Heavenly Phoenix Burns the Sun—Was This a Setup?

In the backyard, spears and swords clashed, sparks flying everywhere.

Xiao Cheng and Leng Yaozhu's figures crossed rapidly through the courtyard. The metallic clangs from the Azure Sky Divine Spear colliding with the Phoenix Feather echoed through the air like a rapid drumbeat.

Xiao Cheng deliberately held back. Rather than overpowering her with brute force, he purely used his spear techniques to spar with Leng Yaozhu. Leng Yaozhu did not play dirty by relying on her flight and long-range attack abilities to toy with him either.

During the battle, Xiao Cheng's spearwork was fierce and precise. Every thrust carried an overbearing spear intent, forcing Leng Yaozhu to respond with all her strength. It felt less like a fight and more like instruction.

Still, Leng Yaozhu's swordsmanship had indeed improved considerably. Half a year ago, her swordplay had still been somewhat crude and aggressive, relying more on the power of her flames to suppress her opponents. But now, there was a trace of agility and variation in her swordsmanship. Every strike carried a scorching sword intent. Though it was only in its infancy, it had already begun to take shape.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!"

In the span of little more than a dozen breaths, the two exchanged dozens of clashes. Xiao Cheng's spearwork was steady as a mountain, while Leng Yaozhu's swordsmanship burned like fire. As mountain and flame collided, even the surrounding air grew dry and hot.

"Not bad, Sister Yaozhu." Xiao Cheng knocked aside Leng Yaozhu's Phoenix Feather with a thrust and took two steps back, an approving smile appearing on his face. "Your swordsmanship has improved greatly. You've already grasped the beginnings of sword intent."

"Of course!" Leng Yaozhu lifted her chin proudly. "I haven't been loafing around these past six months! But..." Her tone shifted as she looked at Xiao Cheng helplessly. "The way you're handling this so easily... aren't you making it a little too obvious that you're going easy on me?"

"Am I?" Xiao Cheng looked innocent. "I'm fighting very seriously."

"Give me a break!" Leng Yaozhu rolled her eyes. "Not one of your three ten-thousand-year soul rings has lit up, and you haven't even activated your Evil God Body. You call that serious? You're being way too perfunctory. At least put on an act."

"Cough, cough..." Xiao Cheng coughed awkwardly. "I was just afraid of hurting you..."

"Who are you looking down on?" Leng Yaozhu pointed the Phoenix Feather at him, and the flames along its blade surged. "Looks like if I don't show you something real, you won't take this seriously!"

She took a deep breath, and her aura abruptly soared. The Sky Burning Dragon Wings behind her suddenly unfolded, merging with the Heavenly Phoenix wings that came with her Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul Possession. They formed a pair of Dragon Phoenix Wings that were not only gorgeous, but also even more powerful in appearance. Their wingspan was roughly three meters, faint golden-red light flowing along their edges and giving off a scorching, sacred aura!

Heavenly Phoenix True Fire and Evil-Breaking Sacred Fire surged from her body at the same time. Crimson flames and golden flames intertwined and fused around her body, forming an entirely new flame of gold and red! The heat it gave off was so intense that even Leng Yulai, standing at a distance, felt a wave of heat rush toward her and had to retreat several steps.

"Self-Created Soul Skill—Heavenly Phoenix Burns the Sun!"

Leng Yaozhu cried out, and the gold-red flames on the Phoenix Feather condensed into a massive flaming phoenix. It soared into the air, then pounced fiercely at Xiao Cheng with a heaven-destroying, earth-shattering momentum!

This move was a Self-Created Soul Skill that Leng Yaozhu had completed under Leng Zhaoran's guidance, using the Leng Family's Inherited Soul Skill as a foundation and incorporating the effects of the two flames.

Wherever the flaming phoenix passed, the ground was scorched black, the air was burned into distortion, and even the defensive Soul Tools let out humming alarms!

Xiao Cheng was quite surprised as well. He could sense that the power of this attack had already far surpassed the realm of a Soul Elder, or even a Soul Ancestor! Heavenly Phoenix True Fire possessed terrifying heat and powerful vitality far beyond ordinary flames, while Evil-Breaking Sacred Fire ignored conventional defenses and directly burned an enemy's Soul Power! The effects of the two flames linked together perfectly, creating a terrifying result where one plus one was greater than two!

Even if he took this attack head-on, he would lose a layer of skin!

However, Xiao Cheng did not panic.

Over the past half year, he had accumulated some fire resistance through Dragon Snake Transformation. While that resistance was barely worth mentioning against Leng Yaozhu's attack, which could practically be considered extreme fire, combined with his other methods, it was enough to deal with it.

