Although Lu Jingming admitted that the cry just now was incredibly intimidating, he didn't feel a trace of fear in his heart.
After all, with Jingliu by his side, even if the legendary Beast God Di Tian appeared, he believed he wouldn't be too afraid... Well, maybe just a little bit—mainly out of concern for getting caught in the aftermath of a battle and losing his life.
As the sound drew nearer, the surrounding air seemed to ignite, and the temperature soared rapidly.
The once lush and vibrant leaves began to wither and yellow at a visible speed as if their life force was being instantly drained away.
Soon, a gigantic avian soul beast appeared in Lu Jingming's sight.
This bird was completely different from ordinary birds. Its wingspan stretched several meters; its bones were exposed, and they were covered by a layer of dark red, lava-like carapace.
Its wings were a blend of burning black flames and crimson-gold feathers, each feather seemingly containing boundless power.
Its beak, as if meticulously forged from obsidian, glimmered at the tip with a purplish-red destructive energy, as though it could tear through space with a single peck.
Its molten-gold vertical pupils looked like twin blazing flames, radiating a heart-palpitating glow. Even more peculiar, it trailed seven long tails behind it, each tail swinging like a comet streaking across the sky, the tips constantly turning to ash and drifting away, distorting the air and leaving scorched marks wherever they passed.
Such a rare and bizarre avian soul beast—Lu Jingming had never seen one, nor had it ever been described in the original work.
He couldn't help but marvel: the soul beast types mentioned in the original story were just too limited. He had barely set foot in the Star Dou Forest and already encountered two soul beasts he'd never heard of.
Judging by the appearance and formidable aura of this bird, it was likely a soul beast with top-tier bloodline.
Otherwise, how could it scare the Black Flame Demon Tiger—a millennial soul beast—into such a sorry state?
That's right. After sensing carefully, Lu Jingming determined that this newly appeared avian soul beast was also a millennial soul beast. Despite its astonishing appearance and imposing aura, the intensity of its soul power fluctuations wasn't much stronger than that of the Black Flame Demon Tiger.
This meant that, in terms of cultivation years, the two soul beasts were about the same—but their actual combat ability could be worlds apart.
The strength gap between soul beasts isn't determined only by age, but also by species and bloodline. For example, a snake-type soul beast of the same age would struggle to compare to a dragon-type soul beast.
On the Douluo Continent, soul beast age can be determined not only by observing outward features but also by sensing the soul power fluctuations they emit.
Of course, some special soul beasts can hide their soul power fluctuations.
However, most soul beasts under 100,000 years old don't bother to hide their fluctuations.
And even then, judging age by soul power fluctuation only gives a rough range; it's hard to be precise.
Take the avian soul beast before him: judging from its soul power fluctuations, its cultivation was somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 years.
To get a more precise age, one would need to consider its body traits and other factors.
"Fifteen hundred years, Cinder Radiance Bird, has a phoenix bloodline, with destruction and fire attributes." Jingliu's voice was as calm and indifferent as ever. At the same time, cold air billowed from her, freezing moisture from the air, and a long sword emitting a chilling aura appeared in her hand out of thin air.
"Skree!"
The Cinder Radiance Bird seemed to sense the threat from Jingliu and let out a sharp cry. It suddenly spread its wings, wreathed in black flames, and countless feathers instantly turned into a rain of fire, pouring down toward Jingliu like a blazing meteor shower.
The flames seemed as though they would incinerate everything.
Jingliu remained calm, gently swinging her sword. A blade of ice-blue sword energy swept out like lightning, freezing the air into a crystalline wall wherever it passed.
The fiery feathers froze the instant they met the icy force, then fell to the ground as ice shards, clattering crisply.
Seeing this attack fail, the Cinder Radiance Bird did not flee as Lu Jingming expected. Instead, it charged at Jingliu even more ferociously—perhaps stubbornly.
A surge of destructive power gathered at its beak, transforming into surging black flames. With a powerful flap of its wings, the entire bird shot toward Jingliu like an arrow, its beak leaving a chilling black trail through the air as if to tear space apart.
Jingliu, however, moved with grace, sidestepping the fierce attack with ease.
At the same time, she lifted her icy sword and lightly tapped the Cinder Radiance Bird with the flat of the blade.
It seemed a casual move, but the force contained within was astonishing.
The Cinder Radiance Bird was struck as if by a heavy hammer, sent hurtling like a cannonball into a giant tree, embedding itself deep into the trunk with a dull crash, shaking the surrounding trees.
"Go ahead. Its destruction attribute matches you well," Jingliu said calmly, putting away her sword as if the fight had been nothing but a gentle breeze.
Lu Jingming nodded, his eyes showing a hint of longing.
He thought to himself, When will I be able to move so gracefully and be so powerful—defeating seemingly unbeatable foes with a simple, elegant gesture?
Indeed, the Cinder Radiance Bird was a phoenix-blooded variant, only 1,500 years old, but possessing immense destructive power.
Thanks to this, its actual combat strength rivaled that of soul beasts with over 5,000 years of cultivation—a true elite among soul beasts.
And a soul beast with over 5,000 years' cultivation would be comparable to a Soul Ancestor among human soul masters, while a beast of just over 1,000 years would at most match a Soul Elder.