Peacock Feather, Swallowtail Shears, Beast-Taming Divine Ability
After explaining the situation, Du Zikai changed the subject and spoke of why he had summoned them:
"After the Lie Clan patriarch fell and became a Demon Beast, he destroyed the Lie Clan. But he didn't flee. Instead, he hid inside the volcano."
"Inside the volcano, there are also a great many first-tier Fire Spirits. They were all formed when the souls of Lie Household cultivators and commoners who died over the past hundred years or more, as well as the souls of dead flamingos and others, merged with the earth fire in the volcano."
"This should be the work of the Lie Household. They cast their dead clansmen, flamingos, and others into the volcano to be burned to ash. At the same time, they used a formation laid inside the volcano to merge their souls and bloodlines with the earth fire, giving rise to Fire Spirits with flamingo bloodlines."
"The Lie Household probably intended to use this to help their clansmen break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and perhaps even help their flamingo bloodline set a star and ascend to the rank of a ninth-grade True Spirit."
"That was also why the Lie Clan patriarch chose to attempt his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage in his own clan's territory."
"Unfortunately, the Lie Household's arrangements didn't produce the results they wanted. The Lie Clan patriarch still failed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. The demonic nature of the flamingo within him turned on him and overwhelmed his human nature, and he fell and became a flamingo Demon Beast, destroying his entire Lineage."
"Now, the flamingo Demon Beast that the Lie Clan patriarch became is hiding inside the volcano, devouring those Fire Spirits with flamingo bloodlines in hopes of improving its own bloodline and strength."
"I summoned you here this time to wipe out the Lie Clan patriarch who fell and became a Demon Beast, as well as the many Fire Spirits in the volcano, and eliminate the hidden danger there."
"We obey your command, my lord!" Led by their patriarchs, the cultivators of all four Households immediately cupped their fists toward Du Zikai and answered.
Du Zikai then began assigning tasks. Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators like the Kong Household patriarch, Kong Changgeng, and the Yan Household patriarch, Yan Zhiyu, were to join Du Zikai in attacking the Lie Clan patriarch who had fallen and become a Demon Beast. After all, though their opponent had fallen and become a Demon Beast, he had also successfully broken through to the second tier. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators could deal with him.
The Qi Refining cultivators from the other Households were to join the Du Household's Qi Refining disciples in slaughtering the many Fire Spirits in the volcano.
Once the tasks were assigned, Du Zikai told everyone to withdraw a safe distance from the volcanic crater in the Lie Clan's territory. He then formed a seal with his hands, and starlight flew from between his brows and blossomed, condensing into a projection of the Cuckoo True Spirit Star in the air.
At the same time, Kong Wenxuan sensed something and looked up at the sky. Even though it was daytime, he could see a star appearing and shining overhead. Starlight streamed down from it and entered the projection of the Cuckoo True Spirit Star in midair.
In an instant, he knew that the star manifesting in the sky was probably the Du Household's Cuckoo True Spirit Star.
As Du Zikai changed his hand seals, the star projection in midair drew down a vast expanse of starlight from the Cuckoo True Spirit Star that had manifested in the sky. The starlight streamed straight into the crater.
The next moment, a thunderous rumble came from within the volcano, and the ground all around began to tremble and shake. Earth fire, magma, and volcanic ash gushed in torrents from the crater. The volcano had erupted!
Screech!
A piercing bird cry rang out, and Kong Wenxuan saw a flamingo with a wingspan of nearly a zhang burst out with the eruption, earth fire and magma dripping from its body. It lunged straight at Du Zikai in midair and opened its beak, spewing a great torrent of flame.
"Hmph! You beast, you still dare act so brazenly!" Seeing this, Du Zikai snorted coldly and cursed. He changed his Method Formula, and part of the descending starlight fell directly upon him, shielding him and blocking the great torrent of flame the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast had spat at him.
At that moment, Kong Changgeng and Yan Zhiyu also made their moves.
A blue Peacock Feather manifested before Kong Changgeng, and a hazy, dreamlike beam of blue light shot from the eye at its tip. The blue light fell on the flamingo Demon Beast that the Lie Clan patriarch had become. Even though it was a second-tier Demon Beast, it was entranced and controlled for a moment, and fell from the sky.
Before Yan Zhiyu, patriarch of the "Swift" Yan Household, a black-and-white swallowtail manifested, like a pair of black-and-white shears. It snipped straight at the entranced, falling second-tier flamingo Demon Beast.
When the black-and-white Swallowtail Shears struck the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast, the earth fire, magma, and crimson feathers flowing and covering its body immediately erupted to resist them.
But without the flamingo Demon Beast controlling and driving them, the earth fire, magma, and crimson feathers that had erupted in response could hardly withstand the attack of the black-and-white Swallowtail Shears. They were shredded and cut apart on the spot, and the black-and-white Swallowtail Shears cut straight into the flamingo Demon Beast.
Screech!
The cut from the black-and-white Swallowtail Shears jolted the second-tier flamingo out of its trance. It let out a frightened, agonized screech, and great quantities of fresh blood, like flowing magma, poured from the wound cut into its body and spilled onto the ground.
At the same time, as the magma-like blood flowed out, the flames burning on the flamingo's body flared fiercely in an instant and exploded, blasting the black-and-white Swallowtail Shears off its body and allowing it to escape.
But the second-tier blazing fire bird had only just broken free when it was surrounded by two second-tier Demon Beasts: a second-tier tit Demon Beast and a second-tier gray crane Demon Beast.
Du Zikai had released both second-tier Demon Beasts from the beast-taming bag at his waist. They were second-tier tamed beasts under his control.
The bloodline Divine Ability of the Du Household, which bore the "Cuckoo" True Spirit bloodline, was said to possess the power to tame beasts. Du Household cultivators also normally relied primarily on their tamed beasts in battle. As for what their bloodline Divine Ability actually was, Kong Wenxuan did not know, and neither did the various servant-cultivator Lineages in Cuckoo County that had submitted to the Du Household.
At that moment, however, Kong Wenxuan had no attention to spare for observing or studying the Du Household's bloodline Divine Ability.
With the volcanic eruption and the emergence of the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast the Lie Clan patriarch had fallen and become, a great many first-tier Fire Spirits also burst out of the volcano and rushed off in all directions.
Kong Wenxuan and the other Qi Refining cultivators of the four servant-cultivator Lineages had to work with the Du Household's Qi Refining cultivators to slaughter these first-tier Fire Spirits, lest they rush into the various parts of Cuckoo County and wreak destruction and slaughter.
And these Fire Spirits that had burst out of the volcano were indeed as Du Zikai had said. Some were shaped like humans, others like flamingos, all formed from the souls and bloodlines of Lie Household disciples or flamingo spirit beasts, fused with earth fire.
He had no idea what sort of formation the "Flamingo" Lie Household had laid inside the volcano to give it such a means of creating Fire Spirits.
By now, a flamingo-shaped Fire Spirit had flown at Kong Wenxuan. Cackling strangely, it flapped its wings and whipped up a great wave of fire that swept toward him.
Kong Wenxuan dared not be careless. He turned his hands in a seal, and the Yellow Earth Divine Sword, which he had refined from a yellow Peacock Feather and stored in the Qi sea of his Dantian, flew out in an instant. Its tip pointed downward, and it released a broad expanse of earthy yellow sword light that shielded him like a stone slab, blocking the great torrent of flames burning toward him.
The mystery and power of the Yellow Earth Divine Sword: a heavy sword had no edge; great craftsmanship showed no artifice. It could attack and defend.