed suit. Silently, he broke through the Primordial Fire Grand Formation and attacked Inferno Emperor City.
Long Shenke, who was in the sky above the city, as well as Duan Muhong and the others in the pavilion, all had grim expressions on their faces. However, they did not panic.
In the pavilion, there was a large time and space spell formation. It shone with a faint light and gradually, the light became more and more eye-catching.
When Duan Muhong and the rest saw the situation before them, they visibly relaxed. "She made it."
In the light, time and space were distorted. Two shadows emerged from it. One of them was a young woman clad in purple robes. Her face was clear and elegant, to the point whereby one did not dare to stare at it directly. The other person was a fierce-looking man. In his eyes, one could see cruelty and cunning.
When they saw the purple-robed woman, Duan Muhong and the rest bowed. "Greetings, Aunt Tian Qing."
The other disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders in the pavilion too bowed their heads.
"Junior Tian Qing.""Senior Tian Qing.""Junior Lin.""Senior Lin."
The young woman was the leader of the Inferno Precipice and the adopted daughter of Xiao Yan She was one of the two powerful Immortal Soul Stage cultivators among the second-generation disciples of the Inferno Precipice. She was the Tian Qing Holy Woman, Lin Tong.
From her expression, she appeared no older than 15 to 16 years old. She stood there firmly and calmly.
When Lin Tong saw everyone around her, she greeted them and said with a smile, "I hope it's not too late."
Due to time constraints, she did not say more. Her body turned and soon, she was seated among everybody cross-legged. She lifted her two hands and formed a mana print.
In the next instant, the Lin Tong shed her human form and revealed her Immortal Soul Avatar, which took the shape of the Flaming Taiji Diagram.
Time and space in the pavilion were distorted as it became unimaginably large. However, the Flaming Taiji Diagram was extremely large. It appeared to occupy almost the entire space inside.
On the top of the Flaming Taiji Diagram, a light shadow flashed and a humongous ancient tree could be seen suspended in mid-air. The branches of the tree were straight and it was full of leaves. It was elegant and regal. It was a Divine Parasol Tree!
Around the Divine Parasol Tree, milky-white Pure Yang Primordial Fire blazed. The fire was not violent, but instead, it felt warm and gentle. It was extremely pure.
The white flames crisscrossed and on top of the Divine Parasol Tree, one could see the shape of a phoenix.
The phoenix made from white fire said in a clear voice, "Senior Lu Yuan, I request your assistance. Let us defeat these monkeys together!"
The fierce-looking man who accompanied Lin Tong chuckled and strode out of the pavilion. Then, his humongous body started to expand massively. His human face was replaced by the face of a tiger.
Afterward, the demon stood up, his head reaching into the heavens. He appeared even bigger than the Yue Cheng Grand Sage. He had the head of a tiger and the body of an ape. His eyes brimmed with sunlight and moonlight. He was the Lu Yuan Grand Sage.
When they saw him, the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, and the Suan Ni Grand Sage all frowned.
While he had surrendered to Lin Feng and joined the Celestial Sect of Wonders, and hence could rarely be seen anymore, the Lu Yuan Grand Sage was still infamous.
Today, no one found it humiliating to be defeated by Lin Feng and then entering his service
The Lu Yuan Grand Sage giggled coldly and took a glance at the Yue Cheng Grand Sage and the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage. He did not even appear to have seen them. Instead, he made straight for the Suan Ni Grand Sage.
The Suan Ni Grand Sage's face changed color. While Suan Ni Tribe were strong, they were nowhere as strong as the Lu Yuan.
The Lu Yuan Tribe's Ten Thousand Mirror Appearances was also able to curb his Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder.
Unlike the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, whose advantage came from his raw strength, or the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, who was full of tricks that could not be reflected back onto him, the Suan Ni Grand Sage was the easiest target for the Lu Yuan Gran Sage.
By attacking him, the Lu Yuan Grand Sage hoped to defeat the easiest target in the shortest possible time. Then, he would turn back to take care of the Yue Cheng Grand Sage and the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage with his allies.
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage frowned slightly. Just as he wanted to step forward, the crowing of a phoenix could be heard from the top of the pavilion in Inferno Emperor City. The Primordial Fire Grand Formation changed and descended down to Inferno Emperor City.
A phoenix made from white fires emerged from Inferno Emperor City. It was only about six inches tall but as it expanded its two wings, they seemed to stretch for thousands of kilometers.
The Primordial Fire Grand Formation, which was clearly divided into its Yin and Yang halves, came blazing down. The True Torch of Kṣitigarbha, which represented the Yin, extended from the left wing of the white phoenix. The Grand Sun Primordial Flame, which represented the Yang, extended from its right wing.
The white phoenix was the center of Yin and Yang. With its green and gold wings made from a fire that obscured the sun in the sky, it made straight for the Yue Cheng Grand Sage.
Unlike the Primordial Fire Grand Formation, which was able to seal a particular area off, the destructive powers of the fire phoenix were much more intense.
