Note: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop Power Stones and leave a comment to help the story reach more readers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Temple's Ashes, Phoenix's Fury
In the endless darkness, a violet blaze illuminated the sky.
The Fire Phoenix, noble, aloof, and defiant, roared with searing purple flames.
The temple crumbled to dust, countless human corpses consumed in the towering inferno.
Only the Nascent Soul trio's spiritual shields saved them from the flames, but their clothes burned away, bodies blistered and bleeding.
Such was the terror of Strange Flames.
"Who dares? Show yourself!" the lipless leader roared, eyes bloodshot, watching his painstakingly collected corpses vanish in the blaze.
His brothers fared no better, their venomous glares burning with rage, howling into the silent night.
The Fire Phoenix loomed above, but fury clouded their reason. They ignored its Strange Flame nature, craving vengeance.
Yet, if the foe proved too strong, they'd flee cunningly.
They weren't fools.
Step, step.
Footfalls echoed softly.
A black-cloaked figure emerged from the flames, long hair flowing, a sinister grinning mask hiding a silver-white eye glinting with malice.
Violet flames danced around him, fawning like subjects before a flame emperor. The Fire Phoenix hovered behind, a loyal guardian.
The sight was terrifying.
The Blood Spirit Triad frowned, unable to sense his aura despite probing.
"Who are you? Dare meddle with the Blood Spirit Triad?" the rouged, shrill-voiced third brother screeched, his eunuch-like tone grating.
Lan An stayed silent, unwilling to waste words. He wanted only to kill.
With a thought, soul power surged into the Fire Phoenix.
Against these fiends, he'd fight with full force, no complacency.
SCREECH!
The Fire Phoenix seemed alive, soaring freely, its flaming wings slashing at the trio.
"No matter who you are, you'll die miserably!" the lipless leader bellowed, lunging skyward. His left hand flipped, revealing a Blood Pearl.
A torrent of blood, infused with spiritual energy, surged like a river, clashing with the Fire Phoenix.
Sizzle!
Blood evaporated, but the Blood Pearl supplied endless power, stalling the Fire Phoenix's assault.
"Earth-Grade artifact?" Lan An's face darkened. How many lives fueled that horrific blood reserve?
"Third, aid me! It's a Strange Flame!" the leader barked, knowing his blood would eventually run dry against such a foe.
"Second, use the Blood Slaughter Corpse. This man's no ordinary foe. I'll help Big Brother," the third shrilled, leaping skyward.
With a thought, his storage ring flashed, summoning two human corpses.
"Flesh-Devouring Art!" he roared, devouring the corpses.
His pale face flushed, his frail body swelling into a muscular giant, clothes shredding. His Mid Nascent Soul realm spiked to Late Nascent Soul.
Bloodshot eyes glared as he swung a massive arm, infused with blood energy, at the Fire Phoenix's wing.
SCREECH!
The Fire Phoenix raged, countering with a wing strike.
BOOM!
Flames scattered, and the third brother staggered back, blood energy dimming.
He devoured two more corpses, restoring his power.
Lan An's fury surged. The Blazing Heart Cauldron thrummed, empowering the Fire Phoenix to heal and renew its assault.
"This Strange Flame hasn't matured. It crushed a Spirit Blossom Wood cultivator before, but now it's stalled by Peak and Late Nascent Soul blood users," Lan An mused.
The Violet Phoenix Flame, legend said, could burn space itself, but now it only warped it, far from its peak.
"If it were at full power, not even an Evil Emperor could refine it," Kim'er remarked.
Lan An nodded. His path was long; enhancing the Strange Flame could wait.
For now, the Fire Phoenix tied up two foes. He'd eliminate the last.
The second brother, sensing his intent, sneered and summoned the Blood Slaughter Corpse from its coffin.
It vanished in a blur.
"Trouble," Lan An thought, expecting the corpse needed completion to fight, not partial functionality.
"It's near Fifth-Turn Body Cultivation, enough to crush you," the second brother cackled, eyes blazing with hate.
ROAR!
The Earth Bear's mountain-like phantom formed, infused with soul power, charging the corpse.
"Dual Spirit Roots!" the trio gasped, stunned by his Fire and Earth mastery and potent techniques.
BOOM!
Fists clashed, spiritual shockwaves cracking the earth.
The Earth Bear's arm crumbled to dust.
The Blood Slaughter Corpse staggered back hundreds of meters, skin flayed.
"Hmph!" Lan An sneered, the Spirit Earth Cauldron surging. The Earth Bear's arm reformed, lunging again.
"His spiritual reserves are monstrous!" the second brother cursed, preparing to join the fray.
"Second, kill him, and his summons vanish!" the leader shouted, paling from the Fire Phoenix's relentless assault.
"I'll end this!" the second brother roared, his stout frame leaping, fist aimed at Lan An.
"Great Flood Kick!" Lan An met him head-on, Mysterious Water and Earth Battle Boots amplifying his Third-Turn Body Cultivation.
