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The Fire Phoenix illuminated the sky, painting the heavens in vivid purple, casting a pallor over the faces of the gathered beasts. Its majestic presence sent ripples of awe and fear through the onlookers.
"How… how is this possible? A divine Phoenix?" one beast stammered.
"This human summoned the great Phoenix?" another gasped.
"Am I dreaming? Didn't legends say divine beasts vanished from Yue Long Star after the Ancient Era?" a third muttered.
Lesser beasts cowered, their instincts overwhelmed by the primal reverence for a divine beast, even without direct pressure from the purple Phoenix.
"Calm yourselves!" an aged voice transmitted to the five Heavenly Beast Ranking prodigies. "This is merely a technique mimicking a Phoenix. Nothing to fear!"
"Elder Third Hou!" Hou Jun and Hou Xiu exclaimed, elated.
One of the hidden Sixth-Order beasts was the Third Elder of the Fire Monkey Clan.
"As Elder Third Hou says, we've nothing to fear!" Lang Keo suppressed his unease, glaring at Lan An and the Fire Phoenix with forced calm.
"Right! Impersonating a divine beast? We won't let him off!" Bat Jie and Earth Hedgehog nodded.
Lan An hadn't anticipated the Fire Phoenix's appearance causing such panic among the beasts. When used against human cultivators, it hadn't provoked this reaction.
"Beast hierarchies are strict, especially regarding bloodlines," Kim Nhi's youthful voice explained. "A Phoenix's divine lineage naturally pressures them."
Lan An nodded, noting the beasts had realized it wasn't a true Phoenix and regained composure. Seizing the initiative, he channeled surging Soul Power into the Fire Phoenix.
SCREECH
A heaven-shaking cry echoed. The Phoenix's fiery eyes glinted with life. At Lan An's command, it flapped its zhang-long flaming wings, charging Hou Jun with blazing speed.
"Damn it! Why me?" Hou Jun yelped, fleeing on his fire cloud to keep distance.
Though no longer terrified, he had no desire to face the Fire Phoenix. He fired three flaming arrows at its head.
SIZZLE
The arrows were devoured by the Alien Fire, ineffective. Hou Jun had expected this—his Spirit Fire couldn't harm the Alien Fire-forged Phoenix. He'd only shot to confirm. As an archer, his close-combat skills were weak, so he kept fleeing on his Fire Cloud, a High Earth-Grade movement technique of the Fire Monkey Clan, unmatched in speed.
Lan An targeted Hou Jun deliberately, hating enemies who sniped from afar. He urged the Fire Phoenix to pursue relentlessly. Hou Jun could only flee, racking his brain for a counter, his Spirit Fire no match for the Alien Fire. Their chase left a twisting trail of flames, warping space with intense heat.
The battlefield became a spectacle of a Phoenix chasing a monkey, vibrant and chaotic. Hou Xiu, Lang Keo, and the others grew grim, their archer's absence a significant loss.
"Lady Hu! Won't you join us?" Hou Xiu pleaded with Hu Yu Yan.
"Hmph! If I fought, it'd be one-on-one, not ganging up like you cowards!" she scoffed, refusing to intervene.
Unlike the typical seductive Fox Clan demeanor, Hu Yu Yan exuded peacock-like pride. Lan An felt a spark of respect, giving her an appreciative glance.
Not giving the beasts time to regroup, he pressed the attack.
"Let's play!" he roared.
ROAR
Little Lion understood, bellowing as faint lightning crackled around its limbs. It vanished, reappearing with a storm of thunder crashing toward Lang Keo.
"Dreaming of ambushing me?" Lang Keo howled, his arms transforming into wolf claws coated in dense Earth Spirit Energy, clashing head-on with the purple lightning.
BOOM
The impact echoed. Little Lion staggered back ten steps, steadying itself, then charged again, lightning intensifying. Lang Keo's arms tingled with numbness, his face turning serious.
"Lightning is no joke," he muttered.
As a prodigy, his True Earth-level Spirit Energy matched Lan An's, yet Little Lion's lightning numbed him. He needed full power.
HOWL
Lang Keo tilted his head to the moon, his cry chilling and wild, like a lone wolf spotting prey. His clothes tore as his body transformed, growing ten zhang tall, fur covering him, limbs bulging with veins, drooling maw baring sharp fangs, and red eyes glinting.
His True Form emerged a ferocious Earth Wolf, renowned for balanced offense and defense, agile and bloodthirsty.
ROAR
Lang Keo roared at Little Lion, a sandstorm swirling as he charged like a mountain. Little Lion's eyes blazed with battle lust, its lightning surging as it met the wolf head-on.
"Earth Fiend Claw!" Lang Keo's front claws slashed, aiming to tear Little Lion apart.
"Die!" Little Lion's feral female voice roared, its front paws crackling with lightning, countering fiercely.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Their savage clash shook the sky, two predatory beasts unleashing primal fury, pain irrelevant, only mutual destruction in mind. Neither yielded, trading blows relentlessly.
Elsewhere, Lan An's figure flickered like a shadow behind Bat Jie. Torrents of Mysterious Water coated his legs, amplified by Earth Battle Boots and Body Cultivation strength. A Great Hong Kick roared like an ocean, crashing down.
