"Junior Brother, have you ever heard of the battle between the Demon Celestial and the Ancestors of the Dragon and Phoenix?" Third Senior Sister recalled a legend, wondering if her junior brother might possess a different version of the tale.
"Those three actually fought?" Lu Yang thought to himself, *Doesn't Immortal Kirin kneel in a sword formation every day? Did you three battle it out in bed or something?*
"Yes. Legend has it that it was a contest between the Demon Celestial and the two lineages of dragon and phoenix over the seat of immortality—a battle of ascension. It's renowned throughout history, widely ranked among the top ten clashes of peerless figures. Many scholars have longed to study that battle in depth.
"It's just that existing records concerning that battle are extremely vague, which poses countless difficulties for research.
"Multiple ancient texts record that the Demon Celestial and the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors were all half-immortals. The three waged a grand war amidst the stars. Possessing might capable of blotting out the heavens, they fought until heaven and earth grew dim and the sun and moon lost their light. The realm plunged into pitch darkness where one couldn't even see their own fingers. Terror gripped the mortal world. In the end, the Demon Celestial took on both foes alone and paid with his life to emerge victorious, shifting heaven and earth to restore light to the world."
*Fairy, do you know anything about that battle?*
*Listen to you. Those two dragon and phoenix girls were my uncredited disciples, and I beat Immortal Kirin from childhood all the way to adulthood. I was on great terms with all three of them! With a battle that huge, how could I not watch?* The Immortal Fairy felt Lu Yang was vastly underestimating her. She had always cared deeply about her friends.
*Not just me—Ying Tian, Suiyue, and Jiu Zhong were all watching from the side, too.
*That battle was indeed ferocious enough. Immortal Kirin's combat prowess was fierce; taking on two opponents at once, he stubbornly refused to be beaten to death.
*Originally, it was a three-way melee. But as the fight dragged on, the two girls realized Immortal Kirin was the toughest nut to crack. They had to get rid of him first, so they joined forces to attack him.
*Immortal Kirin was heavily wounded and beaten black and blue—as ghastly as could be. He took one look and thought, 'This won't do. Everyone down below is watching! If word of this look gets out, how am I supposed to hold my head high?'
*As he fought, he deliberately or unintentionally edged closer to the sun and moon. He nearly scared the Golden Crow and the Jade Rabbit to death! With three half-immortals fighting, getting brushed once would leave them bedridden for six months; getting brushed twice would leave them bedridden for life. So the Golden Crow and the Jade Rabbit grabbed the sun and moon and fled.
*Once the two of them ran, heaven and earth turned pitch-black—not a speck of light left. We could still clearly see Immortal Kirin's battle, but mortals and ordinary cultivators were completely blind to it. Immortal Kirin's scheme succeeded.
*Taking on two opponents was still tough for him. Luckily, there was no light at the time; otherwise, if depictions of the beating he took had spread, he probably would have wanted to die. My painting skills are superb, so I seized the chance to sketch it. Immortal Kirin has asked me for it countless times, but I never gave it to him.
*Since I had beaten Immortal Kirin since he was little, his vitality was exceptionally robust. The rudimentary Survival of the Fittest Dao fruit made him stronger the longer he fought, making him ideal for a war of attrition. Besides, you know about burning lifespan, right? It's fundamentally an attack method that trades wounds for wounds. Immortal Kirin used the rudimentary Dao fruit to adapt to burning lifespan in advance. The result was that he could boost his combat power without actually reducing his lifespan! By the end of the fight, the techniques used by the dragon and phoenix girls barely had any effect on him.
*Immortal Kirin claimed victory, and the two girls conceded fair and square.
*After winning, Immortal Kirin wanted to invite the Jade Rabbit and the Golden Crow back, but the two stubbornly refused no matter what. He had terrified them into fleeing, so how could it be easy to coax them back?
*Having no other choice, Immortal Kirin had to bring back another Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit instead.*
Lu Yang: "..."
What a brilliant tale of "the sun and moon losing their light," "shifting heaven and earth," and "paying with his life"!
Lu Yang recounted the battle faithfully to Third Senior Sister. When she finished listening, her expression turned utterly bizarre.
