Chapter 254
Chapter 254
But with a layer of “eggshell” between us in the sea of flames, I couldn’t make out Fengwu’s face.
I watched as she surged up from the depths of the flames and kicked the “eggshell.”
“Ah Li, go back!”
After that kick, her body plummeted uncontrollably. In the next instant, she transformed back into the Longbow and landed in the hands of the girl deep within the sea of flames.
The “eggshell” around me tumbled endlessly through the flames as it rushed upward.
Ever since my fall had been reversed, sending me hurtling back up, the roots had been scraping against the flames and burning away. They grew thinner and thinner, while the temperature inside climbed ever higher. The heat left my mouth parched and made it feel as though my skin was about to split open.
Agony tore through my skin. The burning was even worse than the pain I’d felt in my left arm!
Nirvana Fire was everywhere.
Once the roots were completely consumed by the Nirvana Fire, would I be buried in this sea of flames too?
Unless I successfully underwent Nirvana.
But my Souls weren’t even whole. Even Mom had said it wasn’t yet time for my Nirvana.
Fate truly was unpredictable.
Who could have imagined that a place of Nirvana lay behind this stone door?
And who could have imagined that the stone door would open on its own at this exact moment?
In that instant, countless images flashed through my mind. Most were fragments of everything I’d experienced over the past nineteen years, but among them were also scenes that felt both strange and familiar.
The one I saw most often was myself kneeling on the Meditation Stone… It had happened when I was still Feng Linu.
A tiny figure knelt there with her head bowed, mumbling something under her breath.
It sounded like an incantation.
They were only images flashing through my mind, yet I could almost hear a young, childish voice chanting beside my ear.
And those incantations gradually overlapped with the ones I’d recently read in the Grand Witch’s Witchcraft Notebook…
If I remembered correctly, the Witchcraft Notebook called this incantation the Seven Po Soul Sealing Incantation.
The Seven Po Soul Sealing Incantation was an ancient Seal incantation. It was a Witchcraft spell used when someone had suffered a devastating injury and their Three Hun Souls and Seven Po Souls had become unstable, allowing them to gather and stabilize their Souls.
So the Nirvana Fire must have already begun forcing my soul out of my body.
The Seven Po Soul Sealing Incantation was trying to bind my Fragmented Soul tightly and reduce the chance of it dissipating completely.
I didn’t know whether the Nirvana Fire had awakened an instinct from my previous life, or whether my mother’s Inner Core had activated some kind of self-preservation mechanism after merging with me.
I closed my eyes, calmed my mind, and immersed myself in the Seven Po Soul Sealing Incantation, using it to stabilize my Fragmented Soul.
But at that very moment, countless butterflies fluttered down through the raging flames overhead. They fell like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, creating a sight so beautiful it stole my breath away.
The butterflies in front lasted only a few seconds before the Nirvana Fire reduced them to ash.
The butterflies behind them immediately surged forward to take the first wave’s place.
Then came the second wave, the third…
Countless butterflies vanished into the Nirvana Fire, yet through sheer sacrifice, they carved out a passage. Before the “eggshell” around me could burn away completely, a familiar figure raced through the Spirit Butterfly passage, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out!
The instant we landed, the stone door behind us slammed shut with a thunderous boom.
“Sister!” Snow Phoenix cried weakly but with unmistakable delight.
Her cry was immediately followed by a yelp of pain.
I opened my eyes, closed them, then opened them again. It took two or three attempts before I finally adjusted to the light outside.
Only then did I see Feng Xianqiu’s disheveled figure across from me — and Snow Phoenix pinned beneath his palm.
With just a little pressure, Feng Xianqiu could have snapped Snow Phoenix’s neck.
But I wasn’t worried in the least. He wouldn’t dare!
Snow Phoenix knew far too much and was dearly cherished by her ancestress. Her ancestress had even told her about a willow tree in the fields behind Cangwu Mountain that had been transplanted from Spirit Butterfly Valley. That alone showed how important she was within the Snow Phoenix Clan.
If Snow Phoenix died down here, then the Six Elders above — and even the hundred-odd members of the Snow Phoenix Clan under Feng Xianqiu’s control — would not meekly cling to life.
Besides, if Feng Xianqiu wanted to get back up there, he would still need the Snow Phoenix Clan’s magical formation.
So I merely glanced at the two of them before turning to the person beside me.
It really was Tang Xun.
I had never expected Tang Xun to appear here, much less at such a critical moment.
And seeing her again now, my feelings were completely different.
She… She was my younger maternal aunt — my own mother’s younger sister!
I couldn’t help edging a little closer to her. Then I quietly reached out and took her hand.
Tang Xun’s hand was ice-cold.
She didn’t look at me, but the instant I took her hand, she gripped mine tightly in return.
A black Ghost King Butterfly settled on her shoulder.
Feng Xianqiu stared at the Ghost King Butterfly and narrowed his eyes. He sneered, “A Ghost King Butterfly from Spirit Butterfly Valley… Someone from the Netherworld Realm dares trespass in Phoenix Clan territory? Has the King of Mount Tai spent so long confined by a Seal that he can no longer keep his subordinates in line, allowing all of you to become this brazen? It seems he truly can’t hold on to his position as the Seventh King of Hell anymore, can he?”
The King of Mount Tai?
So it really was the King of Mount Tai!
Tang Xun remained perfectly calm. Her beautiful eyes tilted upward slightly, but her voice was colder than I had ever heard it. “Whether the King of Mount Tai can hold on to his position is not for a misbegotten freak like you to judge.”
Her words clearly struck a nerve. Feng Xianqiu’s face visibly darkened. “And what the hell are you? A mere dog of the King of Mount Tai dares make a scene in Phoenix Clan territory? Today, I’ll teach you a proper lesson on his behalf!”
“Right back at you,” Tang Xun said. Her imposing presence did not diminish, yet she remained perfectly composed. “A mere black crow dares make a scene in front of me, Feng Yixun? Have I truly been gone that long? Who gave you the nerve?”
At those words, Feng Xianqiu’s expression grew even darker.
He stared at Tang Xun in disbelief.
Perhaps Feng Xianqiu had still been young when my aunt’s Souls were torn apart, so it was possible he had never met her.
But as the Right Guardian’s own grandson and direct heir, there was no way he wouldn’t know the name of the Former Phoenix Master’s younger twin sister.
Especially given the connection created by the Symbiotic Curse.
“Feng… Feng Yixun?”
Feng Xianqiu frowned and murmured the name under his breath.
Snow Phoenix grew even more agitated. “Feng Yixun, the Former Phoenix Master’s younger twin sister… You really didn’t die. You were really…”
She didn’t dare finish the sentence.
After all, the King of Mount Tai was the Seventh King of Hell and belonged to the Netherworld Realm.
The more she said, the greater the conflict it could provoke.
After his brief shock, a calculating gleam flashed through Feng Xianqiu’s eyes. His right hand abruptly formed a hand seal, then swept toward Tang Xun.
Acting on instinct, I formed a hand seal of my own and countered his gesture.
A cloud of black smoke suddenly billowed into existence in midair. Feng Xianqiu’s stunned gaze snapped toward me.
I was a little shocked myself.
The moment Feng Xianqiu began forming his hand seal, I had somehow recognized it as the Spirit-Binding Curse.
The Witchcraft Notebook contained a record of this ancient spell as well.
The Grand Witch had also recorded the corresponding Witchcraft needed to break the Spirit-Binding Curse.
Almost entirely on instinct, I had formed the Spirit-Unbinding Curse.
And shattered his spell in a single strike…