Today, I Grant You the True Phoenix Inheritance-Restore the Phoenix Clan's Glory!

Chen Jin sat quietly on a weathered rock.

He sensed the will lingering in his mind.

Powerful.

Indelible.

Like a god gazing down from the nine heavens, it made one unable to resist the urge to submit.

Within his sea of consciousness, the golden light dispersed, and the Phoenix God's will resonated with his soul at that moment.

"My bloodline, adrift in the mortal world, shall not be tainted by filth."

"Today, I grant you the True Phoenix inheritance. Restore the Phoenix Clan's glory."

The majestic voice echoed endlessly through his mind, making his sea of consciousness buzz.

As the voice faded, Chen Jin felt his mind become utterly clear.

Countless golden ancient runes appeared out of thin air.

As though alive, these runes spun rapidly through his sea of consciousness, radiating a vast, ancient aura.

At last, they converged into a supreme cultivation art.

"The Phoenix Nine-Turn Nirvana Art."

Chen Jin immersed his consciousness in it, carefully contemplating the profound mysteries of the art.

Nine turns of nirvana, each turn a passage through life and death, each transformation an ascent to heaven.

The mysteries of this art were truly too vast. Every word contained the mighty power to cleave heaven and earth apart.

In Chen Jin's eyes, the so-called Soul Master cultivation system of the Douluo Continent seemed crude beyond measure before this divine art.

It was a supreme Great Dao that utterly transcended the rules of this continent.

Yet the price required to cultivate this art was also astonishingly steep.

For every nirvana, he had to feed his body to the flames and place himself in death's grasp.

At the boundary between life and death, he had to temper his flesh and soul with the most violent Phoenix True Fire.

If he endured it, he would undergo a transformation in every respect, his cultivation multiplying several times as he was remade down to his very bones.

If he failed, his body and soul would be annihilated, without even a chance at reincarnation.

This was nothing short of snatching a life from the King of Hell.

But what made Chen Jin's breathing quicken most was what the latter part of the art recorded.

With every completed turn of nirvana, he could not only raise his cultivation but also unlock a divine ability exclusive to the ancient phoenix.

A divine ability, not a Soul Skill.

It was supreme power drawn directly from the Phoenix God's Origin, utterly beyond the restrictions imposed by the Douluo Continent's rules.

It could even disregard differences in level and completely overwhelm every conventional Soul Skill on this continent.

"This is the true Great Dao leading to heaven..."

Chen Jin looked at his hands and murmured to himself.

The shock in his eyes gradually turned to wild joy.

"By comparison, the power Ma Hongjun gained by indulging his Evil Fire and willingly sinking into depravity is nothing but trash."

"And those people at Shrek Academy, always calling themselves monsters and believing in growing stronger by any means necessary-what do they amount to before a true god's inheritance?"

Thinking of Dai Mubai's disdain, Ma Hongjun's mockery, and Tang San's indifferent gaze, Chen Jin smiled.

"You think leaving Shrek means I'm seeking my own death."

"But you have no idea I've already stepped onto a height you'll never reach in your entire lives."

Chen Jin took a deep breath and drove the distracting thoughts from his mind.

His gaze became utterly resolute.

With such an opportunity before him, how could he shrink back?

Wasn't it just nine chances of death against one chance of survival?

It was still better than spending his whole life as a useless man tormented by Evil Fire.

"Come on."

Chen Jin closed his eyes and formed a seal before his chest, immediately initiating the first turn of nirvana along the route recorded in the art.

Boom!

There was no warning whatsoever.

Dark-gold Phoenix True Fire erupted explosively inside his body.

Like a volcano bursting its banks, the divine fire surged wildly along his meridians, engulfing his entire body in an instant.

Every meridian, every bone, even the depths of his marrow burst into raging flames.

The pain was hundreds, thousands of times worse than the earlier backlash of Evil Fire.

"Aaargh!"

Chen Jin could not help crying out in pain.

His skin instantly turned charred black, and he could even hear his flesh scorching.

The agonizing pain was like tens of millions of steel needles stabbing into the depths of his soul at once, nearly making him pass out on the spot.

But he knew he absolutely could not faint.

Once he lost consciousness, the true fire inside him would spiral completely out of control and burn him to ashes.

Hold on!

Chen Jin screamed wildly in his heart.

He clenched his teeth so tightly that blood even trickled from the corner of his mouth.

With every ounce of strength he had, he desperately maintained the last shred of clarity in his mind.

He endured the endless cycle of his flesh reconstructing itself, only to be burned away again.

His meridians snapped, then reconnected under the life force of the Phoenix True Fire.

His bones shattered, then grew harder in the raging flames.

It was a process of breaking down and rebuilding.

Time lost all meaning at that moment. Every minute, every second stretched as long as a hundred years.

Amid the swirling yellow sand, his entire body was enveloped in a dark-gold Flame Cocoon.

Within the Flame Cocoon, his life force was so faint that it could go out at any moment.

There was no telling how much time had passed.

Perhaps a day, perhaps three.

When Chen Jin's consciousness had grown completely hazy, with only a trace of instinct still holding on.

Boom!

The Flame Cocoon suddenly began trembling violently.

A vast torrent of divine power, flowing eastward without cease, abruptly surged from within his body and instantly coursed through all his limbs and bones.

The first turn had succeeded!

In an instant, the dark-gold Flame Cocoon shattered with a thunderous crash, scattering into fragments of light that filled the sky.

Golden light blazed around him, illuminating the entire desolate Gobi.

The charred dead skin peeled away, revealing skin as flawless as mutton-fat jade, with a faint divine radiance flowing beneath it.

The Soul Power within him began surging wildly, like a wild horse breaking free of its reins.

Accompanied by a Phoenix Cry ringing through his sea of consciousness.

His Soul Power became incomparably pure, without the slightest trace of impurity.

At the same time, the golden cultivation scroll in his mind turned another page.

The information about the first turn's exclusive divine ability instantly merged into his memories.

Phoenix Claw.

Chen Jin immersed his consciousness in it and examined it carefully, once again shaken to his core.

The Phoenix Emperor Claw was a divine ability of the ancient Phoenix God, beyond comparison with the ordinary Soul Skills of this world.

When activated, it could draw upon the true fire of the nine heavens to form an enormous divine phoenix's claw.

Not only could it easily rend the void, but it could also directly burn away an opponent's Soul Power.

Before the Phoenix Claw, any conventional Martial Soul defense or technique was as fragile as paper and would only be mercilessly torn apart head-on.

"What an overwhelming technique..."

Chen Jin slowly opened his eyes.

Two wisps of dark-gold true fire flashed through his eyes before they finally returned to calm.

At this point, he had undergone a transformation down to his very bones.

The faint gloom that had once marked his bearing had vanished without a trace.

In its place was a noble, sacred, majestic bearing, as though a god had descended into the world.

His Martial Soul had also completed its evolution, becoming a genuine Nine-Heavens True Phoenix.

Without releasing his Martial Soul, he could already feel that his physical strength, spiritual power, and reaction speed had all increased severalfold.

"Whew-"

He exhaled a breath of stale air, leaving even the air faintly scorching.

Chen Jin clenched his fists, feeling the powerful force within him, surging yet gentle, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"The first turn of nirvana is complete, and I've successfully broken through to the next realm."

Chen Jin stood up.

His gaze turned toward the distance.

"Now, all I lack is a third Soul Ring."