Chapter 730

Chapter 730: Mysterious Black Bird

In the open wilderness, the dawn began to break.

The layered clouds in the sky were illuminated by the slanting sunlight from below, turning them into a magnificent golden hue, spread across the sky, truly a beautiful sight. This was one of the rare short-lived beauties of the day, visible only during sunrise and sunset.

Under the golden light, a huge snake made of mist and clouds swam in the sky, fighting against disciples of the Zhaoye Palace who wore purple clothes like flowers. Occasionally, sword beams burst out, and purple flames exploded, throwing large chunks of the serpent’s body, carrying away scattered scales, while these serpents also swallowed the wandering purple-robed disciples, grinding them into fragments, with blood and foam scattering everywhere.

When the sun fully emerged from the ground, only three giant snakes remained in the sky, while on the opposite side, very few mainline disciples of the Zhaoye Palace were still fighting.

Boom—

Another core disciple self-destructed in mid-air, scattering half of a giant snake’s body.

“Let’s go!” Seizing this opportunity, the last remaining core disciple led the others to retreat, rushing towards the direction of the secluded valley like shooting stars.

“Hahaha, how laughable! Hahaha,” Crane Feather stood on the mountaintop, laughing loudly as if releasing the long-suppressed grievances in his heart, feeling an indescribable sense of relief.

In the early morning of the mountain, a slight chill appeared in the wind. A disciple waited until Crane Feather finished laughing before cautiously approaching him to inquire.

“Now what do we do, Uncle Crane Feather? The main line and the dynasty officials have discovered our intentions.” His heart was somewhat uneasy and he was not happy because of their recent victory.

Crane Feather turned around at this moment, looking at the more than sixty remaining disciples before him, feeling a hint of sighs rising in his heart.

“I know everyone is worried about something, perhaps many of you even hate me, but there’s no choice now, right?”

“Capture that shrine, connect the dragon vein, enter the secret realm, advance in cultivation. After that, we will leave far away.”

“Even if they have means to transmit information, it will take days for the nearest dragon riders of the dynasty to mobilize. All we can do is attack that encampment as quickly as possible.”

“This will be the final battle. After this, none of you need to suffer alongside me anymore.” Crane Feather announced the next steps, temporarily calming the hearts of the people.

“Let’s go.”

Immediately, the cloud snake still lingering in the sky rolled down, entwining around the huge metal alchemy furnace, lifting it up, and flying toward the secluded valley. The rebellious purple-robed disciples followed suit, leaving long trails of light in the sky.

Inside the secluded valley, tension and unease were spreading everywhere. Seeing the defeat of the mainline disciples of the Zhaoye Palace, others were filled with fear.

“How, how is this possible? Aren’t they from a major sect?” A soldier muttered to himself, disbelief filling his eyes.

In the hearts of many, figures from major sects were almost like heavenly beings, invincible. How could they have fallen?

“This, this…” Another ordinary soldier looked at the enormous metal alchemy furnace flying from the horizon, his teeth chattering, his body nearly collapsing.

Thud—

In the early morning, as many members of the Chi clan were praying in secret, a giant alchemy furnace, about twenty meters high, fell from the sky, crashing into the secluded valley, causing blood and foam to scatter, and countless screams echoed.

Three cloud fog wyverns then darted out from the alchemical furnace, baring their fangs at people, their bodies gradually turning a blood-red hue.

Seeing this critical moment, a dozen remaining dragon knights swooped down from the sky. Their human and dragon forms merged as one, transforming into streams of crimson flames. Their long lances, like diamond-tipped drills, collided with the black-and-white metallic alchemical furnace.

A deafening explosion erupted from the metallic furnace, its shockwave causing countless ordinary people to lose their hearing and bleed from their ears.

Though there was a risk of collateral damage, they had no choice but to press on. In the eyes of these dragon knights, destroying this furnace was key to eliminating those cloud fog wyverns.

Unfortunately, while their intentions were correct, their methods were flawed. This ancient treasure was not something easily destroyed; otherwise, the Nightly Palace disciples who were familiar with it would have already attacked the furnace.

The dragon lances broke, and the fire dragons roared in pain. The dragon knights were thrown back by the impact, suffering internal bleeding and dizziness. Seeing their assault on the furnace, the remaining cloud fog wyverns grew enraged. They turned their heads and bit through the wings of the fire-scaled flying dragons, tearing off large chunks of flesh and exposing white bones.

At the same time, other border military experts, ghost-slaying envoys, and surviving Nightly Palace disciples rushed over for the final battle.

In the sky, a stream of light fell, and Hei Ling led the remaining rebel disciples into the fray, stirring up a gale of blood and gore. Intense and chaotic combat resumed within the valley.

Inside the shrine.

Tu Haozhang stood at one corner, looking at the dignified witch clad in black ceremonial robes standing in the main hall. He bowed respectfully and slowly withdrew, leaving the hall to the white-robed women standing inside.

