Xiao Rong blinked in confusion and turned his head toward Meng Xiangxiang.
"Did you hear a strange voice just now?"
Meng Xiangxiang froze for a moment, pulling his gaze from Mu Jialing back to Xiao Rong.
"Rong-yé, I think I heard the same thing as you."
"Cluck cluck cluck!" Da Huang urgently sent a voice transmission, "Run! That Fózǐ said he cannot defeat Yue Qingsu, we need to leave immediately!"
Xiao Rong looked at Da Huang's spread wings, then raised his head toward the sky with disbelief.
"No way, that little monk is so handsome, how could he lose that quickly?"
Before he could finish the word "quickly," Mu Jialing's body, trailing like a falling star, plummeted straight toward them.
"What a bright sun!"
Xiao Rong's pupils shrank as a massive orb of golden radiance crashed down, coming closer and closer until it was nearly upon his head.
Before it struck, Da Huang's figure instantly expanded, his vast wings spreading wide and casting a deep shadow across the ground. With one sweep, he dragged Meng Xiangxiang and Xiao Rong out of the impact zone.
The ground exploded with an earth-shaking crash. Mu Jialing, looking a bit disheveled, stood inside the newly formed crater. He gazed up at the fire-red wings soaring across the sky, surprise flickering in his eyes.
The mocking curl at Yue Qingsu's lips stiffened. His gaze locked in astonishment upon that dazzling figure.
"A divine beast… Phoenix!"
The silent crowd erupted like a boiling cauldron, their shouts surpassing Yue Qingsu's shock.
Clutching his ears against the noise, Xiao Rong looked down from above and shouted, "That is Da Huang, our friend!"
Da Huang turned his head, moved. "Rong-yé, this is the most heartfelt thing you've ever said!"
"Not good, Yue Qingsu is chasing us!" Meng Xiangxiang's eyes narrowed at the approaching trail of green smoke.
The smoke nearly brushed Da Huang's fiery tail feathers. Xiao Rong panicked and clung tightly to Da Huang's neck. "Xiao Meng, Da Huang, what do we do? That elder must be coming after me. He covets my body, he wants to capture me and refine me into a tool!"
Meng Xiangxiang and Da Huang: "..."
Forgive them, but they really could not agree with such nonsense.
"Um… Rong-yé, I think that elder isn't after you. What he wants… is most likely the divine beast Phoenix beneath us."
Meng Xiangxiang relucQintly revealed the truth.
Xiao Rong gaped and stroked Da Huang's feathers. "He wants to seize Da Huang to refine him into a tool?!"
"..."
Meng Xiangxiang did not believe anyone would waste a divine beast Phoenix like that, but taking its feathers for artifact refinement… that was indeed possible.
"We're doomed! That fierce elder is almost upon us, and Boss still hasn't come!"
Xiao Rong tugged at Da Huang's feathers in anxiety.
Meng Xiangxiang forced calm into his voice. "Rong-yé, don't worry. If we can hold out for just the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, Fairy Yao Ranran will surely arrive!"
"You're right, but right now he's about to grab us!" Xiao Rong declared, then released Da Huang's neck with grim determination. "We should jump! Sacrifice Da Huang, one chicken in exchange for saving two lives until Boss arrives!"
Da Huang: Are you serious right now???
Meng Xiangxiang's face froze in disbelief. Xiao Rong had already seized him by the collar.
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
Da Huang threw his head back with a resounding cry. Xiao Rong clung to Meng Xiangxiang tightly, refusing to move.
The green smoke condensed with blinding speed, revealing Yue Qingsu's smiling face.
"None of you are escaping!"
From the clouds, two massive, eerie green hands tore through the air, blotting out Da Huang's radiant plumage. An oppressive, terrifying power bore down on Xiao Rong and Meng Xiangxiang.
Hissing, Xiao Rong activated his innate gift. His body expanded into a towering tree, dense branches spreading wide to shelter Meng Xiangxiang and Da Huang beneath him.
"Do not forget the little monk!"
Mu Jialing slammed down a mighty golden shield from the ground. The two forces collided with Yue Qingsu's giant palms, sending waves of overwhelming spiritual pressure crashing through the sky.
Everyone staggered backward several zhang under the impact.
Mu Jialing's face was filled with sorrowful compassion. His string of prayer beads scattered across the earth, as if declaring the outcome of this battle.
"Amitabha…"
He lowered his eyelids slowly, unwilling to watch the battle above any longer. He already knew better than anyone present…
Boom!
The devastating clash left only wreckage behind. The Guangxuan Inn was reduced to ruins.
Dust billowed, lingering spiritual force filling the air.
The crowd opened their eyes in shock, then gasped in horror at the sight above.
"Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ is here. How dare you show disrespect to one under Xiānzhǔ's protection?"
A voice, gentle yet carrying unshakable authority, rang out. Mu Jialing lifted his head in disbelief.
"Is that… Qin Lüsha, the master of Eastern Wilderness's Suohong Tower?!"
Recognition rippled through the onlookers.
But even more astonishing was the peerless woman beside her. She stood calmly atop soft white lotus petals, overlooking all beings with detached grace.
"Nine Heavens Fairy?"
"Fool! That is Yao Ranran, the first Fairy of the Central Domain!"
"Such unparalleled beauty… once seen, it will never be forgotten in this lifetime."
Mu Jialing ignored the chatter around him, his gaze fixed on the enormous crater nearby.
It pierced so deep into the earth it almost breached the underground river.
Inside it, Yue Qingsu lay unconscious, gravely wounded.
"Wait, where is Elder Yue? Did anyone see where he went?"
"I didn't see him… but how did that giant pit appear beside the Fózǐ?"
"Looks like after Fairy Yao Ranran and Qin Louzhu appeared, Elder Yue just vanished…"
Disciples of Wu Xiang Sect and the people of Qingshui County all peered blankly into the pit.
Xiao Rong returned to human form and threw himself into Yao Ranran's arms, wailing, "Boss, you finally came… but who is this woman beside you? And what is an Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ? How come I've never heard of that before?"
Xiao Rong's sorrow lasted only a second before curiosity at Qin Lüsha's strange words seized his attention.
Before Yao Ranran could answer, the crowd below suddenly erupted in cries of terror.
"Elder Yue has fallen?!"
"No, he still breathes faintly!"
"Who wounded him like this?"
"Seems it was this so-called Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ!"
"Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ?"
All eyes turned upward in dread, staring at Yao Ranran and her companions.
Wu Xiang Sect disciples fixed their gazes on Qin Lüsha and demanded loudly,
"Qin Louzhu, what is this Xiānzhǔ you speak of? Wuxiang Sect and Suohong Tower have always shared friendly relations. To injure our elder with some strange treasure is harmful to both our sects' bond!"
Qin Lüsha gave a disdainful laugh. "What treasure in this world could compare with the Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ? The Eastern Wilderness has already been unified under Xiānzhǔ. As for Wuxiang Sect, do not think to cozy up to our Suohong Tower any longer!"
Though few understood her words fully, the key point was clear.
The vast Eastern Wilderness had been unified by a single figure known as Xiānzhǔ!
And Yue Qingsu's terrible defeat was the result of offending someone under Xiānzhǔ's protection!