Chapter 543: Chapter 543
The Phoenix undergoes Nirvana, reborn from the ashes.
The "Nirvana" divine technique is the most famous and enviable technique of the Phoenix Race.
A true pureblood Phoenix, even if killed, can revive through the "Nirvana" divine technique.
Of course, those who can kill the Phoenix once can kill it a second time, so the true purpose of this "Nirvana" divine technique is actually for healing.
With the "Nirvana" divine technique, no matter how severe the Phoenix’s injuries, it can easily heal by escaping to a safe location and undergoing "Nirvana".
The secret of the Phoenix’s ability to undergo "Nirvana" lies in their mastery of Phoenix Fire, which is also known as "Nirvana Fire" or called the "Flame of Life".
Zhouyang once saw Jiang Fengxian unleash seven-colored flames to incinerate the Flying Fire-Eating Ants in the "Red Desert". At that time, seeing those Flying Fire-Eating Ants explode under the burning flames, he became suspicious.
Now seeing Jiang Fengxian indifferent to his injuries and suddenly enveloping himself in seven-colored flames, naturally he thought of the most enviable "Nirvana" divine technique of the Phoenix Race.
He just didn’t expect that Jiang Fengxian, with only half of the Celestial Phoenix Race’s bloodline, could master this great divine technique generally possessed only by Phoenix descendants with extremely pure blood!
Even though the Celestial Phoenix Race claims to be descendants of the Phoenix, possessing the Phoenix bloodline, Zhouyang knew with certainty that not every member of the Celestial Phoenix Race could master the "Nirvana" divine technique, otherwise this Barbaric Alien Race would have unified the Wilderness Jungle long ago!
Involuntarily, a hypothesis popped into Zhouyang’s mind — Phoenix True Blood!
If Jiang Fengxian was like that Moon Shadow Ice Toad and possessed Phoenix True Blood, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to wield this iconic divine technique of the Phoenix Race.
But possessing Phoenix True Blood in a human body likely brings more challenges than benefits for Jiang Fengxian!
According to Zhouyang’s knowledge, those descendants of True Spirits and True Saints with purer bloodlines tend to grow quickly in the early stages.
However, when they ascend from Tier Six to Tier Seven, the Celestial Tribulation they encounter is much stronger than that faced by other Demon Beasts or human cultivators.
Very few of these True Spirit descendants can overcome this enhanced Celestial Tribulation and eventually become True Spirits!
That said, True Spirit descendants have a significantly higher chance of becoming True Spirits compared to ordinary human cultivators becoming Tribulation Crossing True Immortals.
Yet Zhouyang, considering these matters now, seemed premature given that a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal hasn’t emerged in the Spirit Realm for millennia, suggesting how difficult reaching that realm is.
Hence, he quickly set aside these thoughts and focused on acting as a guardian for Jiang Fengxian.
While protecting Jiang Fengxian, he also reassessed the situation on the mountain.
Earlier, when Black Vulture Ascendant and Du Yunsheng engaged in battle, four other cultivators seized the opportunity to climb further up.
By now, the fastest among them was only 30 or 40 zhang from the peak, soon able to reach the top.
The second individual was less than 100 zhang from the peak, almost impossible to be overtaken.
Only the third and fourth were those two surpassed by Jiang Fengxian, and they still had a couple hundred zhang to go, requiring significant effort to reach the top.
Moreover, when the Black Vulture Ascendant detonated his Golden Core, they unavoidably suffered some impact and weren’t completely unscathed.
As for Cultivator Dai, who was heavily wounded like Jiang Fengxian due to Black Vulture Ascendant’s Golden Core detonation, surviving alone would be fortunate enough and reaching the peak was unimaginable, so Zhouyang automatically eliminated him.
In this count, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian had essentially secured a spot to obtain a Holy Infant Fruit.
At that moment, Zhouyang finally understood Jiang Fengxian’s actual intentions behind agreeing to help Du Yunsheng.
"You truly have no desire to owe me anything!"
"Must we truly draw such clear lines between us?"
He looked at Jiang Fengxian in "Nirvana" with a complex expression, feeling not joy but a profound sense of loss.
He had to admit that his efforts to support Jiang Fengxian weren’t solely out of sincere affection, but also aimed to instill a sense of guilt in Jiang Fengxian to prevent him from leaving his side.
Yet now, Jiang Fengxian’s actions clearly conveyed to him that it wasn’t going to work!
She was ultimately a proud phoenix transcending the mundane, unwilling to be caged like a canary by anyone.
Zhouyang should have understood this, yet he attempted with a faint hope.
Realizing his attempt had failed, an inevitable feeling of loss arose in his heart.
Nevertheless, despite the loss, his pride wouldn’t allow him to beseech Jiang Fengxian to stay by his side.
