Blazing Phoenix Bird

Although Lu Jingming also found that cry immensely intimidating, not a trace of fear rose in his heart.

After all, Jing Liu was by his side. Even if the legendary Beast God Ditian himself appeared, he did not think he would be overly afraid... Well, perhaps he would be a little afraid—mainly because he worried that the aftershocks of battle might take his life.

As the cry drew closer and closer, the surrounding air seemed to ignite, and the temperature rose sharply.

The once lush, vibrant leaves rapidly withered and yellowed at a visible pace, as though life had been instantly drained from them.

Soon, a massive avian Soul Beast entered Lu Jingming's sight.

This bird was utterly unlike ordinary birds. Its wingspan stretched several meters, its bones clearly exposed and covered by a dark-red carapace that flowed like lava.

Its wings were woven from burning black flames and crimson-gold feathers, each plume seeming to contain endless power.

Its beak, as though meticulously forged from obsidian, gleamed at the tip with violet-red destructive power, as if a light peck could tear through space.

Its molten-gold vertical pupils were like two burning flames, emitting a heart-pounding glow. More peculiar still, seven long tails trailed behind it. As they swayed, they resembled comets streaking across the sky, their tips constantly turning to ash and scattering through the air. Wherever they passed, the air seemed to warp, leaving behind scorched trails.

Lu Jingming had never seen such a strange and rare avian Soul Beast in person. There had not even been any relevant description of it in the original work.

He could not help sighing inwardly. The Types of Soul Beasts mentioned in the original work were simply far too limited. He had only entered the Star Dou Great Forest a short while ago, yet he had already encountered two Soul Beasts he had never even heard of.

Moreover, judging solely from this avian Soul Beast's appearance and the immense pressure it radiated, it was likely a Soul Beast with some kind of top-tier bloodline.

Otherwise, how could it have frightened the Black Flame Demonic Tiger, also a Thousand-year Soul Beast, into such a sorry state?

That was right. After sensing it carefully, Lu Jingming found that this suddenly appearing avian Soul Beast was also a Thousand-year Soul Beast. Although its appearance was astonishing and its aura extraordinary, the intensity of the Soul Power fluctuations it emitted was not much stronger than that of the Black Flame Demonic Tiger from before.

This meant that the cultivation ages of these two Soul Beasts were roughly similar, yet their actual combat strength might be worlds apart.

The gap in strength between Soul Beasts could not be judged by age alone. One also had to consider their species and the strength of their bloodlines. For instance, among snake-type Soul Beasts of the same age, most could not compare to dragon-type Soul Beasts.

On Douluo Continent, one could determine a Soul Beast's cultivation age not only by observing its various outward traits, but also by sensing the Soul Power fluctuations it emitted.

Of course, some exceptionally special Soul Beasts might possess the ability to conceal their own Soul Power fluctuations.

However, most Soul Beasts below one hundred thousand years would not deliberately hide their Soul Power fluctuations.

Furthermore, cultivation ages determined through Soul Power fluctuations were generally only rough estimates and difficult to determine with absolute precision.

Take this bird-type Soul Beast before them. Based solely on its Soul Power fluctuations, it could be determined that its cultivation was roughly between one thousand and three thousand years.

To further determine its exact age, one would need to consider multiple factors, including its physical characteristics.

"Fifteen hundred years. A Blazing Phoenix Bird, with Phoenix Bloodline. Its attributes are destruction and fire." Jing Liu's voice remained calm and detached. At the same time, coldness overflowed from her hand, and the moisture in the surrounding air rapidly froze. A long sword radiating a chilling aura appeared in her hand out of thin air.

"Screech!" The Blazing Phoenix Bird seemed to sense the threat coming from Jing Liu and let out a piercing cry.

It suddenly spread its wings wreathed in black flames, and countless feathers instantly transformed into a rain of fire that poured down upon Jing Liu.

The sight was like a meteor shower of flames, the blazing fire seemingly intent on reducing everything to ashes.

Jing Liu remained completely composed. With a light swing of her sword, an ice-blue sword aura swept out like lightning, instantly freezing the air in its path into a crystalline curtain of ice.

The fire feathers filling the sky froze in midair the moment they came into contact with that icy power. Then, like hailstones, they turned into chunks of ice and fell to the ground one after another, producing crisp clattering sounds.

When the Blazing Phoenix Bird saw that this attack had failed, it did not show the slightest intention of fleeing, much to Lu Jingming's surprise. Instead, it charged at Jing Liu with exceptional ferocity—or perhaps it was simply being stubbornly reckless.

A powerful force of destruction rapidly gathered at its beak, transforming into a surging mass of black flames of destruction.

It beat its wings with all its strength, its entire body shooting toward Jing Liu like an arrow loosed from a bow. Its beak, carrying destructive power, cut through the air and left behind a long, chilling black trail, as though it were about to rip space apart.

Yet Jing Liu moved as though taking a leisurely stroll, lightly shifting her feet and gracefully turning aside to evade the fierce strike.

At the same time, she raised the Ice Sword radiating bitter cold and gave the Blazing Phoenix Bird a perfectly timed light tap with the flat of the blade.

It looked like nothing more than a casual, effortless strike, but the power contained within it was beyond imagination.

The Blazing Phoenix Bird was as though struck by a heavy hammer. Like a high-speed cannonball, it shot through the air with a shrieking gust of wind and slammed straight into a massive tree.

With a dull boom, its entire body sank deeply into the trunk, while the surrounding trees shook incessantly from the enormous impact.

"Go on. Its destruction attribute is reasonably compatible with you." Jing Liu calmly put away her Ice Sword, as though the battle that had just taken place had been no more difficult than lightly swatting at the air.

Lu Jingming nodded, and an involuntary look of longing appeared in his eyes.

He thought to himself, wondering when he would be able to become like Jing Liu—elegant in every gesture, so powerful that a casual movement was enough to easily defeat opponents who seemed nearly impossible for him to overcome.

That was right. This Blazing Phoenix Bird was a variant with Phoenix Bloodline. Though it possessed only fifteen hundred years of cultivation, it wielded incomparably powerful destructive force.

With that power, its actual combat strength was in no way inferior to that of certain Soul Beasts with more than five thousand years of cultivation. It could be called one of the finest among Soul Beasts.

Soul Beasts with over five thousand years of cultivation possessed combat strength equivalent to that of a human Soul Ancestor, while Soul Beasts with just over one thousand years of cultivation could at most match a Soul Elder.