Chapter 387: Black Feathers

Before the fight, Cao Yun had decided to use every card he had to kill the fiery beast without exposing himself. Although it might not be entirely necessary in that situation, with the assistance of the Huang family, he still didn't want to risk it. After all, he could never be sure who might be able to see him. And some hunter might be tempted to sell the information. As Chen Guo, he couldn't do what he wanted to do in Qingyun City. Ironically though, the black clouds conjured by the Five Bloods Pheasant would help him in that regard.

Thankfully, Cao Yun wouldn't have to put Hongyu in danger. Indeed, his spear had been covered with some Salt of the White Turtle. This was a potent poison described in 'Tree of Death'. According to the author, it could be considered a 4-star Human poison if prepared correctly. Unfortunately, Cao Yun had probably only made a 3-star or even 2-star Human version of it. Anyway, he had tested the effects and they were almost as terrifying as what Tree of Death had written. In a matter of seconds, it had been able to completely enter the bloodstream of some 3-core demonic beast. Then, its blood cells got destroyed and the poor beast died very quickly.

Honestly, Cao Yun didn't like using poison at all. He was a true martial artist and winning a fight like that seemed wrong on many levels. On the other hand, knowing about poison was good to survive. And he was not so upright that he would never resort to it in a life-or-death situation, especially if it concerned someone else's life. However, he would still not rely on poison too much. In fact, it could even lead him to neglect his other strengths and push him to try to take the easy way instead. Poisons were not evil in nature, but they were still used more often by demonic cultivators than orthodox ones.

Against a 6-core demonic beast, Cao Yun was aware that the poison would take a lot more time to cause serious injuries. In fact, it might not be able to kill him. But he was probably not be knowledgeable enough to know what to do against poison. A human cultivator would have immediately tried to expel it by now. Unfortunately for him, the bird didn't know how to do it. Even if the poison itself would not kill him, it would at least weaken him enough for Cao Yun and Hongyu to kill him easily.

Of course, the Five Bloods Pheasant would not die just like that. All of a sudden, the black clouds all around got more and more intense. Instead of lightning, there were tongues of fire crackling within them. In no time, the entire territory of the Five Bloods Pheasant was engulfed in darkness. No ray from the sun was able to pierce through. Once again, it would provide Cao Yun with the perfect cover. But this time, he wasn't happy at all as he was sensing something terrible. Maybe he had misjudged the Five Bloods Pheasant's strength.

From the black clouds, shadows fell upon the Five Bloods Pheasant as the flames were also engulfing his body. The beast before them was now made of shadow and fire. In the air, there was a pulse as though they could hear his heart beating all around them. This sound was coming from the rumbling of the flames within the darkness, like thunder. Behind the Five Bloods Pheasant, its five tails made of liquid fire were also whipping the air and creating vacuum everywhere they went. It was as though they were in another world.

"This is bad!"

"What?"

Cao Yun got distracted by Dian Mo's words.

"This beast must have absorbed some tiny fraction of the Dao of Fire from the Hellish Dragon Fruit. Maybe the same phenomenon that allowed the fruit to have a Rune of Fire also gave him something. This isn't much, but this is still terrible. Hopefully, the Dao of Fire will destroy him before he can obliterate you..."

As Cao Yun was talking with Dian Mo, even it took less than an instant, Hongyu acted. She could feel that her brother was having some doubts, but she could feel the new deadly aura around her enemy too. Besides, Cao Yun had not recovered his spear yet. This time, she activated all of her cores. From the evil core, Cao Yun felt strands of Evil Qi erupt all around her body. However, they were still under her control thanks to the properties of the Drop of Wrath within her. That being said, there was no way of knowing how long she could control them and what damage she may inflict upon herself unknowingly. Indeed, she was using the evil core with pure instinct. Unlike humans, she didn't really know what she was doing with her own Qi.

Many of her brilliant red feathers turned black all across her plumage. Then, she exhaled and black flames left her beak. Cao Yun immediately thought about the black flames used by Can Mouye which had hurt and killed her mother. Those flame were just as corrosive as Evil Qi since they had originated from it. When they touched one of the five streams of liquid fire, the black flames contaminated it. Like a shadow, the fire went upstream toward the Five Bloods Pheasant's tail. Even he was alarmed, unable to understand what was going on. A demonic beast had no protection against Evil Qi as he didn't even know what it was in the first place.

Some demonic beast was just powerful enough to disregard it. In fact, some demonic beast were also able to instinctively use it, but those were powerful beasts and more often than not, they were full of Yin and rather macabre. A Five Bloods Pheasant was not in this category. What truly terrified him though was that he could not control this fire despite the little bit of Dao of Fire he had acquired.

Afraid, he literally stopped the fire of that tail. From his body, a radiant fire broke out, entangled with shadow, it flew toward the black flames still in the air. Darkness met darkness and both got snuffed out. Unfortunately, the Five Bloods Pheasant had a greater vitality than Hongyu. However, something really wasn't right with him.

His left wing was damaged and he was getting exhausted as the poison was spreading. Unfortunately, the young human had grabbed his weapon back. And if that damn cursed bird were to use her black flames again, he would be in danger. Could he really be killed by those two weaklings?! Unfortunately, he realized how desperate he was right now. All that had been planned by this irritating human! No matter what, he would have to kill him!

