bayedsolid Chapter 1054 Congratulations, Father
Chapter 1054 Congratulations, Father
Time flies, and five billion years have passed like sand slipping through our fingers.
True Realm, Fallen Phoenix Valley.
The valley has long since returned to its former silence. The void torn apart by that earth-shattering battle has been gently smoothed by time, the crisscrossing spatial rifts have vanished without a trace, and even the lingering aura of battle in the air has been cleansed by billions of years of wind and rain. Only the phoenix fire in the heart of the valley still burns quietly, its leaping flames shimmering with a ghostly blue halo, like countless ethereal butterflies fluttering and illuminating the desolate valley. Those earth-shattering battles of five billion years ago seem like nothing more than a fleeting dream, never truly occurring on this land.
"Om..."
Suddenly, the void above Falling Phoenix Valley twisted without warning, like brocade being crumpled by an invisible giant hand. Then, with a "crack," it split open, forming a spacetime rift taller than a person. Immediately afterward, two figures slowly walked out from it.
A man dressed in a light blue phoenix robe, with a lifelike phoenix rising from the ashes embroidered on the hem. The patterns on the phoenix's wings were clearly visible, as if it were about to take flight at any moment. He had a handsome face, with a hint of vigilance between his brows. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings with a sharp, probing gaze.
The other woman wore an exquisite cyan palace dress, the hem of which flowed like clouds, and the paulownia flower pattern on the hem shimmered as she walked; she had a beautiful face and an elegant demeanor, but she could not hide a trace of nervousness in her eyes.
The two bear a striking resemblance to the siblings Qingxuan and Qingyao, who hastily left Luofeng Valley 5.2 billion years ago. However, their auras are far less powerful than their original forms back then—the man has only stepped into the realm of an eighth-grade True Immortal, his spiritual light condensed but not emitted; the woman is only at the late seventh-grade True Immortal level, her aura slightly fluctuating.
These two are the incarnations of True Immortals Qingxuan and Qingyao, left behind in the southern part of the True Extreme Domain.
"Senior Qingxu's aura... has completely disappeared." Qingxuan's avatar frowned deeply, as if carved by a knife and axe. His divine sense was like a fine net, sweeping through every speck of dust in the entire Falling Phoenix Valley, but he couldn't even capture a trace of the Daoist charm belonging to True Monarch Qingxu. His heart felt as if it were being pressed down by a huge rock, and it gradually sank down.
Although the brother and sister had long since left Fallen Phoenix Valley, they had been silently watching the conflict between True Monarch Qingxu and the Fire Crow Clan, fearing that if things went wrong, they would be implicated by True Monarch Qingxu and suffer retaliation from the Fire Crow Clan. Some karma was not something they could simply abandon, especially not from a half-step Golden Immortal overlord like the Fire Crow Clan.
Therefore, they have not dared to slacken their efforts over the years, even disregarding the cost to send avatars to infiltrate the Fire Crow Domain to gather information. Not long ago, the avatars stationed in the Fire Crow Domain sent back a message: Elder Lie Huo, who was captured years ago, has returned to Tianwu Immortal City. This news shocked Qingxuan and Qingyao. Without daring to delay for a moment, they immediately activated their two avatars and rushed to Luofeng Valley to find out about the current situation of Qingxu Moral True Monarch.
If Senior Qingxu is well, the siblings might still have a glimmer of hope; but if something truly happened to him… The avatar of True Immortal Qingxuan dared not think any further, feeling a chill run down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Elder Liehuo of the Fire Crow Clan had witnessed them firsthand back then, and given the vengeful nature of that domineering clan, there was no way they would let the siblings off so easily.
"Senior Qingxu, this junior, Qingxuan, requests an audience. I humbly request that you appear before me!"
Undeterred, Qingxuan, in his avatar, shouted, his voice echoing through the empty valley, striking the rock walls and bouncing back, only to be met with the monotonous, cold crackling of phoenix fire. He shouted several more times, the sound waves shattering the silence, but Falling Phoenix Valley remained as silent as ever, like an ancient, unchanging rock behemoth, swallowing up all sound.
