Chapter 204 - Resistance!
Mochou was absorbing the Qi around her at a jaw-dropping speed, and the egg was no slower than her. The egg already had nine sun marks hatched, with eight of them turning golden already. When the last red sun mark turned golden, the egg would hatch. Although Greed said it would only have one-ninth of its original strength, it was still unimaginably powerful.
Xuanyuan sensed the impatient stirring of spiritual beings nearby. He clutched onto his Soul-catching Bow and told Youxue to prepare for battle.
"Yes, master." Youxue transformed into a hundred-meter long swimming dragon. His dragon scales shone brightly. His strength had enhanced a great deal, since Youxue had been studying with the spine of a cloud dragon. He was only a step away from being an emperor class fighter.
Zhixuan and Shiguan were also on their guards. Because Mochou was attracting a lot of attention, the Five Xians hid in preparation for the anticipated enemies.
Soon, a tiger’s deafening roar approached them. It was not as terrifying as the one before, but it was still scary. The golden claws slashed towards Mochou, but Xuanyuan was faster. He swiftly nocked an arrow on the bow and released. A painful moan replaced the roar before a giant golden torso appeared. It was a golden tiger, with an arrow pierced into its forehead. The tiger collapsed to the ground while its body was blown away and turned into a golden grass with a tiger pattern.
"It’s the Royal Tiger Grass. So it’s true that the Body of a Thousand Spirits attracts all kinds of spiritual beings."
Another golden light approached them. Youxue twisted around then suppressed and crushed the golden dragon, which emitted light on the ground. The dragon's shadow turned into a golden grass as well.
"The Sky Dragon Grass. These spiritual beings gained consciousness from the Dark Phoenix’s influence!"
Xuanyuan suddenly remembered that the Fire of the Red Lotus also communicated with the spiritual beings on the Red Mountain, convincing them to act as soldiers on the front line. The beasts and spiritual beings here were even more powerful than those on Red Mountain. If these beings swarmed towards them, it’d be very difficult to defend themselves.
"Be careful. The Dark Pheonix might be encouraging the beasts to attack us." Xuanyuan warned. Luckily, the Five Xians’ earlier attacks intimidated many beasts, so they were relatively safe.
Three golden beams shot towards them. Xuanyuan pulled his bow twice and shot arrows straight at the targets. Another two plants came into Xuanyuan’s possession. The last beam was destroyed by Youxue.
But the attacks didn’t stop there. Nine golden beams shone, transmitting the roars of elephants, lions, dragons, tigers, bears and eagles. All were aggressive and powerful animals. Xuanyuan’s heart sank as more spiritual beings were provoked by the Phoenix. He turned to Shiguan and Zhixuan, "Protect Mochou. She is the ultimate target."
"We will. Be careful, Xuanyuan." Shiguan formed a mudra with her hands and surrounded herself, Zhixuan, and Mochou into a ring of fire made from the faces of Asura demons.
The egg paid no attention to the battle. It merely absorbed all the powerful Qi from the defeated spiritual beings. Zhixuan looked at the egg and was amazed by the intense greedy aura it contained. The speed at which it devoured Qi also surprised her.
Zhixuan stood in front of Mochou, protecting her, "Xuanyuan, what kind of beast is hatching inside?" she asked curiously.
"I don’t know either. I picked it up from the Mountain of Ten Thousand Beasts. It absorbs all kinds of Qi, but I have no idea when will it hatch." Xuanyuan smiled. He heard a scream and looked up. There were many golden crows flying towards them. Each crow had a long beak shaped like a knife. His smiled froze.
"They are the Arrow Crows. They don’t come as numerous as the bees, but they are much more powerful." Zhixuan said heavily. The crows dove swiftly. Their attacks were worth eight hundred dragons.
This was the first time Xuanyuan understood the pain of his heart being pierced through. He was hit, and although not injured, he still felt as if his body was being cut in half.
Shiguan didn’t hesitate, "Burning Heaven!"
Fire poured out from her hands like waterfalls, filling up the sky with searing crimson flames. The sky full of golden crows was golden no longer. Before the beasts could even scream, they became ashes and steam. This was the first time Xuanyuan witnessed Shiguan’s true power. He was in awe.
The second swarm of crows arrived. They were more aggressive than their deceased compatriots. Shiguan only raised her brows and the faces of Asura demons surrounded her again. The Asuras marched to the sky and raised their Guan dao, aiming to kill.
The Asura demons all smiled viciously and continuously pierced outward, tearing the crows into pieces.
Xuanyuan had no doubt that the Fire Shiguan controlled was far superior in comparison to the Fire of the Red Lotus, despite the ranking. She had a way to enhance its power a hundredfold.
It was clear to everyone that it would be a long war. The Dark Phoenix was cunning. It aimed to exhaust Xuanyuan and his companions so it could devour the Body of a Thousand Spirits easier. However, Xuanyuan considered this a way to test himself. He wouldn’t give up.
All the elixirs from the golden crows were scattered across the ground and devoured in an instant by the egg. The last sun marking slowly turned golden from the edge. Xuanyuan took out all the other elixirs he acquired on the Mountain of Dark Phoenix and gave them to the egg.
Zhixuan thought it a great waste to feed the egg such precious elixirs, but Xuanyuan decided that it would be much more rewarding to have the egg hatch. If it could hatch before he faced the Dark Phoenix of Gold, he would have a much higher chance in succeeding.
"More enemies are coming!" Youxue warned.
From afar, many golden giants marched at them like an unbeatable army.
Zhixuan’s face darkened. "They are the Warriors of Gold. Each of them has a thousand dragons of strength. They’re particularly skilled at close range battles. Be on your guard!"
The army of golden giants roared and lunged at them.