The second brother felt a tidal onslaught, but countered with Earth spiritual energy, confident in his Earth Spirit Root.
CRACK!
Lan An stepped back thrice, surprise flickering behind his mask.
The second brother flew back, smashing a tree, his fist mangled, bones exposed.
"How?!" he roared, stunned.
His brothers gaped. No peer had ever outmatched their second brother's strength.
"He's a Body Cultivator!" Lan An realized, noting the foe's Fourth-Turn prowess. Without Great Flood Kick and Earth Battle Boots, he'd have lost.
These three outclassed Nan Gong's Nascent Souls, their techniques hinting at a formidable origin.
"Who are you?" Lan An demanded.
"Hmph, the Blood Spirit Triad's fame echoes across the seas. Ignorant fool," the second brother sneered, then stabbed his back, ripping out a long bone.
Holding his spine like a weapon, his scarred face twisted into a ghastly grin.
Self-extracting bones?
Lan An's brows furrowed, unnerved by the grotesque tactic.
"Bone Cultivation," Kim'er explained. "A Body Cultivation branch focusing solely on bones, explaining his resilience against Great Flood Kick."
"I see," Lan An nodded, noting the foe's intact bones despite mangled flesh.
"Bone Whip Frenzy Strike!" The second brother's bone extended into a whip, lashing at Lan An like a dancing skeleton.
Lan An dodged with Phantom Charm Wander Step, hand gripping the earth, shouting: "Mother Earth's Funeral – Sand Coffin!"
The ground split, sand surging into a coffin, trapping the second brother.
"What is this?!" he roared, slashing with his bone whip, but the sand reformed endlessly, encasing him.
"Sand Tomb!" Lan An pressed, the earth quaking as a massive tomb formed, dragging the coffin underground.
"Explode!" he roared, detonating his Earth spiritual energy.
BOOM!
The ground erupted, dust clouding the sky.
"Second!" the brothers screamed, helpless under the Fire Phoenix's assault.
As the dust settled, a valley appeared. Lan An peered down.
His eyes narrowed.
A skeletal monster climbed the walls, its white bones harder than steel, extra limbs sprouting to grip the rock.
Devoid of flesh, only its eyes remained, glaring with boundless hate.
If looks could kill, Lan An would be dead.
"Second!" the brothers sighed in relief. Without flesh, he could devour humans to recover.
"What evil is this? Still alive?" Lan An muttered, face grim.
"His Bone Cultivation is profound, embedding soul and memory in his bones. At Body Cultivation's peak, even a single cell could revive," Kim'er said.
"So, shatter his bones, and he's done," Lan An nodded, charging with Phantom Charm and Great Flood Kick.
"Second, careful! Fight!" the third signaled the leader to hold, dropping to shield the skeleton.
"Blood Escape!" He grabbed the skeleton, turning to blood to dodge Lan An's kick.
Lan An pursued, Phantom Charm Wander Step's Spirit-Grade speed closing the gap.
CRACK!
A kick, boosted by Earth Battle Boots and Body Cultivation, shattered the third's bones, blood spraying.
"Damn you! Blood Spirit Clone!" The leader spat vital blood, forming a clone to wield the Blood Pearl against the Fire Phoenix.
Panting, he glared at Lan An, laughing maniacally: "First time someone's pushed the Blood Spirit Triad this far. Die proud!"
He crushed an ancient blood-red token.
Lan An's face paled, dread flooding him. He halted his pursuit.
"What rat dares touch Blood Spirit Sect's three Saint Sons?" a voice thundered, shaking the heavens.
Lan An's blood churned, the Fire Phoenix and Earth Bear dissipating.
A Void Refinement aura.
Against such power, death was certain.
The foe attacked through space, not in person. Escape was possible, and Lan An refused to waste Qin Meng Ying's Sealed Strike Stone.
His feet blazed with Phantom Charm Wander Step, fleeing hundreds of meters.
"Flee, ant?" the voice sneered. A withered, blood-red hand emerged from the void, stretching toward Lan An like a god crushing a monkey.
BOOM!
The earth shattered, beasts pulped.
Lan An's form seemed obliterated, no trace remaining.
"Khaha, just an ant, crushed in one strike," the voice scoffed.
"Thank you, Fourth Elder!" the Blood Spirit Triad bowed, the Blood Slaughter Corpse beside them.
"Return to the sect to heal. Sacred Lotus's enrollment nears; end your training," the elder said warmly, valuing these prodigies.
The battered trio stepped into the void portal.
Silence returned, the landscape ravaged, not a blade of grass left.
A tiny dust speck floated, lost in the debris, undetectable without a Void Refinement's scrutiny.
Spirit Blossom Orb, Wounded Return
Inside the Spirit Blossom Orb, Mu Zi Yin and Li Zhu Luan chatted, avoiding the topic of their shared man, focusing on recent events.
The void trembled.
A battered figure appeared—tattered robes, pale face.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed, startling the women. They leapt up, crying in unison, voices thick with worry: "Lan An?"