......
True Realm, the center of Phoenix Cry Ancient City—Azure Phoenix Ancient Palace.
Qingxuan True Immortal and Qingyao True Immortal stood side by side in the center of the ancient hall, their bodies surrounded by a faint azure spiritual light, like two warm, smooth jade discs. Their eyes were slightly closed, their divine senses completely integrated into their two avatars in the southern part of the True Extreme Domain, sensing every movement in the distance. The hall was so quiet that the flickering of the candlelight could be heard. The pollen of the paulownia flowers suspended in the air trembled slightly with their breathing, like golden stardust swirling, yet it could not dispel the anxiety that originated from the depths of their hearts, which entwined their souls like vines.
Unconsciously, Qingxuan Zhenxian's fingertips caressed the phoenix jade talisman at his waist, the phoenix eyes carved on its surface seemingly reflecting his worries. He could clearly sense the message from his avatar—the silence of Fallen Phoenix Valley, the monotonous crackling of the phoenix fire, and in that void smoothed by time, not even a trace of the Daoist aura belonging to Qingxu Daode Zhenjun remained. Time passed slowly, each breath like a taut string, intensifying the unease in his heart.
Qingyao Zhenxian's eyelashes trembled slightly, her divine sense also locked onto the space where her avatar was located, trying to capture a glimmer of hope from that emptiness. But no matter how far she extended her senses, Luofeng Valley was like a silent behemoth, devouring all information, leaving only a chilling calm.
......
An hour later.
As the last wisp of divine consciousness was withdrawn from Fallen Phoenix Valley, True Immortal Qingxuan abruptly opened his eyes. The last spark of hope in his eyes was completely extinguished, leaving only boundless darkness. He swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground, but fortunately, Qingyao reached out to support him in time, barely managing to steady himself. At this moment, all color drained from his face, leaving only utter despair, and even his voice trembled uncontrollably: "It's over... Senior Qingxu is probably truly in grave danger."
“Next, it’s our turn…” he murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping unfocusedly over the familiar furnishings in the hall—the carved jade pillars, the hanging phoenix lanterns, the ancient zither made of paulownia wood in the corner. It was as if he could see through these things the tragic scene of the Qingfeng clan’s annihilation. “Even our entire Qingfeng clan could not escape the calamity of extermination! We are the sinners of our clan, it is the two of us who have dragged the entire clan down with us!”
Compared to the behemoth that is the Fire Crow Clan, their Azure Phoenix Clan is nothing more than an insignificant ant on the roadside. The opponent could easily uproot them by sending out a single late-stage Ninth Rank True Immortal, leaving them no room to struggle, as simple as crushing an ant.
"Brother, calm down, don't be so depressed." Qingyao True Immortal supported his arm, her voice clear and cold but with a firm strength, like a rock in a cold pool, stabilizing his shaky mind. "Senior Qingxu's cultivation is extraordinary, he may have already broken through the ninth-grade True Immortal realm and stepped into the ranks of half-step Golden Immortal. Even for the Fire Crow Clan, it will not be easy to completely keep him here."
She paused, a glint of understanding flashing in her eyes, and continued, "Perhaps the senior simply left Falling Phoenix Valley to cultivate elsewhere; or perhaps he reached some kind of agreement with the Fire Crow Clan before releasing Elder Lie Huo. Think about it, Elder Lie Huo has been back with the Fire Crow Clan for quite some time now. If he truly wanted revenge, given the Fire Crow Clan's nature, they would have already come knocking on our door. Why would they have waited until now?"
"This..." Qingxuan Zhenxian was stunned, like a drowning person suddenly grabbing a piece of driftwood, a glimmer of hope rekindled in his eyes, "Qingyao, what you said makes sense. It was I who lost my composure and was blinded by fear."
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down: "Given the Fire Crow Clan's domineering nature, if they really killed Senior Qingxu to rescue Elder Liehuo, they would never have tolerated it until now. Most likely, the two sides reached some kind of agreement before letting Elder Liehuo go."
