Chapter 1223: Divine Rebirth
After passing three Birth Trials, it was incredibly difficult for Venerable Masters to activate Birth Charts. Life hearts of most fierce beasts were useless, and it was a daunting task to obtain life hearts that would be useful to them since they belonged to powerful fierce beasts.
In fact, after activating the 18th Birth Chart and passing the third Birth Trial, one would be in a very awkward phase. After all, one would have difficulty activating more Birth Charts, and if one's Birth Charts were destroyed, it would be an incredibly devastating blow. Therefore, Venerable Masters usually would often do everything they could to protect their Birth Charts.
As a Venerable Master, Ye Zheng had experienced countless things and lived a long life. How could he be without means to protect himself?
Lu Zhou did not receive a notification for destroying a Birth Chart. Instead, he received a different kind of notification.
"Ding! Triggered the fatal effect twice from the Deadly Strike Card."
"Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 12,000 merit points."
"A puppet?"
Lu Zhou was perplexed. Since the effect was triggered twice, one had destroyed the puppet, then, the second trigger should have destroyed a Birth Chart. However, he did not receive any notification about destroying Ye Zheng's Birth Chart.
After thinking about it for a moment, Lu Zhou thought that it did not matter if the opponent was a ghost or a demon. He brought out the Golden Taixu Mirror immediately.
A pillar of golden light shone from the Golden Taixu Mirror, chasing away the darkness.
The golden pillar light shone like the blazing sun on the 35 Confucian scholars. Soon enough, their avatars and their cultivation bases were displayed before everyone's eyes.
"This is..." Kong Wen was taken aback.
"The Golden Taixu Mirror. It's a treasure that can reveal everything…" Yu Shangrong said.
"The old sir really hid his strength deeply," Kong Wen muttered under his breath, "The more I understand, the more ignorant I feel…"
Although Kong Wen was very respectful toward Lu Zhou, he had placed Lu Zhou slightly below Venerable Masters and somewhere along the level of a Free Man. However, he felt as though he had been slapped in the face as he witnessed the old man defeat Ye Zheng, one of the four Venerable Masters of the green lotus domain, with just a palm strike. He felt like he was dreaming. With this kind of strength, should one not cling tightly to such a backer? Why did Sun Mu and his brothers leave the Evil Sky Pavilion?
Meanwhile, Qin Renyue, who was standing at the side, was shocked. How could he not be shocked when his rival who almost always fought to a draw with him was sent flying by the old man with just a palm strike?
Back in the sky, Lu Zhou discovered the Confucian scholars were blocking the light from the Golden Taixu Mirror from reaching Ye Zheng. He raised his voice and said, "Scram!"
Lu Zhou's thunderous voice shook the earth and shocked the Confucian scholars. However, despite how frightened they were, they could not move away. Even if they died, they could not move away. All of them resolutely blocked Ye Zheng in unison.
Lu Zhou said in a deep voice, "If you don't move aside for me, don't blame me for starting a massacre…"
Qin Renyue. "..."
Qin Renyue who was just about to mediate swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue when he saw Lu Zhou's domineering attitude. It was best not to say anything. Moreover, it might not be a bad thing if Ye Zheng really died. He also did not mind giving up on the Fire Phoenix; he would just go look for Lu Wu instead.
Even Qin Renyue maintained his silence so how could the others make any noise at this moment? No one dared to make a sound.
When Lu Zhou saw the 35 Confucian scholars still did not move even under the threat of death, he felt like something was amiss. He brought out another item card before he said, "Alright, I'll fulfill your death wish."
Just as Lu Zhou was about to make a move, a voice rang from under the 35 Confucian scholars.
"Activate the formation."
"Understood."
Following that, the 35 Confucian scholars quickly scattered. However, not even Ye Zheng's shadow could be seen.
Lu Zhou knew the 36 Big Dipper Flag Formation needed exactly 36 people. Hence, Ye Zheng would not leave. He held the mirror up and shone it at everyone.
Buzz!
The sound of energy resonance already began to reverberate in the air.
At this time, Lu Zhou saw a human figure weaving in and out of the formation flags, but the Golden Taixu Mirror was unable to capture it.
Then, the strange energy appeared again.
"The power of the Dao?"
An ominous feeling rose in Lu Zhou's heart.