"Evil God Body!"

A purple-gold soul ring lit up, and an ancient, overbearing aura spread from Xiao Cheng's body! Black Tiger Skin Demon Patterns emerged across his skin, his muscles swelled slightly, and a trace of dark-purple light flashed through his eyes!

All attributes increased by one hundred percent!

At the same time, Dragon Aura formed an invisible suit of armor over his body. Pale golden light covered his skin, giving off an indestructible aura.

Then, he poured the Power of Empty Green into the Azure Sky Divine Spear with all his strength, and brilliant azure light burst from the spear!

"Empty Green—Evil God Slash!"

Xiao Cheng swept out with his spear. As its tip cut through the void, it actually tore open a pitch-black spatial rift before him!

The spatial rift was like a giant maw that devoured everything, meeting the oncoming flaming phoenix head-on!

The flaming phoenix crashed into the spatial rift, and most of its fiery energy was swallowed and exiled into an unknown pocket dimension! Only a small portion of the flames spilled from the edge of the rift and struck Xiao Cheng!

"Boom—!!!"

With a tremendous explosion, flames scattered in every direction!

Xiao Cheng was driven back several steps by the impact. The Dragon Aura around him trembled faintly, blocking all the escaping fiery energy. He flexed his slightly numb arm, completely uninjured.

Leng Yaozhu stared at him in dumbfounded disbelief. After a long while, she finally squeezed out, "...Isn't your spatial attribute way too unfair?!"

"Is it?" Xiao Cheng looked innocent. "I think it's pretty useful."

"Useful, my ass!" Leng Yaozhu could not help complaining. "Do you know how powerful my Heavenly Phoenix Burns the Sun is? It has a second-stage burst! I was originally planning to make the two flames collide and explode as a hidden follow-up attack! But you just exiled my entire phoenix into the void! My second-stage burst never even got the chance to activate!"

"Uh... sorry?" Xiao Cheng scratched his head awkwardly.

"Sorry, my ass!" Leng Yaozhu rolled her eyes. "Do you know how powerful that move is? Even a Soul King would suffer if they took it head-on! They might even be seriously injured! But you just made the whole thing disappear!"

"The main thing is that you weren't using your full strength either, Sister Yaozhu." Xiao Cheng smiled. "You haven't used your soul bone skill, Phoenix Quenching Fire, have you? If you did, this move's power would probably rise another level or two. At that point, it could tear through space, and this method wouldn't work anymore."

"Hmph, you do know how to talk." Leng Yaozhu gave a soft snort. "Still, this round counts as your win. Your big sister will win it back someday."

Although Leng Yaozhu said that, she felt rather guilty herself. She could be considered the peer who had spent the most time with Xiao Cheng, so she naturally understood his strength and talent very well. Yet for some reason, she simply did not want to show weakness before him.

Leng Yulai watched the two bicker from the side and could not help covering her mouth as she smiled.

Leng Yaozhu put away her Martial Soul and stretched lazily. "The fight's over. Come on, go out shopping with me."

"Shopping?" Xiao Cheng paused slightly.

Leng Yaozhu said righteously, "I lost, so I'm in a bad mood. When you're in a bad mood, you buy things to comfort yourself. It's a woman's nature! Do you understand?"

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Leng Yulai covered her mouth and giggled from the side.

Xiao Cheng sighed helplessly. "Fine, I'll go with you."

The three left the house and headed toward Shrek City's commercial district.

Chanel was one of the most famous luxury brands on the continent. It specialized in clothing, accessories, and cosmetics, and was deeply favored by nobles and wealthy merchants. Its flagship store stood on the busiest commercial street in Shrek City. The décor was grand and elegant without being tacky, and one glance was enough to tell that nothing inside came cheap.

As soon as Xiao Cheng and the two sisters entered the store, a sales assistant came forward to greet them.

"Welcome, honored guests, to Chanel's Shrek City flagship store. How may I assist you?"

"We're just looking around." Leng Yaozhu waved her hand, then pulled Leng Yulai along as they began browsing through the store.

Xiao Cheng followed behind them, watching Leng Yaozhu try on outfit after outfit and piece after piece of jewelry. She turned before the mirror, checking herself from every angle. Once she nodded in satisfaction, she would tell the sales assistant, "Wrap this one up."

"Wrap this one too."

"Does this come in another color? It does? Wrap that one up too."

