Jiang Lu paused, her expression turning deep. Instead of answering, she asked in return, “Are you the divine bird from the mural?”
The black figure flew straight down from the stone pillar and looked at Jiang Lu. There was slightly less coldness in its blue eyes than before.
“That is correct.”
Jiang Lu looked at its revealed true form. After suffering the backlash, it only had a sliver of soul power left to maintain its current state.
And this was only after it had recuperated for so long. If not for the array's inability to sustain itself, in a few hundred more years, it would have eventually restored its true form.
“That bird in your arms is quite decent.”
Suddenly, it shifted the topic and looked at the red figure at Jiang Lu's waist, its gaze turning deep.
Hearing itself being mentioned, Chi Li poked its head out of the pouch, flapped its wings, and flew onto Jiang Lu's shoulder.
It tilted its head and looked at the black figure.
That aura...
It was the divine beast, the Qingluan!
Although its bloodline was impure, in a place like the cultivation world, it was an existence that could absolutely crush everything.
Jiang Lu felt Chi Li's body stiffen, its claws digging slightly into her shoulder.
Jiang Lu pursed her lips and sent a voice transmission telling it to be careful.
Chi Li tilted its head, pretending to be puzzled as it looked at the divine bird.
“A Tier Two spirit beast... too weak. You and I are fated, and since I am about to dissipate, how about I pass all my magic power to you?”
The divine bird's voice softened, carrying a hint of enticement.
“To me?”
A flash of excitement crossed Chi Li's eyes, followed by disbelief.
“Indeed. Step forward.”
Chi Li tilted its head to ask Jiang Lu. Jiang Lu initially wanted to stop it, feeling that this divine bird harbored ill intentions. But seeing the eagerness in Chi Li's eyes, she sighed and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Chi Li flew from her shoulder toward the altar.
How could it not sense the malice in the divine bird's tone? However, it possessed bloodline suppression, and this Qingluan only had a sliver of soul power left.
It was impossible for the Qingluan to harm it.
Chi Li hopped forward slowly, gradually positioning itself in the center of the altar.
Only then did it clearly see the chains connected to the stone pillar.
One end of the chains was tied to the surrounding stone walls, while the other end appeared to be bound to the stone pillar. However, only upon closer inspection could one see a figure on the pillar.
Though it was now nothing but a skeleton.
“Master! This bird has been demonized!”
Demonized!
Jiang Lu was greatly shocked. How could a divine beast become demonized? Unless...
“It sacrificed its master's entire clan's bloodline to nourish itself, and the sacrifice is now complete. The array master must have anticipated this, which is why they left a safeguard.”
“This way, once the sacrifice was complete, the clan was punished, but the divine bird was not given the chance to fully recover, preventing it from emerging to bring disaster to the world.”
Jiang Lu nodded. She thought so too. This setup wasn't unconscionable. Otherwise, if the divine bird truly became demonized and wreaked havoc on the world, the array master would have to bear a massive amount of karma.
The karma would be too immense for that person to bear!
“Master, stand back first!”
Chi Li said to Jiang Lu, a trace of excitement in its expression.
If Cang Chen were to see this, he would surely say that this divine bird was about to have a very bad day.
But the divine bird did not know.
It assumed Chi Li was excited because it was about to receive its magic power.
Hehehe...
No need to rush!
Since this little thing was so cooperative, it would give it a quick and painless end!
Glints of excitement and shrewdness flashed in the divine bird's blue eyes.
Jiang Lu retreated until she was an inch away from the stone wall, watching the divine bird's figure slowly fly out from the stone pillar. It circled the pillar a few times.
Then, the purple light around the altar suddenly flared up, and a hexagonal totem appeared on the altar.
The totem lit up from the outside of the altar inward, eventually illuminating the entire stone pillar.
The stone pillar let out a trembling hum.
Then, the chains shook violently.
“Screeech—”
A sharp cry erupted from the divine bird's beak. With a twist of its body, it flew straight toward Chi Li.
In an instant—
It plunged into Chi Li's body.
Chi Li felt that wisp of soul power, and flames ignited all over its body, immediately burning it.
“Argh—”
“What kind of creature are you?!”
A miserable shriek echoed continuously in the cavern, filled with resentment and shock!
It had actually been outsmarted by this tiny Tier Two spirit beast!
The flames on its body clearly signaled the uniqueness of its identity. To be able to burn it, other than those few divine fires and the innate flames of those few divine beasts, it could not think of anything else.
Could this spirit beast be one of those divine beasts?
As the flames burned, the divine bird gradually lost its vitality. All of its magic power condensed into a Golden Core, dropping right in front of Chi Li.
Following that, the freezing cold within the cavern vanished completely.
“Mengbao!”
Jiang Lu shouted. She hadn't forgotten her main purpose!
With a whoosh, Mengbao darted out of the pouch, and Jiang Lu immediately followed.
Behind the altar, the fragrant scent of treasures wafted through the air.
She was rich!
She was rich!
It was hers!
It was all hers!
Jiang Lu ran over and looked at a palm-sized night luminescent pearl. It was so beautiful!
Although it had no practical use, she liked it.
With a wave of her hand, she swept everything into her space.
Then, she saw a large ice bed that had been revealed!
“Master! I want it!”
Cang Chen's eyes widened, staring unblinkingly at the ice bed.
It liked it so much!
Since Chi Li had absorbed the divine bird's energy, its strength would definitely increase.
This meant a gap would surely open up between its strength and Chi Li's.
But!
With this ice bed, it could definitely increase its strength as well.
It blinked its round eyes at Jiang Lu, practically on the verge of begging her on its knees.
Jiang Lu nodded helplessly.
“How are you going to take it away? I'm telling you, we need to leave quickly.”
If her space could store it, she would have taken this ice bed long ago.
The fact that it was still here meant it was probably too large, and her current strength wasn't enough to store it.
“Master, leave it to me!”
Cang Chen had no intention of physically carrying the ice bed away. Anything related to water or ice could be entirely converted into its own energy.
With a twist of its body, it flew directly onto the ice bed.
The scales on its body shimmered slightly, and the cold light on the ice bed faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before long, it became dull and lusterless.
Jiang Lu's eyes widened. She picked up Cang Chen and looked him over repeatedly. How did this tiny body contain such a massive amount of energy?
Cang Chen blinked innocently at Jiang Lu.
“You two... do you have some sort of identity that I don't know about?”
Suspicion gleamed in Jiang Lu's eyes. Ordinary spirit beasts certainly didn't possess such capabilities.
Hearing this, Cang Chen and Chi Li, who had just run over, exchanged a guilty look and shrank their heads.
“Ma... Master... well, we didn't mean to hide it from you on purpose.”
“Oh? So you do have one?”
Jiang Lu stared into its eyes. Well, well, these two little things actually had secrets!
“Actually, we are divine beasts from the upper realm. We were set up during a battle and fell down here. For some reason, we lost our magic power and turned into the little spirit beasts we are now.”
Seeing Jiang Lu's “you're still talking nonsense” expression after it finished speaking, Cang Chen hastily added:
“We've mentioned it before!”
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