Ch. 1437 - Battle of Two Beasts, Flame of Death

The phoenix born of the Flame of Zhurong faced the Qiongqi born of the Primal-Chaos Sacred Flame from afar.

The two fiery beasts roared at each other endlessly.

They didn’t seem like conjured illusions but living creatures, true beasts of fire and fury.

The phoenix cried sharply, its enormous body soaring through the heavens.

The Qiongqi bellowed in return, its long fangs gleaming as its eyes locked coldly onto the phoenix, ready to leap at any moment and strike it down.

“Kill!” came the command from the Sacred Flame Trinity.

The Qiongqi sprang upward with a mighty bound, leaping higher even than the phoenix in flight.

With a deafening roar, it crashed down onto the phoenix’s back, its claws tearing and biting relentlessly, as though intent on ripping the phoenix to shreds.

The Qiongqi was savage beyond measure. In the blink of an eye, it had already forced the phoenix from the sky, tearing at its flesh no matter how it struggled.

“I thought it would be stronger than this,” Life-Death Sovereign snorted. “All thunder, no rain.”

But Xu Zimo wasn’t worried. He merely watched, calm and unmoved by the elder’s taunt.

When the Qiongqi finally killed the phoenix, it turned its ferocious gaze toward Xu Zimo, roaring as if to boast of its victory.

“Easy there, little one,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile.

He waved a hand, and from the torn corpse of the phoenix came a low, resonant cry.

The phoenix could be reborn from its own flames.

That was, after all, its true nature.

As it grew stronger, the fire around it burned even more fiercely.

The phoenix let out a piercing cry, this time, it didn’t wait for the Qiongqi to retreat. Its sharp talons seized the beast and dragged it into the sky.

Streams of flame poured forth, engulfing the Qiongqi in a sea of fire.

The Qiongqi’s screams echoed through the void.

“The phoenix can be reborn from its flames,” Xu Zimo said with a smile. “I wonder if your Qiongqi can do the same.”

“Don’t get cocky, boy,” one of the Sacred Flame Trinity growled coldly.

The three of them began forming hand seals at once.

Markings shaped like demonic beasts appeared in their palms, pulsing with power.

With a unified shout, they hurled a dozen beast seals into the air.

The Qiongqi, already on the verge of death, suddenly let out a desperate roar as it sensed the seals approaching.

When the seals merged into its body, its aura surged violently.

The power inside it grew so rapidly that it seemed ready to explode, its body unable to contain the force.

When it reached the limit, the three elders finally stopped.

With another earth-shaking roar, the Qiongqi broke free from the phoenix’s claws.

It leapt into the air, spewing its own torrent of fire.

The massive phoenix was once again consumed by flames and perished beneath them.

“It’s useless,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “Each death only makes it stronger.”

The phoenix was reborn once more.

It dived from the sky, igniting the heavens and earth in crimson fire.

This time, its power was overwhelming, it charged through everything like a storm, crashing head-on into the Qiongqi.

With a deafening boom, the two beasts perished together in a single cataclysmic explosion.

But while the Qiongqi’s death was final, the phoenix rose again from the ashes, its sharp eyes now fixed on the Sacred Flame Trinity.

“What kind of flame is this? It’s so domineering,” Imperial Throne Sovereign said, his expression dark and wary.

“Domineering is just the basic nature of the Flame of Zhurong,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile. “I haven’t even begun to unleash its full power.”

His gaze drifted toward the three coffins beside them. “At least you’re self-aware enough to have your coffins ready.”

“Who they’re prepared for isn’t decided yet,” Life-Death Sovereign sneered.

“If you still have any tricks left,” Xu Zimo said, “go ahead and use them. Three Saint Sovereigns, it’s not much. You’ve grown old, past your prime, and your strength has faded.”

“It’s enough to kill you,” Life-Death Sovereign snapped.

“Should we use that move?” Heaven-Seize Sovereign asked.

His tone was dark, hesitant, filled with reluctance.

Even Imperial Throne Sovereign fell silent, knowing well what that move would cost.

“If the Prince's Manor is destroyed today,” Imperial Throne Sovereign said coldly, “then we three will bear the blame first. Since that’s the case, we might as well go down fighting. At least we’ll leave behind a spark for the manor to survive.”

“With the Chaos Fire God Realm’s protection, the Prince's Manor could still rise again,” Life-Death Sovereign nodded.

“Chaos Fire God Realm,” Heaven-Seize Sovereign scoffed. “We’ve fought this long, yet not a shadow of them has appeared. They’ve abandoned us, left us to die.”

“The Fire Ancestor knows something,” Imperial Throne Sovereign said quietly, his gaze deep and unreadable.

Having made up their minds, the three elders sat cross-legged on the ground.

They began chanting under their breath, hands weaving rapidly through complex seals.

A gray aura of death spread through the air.

At that same moment, all those of royal blood in the manor, whether direct lineage or distant branch, felt something stirring deep within their souls.

Across the royal grounds, people screamed in agony, collapsing to the floor.

Their faces twisted in pain, veins bulging and bodies flushed red as their blood boiled.

The veins on their foreheads swelled grotesquely.

Everyone nearby was horrified.

“What… what’s happening?”

“They were fine just a moment ago! Why are they like this?”

In moments, every person bearing royal blood lay dead, hundreds of them, motionless on the ground.

The blood within their bodies had been burned away, transformed into dark flames.

Those black flames then rose from their corpses, swirling upward into the sky.

Countless deaths gave birth to countless flames, each one reeking of death itself.

As the flames gathered, they flew toward the Sacred Flame Trinity.

In the void, the black fires began merging into one terrifying mass.

A shadow of death spread over all.

Someone swallowed hard as the flame drew near, they could feel their very life force being drained away.

“What… what is that?” someone gasped.

“Why do I feel like I’m dying just by standing here?”

“Could it be…” one person began, then stopped, eyes wide in horror.

“They’ve gone mad! The Prince's Manor has gone completely mad! What are the Sacred Flame Trinity trying to do?”

“It seems they’ve been driven to desperation, this must be their final move,” another whispered with a heavy sigh.

Xu Zimo didn’t interfere. He only watched calmly, sensing the overwhelming aura of death gathering before him.

But he wasn’t afraid.

For one who possessed the inheritance of Jumang, what was death, after all?

Unless crushed by absolute power, like that of the old thief from before, death held no real meaning for him.

Minor tricks like these were nothing.

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