In less than half an hour, Leng Yaozhu had bought more than a dozen outfits, four or five pieces of jewelry, and three bottles of perfume. When she paid, she did not even look at the prices. She simply signed and walked away.

Xiao Cheng clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched. He knew Leng Yaozhu came from the Leng Family and lacked no money, but seeing how freely she spent still made him sigh. The world of the rich really was beyond him.

However, he also noticed that while shopping, Leng Yaozhu would occasionally pick up an outfit or necklace, hold it against him for comparison, then shake her head and put it back.

"Sister Yaozhu, what are you doing?" Xiao Cheng asked curiously.

"Nothing." Leng Yaozhu replied casually. "I was just checking whether this outfit would suit you. But you're a man. It probably wouldn't be suitable for you to wear Chanel clothes."

Xiao Cheng: "...I wasn't planning to buy anything in the first place."

"True." Leng Yaozhu nodded, then picked up a scarf. "But this scarf is quite nice. It should be good to wear in winter. Want to try it?"

Xiao Cheng: "...It's summer right now."

"You can still buy winter things in summer!" Leng Yaozhu said as if it were only natural. "Stocking up, understand?"

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Leng Yulai watched the two of them and covered her mouth as she giggled.

Two hours later, Leng Yaozhu finally finished shopping to her heart's content. Her storage Soul Tool was stuffed with shopping bags of every size, and a satisfied smile filled her face.

Xiao Cheng also sighed inwardly. Thankfully, Douluo Continent had the great invention known as storage Soul Tools. Otherwise, he would definitely have been the one carrying all those bags.

"As expected, shopping is the best cure!" she said with feeling. "All the frustration from fighting is gone!"

"Sister, you weren't frustrated to begin with..." Leng Yulai said softly.

"Don't worry about the details!" Leng Yaozhu waved her hand grandly. "Come on, let's go to the snack street! I'm hungry!"

The three arrived at Shrek City's most famous snack street. It was evening, and the street was packed with people. The fragrances of all sorts of snacks mixed together, making mouths water.

The moment Leng Yaozhu entered the snack street, she seemed like a different person. Excitedly pulling Xiao Cheng and Leng Yulai along, she darted between the various stalls.

"Boss, three skewers of grilled meat!"

"Boss, how much are these candied hawthorns?"

"Wow, they sell stinky tofu here! Xiao Cheng, do you want to try some?"

"Boss, one bowl of mala tang, extra spicy!"

Each of the three held a heap of snacks as they ate while walking, their mouths glistening with oil.

"Mmm, this grilled meat is so good!" Leng Yaozhu said indistinctly while chewing on a meat skewer. "It's much better than the food in our Spirit Pagoda cafeteria!"

"Indeed." Xiao Cheng nodded as well and bit into the candied hawthorn in his hand. "Those nutrient meals we usually eat may be good for the body, but they really don't taste like much."

"Right, right!" Leng Yaozhu said with deep agreement. "That's why we need to come out and improve our meals every once in a while!"

The three were eating happily when a burst of commotion suddenly came from ahead.

"Get lost! Don't block my way!"

"Huh? Boss, what a pretty little babe?"

"Second Brother, isn't this girl a little young?"

"What do you know? Boss likes them like this. How many years have I been with Boss?"

"Hehe, little sister, isn't it dangerous for you to walk around alone? How about your big brothers keep you company?"

They looked toward the voices and saw a group of young men in their twenties not far ahead. Every one of them had tattoos on their arms and chests. One look was enough to tell that they were no good.

Seeing those disgusting men and hearing their filthy remarks, Xiao Cheng, Leng Yaozhu, and Leng Yulai all had their appetites spoiled. They frowned in displeasure.

But do not misunderstand. The group of thugs was not harassing the Leng sisters. After all, whether from their looks, clothing, or bearing, anyone with eyes could tell that Xiao Cheng and the Leng sisters came from prominent families.

In a place like Shrek City, the federation's foremost city, even street punks needed to know how to read people. They knew who they could provoke and who they could not. If something like this really happened to Xiao Cheng's group, then either the thugs were clueless newcomers who did not understand the rules, or someone had set them up. The chance of it being an accident was minuscule.

As for now, Xiao Cheng had reason to suspect that he had been set up. After all, almost no thug capable of surviving in Shrek City could be an idiot. Shrek City was full of hidden talents, and no one knew whether some old man standing beside them might be a titled Douluo who had lived in seclusion for years.

Committing such evil so openly on a snack street with this much foot traffic—were they truly not afraid that some passing expert might step in and uphold justice? Even those extraordinary students from Shrek Academy would intervene if they saw something like this, wouldn't they?