Slaying Azure Luan!

"What's going on?" Dugu Yan stopped in her tracks and turned around, panting heavily.

Then she saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

A cyan figure descended from the sky.

It was a bird.

No, it was no ordinary bird.

It was enormous, with a wingspan exceeding five zhang. Its entire body was covered in azure-green feathers that gleamed with a metallic luster beneath the sunlight.

A magnificent crest adorned its head, while its long, graceful tail feathers streamed through the air like a ribbon of green silk. Its eyes resembled two amber gems, shining with sharp, prideful light.

Every beat of its wings stirred up a gale, sweeping fallen leaves and shattered stones from the ground. Every dive was like a streak of cyan lightning, so fast that no one could clearly see its movements.

Azure Luan.

A legendary top-tier mutated Soul Beast, a close relative of the Phoenix, blessed with noble bloodline and formidable strength. It was the ruler of the skies and the natural nemesis of all serpent Soul Beasts.

The snake horde that had been so arrogant moments ago now looked like mice meeting a cat before Azure Luan, completely stripped of their will to fight.

Azure Luan swept through the snake horde like a cyan whirlwind. With every dive, it precisely snatched up a giant python, then either shattered its skull with its sharp beak or tore its body apart with its razor-like claws.

The snakes tried to retaliate, spewing poisonous mist, whipping their tails, and opening their jaws to bite.

But Azure Luan was too fast and too agile. None of those attacks could touch it in the slightest. It was like an elegant dancer gliding through the snake horde, every movement accompanied by the death of another serpent.

In less than the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the snake horde that had pursued Xiao Lin and Dugu Yan all this way had been slaughtered to the last.

Snake corpses carpeted the ground, dark green blood flowing into little streams as a thick stench of blood filled the air.

Azure Luan landed atop a towering ancient tree, raised its head, and released a clear, resounding cry, as though proclaiming its victory.

Then it lowered its head, those amber eyes fixing upon Xiao Lin and Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul trembled within her body, as though it had encountered something that filled it with extreme terror.

It was bloodline suppression, the innate intimidation of a higher predator over a lower one in the food chain.

"Xiao... Xiao Lin..." Dugu Yan's voice trembled. "It... it's looking at us..."

Xiao Lin did not answer.

His eyes remained fixed on Azure Luan without blinking, an unfamiliar light gleaming within them—excitement, desire, the look of a hunter who had spotted prey.

"Twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand years..." Xiao Lin murmured, a smile slowly curling across his lips. "Perfect."

Dugu Yan froze. "You... what are you planning to do?"

"I want it." Xiao Lin turned to look at her, his gaze blazing. "As my fourth Soul Ring."

"Are you insane?!" Dugu Yan cried out. "That's an Azure Luan over twenty thousand years old! A top-tier mutated Soul Beast! Its strength rivals that of a Soul Emperor! How could a Soul Elder like you possibly defeat it?!"

"How will we know if we don't try?" Xiao Lin loosened his limbs and gripped the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute in his hand. "Besides, I'm not alone."

To be honest, Xiao Lin's Soul Power was currently only stuck at level forty, but in reality, his Soul Power had long surpassed that level, and he had even consumed an Immortal Herb.

He looked at Dugu Yan and said seriously, "Support me. I'll be the main attacker. You don't need to face it head-on. When I need you, use your poison mist to interfere with its vision, and use your whip and poison to restrain its movements. Can you do that?"

Dugu Yan looked into his resolute jade-green eyes, and the words at her lips were swallowed back down.

She gritted her teeth and nodded forcefully. "I can!"

"Good!" Xiao Lin turned to face Azure Luan, drew a deep breath, and said, "Then let's go!"

He launched the first attack.

"Second Soul Skill—The General's Command!"

A stirring, heroic flute melody rang out, and Xiao Lin's aura instantly surged to its peak. His eyes became brighter, his senses sharper, and his entire condition entered an unprecedented state of perfection.

Immediately afterward, he unleashed Ambush from Ten Sides.

A rapid, tense melody poured forth. Centered on Xiao Lin, visible ripples began to appear in the air within a hundred-meter radius.

Those ripples intertwined, forming an invisible net that enveloped Azure Luan.

Azure Luan sensed that invisible pressure and let out an enraged cry. It fiercely beat its wings, releasing a howling gale in an attempt to tear apart the invisible net.

But Ambush from Ten Sides was not a physical attack. It was a net of energy formed from sound waves. The wind could blow away tangible objects, but it could not scatter invisible sound waves.

Azure Luan flapped its wings several times, only to discover that it could not break free from the net. It grew even more furious.

It folded its wings and dove at Xiao Lin like a bolt of cyan lightning!

Its speed was astonishing. In nearly the blink of an eye, it crossed a hundred meters, its sharp claws flashing with cold light as they struck straight for Xiao Lin's head!

Xiao Lin had been prepared.

"Phoenix Cry Nine Heavens Step!"

Two azure-gold trails of sound waves appeared beneath his feet. With a crisp note exploding through the air, his body slid sideways like Gui Mei, barely evading Azure Luan's fatal claw.

Azure Luan's claw struck nothing, and its body glided forward a distance from the momentum.

It quickly adjusted its posture and lunged at Xiao Lin once more. This time, it was even faster, and its assault even fiercer.

Xiao Lin no longer dodged. Instead, he held the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute horizontally before him and charged forward as though wielding a sword.

Jade Flute Swordsmanship—First Form, Flute Cry Shakes the Nine Heavens!

The flute collided with Azure Luan's sharp claws, producing a crisp clang of metal against stone. Xiao Lin felt an immense force travel through the flute, numbing his arms and sending him sliding back seven or eight meters before he managed to steady himself.

What incredible strength! Xiao Lin was startled, but the fighting spirit in his eyes only burned more fiercely.

Azure Luan was also knocked back slightly by his strike, a flash of surprise appearing in its eyes. It clearly had not expected this seemingly weak human to block its attack.

Just as Azure Luan prepared to launch its third attack, a dark green whip-shadow suddenly lashed out from the side and wrapped around its left leg.

"Got it!" Dugu Yan gripped the whip with both hands, braced her feet against the ground, and poured all her strength into pulling it taut. "Quick! Now!"

Dugu Yan even unleashed her fourth Soul Skill, frantically pouring poison into it.

After her Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, her poison attribute had greatly increased. Even Azure Luan howled and shrieked without end.

"Ah!!!"

With its left leg bound by the whip, Azure Luan's movements were somewhat restricted. It furiously turned its head and spat a cyan wind blade toward Dugu Yan.