Since they couldn’t become true spouses, they would maintain their current intimate confidant relationship.
As long as Jiang Fengxian didn’t form a Dao Companion with someone else, Zhouyang could accept all of this.
Quarter of an hour passed quickly.
The Seven-Colored Flames on Jiang Fengxian’s body receded back into her body with the passage of time.
With the last wisp of Seven-Colored Flames entering her body, those shocking wounds on her body had fully healed to their pre-injury state, and even the feathers on the pair of Seven-Colored Phoenix Wings behind her had regrown and restored their original appearance.
However, Zhouyang soon discovered that though this "Nirvana" Divine Technique seemed powerful, the cost was evidently substantial.
Not to mention other aspects, just Jiang Fengxian’s cultivation fell from the fourth-layer Golden Core back to the third-layer Golden Core due to exercising the "Nirvana" Divine Technique to heal the injuries.
Though cultivation that has fallen can be restored in the future with some hard work, the price is quite significant.
Moreover, whether there are other side effects, Zhouyang doesn’t know.
He wanted to ask about it, but recalling Jiang Fengxian’s deep aversion to discussing anything related to the "Celestial Phoenix Race," he restrained his desire to inquire.
"Fengxian, are you really okay?"
Thousands of words turned into this one sentence of caring inquiry.
"Brother Zhou, your question shows a lack of insight!"
"Do you not trust me, or do you not trust the legend of the [Nirvana] Divine Technique?"
Jiang Fengxian’s face blossomed into a smile, and with a lighthearted remark, she left Zhouyang speechless.
He smiled wryly and cupped his hands to express his plea, then started to discuss the main matter.
"Since Fengxian, you are fine, let’s hurry up the mountain; changes are more likely with delay."
Jiang Fengxian’s smile disappeared upon hearing this, then she looked at the silhouette of the fourth person already leading them by one or two hundred zhang ahead, her lips moved as she secretly transmitted her voice saying: "Now, to catch up with them through normal means is extremely difficult; we can only emulate Du Yunsheng, proactively eliminate one of them. Only then can we securely obtain two spots!"
In the past, Zhouyang might have opposed Jiang Fengxian’s proposal.
But now, after a slight hesitation, he nodded in agreement.
"If we don’t have to kill, it’s best not to kill!"
He expressed his attitude slightly, and immediately, together with Jiang Fengxian, launched their final sprint.
At this point, the area they were in had entered the lightning strike zone; for every ten zhang they climbed upward, they had to endure a lightning strike.
A piece of good news was that the power of these lightning strikes was not the same for everyone, like gravity, but increased or decreased based on the cultivator’s cultivation realm.
Since Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian were both early-stage Golden Core cultivators, the power of the lightning strike was equivalent to a Tier Five Lower Grade Spell.
With the strength of the two, they could climb forty to fifty zhang in one go before stopping to restore their magical power and adjust their breath.
As they set off again, the cultivator ahead of them felt enormous pressure.
He had secured fourth place through some tricks; otherwise, he wouldn’t even have been in contention for fourth place.
Now seeing Jiang Fengxian who had easily surpassed him before surging again to catch up, he felt immense pressure.
Especially, having witnessed Jiang Fengxian using the "Nirvana" Divine Technique to heal her injuries, it was a lie to say they were not intimidated. Follow current novels on n0velfire.net
Seeing Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian fiercely chasing, the cultivator ahead of them climbed desperately while occasionally turning back with a fierce look towards the two, evidently harboring thoughts of proactively striking them.
However, he was alone, and though in terms of cultivation he’s at the sixth-layer Golden Core, he was not confident in defeating Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian if it came to a fight.
This was his biggest concern.
Thus, in desperation, he transmitted a voice to the cultivator ahead of him: "Fellow Daoist ahead, if you agree to join forces with me to eliminate those two bastards behind, I am willing to hand over all other gains obtained in the Kunxu Realm!"
However, faced with his transmission and plea for help, that person politely rejected: "Sorry, I just want to safely obtain one [Holy Infant Fruit], I don’t want to cause any more trouble, please forgive my inability!"
This was the rational thing to do!
Being ranked third, as long as he retained this ranking, he would definitely get a "Holy Infant Fruit"; why bother with who took fourth or fifth place.
The cultivator with the surname Yu tried to entice him, but did not realize that compared to the "Holy Infant Fruit," the conditions he proposed were worthless.
As expected, the first and second-ranked cultivators soon refused Yu’s plea as well; no one wanted further trouble for a little gain when their quota was already secured.
This increased the pressure on the cultivator with the surname Yu.
Therefore, when he saw Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian closing the distance to within a hundred zhang, he finally couldn’t endure the enormous psychological pressure and proactively launched an attack on the two.