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 clang of the Azure Sky Divine Spear colliding with the Phoenix Feather rang through the air like a dense drumbeat.

Xiao Cheng deliberately held back. Rather than overwhelming her with sheer power, he purely sparred with Leng Yaozhu through spear techniques. Leng Yaozhu did not take advantage of 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 seemed less like a fight and more like guidance.

Still, Leng Yaozhu's swordsmanship had indeed improved greatly. Half a year ago, her swordplay had still been somewhat crude and forceful, relying more on the might of her flames to suppress opponents. But now, there was a trace more 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 just over a dozen breaths, the two had exchanged dozens of collisions. Xiao Cheng's spearwork was steady as a mountain, while Leng Yaozhu's swordplay burned like fire. As mountain and fire collided, even the surrounding air grew scorching hot.

"Not bad, Sister Yaozhu." Xiao Cheng knocked aside Leng Yaozhu's Phoenix Feather with a spear thrust and took two steps back, a pleased smile appearing on his face. "Your swordsmanship has improved a lot. You've already grasped the rudiments of Sword Intent."

"Of course!" Leng Yaozhu proudly raised her chin. "I haven't been idle these past six months! But..." Her tone shifted as she looked at Xiao Cheng helplessly. "Isn't 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 lit up, and you didn't even activate your Evil God Body. You call that serious? You're being far too perfunctory. At least pretend a little."

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

"Who are you looking down on?!" Leng Yaozhu pointed her Phoenix Feather at him, and flames surged across the sword blade. "It seems that unless I show you some real skill, you won't take me seriously!"

She took a deep breath, and her aura suddenly soared. The Sky Burning Dragon Wings behind her spread open, merging with the Heavenly Phoenix wings naturally produced by her Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul Possession. They formed a pair of Dragon Phoenix Wings that were not only magnificent, but also even more powerful-looking. Their wingspan stretched roughly three meters, with faint golden-red light flowing along the edges and radiating a scorching yet holy aura!

Heavenly Phoenix True Fire and Evil-Breaking Sacred Fire surged from her body simultaneously. Crimson flames and golden flames intertwined and fused around her, forming an entirely new kind of fire—golden-red dual-colored flames! The temperature they gave off was terrifyingly high. Even Leng Yulai, standing at a distance, felt a wave of heat wash over her and had to retreat several steps.

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

Leng Yaozhu gave a clear shout. The golden-red flames on the Phoenix Feather condensed into an enormous flaming phoenix. It spread its wings and soared, then pounced fiercely toward Xiao Cheng with a world-destroying momentum!

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

Wherever the flaming phoenix passed, the ground was scorched black, the air warped under the heat, and even the defensive Soul Tools emitted buzzing alarms!

Xiao Cheng was quite surprised as well. He could feel that the might of this attack had already far surpassed the realm of a Soul Elder or even a Soul Ancestor! Heavenly Phoenix True Fire possessed horrifying temperatures 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 worked 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 six months, he had accumulated some fire resistance through Dragon Snake Transformation. Although that resistance was little more than a drop in the bucket against Leng Yaozhu's attack, which could almost be considered at the level of Ultimate 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 the surface of his body, his muscles swelled slightly, and a flash of dark violet light passed through his eyes!

All attributes increased by one hundred percent!

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

Then, he poured the Power of Empty Green into the Azure Sky Divine Spear with all his strength, causing cyan light to blaze from the spear shaft!

"Azure Sky—Evil God Slash!"

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

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

The flaming phoenix crashed into the spatial rift. Most of its fire energy was swallowed by the rift and banished into an unknown alternate space! Only a small portion of the flames spilled from the edges of the rift and struck Xiao Cheng!

Boom—!!!

A deafening explosion rang out as flames scattered in every direction!

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

Leng Yaozhu stared at him in dumbfounded silence before finally squeezing out a sentence. "...Isn't your spatial attribute way too unfair?!"

"Is it?" Xiao Cheng looked innocent. "I think it's quite 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 afterward! I was originally planning to make the two flames collide and explode as a hidden second-stage attack! But then you went and banished my entire phoenix into the void! My second-stage burst didn't even get 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! Yet you just made the whole thing disappear!"

