Chapter 160: An Illusory Phoenix

　　“Damn you! I’m going to refine you into a human pill today!” Yunxiao roared as a flaming cloud emerged between his eyebrows, and his hands moved faster, forming various incantation gestures. One huge incantation seal after another flew out of them, each turning the illusory cauldron that trapped Xingyang Kun more solid. At the same time, the flaming cloud on his forehead grew more vivid as well.

　　Xingyang Kun’s eyes widened as he stared at the flaming cloud on Yunxiao’s forehead in shock. He had a feeling that a power that had been sleeping for millions of years was slowly waking up in his opponent’s body. A shiver that came from the depths of his soul rose from the bottom of his heart. “What are you doing? What is that flame!” he growled.

　　Yunxiao’s face was as pale as a sheet, his eyes empty, but his hands were frantically performing incantation gestures. As if being summoned by one call after another, the Phoenix True Flame in him began to gradually wake up from its slumber.

　　Even Qian Duoduo, who had not yielded any success with his attack, was alarmed, and he could sense a strong dread coming from the depths of his soul, as if an ancient demon beast was about to break out from within Yunxiao. Subconsciously, he backed off, and then he discovered that not only he, but the few nearby hoverchariots had already moved far away at some point in time.

　　Streams of light began to ripple across Yunxiao’s skin, and he seemed to have turned transparent: it was his Glazed Body. As incantation gestures kept being performed, the light moved faster, and it looked like he was about to turn into a fully transparent man made of white jade. Meanwhile, a terrifying flame slowly emerged between his eyebrows, which was so strong that even his Glazed Body could hardly resist it. Wisps of smoke were rising from his body, as if it were about to vaporize by the burning.

　　“Stop it, lad! Stop it right now!” Xingyang Kun screamed, terrified. The growing dread and pressure in his heart made him feel the approach of death. It was a feeling that he had not felt for over thirty years after he had become a Martial Grandmaster.

　　RUMBLE!

　　Under his desperate exertion, the huge gold coin that trapped him finally broke apart, shattering into pieces and shooting out in all directions.

　　“How dare you use a demon art! Die now!”

　　Xingyang Kun breathed a sigh of relief, and he felt the confidence and strength of a Martial Grandmaster come back to him again. His eyes burned with killing intent as he kicked in the air and rushed toward Yunxiao. Golden light burst out as his body smashed into the illusory cauldron, but then he managed to leap out of it.

　　“You are the one who is going to die! Skyburning Technique!”

　　Yunxiao performed an incantation gesture with both hands. Suddenly, a bird’s call rang out at the bottom of every person’s heart, sounding as if it were coming from another world. Then, a fiery-red shadow flew out of the flaming cloud on Yunxiao’s forehead as it spread its wings and flew gracefully toward Xingyang Kun.

　　Everyone, including Xingyang Kun, sucked in a cold breath at the same time. When they sensed the aura emanated from the illusory flaming bird, they all froze to the spot; they could hardly move their legs, and they could not think of resisting it.

　　Xingyang Kun broke out in a cold sweat. Hurriedly, he threw out his palms, putting all his strength into them.

　　The illusory phoenix gave a sonorous cry and smashed into Xingyang Kun’s palms, pushing and forcing him back into the Cauldron of Five Elements from where he had just jumped out. That terrified him, but at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief, for at least he had blocked the powerful attack. However, the Primordial Qi on his palms was crazily turning into smoke and dissipating, as if it were burned by the bird. He reckoned that if he did not resist it with Primordial Qi, he would have turned into smoke and vanished in an instant under the illusory flaming bird’s attack.

　　‘This flaming bird is only in its illusory form, and yet it is already so powerful! Would I be able to resist it for even a brief moment if it were fully materialized?’ Suppressing the great fear in his heart, he sent all his Primordial Qi into his palms to resist the bird’s burning.

　　Meanwhile, Yunxiao was crazily performing incantation gestures to push the illusory phoenix forward. Initially, he intended to summon the real Phoenix True Flame, but he had consumed too much of his spiritual energy just then, so he could only wake an illusory form after trying his best. Even so, it had driven him to the end of his tether. From top to bottom, he had turned pale blue like a transparent blue jade, with his meridians, bones, and the flow of his blood clearly visible to the naked eye. It was the limit of the Glazed Body, and if he continued, his body would soon disintegrate.

　　“I will refine you into a human pill today, even if it will cost my life!”

　　At the thought of Meng Wu, and how the blood had sprayed out of her as she fell toward the ground, he felt a stab of pain in his head. He clenched his teeth and growled. Meanwhile, a loud rumble rang out of the purple cauldron that hovered above while its huge illusory form down below began to grow solid. At the same time, streams of five-element light flew out of the cauldron and wheeled restlessly around Xingyang Kun, looking beautiful.

　　That shocked Xingyang Kun further. It had been very laborious for him to defend against the illusory flaming bird, but now those light streams of five different colors were constantly consuming his Primordial Qi, as if they were really going to refine him. “The power of five elements from a Dao Fruit of Five Elements! I’m a Martial Grandmaster of the Six Directions realm. Do you think you can hurt me with the martial essence of the Five Elements realm?”