"Junior Brother, this... is apocryphal history you're telling?"
This unofficial history was wild indeed—to dare slander Immortal Kirin like that.
"No, this is official history."
Third Senior Sister: "?"
Seeing that neither Meng Jingzhou nor Third Senior Sister needed the immortal-grade yang-strengthening technique, and knowing that his current cultivation wasn't enough to damage it anyway, Lu Yang could only stow it away for himself. He would hand it over to the Scripture Pavilion later to exchange for contribution points.
"What's this?" Lu Yang picked up a palm-sized cage. Bound inside with chains was a miniature golden Suanni that flickered uncertainly like a flame.
Hearing Lu Yang's description, Third Senior Sister quickly provided the answer. "This is a Suanni soul essence. It was refined from a Suanni's soul and is already an inanimate object. If absorbed, it can further stimulate one's bloodline and grant even more powerful divine abilities.
"It seems the Suanni I killed once murdered a fellow clansman in order to absorb this soul essence for himself, but before he could do so, I struck him down.
"Murdering kin is a grave crime, and the Suanni targeted by that beast was definitely of pure blood and high standing. So much time has passed now that even if we returned this to the Suanni Clan, they would likely only think I was making up excuses.
"Originally, this was a Soul Formation-grade essence that neither of you could absorb. But nearly two hundred years have passed, and even with the seal, it couldn't be completely contained. A large portion of the essence has leaked away, so it has degraded to a Nascent Soul-grade essence, making it just right for absorption.
"Junior Brother Meng, you can absorb this soul essence. The Suanni is a race born from the union of dragons and lions, possessing the innate traits of both, though not fully mastered.
"If you absorb this Suanni soul essence, there is a chance you may gain traits of both the Dragon Clan and the Lion Clan. In particular, you might even catch a glimpse of the Buddhist sect's renowned Fearless Lion Seal."
"Here, take it," Lu Yang said, handing the Suanni soul essence to Meng Jingzhou.
Good brothers had no need for polite thanks. Meng Jingzhou covered the top of the cage with one hand while supporting the bottom with the other. The Suanni soul essence dissolved into wisps of golden light, coursing through Meng Jingzhou's eight extraordinary meridians and into his body.
Beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on Meng Jingzhou's forehead, quickly soaking him through. His teeth chattered violently as he engaged in fierce combat with the Suanni soul essence within his spiritual space.
"Shout if you need to. I've placed a seal on the cave, so anyone outside won't hear a thing," Third Senior Sister reminded him, sensing that Meng Jingzhou was holding himself back.
The moment she spoke, Meng Jingzhou seemed to find an outlet for release. His pupils turned vertical and took on a golden sheen. His throat trembled, releasing a sound no human could naturally produce.
*ROAR—*
A lion's roar.
"No dragon's cry. It seems what you acquired was the lion's roar. A pity—dragon traits are far more formidable than lion traits.
"Still, not bad at all. That bellow carried a touch of the Buddhist Lion's Roar. I heard you've also learned the Arhat Fist. Your Buddhist affinity runs deep; perhaps in the future, you truly might master the Fearless Lion Seal."
"Uh, Senior Sister, let me ask one more thing. What dragon traits were you talking about?"
"Oh, there are plenty. Summoning wind and rain, an exceptionally robust physique, riding clouds and mists, being lustful by nature—all sorts of great traits."
Meng Jingzhou had a distinct feeling that there was one trait among them he absolutely could never afford to acquire.
"Even if you got it, it wouldn't matter," Third Senior Sister teased. "Eldest Senior Sister praised your willpower to the heavens. If you acquired that last trait and still managed to preserve your primal yang, your cultivation speed would surely leave even our youngest junior brother in the dust."
Meng Jingzhou shook his head vigorously, a wave of lingering dread washing over him. Thank goodness he had already severed ties with the Meng Family and focused on accumulating good deeds—only that had allowed him to narrowly dodge this calamity.
He was already having a hard enough time holding back as it was. If a lustful dragon nature was piled on top of that, even if the entire Hanging Temple took turns chanting scriptures for him, or Master Jiesha seized his body, neither could suppress the biological urges.
Chapter 572