The resplendent cocoon looked as though carved from primordial immortal stone, crystal-clear and gleaming, immortal mist swirling about it, releasing a thousand beams of auspicious light and ten thousand strands of divine radiance, dazzling and brilliant, its vital essence surging skyward like a dragon.
It felt at ease, coming to rest right beside Ye Fan, suspended in midair, flowing light and shimmering colors, immortal energy surging, accompanied by the harmonious resonance of the Grand Dao, like the playing of immortal music.
“Crack!”
Cracks spread across the cocoon, denser and more numerous, until finally a piece broke free, releasing a most sacred and divine aura, serene and dazzling.
Ye Fan, Pang Bo and the others all tensed, becoming even more vigilant, scanning in all directions, guarding fiercely against any young powerhouse present attempting a sneak attack — the person within the cocoon had reached a critical moment of transformation, one that couldn’t afford to be interrupted.
“Pop!”
A soft sound, and another fragment fell away from the cocoon, immediately releasing a fragrant, sweet scent, auspicious colors and immortal mist swirling, divine light obscuring the sun.
The fallen fragment had been positioned right over the eyes of the person within the cocoon, and at this moment, those eyes opened — pure and clear as crystal, sparkling and translucent, brimming with spiritual energy.
Anyone who saw them couldn’t help but gasp in admiration — beautiful!
These eyes held a certain spirituality, the pupils like flawless black gemstones, giving anyone who looked upon them a sense of closeness to the Dao, pure and natural — an unadorned beauty.
“BOOM!”
Several people struck out, attempting to interrupt this transformation, among them Bronze Ant King closing in as well, his entire body a bronze hue, radiating a powerful force, as though capable of shaking down the ninth heaven.
Ye Fan’s eyes flashed instantly like twin blades — at this moment, whoever dared disrupt this, he would strike them down with his strongest methods, his whole body blazing with golden flame.
Ye Fan took a single step forward, and the entire landscape trembled. Source Technique, Battle Sage Technique, Military Character Mantra, and more, all activated at once, both fists moving as one, like dragon and tiger vying for supremacy, as if the very heavens and earth were about to shatter.
He transformed into a ghostly blur, charging forward, moving at absolute maximum speed, catching everyone off guard — this was the manifestation of the Character Mantra of Movement.
“Poof!”
One of them was struck directly, exploding into a mist of blood, body and spirit utterly destroyed!
This was Ye Fan’s most powerful strike, containing the entirety of his vital essence and spirit — visions, true form, secret techniques, and Dao methods all displayed at once, fused into one, unleashed with overwhelming ferocity.
Poof!
He charged straight through, and a second person was struck, shattered — bone fragments scattering, blood spraying everywhere, staining the void and the ground crimson.
This scene left everyone stunned. Though it was only two strikes, it was comparable to an earth-shattering battle — Ye Fan had condensed the boiling sacred power of his entire body’s essence and primordial spirit into it.
It wasn’t that the two who died weren’t strong enough — rather, what should have been a fiercely contested battle had been compressed into a direct clash, decided in a single strike!
The Human Race’s Holy Body was willing to pay any price, fighting recklessly in all directions — this left everyone deeply wary.
These people all retreated, several of them coughing up mouthfuls of blood directly — crushed by an overwhelming, unrivaled pressure, injured before even being struck.
Clearly, they hadn’t truly been fighting seriously — after all, everyone had witnessed the earlier clash between Sacred Spirit and Ye Fan; those present merely wanted to “stir up trouble,” pick a fight, unwilling to let the one inside the cocoon complete their transformation smoothly.
But no one had expected Ye Fan’s reaction to be this “intense” — going straight for a life-and-death fight, willing to burn through his own vital essence to wipe out anyone who dared approach.
“Let’s see who among you dares to move — if anyone strikes here today, I will destroy their entire clan in the future!” Ye Fan roared.
“That’s right — whoever dares move, I’ll personally visit whatever ancient star domain he’s from and wipe out his entire clan, down to the last unweaned mouse!” Pang Bo added viciously, intimidating the crowd.
“If it’s truly Brother Ye’s old friend, we can wait a moment, no harm in that.” Shen Lan, the Divine Race’s Heavenly Maiden, said. She had no wish to kill whoever had obtained the divine-demon fluid, because that treasured fluid contained fragments of the Grand Dao, equivalent to the legacy of the primordial gods and demons — if possible, she hoped to win this person over, bring them into the Divine Race’s fold.