　　“I will destroy this martial essence of five elements! Come out now, Ghost Kill!”

　　Black smoke flew out of him and transformed into countless ghost heads that crazily devoured the light. For a moment, the whole inside of the illusory cauldron was filled with ferocious ghost heads, all howling and wailing.

　　Seeing that, Qian Duoduo’s face grew serious. The moon-shaped mystic artifact appeared once again and wheeled around him, then he performed an incantation gesture and cried out softly, “Romance is incomparable! Go!” The artifact slashed out and thrust into the illusory cauldron like a sheet of moonlight that fell from the sky, and began to crazily attack the ghost heads.

　　“Sons of a bi*ch, you are all sons of a bi*ch!”

　　Xingyang Kun’s eyes burned with monstrous rage as he saw the moon blade destroy all his ghost heads and fly toward him. He was a Martial Grandmaster, a mighty expert who was not required to kneel even when he saw the emperor of the Firecrow Empire. He could not believe he was brought into such a miserable state by a bunch of ants today, and was even facing a deadly crisis now. Shame, anger, and madness all washed over him at once, and he roared, “Even if I will be killed today, I will bring you all down to hell with me!”

　　Abruptly, he pulled back his palms, and a mystic artifact appeared in his hand in the next instant. With madness filled his eyes, he sent all his Primordial Qi into it. Beams of light burst out of the artifact, and the surrounding void began to shake under the great power.

　　“He’s going to detonate his intrinsic mystic artifact!”

　　Startled, Qian Duoduo hastily pointed out a finger and summoned back his moon-shaped mystic artifact. An intrinsic mystic artifact was refined with the owner’s soul, so they were spiritually connected. If it were detonated, the owner’s soul would suffer a great injury as well. It was the only method apart from self-detonation a warrior could use when he was forced into a dead end.

　　His shocking cry frightened the members of Merak on the nearby hoverchariots. The later part of the fight had been too intense for them to get involved, so they had moved far back to watch, and they all had an unreal feeling as they saw Yunxiao keep suppressing Xingyang Kun.

　　Was this really a fight between a Martial Master and a Martial Grandmaster? How could that be? It should be the Martial Grandmaster lightly pointing out a finger, and then the Martial Master being killed instantly with his body and soul wiped out completely! The fight in front of them had completely overturned their common sense!

　　It was only when they heard Qian Duoduo’s cry that they woke from the shock and quickly drove their chariots further away. The detonation of a Martial Grandmaster’s intrinsic mystic artifact was so powerful that even just the wind kicked up by it would enough to kill them.

　　“Die, all of you!”

　　Xingyang Kun was completely crazy. Just as the illusory phoenix reached him, the intrinsic mystic artifact reached its limit as well, and it burst into golden light.

　　Yunxiao, on the other hand, stood on his chariot, his eyes empty, lifeless, and emotionless as he controlled the illusory flame and purple cauldron. He was determined to succeed, even if that meant his own death. ‘You cannot stop me from refining you into a human pill even by detonating your intrinsic mystic artifact!’

　　Suddenly, his pupils constricted as he saw a small crack burst open on his arm, and then a patch of skin, about the size of a bean, drift off his jade-like skin, leaving a hole with bright-red blood oozing out of it. ‘This is…Is my Glazed Body about to disintegrate?’

　　RUMBLE!

　　The mystic artifact in front of Xingyang Kun finally exploded, bursting in the air like a huge golden firework. The whole sky was filled with a blinding golden light, which sent a stab of pain into the eyes of all in Yanwu, forcing them to shut their eyes. For a moment, the whole world turned into a golden sea, and everyone’s ears were deaf from the loud explosion.

　　Yunxiao saw nothing but a flash of white, and he closed his eyes. But strangely, although he was in the middle of a huge explosion, he did not feel the blast at all. Curious, he opened his eyes slightly, and then his head went blank and his body froze in an instant. He saw Chen Dasheng, with arms outstretched and facing him, shielding him from the blast.

　　“Uncle Chen, you…”

　　“You are fond of putting yourself in danger, aren’t you? You should have fled when you saw your opponent about to detonate his mystic artifact.”

　　Fled? Yunxiao smiled bitterly. It was not that he did not want to flee, but he had used his last bit of strength to control the illusory phoenix flame, and his Glazed Body was covered with cracks and could disintegrate completely at any time. So, he could not flee even if he wanted to. Looking at Chen Dasheng’s calm expression, he felt a stab of pain in his eyes, and his vision seemed to blur with something wet.

　　“Lad, always act according to your ability in the future, understand? I owe you my life, and I am paying you back now. I really appreciate your grandpa for taking care of me these years, and I want to thank you for letting me, a cripple, stand up again and spend such a short but wonderful time with you. It’s time to go. Take care of Chen Zhen for me, and say goodbye to your grandpa for me.”

　　“Hey, hey! This isn’t funny! It is just the explosion of a mystic artifact, and you are a Martial Lord! Don’t play with me, open your eyes now!” But, no matter how he cried and shouted, Chen Dasheng’s eyes remained closed, and he slowly fell backward with a calm smile on his face.