Chapter 71: The True Phoenix Revealed
Murderous intent!
Pure, unadulterated killing intent!
Murderous intent from the Grand Xia!
Lin Fan could feel it—the skull was filled with the pent-up killing intent accumulated over five thousand years of the Grand Xia’s history.
In an instant, he plunged into the abyssal darkness of the skull.
Enduring the onslaught of boundless murderous will, Lin Fan calmed his mind and raised his short blade high above his head.
“Five thousand years of pent-up killing intent!”
“Lend me your strength to reclaim the fortune of the Grand Xia!”
The short blade gleamed with a razor-sharp luster!
A furious roar erupted from the skull, causing heaven and earth to fall silent!
The cry of the scholars of Grand Xia!
The shout of the Grand Xia’s soldiers!
The roar of the nation’s very destiny!
Five thousand years!
Five thousand years of accumulated destiny, reaching dazzling heights.
Then, in a single day, the Eight Nations battered down the gates, plunging the land into chaos, stealing the nation’s sacred artifacts!
This was the roar of the entire Grand Xia, the murderous will of the entire realm raging in fury!
Boom!
That overwhelming murderous intent poured into the short blade in Lin Fan’s hands!
The blade trembled.
It exuded an insatiable thirst for blood!
Blood debts must be paid with blood!
In an instant, the titanium-alloy short blade that Chen Yan and his men had forged overnight turned pitch black, as if it had emerged from the underworld!
Wails of vengeful spirits and cries of the dead echoed upon it.
“Kill!”
Madness twisted Lin Fan’s features as he gripped the blade with both hands, swooping down from the sky toward the undying phoenix pinned to the ground!
“Undying, are you?”
“With this stroke, let’s see if you can still live!”
“This stroke—for the Grand Xia!”
Swish!
With a single stroke, the phoenix’s struggling body was cleaved in two!
Its body turned to charcoal as flames surged anew.
But before it could rise and soar again, Lin Fan brought his blade down once more!
Swish!
A flash of black steel, and the phoenix was split in two again!
In that moment—
Lin Fan was like a demon possessed.
No—
It wasn’t just Lin Fan.
The entire First Squad of the Godslayer Army had fallen into a frenzy!
Fists rained down like searing fire, the friction of their high-speed punches with the air bursting into roaring flames, their terrifying strength pummeling the phoenix relentlessly.
From the shadows, Xingye thrust his Tang blade again and again, each strike streaking through the dark like a falling star.
But most dazzling of all was that blade!
The blade infused with the Grand Xia’s accumulated murderous intent!
A thunderclap boomed!
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Swish!
The blade flashed.
It became impossible to distinguish whether it was the blade’s glint or a bolt of lightning.
Fierce and blinding!
Suddenly, rain began to fall from the sky.
A torrential downpour.
Flashes of lightning mingled with the youth’s blade, striking the phoenix again and again!
Six rebirths by fire!
Seven!
Eight!
Within the thunder and blade’s fury, the phoenix was torn asunder repeatedly, only to rise each time in a blaze of rebirth!
The ninth rebirth was close at hand!
Facing Lin Fan’s raised blade, the phoenix—already slain eight times—showed not a hint of fear in its eyes. Instead, it gazed at Lin Fan with wild arrogance, grinning hideously. “Come on! Kill me!”
“Grant me the ninth rebirth!”
With nine rebirths, it would become a true phoenix!
Then, it would possess the real power of the phoenix!
“Think I won’t kill you?!” Lin Fan’s eyes widened in fury as he brought down the blade, saturated with the Grand Xia’s murderous will.
Thunder exploded across the sky, illuminating the rain-soaked night!
Boom!
Lightning crashed onto the short blade.
Electricity coursed along its edge, dazzling and fierce!
In that instant, the youth seemed to wield thunder itself!
With a stroke infused with the might of the storm, he struck down!
Swish!
Blade and lightning twisted together, tearing the phoenix apart once more.
Charred remains.
Then, the remains cracked for the ninth time.
Scorching flames erupted, and within a hundred meters, the rain could not even fall before it vaporized!
A clear, piercing cry echoed through the world.
A gigantic phoenix, a hundred meters from wingtip to wingtip, soared through the night, flames blazing gloriously!
Sacred.
Beautiful.
Its aura was terrifying—the burning fire prevented even the flurry of fists from drawing near, and forced Lin Fan back dozens of steps, unable to face it head-on!
For a moment, as he looked up at the immense phoenix, even Lin Fan was dazed.
Such power… it was little different from those deities!
No wonder the Free Nation managed to endure so long after the gods descended, second only to the Grand Xia in longevity!
“Hahahaha!”
From within the soaring phoenix, the president of the Phoenix Society laughed madly.
He reveled in this incredible body, in the unimaginable power surging within.
“Grand Xia—you truly are worthy of the name!”
“Five thousand years of destiny, distilled into this power!”
“And now, it’s all mine!”
“How could you, the people of Grand Xia, possibly compete with me?!”
That power was still growing, as if awakening!
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Boom!
The phoenix spread its wings, sending a wave of fire sweeping outward.
Lin Fan hastily slashed his blade, but the searing heat actually made the weapon falter.
Bang!
Apart from Lin Fan, every member of the First Squad of the Godslayer Army was blasted away by the terrifying aura. Even Xingye, hidden in the darkness, was not spared.
Lin Fan was forced back dozens of steps.
It was only thanks to the blade’s gathered killing intent from the Grand Xia that he withstood it at all—otherwise, he might not have survived!
But—
As mighty as the Grand Xia’s killing intent was, Lin Fan was still, after all, just a demi-god.
And before him now was a being of the Grand Xia’s own mythology!
The Undying Phoenix!
Mother of All Phoenixes!
The blade in Lin Fan’s hand trembled.
“Kill!”
Lin Fan charged once more!
Bang!
But the phoenix merely flicked its wings, and the terrifying flames sent Lin Fan flying!
Yet—
A streak of light pierced the fire, stabbing straight for the phoenix’s throat!
A blade!
A blade of Grand Xia!
Lin Fan used his own body to shield against the flames, and at the critical moment, hurled the blade infused with the Grand Xia’s murderous will!
That short blade, saturated with killing intent and the might of thunder, shot through the inferno like a bolt of lightning—no flame could bar its path!
This was the blade of Grand Xia’s vengeance!
In that day when five thousand years of destiny were shattered, when the nation’s treasures were stolen, countless wronged souls roared, countless martyrs cried out!
The blade slashed down!
As the cold light swelled in his vision, the president of the Phoenix Society’s laughter abruptly stopped.
Suddenly, a word surfaced in his heart.
“Die!”
But at that very moment—
The blade, poised to sever his throat, seemed to sense something, and in an instant lost all power, dropping straight from the air!
Clang.
The short blade clattered to the ground.
Its murderous aura dissipated at once.
Seeing this, Lin Fan was utterly stunned.
“Why… why do you refuse to kill it…”
“This was the last chance…”
The president of the Phoenix Society let out a wild, triumphant laugh.
“Hahahaha! It seems even fate itself is against you!”
“Even the Grand Xia behind you doesn’t want to kill me!”
“So close, so close… but now, you have no chance!”
More raging fire erupted from the phoenix.
Nine rebirths!
The phoenix’s strength had fully awakened!
The true phoenix revealed itself!
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