“Pop!”
Another fragment fell from the cocoon, revealing a mouth, crystal-clear and gleaming, leaving everyone’s expressions frozen.
Especially Shen Lan, Stone Man, Bronze Ant King and the other young Supreme Beings — all stunned, this wasn’t what they’d expected; such beautiful eyes, yet paired with such a “mouth”?
“Chirp, chirp……”
A soft, babbling sound came from within the cocoon, waves of fragrant scent wafting out after the transformation, like a child seeing a beloved family member, filled with joy, nuzzling against Ye Fan.
Finally, the cocoon shattered into pieces, all fragments falling away, dazzling and resplendent, like a mass of golden immortal fire burning bright, illuminating the entire area.
It turned out to be a golden divine bird!
Shen Lan, Stone Man and the others all stood dumbfounded — they had assumed a peerless beauty would emerge, never expecting it to be a bird, a result far from what they’d anticipated.
“It’s really a bird?!” Long Ma, Black Bear Sage and the others stared wide-eyed, having also assumed a woman would emerge, never expecting an extraordinary divine bird instead.
Its whole body blazed resplendent, over a zhang long, covered in golden feathers, dazzlingly bright, like a wisp of rosy cloud, or a mass of flame, brimming with spiritual energy. Its form resembled a phoenix, though not displaying the five colors — instead a single, noble gold, its tail feathers very long, comparable to its body length, reaching a full zhang, vivid and resplendent.
Its eyes were like black gemstones, every other part crystalline and translucent, as though cast from gold — this was a Lightning Phoenix Bird, a rare species from ancient times, possibly the only one of its kind in this era.
It possessed ancient phoenix bloodline — such an aura needed no further explanation; everyone could see that it might one day draw close to a true Divine Phoenix, its bloodline awakening ever more fully the higher its cultivation rose.
“To think, after all these years, you still remember me.” Ye Fan stroked its head, unable to hold back a sigh of emotion.
“This is a divine bird!” The Divine Race’s Heavenly Maiden, standing at a distance, wore a grave expression.
The others fell silent — such a bloodline was already extraordinary enough on its own; combined with having undergone a transformation using divine-demon fluid, it was all the more transcendent, perhaps even approaching the Phoenix Progenitor bloodline.
“What good is a powerful bloodline — on the actual battlefield, none of that matters if your true strength falls short; you’ll still be crushed by others,” Stone Man said coldly.
“Are you talking about yourself? If you’re not convinced, come here — I’ll gladly punch you into pieces again!” Ye Fan taunted, his expression cold, carrying a cruel killing intent.
Stone Man wanted to retort but found nothing to say — the real record spoke for itself; saying more would only bring further humiliation upon himself.
“Chirp, chirp……” the Lightning Phoenix Bird chirped, rubbing its head against Ye Fan, like a child seeing a beloved elder. Yet its true strength was by no means weak compared to everyone present — it was extremely formidable, enough to make everyone wary.
Ye Fan didn’t find this surprising at all, because he knew its origins well — the Lightning Phoenix Bird was rare to find even in ancient times; should it grow up normally, it would inevitably become a Demon Sage, let alone with a starting point already this high.
Years ago, before it had even hatched, it had already received a gift from its parents — the old Lightning Phoenix Bird, wounded, had transformed its Dao, pouring an entire lifetime’s Dao foundation into the golden egg, giving it nearly the starting point of a Dao-Severing King.
Of course, this wasn’t even its greatest fortune, because there was another stroke of luck that could be called truly defiant — something no other demon race or ancient beast could match!
That was — it had obtained the Demon God Flower!
What was this thing? A supremely defiant divine plant — for an underage demon, nothing was more precious, capable of being used to forge an imperishable Dao foundation.
Back then, even Black Emperor had once sighed, wishing he could borrow another hundred thousand years from heaven, to return to his infant years, just to consume this flower — enough to show just how precious it truly was.
The Demon God Flower contained the most primal Dao power of heaven and earth, possessing the most powerful spirituality, regarded by the demon race and ancient beasts as a supreme sacred treasure, something they’d go mad over.
