Seven-Colored Peacock

Inside the cave, after the Woman in Black Veil had suffered several setbacks at Han Fei's hands, she finally became much more obedient.

From childhood to adulthood, she had never felt so defeated. Aside from Han Fei, no one had ever made her feel so powerless. Even her father, the master of Asura Hall, did not seem so unreachable in the Woman in Black Veil's eyes. She believed that one day, she would surpass her father.

The two slowly felt their way deeper into the cave. Though their attention was focused ahead, Han Fei still kept part of it on the Woman in Black Veil behind him.

Chiyou: "I think you should just kill her. Why give yourself trouble?"

Han Fei: "I was thinking the same thing, but Senior Fuxi told me not to kill her. As for why, I have no idea."

Chiyou: "What? Since when did Fuxi learn to pity women?"

Fuxi: "It is not that I pity her. There is an extremely powerful aura on her body, one strong enough to kill the group leader instantly. We cannot help him block it every moment, can we? And against an attack of that power, with our current soul strength, we might not even react in time."

Chiyou: "A powerful aura? Stronger than our soul strength?"

Pangu: "It is not stronger than yours, but you cannot occupy the group leader's body forever, can you? Besides, a powerful soul occupying the group leader's body will have negative effects on him and may even cause backlash. It is better to let the group leader rely on himself whenever possible. Unless his life is in danger, we only need to assist from the side."

Yan Di: "But keeping a threat around is still trouble."

Hongjun: "I think we should all understand one thing. We are now primordial spirit bodies. Why were we gathered here by this group? If we were to eliminate every danger for the group leader, we might as well directly take over his body and instantly kill the strongest person in this world. Wouldn't that bring peace to the world?"

"But what would be the point? Could the group leader truly grow stronger? Without undergoing all kinds of dangerous trials, he would ultimately just be a flower raised in a greenhouse. And we would earn fewer points as well."

Everyone nodded. Even Chiyou fell silent. Clearly, only when points were mentioned did he remember his mission.

Han Fei: "I think so too. I need to experience all kinds of dangers, both to become stronger and for the excitement."

Outside, the two followed the cave onward. They had no idea how long they had walked, yet there was still no sign of an end.

The torches on both walls of the cave went out after Han Fei and the Woman in Black Veil passed them, as though this cave only allowed them to move forward and forbade retreat.

One end of the cave extended downward all the way. Han Fei had no idea where it led, but he could tell that it had been sloping down the entire time.

Woman in Black Veil: "What kind of place is this? We have walked for so long, yet it feels like we are still going in circles. The walls on both sides are practically identical. How many torches would this take? Whoever built this place must be sick."

Han Fei abruptly stopped and muttered, "Yeah, for a cave like this, how many torches would it take?"

As he spoke, Han Fei turned and walked toward the darkness behind them. Under normal circumstances, this should have been the path the two had already taken.

The Woman in Black Veil asked doubtfully, "Why are you going back?"

Han Fei said, "If you want to leave this place, follow me."

The Woman in Black Veil had no choice but to silently follow Han Fei back.

Han Fei silently walked along the pitch-black cave, retracing the way they had come. Yet to the surprise of both of them, the cave had extended downward when they came through it earlier, and it still extended downward as they went back.

Woman in Black Veil: "Th-this... what is going on?"

Han Fei said nothing. He took the Woman in Black Veil's hand with his left hand. Her entire body trembled at that instant. Perhaps she was startled, or perhaps no one had ever held her hand like that before.

But after that tremor, the Woman in Black Veil quieted down and tacitly allowed Han Fei to hold her hand. At that moment, she also felt an overwhelming sense of security.

They continued downward through the darkness along the smooth, level cave. Han Fei estimated that they were now at least a hundred meters below the surface. He had no idea what kind of godlike person had created this underground passage.

Suddenly, Han Fei, who was walking ahead, spotted a glimmer of light in the darkness. This light was unlike firelight. It resembled sunlight instead.

They quickened their pace. When they reached the source of the light, they found that it was indeed the cave's exit.

Looking out from the cave entrance, they saw a massive space roughly thirty meters in length, width, and height. The cave exit was on one side, and this entire stone chamber had only this single passage. There was no second door to be found.

Woman in Black Veil: "A-are we going out?"