At this time, the 35 Confucian scholars were already in positions. The one who played the crucial role to complete the 36 Big Dipper Flag Formation now was Ye Zheng.
At this moment, Ye Zheng said in a deep voice, "I don't wish to be enemies, but since you forced me, don't blame me for being merciless."
In fact, as Ye Zheng had said earlier, he had come to Unknown Land fully prepared this time. Not only did he bring the 36 Confucian scholars here, but he had also prepared the 36 Big Dipper Flag Formation. After all, this was a great opportunity. Who knew if such an opportunity would present itself in the future?
Qin Renyu, who had retreated into the distance, exclaimed with a hint of admiration, "No wonder the 36 Big Dipper Flag Formation is so powerful. As it turns out, when the flags and people are in their positions, they form an astrolabe."
Lu Zhou took a closer look. Indeed, it resembled the pattern on an astrolabe.
The formation flags began to shine with increasing intensity.
Lu Zhou rose higher into the sky before he pressed his hand down.
A palm seal that seemed to contain the force of the universe fell from the sky.
Ye Zheng flashed and dodged the palm seal. He said calmly, "You're much slower than before."
The light from the 36 Big Dipper Formation Flag fell on Ye Zheng at this time.
"Is that so?" Lu Zhou shattered a Thunderblast Card.
The black script for the word 'Thunder' merged with the darkness of the Unknown Land as it shot toward Ye Zheng, making it difficult for one to avoid. Its speed was incredibly fast before it landed on Ye Zheng.
Boom!
Thunder rang in the air as Ye Zheng felt his body go numb. Then, he fell down again.
Lu Zhou sighed inwardly. It was unfortunate both the death and heavy injury effects were not triggered.
Nevertheless, the shocking effect of the Thunderblast Card was pretty good. It had stunned all the spectators. Since when did Venerable Masters become so weak?
At this time, the light from the Big Dipper Flag Formation shone on Ye Zheng. With that, it healed his injuries swiftly.
After Ye Zheng recovered, he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
Lu Zhou checked his merit points and discovered he had more than 170,000 merit points. Then, he said, "I want to see how many palm strikes you'll be able to withstand."
The killing intent Lu Zhou emitted at this time was indescribable. Ye Zheng had never felt this way before: uneasy and threatened.
Boom!
Suddenly, from the mountain crevice surrounded by the formation flags, a streak of red flames rushed out again.
The Fire Phoenix had been reborn from the flames!
The mountains collapsed and the earth trembled and cracked as flames spread everywhere.
The Fire Phoenix flapped its wings, sending flames that killed indiscriminately flying in all directions.
In the dark Unknown Land, everyone watched as what looked like the sun with a pair of wings slowly rose.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The 35 Confucian scholars struggled to hold for a few seconds before they were sent flying; all of them vomited blood.
The Fire Phoenix had grown stronger!
"It has been reborn into a divine beast!"
"It's over! The Fire Phoenix has become a divine beast!"
"Run!"
The spectators no longer dared to stay and fled in a panic.
Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong turned around and asked, "Where's Old Fourth?"
"Don't worry about him. Whitzard, run!"
The duo flanked Whitzard as they flew away.
Yan Zhenluo and Lu Li had a perfect understanding. They exchanged a look and said in unison, "What are you waiting for? Run?"
When Kong Wen and his brothers regained their senses, they fled in a hurry as well.
At this time, the Fire Phoenix did not pay attention to the others. Its attention was focused on the two experts. It screeched as it rushed up into the sky.
Now that a divine beast had appeared, the Venerable Masters had to retreat. Qin Renyue and Ye Zheng could sense intense danger from the Fire Phoenix at this moment.
The Fire Phoenix opened its beak again and spat out a stream of flames, setting the land on fire. Then, it spun in the air, burning the formation flags to crisps.
The Confucian scholars closest to it instinctively activated their avatars to protect themselves. Even if they had sacrificed their Birth Charts, it was better than losing their lives. The flames quickly engulfed them.
Upon seeing this, Ye Zheng used the power of the Dao before he flashed up. He did not care about other matters at this moment and could only focus on retreating.
At this time, Qin Renyue hurriedly said, "Go!"
The 49 Swordsmen hurriedly gathered and retreated.