For an adult demon, it held little use — yet its true wonder lay in cultivating young demon spirits, refining their bloodline, spirituality, and bone-structure, transforming heaven and earth itself.
Legend has it that both Demon Emperor Xue Yueqing and the recent Green Emperor had once consumed the Demon God Flower — it was a foundation-laying immortal treasure for those with peerless bone-structure.
In the past, the divine crocodile and vicious ghost of the Desolate Star had displayed themselves at the Northern Dipper, dragging in Liu Yunzhi, Lin Jia, and others — Ye Fan, pursuing the truth, had journeyed all the way to the Feathering Immortal Valley.
The Lightning Phoenix Bird, freshly hatched, had been placed by Ye Fan and Ji Ziyue at the roots of the Demon God Flower, absorbing the entire plant’s essence — a truly defiant stroke of fortune, one that left even Black Emperor, despite his thousands of years, envious enough to claim he was still young, wanting to experience the flower’s divine power himself.
Back then, the Lightning Phoenix Bird had been just a little thing, no bigger than a fist, covered all over in fuzzy down — and now it had grown this magnificent, leaving Ye Fan sighing at how time flowed like water, passing so quickly.
“Where’s Ziyue? And where’s Brother Haoyue?” Ye Fan asked.
“Haoyue is in secluded cultivation. Ziyue might be in danger.” The Lightning Phoenix Bird’s nature was pure and innocent, its voice young and tender, its black-gem eyes blinking, carrying a note of anxiety.
Recently, many formidable figures had entered the depths of the forbidden ground, and Ji Ziyue and the others, right in the midst of the critical period of their transformation, could only keep retreating and evading. Yet the outsiders, seeking the divine-demon fluid, had tracked them relentlessly, nearly catching up.
“Chirp, chirp, quick, find Ziyue — she came out of seclusion first, and with so many enemies, she surely can’t fend them all off,” the Lightning Phoenix Bird said, its voice crisp, carrying the tender tone of a young girl, pecking at Ye Fan’s robe with its beak before leading the way ahead.
Ji Ziyue had left seclusion before truly reaching completion, sealing her brother and the Lightning Phoenix Bird within separate mountain grounds, going off herself to lure away the enemies — and now, no one knew what had become of her.
Ye Fan’s heart sank immediately, and he followed close behind without hesitation; Pang Bo, Long Ma and the others fell silent as well, rushing forward — they all understood the danger of the situation.
“Trying to leave? Not so easy!” Stone Man bellowed, unleashing a formation array with a boom, cutting across their path, blocking their attempt to go to the rescue.
“Have you grown tired of living!?” Ye Fan raged, his fury igniting for the first time like this — there was no time to lose, and yet this Sacred Spirit dared block his path at such a critical moment, his malice plain for all to see.
“Everyone, we’ve already made an enemy of him today — it’ll be a fight to the death between us from now on regardless, so what’s there left to hold back for? Use everything you have to keep him here,” the Sacred Spirit said coldly, determined to block Ye Fan’s path, to prevent him from going to the rescue, leaving him with eternal regret.
Some were eager to try; others fell silent.
“Whoever blocks me dies!” Ye Fan roared with fury, his Source Technique shaking the heavens, flinging out his hand — dozens of golden formation arrays erupted at once, shattering the killing formation the Sacred Spirit had set up with a single boom.
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, and the Sacred Spirit’s expression changed drastically. Without another word, he was the first to flee — the very one who’d proposed joining forces was, in the end, also the first to bolt.
The others cursed inwardly — this was too much, his heart truly vicious, dragging everyone into this for his own revenge, only to lose his nerve so shamelessly in the end.
The Sacred Spirit had only one thought in mind — not wanting to die. Ye Fan, at this moment, was truly unstoppable head-on, nearly unrivaled; Stone Man knew that facing him one-on-one meant certain death, hence his flight.
“BOOM!”
Ye Fan’s true form shattered the firmament, his palm striking out like a massive golden millstone, the golden palm landing squarely on the Sacred Spirit’s back — with a burst, everything from his chest down was pounded into pulp, blood spraying wildly.
He had a mind to give chase, but feared the delay might put Ji Ziyue in greater danger, so he turned and left instead, letting the Lightning Phoenix Bird lead the way ahead.
Mountains and rivers rushed past behind them as they sped swiftly toward an ancient piece of ground.