Chapter Eleven: The First Phoenix, the Origin of the Qilin

Zulong scrutinized the treasures in the hands of the two before him, his eyes flickering with surprise. No matter how he tried, he could not have imagined that each of them would possess an innate supreme treasure. Such treasures were exceedingly rare—there were only a handful in existence. The Dragon Clan had dominated the primordial world for countless years and had never obtained even one.

Zulong was a chaotic divine beast, birthed at the dawn of Pangu’s creation. His physical prowess was extraordinary, rivaling even innate spiritual treasures. Thus, he had always disdained the use of magical artifacts, preferring to crush his foes with his own power. With such a body, none but an innate supreme treasure could breach his defenses. Yet now, the two before him each wielded just such a treasure. When had these divine artifacts become so commonplace?

Still, he noted that one was an early-stage Golden Immortal, and the other had reached the late stage of the same realm. As long as they had not stepped into the ranks of quasi-saints, their treasures were nothing to fear. With a turn of thought, Zulong roared, surging forward to crush Fuxi first, intending to eliminate the weaker of the two.

His massive dragon claw unfurled, crackling with thunder, and the very heavens and earth seemed to tremble. Fuxi’s face paled; it was his first time facing such a formidable being, and he was overwhelmed with anxiety. Yet, he summoned the Heaven and Earth Cauldron with all his might, interposing it before him.

At the same time, Li Tian refused to stand by. Channeling his power, he directed the Chaos Bell straight toward Zulong’s neck.

It is said that, to strike a snake, one must aim for its seventh inch—the neck. Dragons, being long-bodied like snakes, must have the same weakness, he reasoned.

But Zulong was not so easily taken by surprise. At the critical moment, he abandoned his attack on Fuxi, spun around, and struck the Chaos Bell with a mighty claw.

A deep, thunderous peal resounded as claw met bell, echoing to the heavens and reverberating across half the primordial world.

Li Tian, Fuxi, and Zulong all felt their spirits shaken by the bell’s resonance. Li Tian, being the owner of the Chaos Bell, withstood it better, but Fuxi and Zulong fared worse, especially Fuxi. His cultivation was the weakest, and his massive form nearly collapsed under the tumultuous force.

Zulong’s expression darkened as the pain from his claw registered in his mind—a shock he had not expected. The dragon’s claws were among the hardest parts of his body; had that blow landed in full, he might have been gravely wounded.

The thought that he had nearly been injured by two lowly upstarts, coupled with his suppressed fury, drove Zulong to a frenzy. He bellowed, his dragon’s roar shaking the world, and even the sky turned somber.

“Ants—prepare to die!” Zulong’s wrathful shout came as he unleashed a tempest of thunderous attacks. Li Tian and Fuxi scattered to evade him, struggling to hold their ground.

The three became locked in furious combat, their colossal forms causing the entire primordial world to quake, mountains collapsing and the earth rending—as if the end of days had arrived. Even the aftershocks from their blows were enough to annihilate mountains.

Creatures for millions of miles around perished or were gravely wounded in the chaos, but Li Tian and Fuxi were too preoccupied with survival to care.

Zulong was simply too powerful—whether in cultivation, combat experience, or innate gifts, he was unassailable.

Since his birth, Li Tian had rarely encountered true adversity. Occasionally, some reckless minor demon would cross his path, but he always dispatched them with ease. After all, he had been born at the late stage of Golden Immortal—an advantage that made him invincible among peers. Moreover, he disdained wanton violence, seeing it as the folly of brutes, and thus lacked experience against formidable foes.

Were it not for the Chaos Bell and the Tome of Earth, he would not have lasted a single exchange with Zulong. Even with these treasures, he could only barely hold his own, and only because Fuxi was also dividing Zulong’s attention.

Fuxi, for his part, was in even worse straits. Having only recently broken through to early-stage Golden Immortal, and being but a few centuries old, he had little experience in battle. Neither of his treasures was designed for combat, so each time he dodged Zulong’s attacks, it was by the narrowest margin.

Li Tian regretted his choices—had he known Zulong was so terrifying, he would have fled without looking back. Now, with the battle deadlocked, escape was impossible unless someone could hold Zulong at bay, which was clearly out of the question, since even he could not manage it for long.

With a shout, Zulong’s massive tail swept toward him. Li Tian quickly raised the Chaos Bell to parry but was still shaken by the force of the blow.

The Chaos Bell was balanced in offense and defense, seemingly without flaw. Yet, for the very reason that it was not specialized, neither its attack nor defense was the strongest. If only he possessed the Pangu Banner that could cut through the primordial chaos, or the God-Slaying Spear that could wound a saint—how could he be in such dire straits?

But he knew such thoughts were futile. The Pangu Banner belonged to the Three Pure Ones, and was now likely in Hongjun’s hands. As for the God-Slaying Spear, it had been the exclusive treasure of Luo Hou, the most ruthless figure in the primordial world, and had vanished with him—no point in dreaming of it.

Shaking off these fanciful notions, Li Tian focused all his attention on Zulong’s relentless assault. As time passed, both he and Fuxi found their spiritual power waning. Their cultivation could not compare to Zulong’s, and they had to channel their energy to wield two treasures at once. Fuxi, in particular, struggled—he had to expend extra power just to maintain his form, being the weakest of the three.

Watching Fuxi’s increasingly desperate evasions, a cold sweat broke out on Li Tian’s brow. Was this the end for him? Or would he, like the protagonist of a fantasy tale, experience a breakthrough in the heat of battle? Yet, even if he reached the peak of Golden Immortal, he doubted he could defeat Zulong, and his heart grew heavy.

Perhaps fate was not so cruel, or perhaps providence took pity on them. Just as Li Tian and Fuxi were about to collapse, ready to surrender to despair, a clear, resounding phoenix cry rang out from the distance, followed by several bestial roars.

“Yuan Phoenix, Primeval Qilin?” Zulong’s expression changed, his attacks faltering.

Seizing the chance, Li Tian and Fuxi withdrew, breathing deep sighs of relief.

From the southern sky, radiant clouds spread as a massive nine-colored divine phoenix soared gracefully toward them. Among phoenixes, feather color indicated attributes—most had but one, their feathers a single hue; red for Fire Phoenixes, blue for Ice Phoenixes. The rare few with multiple attributes bore colorful plumage—the more colors, the more powers they possessed.

Yuan Phoenix, sovereign of her kind, possessed the most colors—nine in total—embodying gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, feather, and ice.

Behind her came a gigantic, earth-yellow, four-hoofed beast—a Qilin. He was the first of his kind, the original Qilin, and the first terrestrial beast. Born to command the earth and all land creatures, he wielded the very power of the earth itself. On solid ground, he stood invincible by nature.

Seeing these two arrive, Li Tian and Fuxi relaxed at last, knowing they had escaped calamity. After all, the Phoenix and Qilin Clans were mortal enemies of the Dragons. The two exchanged glances and retreated behind Yuan Phoenix and Primeval Qilin, transforming back into human form.

“Zulong,” Yuan Phoenix called out, “you dare wreak such havoc upon my Phoenix Clan’s domain—do you take us for defenseless?”