Before the Black Heart Flame could reach the main body of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, chains whirled around and cut the tail at its base. It then fell heavily toward the ground as it was being consumed entirely by Cao Yun's black flames. The giant ominous bird was furious. Unfortunately, it had realized that its enemy was more formidable than it had imagined. Besides, its own body was a disadvantage as it was more difficult to dodge attacks. Moreover, demonic beasts were always inferior to humans when it came to techniques and comprehension of the Dao. Only true Immortal Beasts had the intelligence to actually practice martial arts or study the Dao. Even now, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu was able to manipulate Ghost Energy by pure instinct. On the other hand, Cao Yun knew exactly what he was doing with his Death Energy.

Since its usual attacks wouldn't work on the young man before it, the large 9-core demonic beast decided to change its patterns. Suddenly, the skulls that were flying in vast swarms spread thin throughout the entire battlefield. The skies became a giant web obscured by thousands of chains. Wails from ghosts echoed everywhere. The huge shadow created by the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu had now turned completely reddish. The light from Cao Yun's Heart Constellation had not pierced through it but it had infused the whole shadow. Slowly but surely, Cao Yun's seven Piercing Stars would prevail and Cao Yun's technique would become stronger while the bird would become weaker. Even now, it could feel the loss of two of its demonic cores. They were already affecting it.

Cao Yun's movements were hampered by all those chains made of Ghost Energy. Besides, the wails were assaulting his ears and scratching his soul. However, it was not enough to frighten or deter him. Thus, he immediately flew toward the giant bird once more. Clearly the beast was getting desperate. Cao Yun would have loved to go through this corrupt land without any fight, but he wouldn't shy away from an enemy trying to kill him and devour his soul.

Before Cao Yun could reach the giant bird, it flapped its wings. Thousands of small feathers flew straight toward the young man. Since he couldn't easily move, Cao Yun didn't even try to dodge. Instead, he struck with his spear.

'Cracking the World'!

The butt of his 'Tainted Heavenly Spear' struck empty air. But at the very moment Cao Yun's movement finished, air itself began to crack. It was as if air was made of glass. Cracks spread all around Cao Yun. Then, a sudden gust of wind erupted. Like a tidal wave, it swept the entire battlefield. Many chains simply snapped under the pressure. A lot of skulls were instantly reduced to dust. Above all else, the sudden wind altered the trajectory of all those feathers. Now Cao Yun could move around freely and the feathers were not even going toward him. However, the young man had already lost a lot of energy. Honestly, even he was getting tired. After all, he had gone all-out since the very start. Thankfully, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu was even more exhausted with the loss of its two cores.

As he was flying toward the gigantic beast, Cao Yun felt a terrible pain in his head. It radiated from his sea of consciousness and overwhelmed his entire Upper Dantian. Looking within, he realized that thousands of feathers had appeared in his sea of consciousness. Indeed, those feathers had never intended to strike Cao Yun's physical body, they were lacerating his spiritual senses. After all, Cao Yun's soul was spread throughout the battlefield.

Of course, Cao Yun had learned to alter the shape and form of his spiritual senses in order to protect his own soul. But those feathers had struck randomly everywhere and many of them had actually made contact with his soul. They were material, but they were also made of Ghost Energy. In fact, they were exactly what Cao Yun was trying to achieve in his 'Death Verses' but with Death Energy instead.

All those feathers in his sea of consciousness immediately targeted his Soul Embryo. Thus, Cao Yun focused on his Five Aspects and his Rune of Fire. An absolute tornado of hellfire coiled around the Nine Soul Peaks. Since the Ghost Energy was extremely Yin, the Yang fire was its natural enemy. Cao Yun could sustain many injuries to his physical body, but injuring his soul, or worse, his Soul Embryo, was something he would have a very hard time recovering from. So he would do everything to avoid such an injury.

The best way for Cao Yun to end this attack was simply to kill the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Once dead, it couldn't control Ghost Energy and Cao Yun could easily purge it. Instead of sending his Po to destroy the feathers, he kept it focused on the fight.

Seeing that its scheme had failed, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu was desperately looking for a way to win, or at the very least survive. Then, it finally remembered something. In the distance, it saw exactly what it needed. The chains manifesting from its body all snapped and went taut. The skulls almost disappeared and bones covered the chains. They were forming four new wings on the gigantic demonic beast. Even before they were fully formed, the large bird flapped its metallic and bony wings along with its real wings. As the wind was moved around, one could hear the lamentation of the dead. The very bones that used to be skulls seemed to moan out in utter despair, as though they retained the emotions of the beast's victims.

A powerful gust of wind pushed Cao Yun. With his 'Three Storms' and his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars', he had enough of an understanding of the concept of Wind to stabilize himself. But an instant of loss of concentration caused him to let the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu fly away. Although it was massive, it wasn't slow. Of course, it wasn't nearly as fast as Hongyu, but it might really be as fast as, or even a tiny bit faster than, Cao Yun.

It took the young man a mere instant to realize toward where its enemy was flying. In this very direction was Hongyu. She was still a bit stunned and confused. At the very start of the fight, Cao Yun had thrown her far away so she could recover on her own. If she had been close to this fight, Cao Yun could never have protected her to begin with. But, now, she was becoming his undoing. Clearly, the large bird was trying to attack her to draw Cao Yun's attention. Both the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu and Cao Yun were aware that it was a trap, and that the other one knew it all too. However, Cao Yun couldn't let Hongyu be killed. Unfortunately, she was too stunned to fly away fast enough. Besides, as the giant bird was flying, its wailing wings were spreading an eerie melody that could freeze one's soul.