Lin Tong was formed from the heart of a Divine Parasol Tree. Naturally, she had an affinity with the Pure Yang Primordial Fire. Right now, she controlled the fire as easily as if it was her soul and made it take the shape of a fire phoenix. Compared to Long Shenke, she was more skilled at manipulating it.
Even the Yue Cheng Grand Sage wore a solemn expression on his face. In his heart, he could sense that something bad was going to happen.
If he became careless, he was unsure of his odds.
"Even with home ground advantage, she is only in her Immortal Soul First Level. One should never underestimate cultivators from the Celestial Sect of Wonders!" The Yue Cheng Grand Sage did not dare to dilly dally. He took a step up and then leaped into the sky. It was as if he had found a path into the heavens as he leaped up.
This was not some teleportation skills from his demonic aura, but instead, it was from his raw physical strength. It came from the muscular strength of the Heavenly Demonic Apes. When they jump, their speed and force eclipsed those of bird-type demons.
Their jump was not only fast but also very explosive. It was instantly able to overcome the restrictions their opponents had placed on them in terms of time and space. With their strength, they were able to overcome spells. If it was powerful enough, they could undermine the natural principles of heaven and earth.
Human cultivators could use this move too. However, when the Heavenly Demon Ape used it, its powers were more apparent.
With that jump, the Yue Cheng Grand Sage's body turned into a tiny black dot as he escaped the seal of the fire phoenix.
In the next instant, the black dot grew bigger and bigger as it descended once more, like a star crashing down onto earth. It smashed straight down, targeting the fire phoenix and Inferno Emperor City.
In the main pavilion of Inferno Emperor City, the leaves on top of Lin Tong's Taiji Diagram started to shake. The light shadow of the phoenix on top of it started to sing clearly.
Around her Immortal Soul Avatar, Duan Muhong and the rest continued to sit. Their hands were connected and every single formation pattern made from fire appeared concrete and solid. The formation became clearer and clearer.
Outside the pavilion, the fire phoenix, with wings big enough to obscure the sun, extended its wings. Formation patterns after formation patterns flashed on top of it.
In the next instant, it kept its wings. The fire phoenix shrank rapidly till it resembled a tiny ember.
There was no aura of violence or tyranny from the ember. Instead, it was clear, elegant and proud. It was easy to feel awed by it, and many found it hard to look at directly.
While the ember was small, the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, who was descending down from the heavens, appeared incapable of dodging it. As long as he fell down onto Inferno Emperor City, he would touch the ember.
The two sides soon clashed. Black fog and the glow of the flames expanded in the void. From a small point, it spread in all four directions and like a tsunami of flames.
In the air, one could hear the agonized screams of the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, who was obviously in pain.
The protective black light on his body was incinerated by the fire. His mountain-sized body was filled with flames, which exploded and gave way to fire tsunamis.
His two blood-red eyes, which had shone like stars, became visibly darker.
However, in his claw, he held a fire phoenix tightly. Strength brimmed from his body. It was as if entire universes were destroyed in his body.
He opened his mouth to roar and one could see starlight in his mouth. It was an actual star, which had been was formed from his demonic powers.
That star exploded at that moment and gave off an unlimited amount of energy. Combined with the Yue Cheng Grand Sage's own powers, the force surrounding him reached a max.
The terrifying power tore the fire phoenix apart!
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage exhaled and his terrifying powers descended quickly to nothing. He appeared weak.
However, what gave him chills was the fact that above the pavilion the of Inferno Emperor City, a huge spell formation continued to spin. From the spell formation, one could see a huge tree.
On top of the tree's crown, the fire continued to burn and one could detect a vibrant, vital energy from it.
After the fire phoenix was torn apart by the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, its body did not struggle. All it did was to leak fire.
At that moment, one could hear the cries of a phoenix from the tree on top of the fire. It grew louder and clearer.
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage frowned. He leaped up into the sky once more and made straight for the Lu Yuan Grand Sage and the Suan Ni Grand Sage, both of whom were battling intensely. The Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, who enjoyed an advantage over Long Shenke, abandoned his current opponent and rushed toward the Lu Yuan Grand Sage too.
The Lu Yun Grand Sage, who had forced the Suan Ni Grand Sage into a corner, sneered. He dodged their attacks.
After the three demons regrouped, an ugly expression crossed the Yue Cheng Grand Sage's face. He roared in a low voice and conjured a black light. The black light turned into a ball of light in the void, and from the ball of light, three rays of light emerged and landed on each of the three demons.
While the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage and the Suan Ni Grand Sage both had looks of dissatisfaction and even resistance on their faces, they did not say anything.
Originally, they wanted to test the bottom line of the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the human cultivators. They did not even get to see Inferno Emperor (Xiao Yan) himself, so what else was there to test? All of them were ashamed.
They concentrated their energy on the black ball of light, even using some of their blood to cultivate it.
In the next instant, a terrifying energy burst from the black ball of light, shocking the Lu Yuan Grand Sage, Long Shenke and Lin Tong.
They sought to stop them, but the black ball of light increased rapidly in size. In a split second, it had grown tremendously.
Then, from the black ball of light, a huge hand reached out and made a grabbing motion toward Inferno Emperor City. The hand appeared capable of fitting this entire area in its palm.