Bat Jie's fur stood on end. A master assassin, his speed was unmatched, yet Lan An had appeared behind him unnoticed a dire threat. Still, as a Heavenly Beast Ranking prodigy, he reacted, flapping his leathery wings to block.
"Ugh!" Bat Jie was flung like a rag, spitting blood.
He'd underestimated Lan An's power, far beyond his expectations.
"You'll regret this!" he hissed venomously, glaring at Lan An.
Swallowing a healing herb, he stabilized his injuries, then flapped his wings, vanishing into the dark.
"Running?" Lan An sneered, activating Thousand-Mile Vision. His White Moon Soul-Seizing Eye glowed, scanning everything.
Before he could pursue, two figures flanked him, launching heavy attacks.
"We're still here!" Hou Xiu roared, his Blazing Trident smashing toward Lan An's face.
"Foolish human! Die!" Earth Hedgehog's spine-covered fists pounded from behind.
Their feral grins anticipated victory.
"Idiots," Lan An smirked.
WHOOSH
He vanished with a strange sound, reappearing elsewhere.
"Damn!" Hou Xiu and Earth Hedgehog realized too late, unable to stop their attacks.
BOOM
The flaming trident crashed into the spiked fists. Both beasts flew back, spitting blood.
Lan An didn't pause, his fist wreathed in flames as he struck empty air. Spirit Fist erupted.
CLANG
Blood trickled from his fist, but the ambusher was worse off. Bat Jie's dagger melted under the Alien Fire, his gaunt hands burned.
"How did you find me?!" he shrieked, horrified.
He'd hidden for a sneak attack, yet Lan An had struck preemptively. The White Moon Soul-Seizing Eye, a Low Heaven-Grade treasure, saw through anything below Sixth-Order or Void Refining, making Bat Jie's stealth futile.
"It's those eyes!" Hu Yu Yan, observing, pinpointed the glowing White Moon Soul-Seizing Eye, certain of its role.
"What's his identity? So many treasures!" she wondered.
Elder Third Hou and the other Sixth-Order beast also noticed Lan An's eerie eyes.
"No matter who he is, strutting on U Yuan means death!" the other beast sneered.
To Sixth-Order beasts, Lan An was a mere ant, genius or not.
Ignoring Bat Jie's retreat, Lan An shifted targets.
"Wood Form Fist!" His fists, like ancient trees, smashed toward Hou Xiu and Earth Hedgehog.
"Stone Fist!"
"Trident Mountain Splitter!"
The two roared, meeting him head-on.
"Haha, exhilarating! Water Hong Kick!" Lan An's battle spirit soared, laughing as he dove into melee, fists and feet flying.
Though his cultivation was lower, his Alien Wood absorbed enemy attack power, his Mysterious Water and Earth Battle Boots amplified his kicks, and his Body Cultivation bolstered his frame, protected by the White Horse Battle Robe. He dominated the strength-focused prodigies, forcing them back.
CRACK CRACK CRACK
One against two, Lan An overwhelmed them, his pristine robes billowing heroically, while Hou Xiu and Earth Hedgehog grew ragged. They realized with horror that his tree-like fists sapped their attacks' power.
"Too strong! Who are you?" Hu Yu Yan's blood boiled, her heart racing.
Even the top Heavenly Beast Ranking prodigy couldn't match this at Fourth-Order. Beasts revered strength, especially females. Hu Yu Yan, a Fox Demon, felt her instincts flare. Like Bai Su Mai, whose angelic exterior hid a serpent's insatiable desire, Hu Yu Yan's fox nature craved dominant males. No peer had impressed her until Lan An. If he reached Spirit Transformation, he'd crush her, igniting her primal admiration.
Unaware of her thoughts, Lan An reveled in pummeling the beasts, venting his frustration over Ji Ya's injuries, his spirit soaring.
"We can't keep this up!" Earth Hedgehog, battered, roared. A massive hedgehog appeared, its steel-like spines gleaming ferociously his True Form.
Lan An's kick landed, pain flaring as a tear appeared in his Earth Battle Boots.
"Such defense!" he marveled.
Hou Xiu, unwilling to be outdone, unleashed a Mid Heaven-Grade technique of the Fire Monkey Clan.
"Heaven and Earth Manifestation!" he bellowed.
His lithe body grew dozens of zhang tall, a divine monkey towering over the world, his Blazing Trident scaling with him.
"Die!" The giant trident smashed down, aiming to crush Lan An like an ant.
ROAR
The Earth Bear appeared, but only reached Hou Xiu's waist. It braced its shoulders against the trident.
BOOM
The Heaven-Grade technique overwhelmed the Earth Bear, shattering it. The trident continued unabated.
BOOM
The Wood Turtle formed, shielding Lan An like a fortress. Hou Xiu's giant form hammered relentlessly, driving the Wood Turtle deeper.
"Get lost!" Hou Xiu roared, striking with full force.
CRASH
The final blow sent the Wood Turtle crashing, cratering the ground. Lan An's masked face showed surprise and respect.
"I underestimated U Yuan's geniuses," he said gravely. "An Epic-Grade mission is no easy feat."