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Hongyu would be killed in a single attack. Although they currently had the same number of demonic cores, it didn't mean much. Even with seven demonic cores left, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu remained a full-fledged 9-core demonic beast. The Heaven-Searing Fenghuang would have a hard time surviving an attack under the best of circumstances. But right now, she could barely do anything as her head was overwhelmed by this deadly melody.

Maybe because of the Ghost Energy all around him, but Cao Yun felt a powerful emotion rise within his soul. But this time, it didn't come from his Po or his seven Turbid Demons, it was coming from his Hun. Although he had not worked as much with it, Cao Yun could recognize that it was his You Jing, the Dark Essence. This part of the Hun was aspiring to form connections with others, to belong to a group. Right now, Cao Yun's attention was fully focused on Hongyu. He couldn't lose her either.

Blindsided by this surge of emotion, Cao Yun's spiritual senses faltered. He was sending them toward Hongyu, trying to protect her. But this caused Cao Yun to miss something important. Some chains had not joined the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's wings. Many fragments of broken links of those Ghost Energy chains remained floating in the air.

The young man didn't pay any attention to those chains. He was only seeing Hongyu. Even now, he was imagining her death. Both her parents had died in order to protect Cao Yun. Even though Cao Yun couldn't die here, as he had to save his sister, he would risk until his last breath to defend Hongyu, no matter what.

Suddenly, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu stopped. Cao Yun didn't even register it. Overwhelmed by his emotions, his own momentum was taking him toward Hongyu still.

"Boy! Behind you!"

Dian Mo's voice jolted Cao Yun back to the real world. In an instant, he realized that his emotions had led him astray. Most likely, it was partly him and partly the Ghost Energy still assaulting the hellish tornado around his Nine Soul Peaks. The very environment he was in was messing with his mind somehow. But his realization came a bit too late.

The moment Cao Yun tried to move out of the way, hundreds of chains stabbed him. They pierced through his body and then coiled around it. At the last moment, he was able to cover his major vital areas with a thick layer of blood and Wei Qi or he really might have died on the spot. Carelessness was merciless on a battlefield. Those weren't just fragments of chains, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu had strategically chosen the strongest portions of each chains. Most of its strength had in fact been sent into those chains now constricting Cao Yun's body.

Without any hesitation, the giant bird changed its course and went straight for Cao Yun. Hongyu had always been a lure. Although Cao Yun knew it, he simply couldn't take any chance. But now, he was in trouble. The chains cut off his spiritual senses. The Ghost Energy in them was preventing him from spreading his soul. In fact, they actually manifested in his own sea of consciousness. Those very chains were flying like arrows toward the maelstrom of flames protecting his Soul Embryo.

Axiu Qian appeared with the seven Turbid Demons chained to him. His six arms caught many chains. Just like Cao Yun, they were trying to coil around Cao Yun and trap him. But as soon as they pierced his skin, the chains began to melt. In fact, even within Cao Yun's own body, the chains were beginning to melt. His Black Heart Flame was attacking them. However, he was trying to conceal it. So his Black Heart Flame was spreading through his own blood. With his asura cultivation, his blood could literally go anywhere in his body and he was controlling it just like Qi. In fact, the difference between Qi and blood was now purely theoretical for Cao Yun as he could easily take his Qi in and out of his blood.

Still distraught, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu kept its heads withdrawn while it was going toward Cao Yun with its talons first. They were massive black razors that could slice flesh as easily as they could tear souls. Even Cao Yun would be severely injured by those talons. In a single movement, they might be able to slice off his head or rip out his heart. Usually, he would simply block or dodge, but right now, he still couldn't move.

In his body, he felt an intense pain as the Black Heart Flame were melting the chains within him. Parts of the chains were consumed by the fires but some drops of the molten metal escaped and mixed in his blood. From the outside, the chains were squirming as if Cao Yun was desperately trying to escape their embrace. He was of course. But this movement was caused by the pain. Moreover, his soul was also assaulted. Some chains in his sea of consciousness coiled around the chains between the seven Turbid Demons and Axiu Qian. They were trying to break them apart, or maybe replace them somehow.

From the maelstrom of fire, a few roots from the world tree seed emerged and stabbed the seven Turbid Demons, just like blazing arrows. Then, those roots kept on growing and coiled around the chains with the fires from Shen the Fire Spirit on them. From the other end of the chains, the blood of Axiu Qian was slowly flowing. The foreign chains got covered in roots, flames and blood. Sizzling sounds echoed as those chains were also melting.

Just as the talons were about to stabbed Cao Yun, his arm broke through the chains. The 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' appeared. All of Cao Yun's Spear Heart was focused on it. The spear looked like a giant pillar that was taking root in the very center of the Piaolu planet while reaching in the void farther than anyone could see. Its mere shadow was plunging the world into infinite darkness. Suddenly, it spun.

'Asura God Bathes the World in Blood'!

Cao Yun swept his spear. All of his strength was in that strike right when the demonic beast least expected it. The pillar of pure black emanated a thick odor of blood. All around the pillars, a giant Azure Dragon was coiled. This odor of blood came from its breath. When the spear made contact with the demonic beast, everyone could hear its bones snap. Its talons were torn apart as its legs were smashed. Under the sheer violence of the technique, the chains still coiled around Cao Yun exploded while his muscles were more tense and contracted than ever.

Once his horizontal sweeping motion was over, his movement didn't stop. Cao Yun could feel the muscles of his arm begin to rip so he took the spear with both arms and used all of his spiritual senses and Qi to stabilize his weapon as he was suddenly changing its course. Now, the spear was sweeping toward the seven remaining necks of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. There was the same fierceness and brutality behind it.

Even before the strike reached it, the 9-core demonic beast could already feel its end. It couldn't avoid and it couldn't survive this strike.

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