While the intense battle raged on in the valley, the sound of jingling bells began to ring within the shrine. Nearly a hundred white-robed Oni clan women stood in the main hall, chanting softly before slowly dancing.

As the ritual within the shrine commenced, the people outside the shrine who had been waiting also joined in.

The empty ground outside the shrine was now filled with people kneeling on the ground, dressed in white, with white cloths covering their faces, singing in unison. Row after row, the scene stretched until the entire area outside the shrine was a sea of white.

White banners hung in the air, swaying in the wind, with some copper pieces clinking together, producing an ethereal and melodious sound.

An ancient and mournful song rose slowly within the shrine, followed by the thunderous sound of drums.

With each step, the drumbeats rose layer by layer, though not loud, they seemed to strike the hearts of everyone, causing fear and trepidation.

When the ritual within the shrine began, the dragon veins beneath the valley started to flow. Previously, these tributary dragon veins needed to be regulated and calmed. Today, under the witch’s command, they converged into a single channel.

This time, not only the intact dragon veins were summoned, but even the polluted Nine Yin dragon veins were activated.

The battle continued in the valley, but the ground began to emit waves of Nine Yin hellish energy. The entire valley seemed to boil, with visible purple-black smoke rising from a several-thousand-square-meter expanse of land.

The earth around the valley seemed to awaken, with faint tremors occasionally rumbling from below.

“What is this?” Amidst the chaos, Zhen Ling discovered something amiss.

Sweeping away, he forced back the enemies besieging him and looked toward the distant shrine.

The once dilapidated shrine now billowed with thick smoke entwined in black-purple and gold-red hues. The turbid and clear, the branches and main veins, countless dragon vein powers converged here, gradually forming a rising cloud pillar that broke through the airwaves, piercing the clouds and reaching the sky.

As this cloud pillar gradually formed, those kneeling outside the shrine from the Kui clan began to spew blood and step into death, as if their lives and souls were being sacrificed in this ritual.

A desolate and ancient ritual, revealing waves of cruelty and bloodshed. Perhaps people today have long forgotten, but in the barbaric era before the Five Phoenixes emerged, the people on this land lived like this.

Without the phoenix controlling the dragon veins or the witches and ceremonial officials regulating the tributaries of various regions, the ancient eastern tribes could also mobilize the dragon veins. But the methods then were completely different from now; they relied on these divine spirits born alongside the dragon veins in the world.

Such as Xiang Liu, which feeds on the nine lands, having nine heads and a serpent’s body, its appearance would cause floods across the land.

Or Yan Ráo, which hibernates in winter and emerges in summer, with white scales and red whiskers, its appearance would bring bountiful harvests to the four seas.

And in these twilight mountains, there were also divine beasts born alongside the dragon veins.

A sharp, vicious cry came from the horizon. Before the sound had fully spread, the black shadow had broken through the clouds in the sky, piercing through.

Its wings spanned hundreds of meters, feathers black and red, resembling ghostly faces. With a flap of its wings, the sound was like grinding stones under a cart, fiercely tearing apart.

A huge, black and red bird descended from the sky.

Its head resembled a black phoenix, covered in black feathers, its tail feathers long and divided into nine parts, each feather adorned with blood-red patterns, shaped like human faces, causing fear upon sight.

After this strange bird landed, its pitch-black feet stood atop the shrine roof, flapping its wings and letting out a mournful cry, as if lamenting, while the cold wind stirred by its wings swept through the valley, chilling everyone inside and out.

Seeing this strange bird descend, He Yiling knew that any delay would lead to change. He shouted loudly, his feather fan disintegrating, feather-like knives flying out in a sweeping motion, killing several purple-robed disciples blocking his path. Then, he struck the alchemy furnace again, opening the lid.

Soon after, another light column rose in the secluded valley, drawing the soul fragments of the dead into a vortex. This time, even some flesh and corpses were carried by demonic winds into it.

The cloud-veiled snake that had previously been recovering in the alchemy furnace surged out again, eight snake heads coiling around the furnace, devouring enemies who tried to attack. Many Ghost Slayers and border soldiers met their end in the snake’s mouth.

Thus, the force hindering He Yiling was finally dispersed, and there was no longer any obstruction on the path to the shrine.

Seeing this, He Yiling endured the backlash within his body and drove the alchemy furnace once more, commanding the cloud serpents to surge towards the shrine. At the same time, the black bird opposite spread its wings, its sound like grinding stones under a cart, resounding loudly.

Beneath it, the white banners fluttered in the wind, like an ocean, the copper plates clashing, immersed in the ancient song.

Inside the main hall of the shrine, the black-robed witch held a black-and-white incantation staff, slowly turning it. The dragon veins below the shrine surged again, countless mixed dragon vein powers climbing up her body, gradually forming eerie patterns on her, making this once kind witch appear increasingly aged and monstrous.

At this moment, the ritual was far from over.

(End of Chapter)