Chapter 79

Looking at his own body, Zongshou was momentarily confused, but finally a realization dawned in his heart.

"Turns out my current divine soul has transformed into a thunder phoenix. No wonder I could instantly rush out of that cave and soar to great heights—"

With a flap of his wings, lightning flickered. The scene before him rapidly receded. In the blink of an eye, he had traversed a great distance.

He felt free and unrestrained, immensely exhilarated.

At first, Zongshou was still a bit awkward. After a few circles in the sky, he gradually became familiar. His wings flapped more freely, gliding through the vast emptiness.

But after a moment, the joy in his 'chest' suddenly vanished. A chill surged through his heart, making him feel icy cold all over.

He was still at the Nourishing Spirit realm, at most his divine soul was somewhat refined. The few times he had left his body were with the help of sandalwood and spirit arrays.

His soul consciousness could not yet communicate with the spirits, control the surrounding spiritual energies, or protect his divine soul. If he strayed too far from his body, the wind and sha qi, omnipresent in the world, would be enough to shatter his divine soul.

Not to mention the scorching sun and solar essence fire, which he would only be immune to after his divine soul returned to the body and he reached the Day Roaming realm.

Those malevolent ghosts in the world often ignite upon contact with light. And a human's divine soul, in essence, is the same.

Feeling a chill, Zongshou observed his surroundings again. After a moment, he finally felt a bit more at ease.

It was evening, and the solar essence fire was still intense. The mountain winds were also strong near the Corpse Demon Mountain. But now, as he had transformed into a thunder phoenix, purple lightning wrapped around his body. For some reason, neither the sunlight nor the solar essence fire could reach him, nor could the fierce mountain winds penetrate.

"Is my current state due to the rune in my soul sea? Transforming into this form, I am not affected by the mountain winds and sunlight!"

Shaking his head in confusion, Zongshou tried to manipulate the nearby water vapor and dust.

He could only stir up a tiny bit, the size of a grain of rice, while the rest remained motionless. The surrounding spiritual energies did not change much, only a few threads of lightning gathered, making the purple lightning around his body even denser.

With another dive, the sharp claws under his belly suddenly grabbed. Surprisingly, he forcibly lifted a branch over ten zhang long and as thick as a thigh into the air. His body only slightly wobbled, then quickly stabilized, without feeling any strain.

"With my thunder phoenix form, I have a strength of over two thousand catties! Only slightly less than my physical body. If my divine soul were not in this phoenix form, I wonder how much strength it would have? It must be far less than now!"

Numerous thoughts flashed through his mind. Zongshou felt his body gradually becoming tired and was about to return. Then he suddenly thought of Gong Xinran, who had parted ways with him not long ago.

"I wonder how Gong Xinran is doing? Gao Yi always makes me uneasy. My current form is perfect for checking on her—"

Although it was not long ago, he had spent half a day absorbing the essence of the thunder phoenix egg and sealing it within his body.

His senior sister, regardless of whether she found her ancestor's relics, should already be on her way down the mountain.

The Corpse Demon Mountain was safest during the day. But once night fell, especially around midnight, it truly became a place of death.

With a thought, Zongshou's wings flapped again, and he suddenly rushed towards the waist of the Corpse Demon Mountain.

As soon as he approached, he felt a powerful mental force interfering with his soul consciousness, making his mind dazed and almost dispersing his thunder phoenix form.

But in the next moment, Zongshou let out a cold snort. A deeply buried, powerful will suddenly erupted from his divine soul, colliding with the mental force and driving it out of his consciousness without any disadvantage.

He knew this was the residual soul consciousness of the fallen alien strongman, which was why all innate and out-of-body realm martial artists and spirit masters dared not approach.

Without hesitation, Zongshou spread his wings and continued to plunge into the Corpse Demon Mountain.

After a few glides, he found the traces of Gong Xinran and the others. His heart sank even more.

There were no signs of fierce beasts along the way, but he saw bloodstains one after another.

They were scattered on the ground, still bright red.

"This blood is still warm, it must have been not long ago—"

With another flap of his wings, his body nimbly weaved through the mountain. In the next moment, several figures appeared before him.

And in that instant, Zongshou's soul-focused eyes turned to deep shock!

Below, the lively and cheerful Gong Xinran from half a day ago was now pinned to a flamboyant peach tree by a bright sword. Her face was as pale as paper, only her chest and abdomen were still faintly rising and falling. Her eyes, which should have been like clear autumn water, were now lifeless.

Her gaze was not one of pain, nor of fear or despair, but of heart-wrenching sorrow, fixed on the front.

Beside the peach tree stood several people, including Gao Yi and the six secret martial artists. The former was smiling strangely, playing with something in his hand. The others were looking on with pity, ridicule, or disdain.

Lightning exploded around Zongshou, and his wings spread as he dove down. Just as he approached, Gao Yi suddenly waved his hand and slapped Gong Xinran's face with a 'slap'. He laughed lightly, "Regret it? Do you think I, Gao Yi, am heartless? Do you know how much I have spent two years with you, just to please you, this ugly girl? Do you know how tired I am?"

Zongshou's eyes turned sharp again, feeling a surge of rage. Just as he was about to attack, he suddenly felt an overwhelming fatigue, and the lightning around him dissipated, gradually becoming indiscernible.

Fortunately, the last ray of sunlight had disappeared, and although the mountain winds were fierce, they could not reach him. But Zongshou was now completely powerless and could only land silently on a branch.

He then exerted all his strength to absorb the surrounding spiritual energies, hoping to recover his strength.

Whether it was due to Zongshou's caution or the residual will of the ancient alien martial artist, Gao Yi did not notice him, shaking his head slightly, "If you want to hate, hate yourself! You know you have no beauty or talent, so why do you think I, Gao Yi, would truly like you? Why do you think you can marry into my Gao family and become the future matriarch?"

Gong Xinran turned her head to the side, her disheveled hair covering her pale face, making it impossible to see her expression.

Gao Yi seemed to find it boring, shaking his head slightly, "Enough, after all, we have been together for two years, I shouldn't be too harsh! Since I have obtained this manual personally written by the Three Saints, I don't need to make things difficult for you!"

Zongshou listened carefully and noticed that the person was holding a book made of gold silk, about four fingers thick and extremely heavy.

After smiling, Gao Yi was about to turn around but suddenly remembered something and stopped, "Almost forgot! I once swore to you that we would be together for all eternity, never parting in life or death—"

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