That was the resonance of the Origin Power—how could Fan Wu and Cang Gou possibly hear it?
"What on earth is happening?" Fan Wu asked, his expression grave as he looked at Luan Feng. She did not answer. Instead, she flickered in a flash to outside the hall, her gaze fixed intently in a certain direction. An involuntary spark of excitement flickered through those beautiful eyes.
In the Eastern Domain, on Spirit Beast Island, Jiu Feng sat cross-legged in meditation, dressed in a flowing crimson gown. In the previous battle at the Star God Palace in the Southern Domain, she had been wounded by a Demon Saint of the Demon Race. While the injuries were not severe, they could not be ignored. Fortunately, she possessed the body of a Sacred Spirit, and with her formidable constitution, recovery was not particularly difficult.
When that clear, resonant phoenix cry echoed in the depths of her heart, Jiu Feng slowly opened her eyes and glanced in the direction of the Barbarian Ancient Land in the Eastern Domain. She tilted her head, a look of puzzlement crossing her face.
In the Northern Domain, at the Lingxiao Palace—tens of thousands of zhang underground in the Earth's Lungs—magma churned and rolled. Great bubbles rose to the surface and burst with sharp, crackling sounds. A magnificent Fire Phoenix was there, drawing in the power of the Earth's Fire, stoking the Phoenix True Flame within its body, and awakening the Phoenix Clan Origin Power lying dormant inside.
Suddenly, the enormous Fire Phoenix's form twisted and shifted, shrinking into a small human figure standing atop the magma. Liu Yan cocked her head to listen, and her delicate brows quickly furrowed.
When that phoenix cry rang out from the Barbarian Ancient Land in the Eastern Domain, the entire Star Realm resonated with it. Every being with Phoenix Clan blood felt it—the purer the bloodline, the more profound the sensation. The Origin Power within their bodies surged with a wave of jubilant excitement, leaving them bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
In the Barbarian Ancient Land, Luan Feng hurtled through the sky at top speed, with the thoroughly confused Fan Wu and Cang Gou trailing behind her.
When Luan Feng arrived near the Blood Gate, she immediately witnessed a wondrous spectacle.
On a mountain peak roughly a dozen li from the Blood Gate, a colossal phoenix phantom hung suspended in the air. Its body was utterly pure and flawless, as though carved from the finest white jade. And surrounding this phantom phoenix at its outer edge, birds of every shape and size circled the peak in ceaseless flight. These were all demon beasts native to the Barbarian Ancient Land—some as large as houses, others as tiny as sparrows. Many of them were natural predators and prey to one another, yet in this moment they coexisted in perfect harmony.
Countless more birds continued to pour in from every corner of the Barbarian Ancient Land.
In short order, the space around the mountain peak had been packed so tightly with tens upon tens of thousands of birds that not a sliver of air remained between them. They formed a living constellation around the great phantom phoenix, a multitude of strange cries filling the air. Yet not a single note of panic could be heard in those calls—instead, every voice carried an unmistakable note of joy.
"This is..." Fan Wu stared in astonishment.
"Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix!" On Luan Feng's pale cheeks, an inexplicable flush of excitement had risen.
If the Dragon Clan considered themselves the paramount beings among all creatures, then the Phoenix Clan was universally acknowledged as the supreme rulers of all birds. Though Luan Feng herself carried Phoenix Clan blood and possessed power formidable enough to command the submission of every demon beast in the entire Barbarian Ancient Land, she could never have drawn so many creatures—most of them barely possessing rudimentary intelligence—into such a devoted gathering.
In her heart, she sensed that something of tremendous significance was about to happen to the Phoenix Clan—something that would seize the attention of the entire race.
Specks of light suddenly shimmered into existence like fireflies. Luminous motes of every color materialized out of thin air, flooding their vision. Each point of multicolored light was condensed from the purest Essence of Heaven and Earth, and their dazzling brilliance cast the entire Barbarian Ancient Land in the hue of a divine realm.
The glowing motes swirled and danced, converging upon the phantom phoenix in the sky. Gradually, they draped the pristine white figure in a mantle of seven-colored radiance.
At first, the seven-colored glow was faint. But as the motes of light continued to pour in, the iridescent radiance grew ever more intense.
Luan Feng gazed at it all with unfocused eyes, murmuring, "When the very first Phoenix was born in this world, a seven-colored divine light shrouded heaven and earth..."
"What was that?" Cang Gou had not heard clearly and turned to look at her.
Luan Feng slowly shook her head, offering no explanation. But in those beautiful eyes burned a fervent fanaticism that left Cang Gou staring in surprise.
The seven-colored divine light blazed ever brighter—so bright that even cultivators as powerful as Luan Feng were forced to squint. And as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continued to flow inward, the white phantom phoenix in the sky gradually transformed into a Seven-Colored Divine Phoenix.
The birds circling around it flew faster and faster, and their cries grew louder and louder.
Time passed. Yang Kai held his pose without moving, one finger pressed gently against Su Yan's forehead. The Golden Sacred Dragon Origin Power within his body had been driven to its absolute limit. Seated before him, Su Yan's delicate face cycled through a rapid succession of emotions, while behind her, the seven-colored wings of the Divine Phoenix unfurled lightly, tracing an ethereal silhouette of noble elegance.
In that moment, it seemed as though nothing else remained in all of heaven and earth but that seven-colored radiance. Before that breathtaking presence, all things could only feel a sense of their own inadequacy.
No one knew how long it lasted. When at last a soaring dragon's roar and a clear phoenix cry rang out as one, the countless birds packed around the mountain peak suddenly and orderly dispersed to every side.
And on that peak, two colossal figures shot skyward—a golden dragon and a seven-colored divine phoenix.
Dragon and phoenix, twin harbingers of fortune, spiraled around each other, their auras intertwining as they surged straight into the clouds. The sky split open in an instant, and at first glance, it appeared as though the very heavens had been pierced through.
A deep, rolling peal of thunder swept across the firmament, and sweet rain descended from above.