His tense nerves relaxed slightly. He looked at the paulownia leaves falling outside the hall, swirling and sinking into the dust. His tone was filled with a sense of melancholy and deep longing: "I just don't know where Senior Qingxu has gone now... If only I could have the opportunity to cooperate with him again."
On their own, the speed at which they accumulated battle merits was incredibly slow. Nearly 5.2 billion years have passed, and the brother and sister, along with the contributions from the clan's other members, have only managed to accumulate less than 300 million battle merits. That's the combined amount of the two of them, which is still a far cry from enough to exchange for a seventh-grade True Immortal artifact.
Thinking back to those days in Falling Phoenix Valley, when I followed Senior Qingxu and casually captured an eighth-grade True Immortal of the Fire Crow Clan, I gained tens or hundreds of billions of battle merits. In less than a hundred billion years, I accumulated nearly two hundred billion battle merits, and even those were accumulated separately, which made it rather dull.
Having tasted delicacies from land and sea, how could one possibly be used to this simple, coarse food?
“Yes,” Qingyao Zhenxian sighed softly, a hint of longing flashing in her eyes, “If we could meet the senior again, even if he only gave us a share of the battle merits, it would be far better than us wasting our time like this.”
......
Time flies, and another four billion years have passed.
Qingxuan True Immortal and Qingyao True Immortal were finally completely relieved. So many billions of years had passed. If Elder Liehuo really wanted to take revenge on them, he would have done so long ago and would not have delayed until now.
Of course, they also increasingly missed the old days.
That was the right way to accumulate military merits. Unlike now, where people risk their lives for billions of years and still might not accumulate hundreds of millions of military merits, it's really demoralizing.
......
In the southern part of the Fire Crow Domain, within that hidden world of magma.
The crimson magma surged as before, but with an unusual restlessness, as if some enormous creature was about to emerge from its cocoon. The sparks that flew up when the scalding bubbles burst carried an unusual heat.
The "Fierce Profound Ancestor" and four half-step Golden Immortals of the Fire Crow Clan sat cross-legged around the central Nirvana Fire Lotus, forming a perfect five-pointed star formation. Crimson-gold flames flowed around them like rivers flowing into the sea, continuously converging into the fire lotus. The magic seal between their brows flickered incessantly, like a beating heart, maintaining the stable operation of the Nirvana Reincarnation Array and ensuring that the fire lotus could absorb enough primordial power at the final moment to complete its final transformation.
On this day, as the essence of fire, under the control of the five half-step Golden Immortals including "Fierce Profound Ancestor," merged into the Nirvana Fire Lotus as usual, an unexpected change occurred.
"Om..."
The eighty-one-petaled Nirvana Fire Lotus suddenly trembled violently, as if a sleeping star had awakened within it, bursting forth with dazzling light. The last petal, which had been quietly closed, now unfolded at a speed visible to the naked eye, with a faint purple-gold glow flowing at its edges, like molten starlight. Every line seemed to be personally engraved by the immortal rules, shimmering with a breathtaking luster.
Immediately afterwards, a vast and boundless aura of immortality erupted from the fire lotus, sweeping across the entire magma world like a tsunami. The aura was pure and domineering, carrying the unique life force of the immortal medicine's origin. Even a mere wisp of its aftershock caused the surrounding magma to instantly solidify into crimson-gold crystals, and even the space itself was tinged with an immortal halo.
The four half-step Golden Immortals, including Ancestor Lieyuan, felt their souls tremble violently. The True Immortal power within their bodies surged uncontrollably, and they even felt an urge to be assimilated by this aura, or even disintegrate directly. They hurriedly circulated all their cultivation to resist, their foreheads instantly covered in cold sweat. Their gazes towards the Fire Lotus were filled with awe and excitement—this was the true power of the Immortal Elixir, enough to make even a half-step Golden Immortal tremble.
"Hahaha... We've finally waited for this day! Congratulations, Father! You have achieved the eighty-first stage of the Nirvana Fire Lotus. From now on, no one in the Nine Realms can stop you from breaking through the Immortal Heavenly Gate and becoming an unparalleled Golden Immortal!"
......