Han Fei tilted his head slightly. "What else? Is this your first time encountering something like this? As the demoness of Asura Hall, is this all the courage you have?"

The Woman in Black Veil snapped, "Mind your own business. You call Qi Xuanxuan of the Tianyuan Divine Sect the Saintess, yet you keep calling me a demoness. What do you mean by that?"

Han Fei shook his head helplessly and slowly walked out of the cave. The Woman in Black Veil hurriedly followed behind him.

The moment the two left the cave, the passage behind them slowly closed up and rapidly solidified, seamlessly merging with the surrounding rock walls. It was impossible to tell with the naked eye where they had emerged from.

Han Fei spread his hands. "Well, now even the only entrance and exit is gone."

Just as the Woman in Black Veil was about to speak, a clear cry rang out. Above and ahead of them, four-colored lights gradually condensed out of the void.

Han Fei and the Woman in Black Veil looked up and saw a giant bird-like demonic beast whose name they did not know. Unlike ordinary birds, it had four tails and four eyes. At a glance, it was clearly not something to be trifled with.

Han Fei drew the broken sword and shielded the Woman in Black Veil behind him.

He did not recognize the bird, but the well-read Woman in Black Veil did.

"Th-this is a Seven-Colored Peacock?"

Han Fei froze. "You recognize this bird?"

The Woman in Black Veil nodded. "This bird is called the Seven-Colored Peacock, the only divine bird on the entire continent capable of producing Seven-Colored Flame. Seven-Colored Flame is also the strongest flame on this continent, not because of its destructive power, but because it can devour spiritual energy."

"Even if one's cultivation far surpasses that of a Seven-Colored Peacock, the Seven-Colored Flame it releases can still devour all of an opponent's spiritual energy. The Seven-Colored Peacock before us has only evolved four colors, and it has only four tails. That means it is still in its juvenile stage."

At that, Han Fei understood. "So a true Seven-Colored Peacock has seven tails, and the flames it produces come in seven colors?"

The Woman in Black Veil nodded. "Do not be fooled by its having only four colors. Devouring our spiritual energy would be effortless for it."

Han Fei held the broken sword in a reverse grip and said softly, "Understood."

With that, Han Fei prepared to attack the Seven-Colored Peacock.

However, the Seven-Colored Peacock had also finished materializing by then. It changed from an inanimate object into a living creature, continuously flapping its wings in midair.

Boom! A fierce gale erupted from the Seven-Color Fire Phoenix, blasting Han Fei, who was about to charge forward, back.

Han Fei felt as though he had been thrown away by an irresistible force. He slammed directly into the rock wall behind him and lost the ability to breathe for a full five seconds.

As the gale dissipated, the Seven-Colored Peacock slowly landed on the ground.

Han Fei gasped heavily as the dizzying force gradually faded.

Of course, Han Fei was not the only one sent flying by the sudden gust. The Woman in Black Veil was also blown against the rear rock wall, and her face veil was torn away.

Though Han Fei's chest felt tight and he was short of breath from the impact, he was still stunned by the Woman in Black Veil's appearance.

If Qi Xuanxuan was the kind of beauty who was pure and otherworldly, then the Woman in Black Veil was a perfect woman without the slightest flaw. More importantly, she carried an air of mystery.

Unlike Qi Xuanxuan's Saintess-like aura, Han Fei did not know why, but he actually liked this sense of mystery.

Even after seeing her true face, he still felt that she was unfathomable.

Chiyou: "Hey, where are you looking? Attack incoming."

Han Fei came back to his senses just in time to see a fireball radiating four colors flying toward him.

It was already too late for him to dodge. At that critical moment, the Woman in Black Veil, who had just fallen from the rock wall, rushed over and shoved Han Fei aside.

Boom! The four-colored flames struck the Woman in Black Veil's outstretched left arm.

The sleeve on her left arm vanished completely, and then the flames came into contact with the spiritual energy around her arm.

In merely an instant, the Woman in Black Veil felt all the spiritual energy on the left side of her body being devoured.

At the same time, as her spiritual energy offset the flames, the Woman in Black Veil managed to drive away all the fire after losing more than half of her spiritual energy, preserving the skin on her entire left arm.

Otherwise, if her spiritual energy had been insufficient, the flames would have begun to erode her skin. By then, a peerless beauty might have turned into a charred corpse.