"The main thing is that you weren't going all out either, Sister Yaozhu." Xiao Cheng smiled. "You didn't use your Soul Bone skill, Phoenix Quenching Fire, did you? If you had, the power of that move would probably rise another level or two. At that point, it could tear through space, and this move of mine wouldn't work."

"Hmph, at least you know how to talk." Leng Yaozhu snorted softly. "Still, you won this round. But I'll win it back someday."

Although Leng Yaozhu herself felt guilty saying that, she could be considered the peer who had spent the longest time with Xiao Cheng. 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. "We're done fighting. Come on, go shopping with me."

"Shopping?" Xiao Cheng paused in surprise.

Leng Yaozhu spoke as though it were only natural. "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! Don't you understand?"

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Leng Yulai covered her mouth and snickered from the side.

Xiao Cheng sighed helplessly. "All right. 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 boutique stood on the busiest commercial street in Shrek City. The store was decorated elegantly and grandly without being tacky, and one could tell at a glance that nothing inside came cheap.

The moment Xiao Cheng and the two sisters entered the store, a sales attendant 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 examined herself from every angle in the mirror, nodded in satisfaction, and then told the sales attendant, "Wrap this one up."

"Wrap this one too."

"Does this come in that color as well? It does? Then wrap that one 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 by card, she did not even glance at the prices. She simply signed and left.

Xiao Cheng clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched. He knew Leng Yaozhu came from the Leng Family and did not lack money, but seeing her spend so freely still made him sigh. He truly did not understand the world of the rich.

However, he also noticed that when Leng Yaozhu was shopping, she would occasionally pick up an item of clothing or a necklace, hold it up against him for comparison, shake her head, and put it back.

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

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

Xiao Cheng: "...I wasn't planning to buy anything anyway."

"That's true." Leng Yaozhu nodded, then picked up a scarf. "Still, this scarf is pretty nice. It should be good for winter. Do you want to try it?"

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

"You can buy winter things in summer too!" Leng Yaozhu declared righteously. "Stockpiling, understand?"

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Leng Yulai watched the two of them from the side, covering her mouth as she laughed.

Two hours later, Leng Yaozhu finally finished shopping to her satisfaction. Her Storage Soul Tool was stuffed full of shopping bags of all sizes, and her face was filled with a contented smile.

Xiao Cheng secretly sighed to himself as well. Fortunately, Douluo Continent had the great invention known as Storage Soul Tools. Otherwise, he would definitely have been the one carrying all those large and small bags.

"Sure enough, shopping is the best healing method!" she exclaimed. "All the frustration from fighting is gone!"

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

"Don't worry about such 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 aromas of every kind of snack mixed together, tempting the appetite.

The moment Leng Yaozhu entered the snack street, she seemed like a different person. Excitedly, she pulled Xiao Cheng and Leng Yulai through 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 spicy hot pot, extra spicy!"

Each of the three held a pile of snacks as they walked and ate, their mouths glistening with oil.

"Mmm, this grilled meat is so good!" Leng Yaozhu said indistinctly through a mouthful of grilled skewers. "It tastes way better than the food at the Spirit Pagoda cafeteria!"

"It really does." Xiao Cheng nodded as he bit into the candied hawthorn in his hand. "Those nutritional meals we usually eat may be good for the body, but their flavor is indeed nothing special."

"Right? Right?" Leng Yaozhu said with deep agreement. "That's why we still need to come out occasionally and improve our meals!"

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 chick?"

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

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

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

They looked toward the voices and saw, not far ahead, a group of young men in their twenties. Every one of them had tattoos on their arms and chests. At a glance, it was obvious they were no good.

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

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

In a premier city of the Federation like Shrek City, even being a thug required good judgment. They had to know whom they could provoke and whom they should not. If Xiao Cheng's group truly encountered something like this, then either the thugs were clueless newcomers who did not understand the rules, or someone had set them up. As for it being an accident, the possibility was minuscule.

As for now, Xiao Cheng had reason to suspect that he had been set up. After all, thugs who could survive in Shrek City were almost certainly not idiots. Shrek City was filled with hidden experts, and nobody knew whether some old man standing nearby might be a Title Douluo who had lived in seclusion for years.

Committing such evil so openly on a snack street with such heavy foot traffic—were they really not afraid that some passing expert might step in to uphold justice? Even those freakishly talented students of Shrek Academy would probably intervene if they saw something like this.