Although he had stolen the Hellish Dragon Fruit, the Five Bloods Pheasant knew that killing the human would not bring it back. By now, it was probably in that magical ring he had on his finger. He had taken a couple of those strange rings but had never been able to open them. Humans had ways that beasts could not emulate...

Damn! Even if he couldn't get the Hellish Dragon Fruit, he would at least take that human down. And that devil bird as well!

Within the Five Bloods Pheasant, all six of his cores began to vibrate. From his bloodstream, several beads of heavy blood were condensed and went toward those cores. It was instinctive but the Five Bloods Pheasant had decided to burn all bridges. With this attack he would die. But hopefully, he would take the human down with him. That black bird was fast but not nearly fast enough to escape the blast.

Those drops of blood were blood essence. Ordinary blood was full of Qi, but blood essence was characterized by the presence of Jing, the essence of life. Right now, the Five Bloods Pheasant had not burned away just any kind of blood essence, he had literally used his prenatal Jing. That meant that he was quite literally burning his own lifespan. But with his rage he wasn't thinking straight. His injuries were not heavy enough that he couldn't recover from them. In fact, he might even have obtained another chance to break through at some point. However, he had gone berserk after seeing Hongyu. He felt as though he had to kill her. That and his blind rage against Cao Yun had won over his last shreds of rationality.

Although he had six cores, the Five Bloods Pheasant could not think and behave like a human yet. Right now, he was unable to rule over his rage. In a sense, he was very close to what demons and asura were, blinded and overtaken by emotions. Maybe the poison was also affecting his mind, this was hard to tell.

All the feathers of his body began to ignite. His entire plumage turned into a living firestorm. Beneath his feathers, his very flesh was being cooked as he was still drawing breath. The pain was intense but he didn't care. His very cores were burning inside his entrails and were fueling his rage.

Immediately, the heat got so intense that the very air was starting to vibrate. Of course, this drew Cao Yun and Hongyu's attention. When they saw the two blazing orbs that had replaced the Five Bloods Pheasant's eyes, they knew what was going on. The bird was now made of more flames than flesh. Then, he dove toward them with his wings fully opened and his four remaining tails whipping the air all around him. Many fires broke out all around the forest as blazes were hurtled through the air. Even out of the cloud of darkness, there were sparks that ignited many fires.

A terrifying screech echoed throughout the entire Yunling Forest, warning all weaker demonic beasts to stay hidden. Even the Golden Plumed Jackal and the Flame-Tailed Wolf heard this. Both of them knew that this meant their rival was going down. That also meant that he had met a powerful adversary. Hopefully, they were all dying together...

The Five Bloods Pheasant had burned almost everything he was. Right now, he was a pure embodiment of fires barely contained by his own demonic cores that were acting as catalysts. High in the sky, he was a ghastly shape of colorful flames enveloping a body of shadow and blood. From his tail, five powerful whips were lacerating the air leaving blazing traces in the sky.

His screech was permanent as the very heat from the fire was vibrating the air around him. Cao Yun was forced to activate his mind cultivation to the limit not to lose consciousness. Even the Drop of Wrath had been activated. And it was resonating with Hongyu's evil core. Right now, the Five Bloods Pheasant was almost on the level of a real 1st-grade Spirit Warrior. In theory, this wasn't a fight Cao Yun could win. Thankfully, the demonic beast had no spiritual senses whatsoever. This was the privilege of humans in the Hongchen Kingdom.

Thanks to this absence, Cao Yun was not immediately crushed. However, his strength was still inferior to his enemy. Even with Hongyu's help, he would barely be able to survive. Unfortunately, the Five Bloods Pheasant had forsaken everything in order to kill Cao Yun. The young man had made sure to spare the tree of the Hellish Dragon Fruit so that the Five Bloods Pheasant was not pushed too far. If he had cut his losses, he could have matured another fruit in a century or so maybe. What neither Cao Yun nor Huang Si had not planned was that he would utterly lose it. Unfortunately, he was still a demonic beast and was not able to reason like a human. They had thought too much like rational orthodox cultivators.

If Cao Yun were to die because of some stupid chicken, Dian Mo's fate would be just too shameful. After everything he had suffered, he refused to die like that but he couldn't intervene at all. Deep down, Dian Mo was looking for ways to help Cao Yun stay alive. No matter how injured he would be, Dian Mo had to keep his host alive if he wanted to survive too. During a fight, he was pretty much useless. If he wanted to help Cao Yun, he realized that he had to do it outside of those fights. He had to help him grow stronger. But Dian Mo's knowledge wasn't about fighting. His strongest suit was array formations.

The Five Bloods Pheasant did not leave his enemies any time to prepare themselves. He was already diving toward Hongyu and Cao Yun on his back.

Seeing the deadly attack reaching her, Hongyu pushed herself even further. Using all of her speed, she ascended as fast as possible. In an instant, she broke the wall of sound. The area was already a disaster but it was further blown away by this sudden acceleration. After playing around with Elder Ying, Hongyu had grown accustomed to being chased in the air. Right now, she was pushing herself beyond all her limits, even using the evil core. All her red feathers were slowly turning black.

Inside her entrails, Cao Yun could feel the Evil Qi seeping away from the evil core. She was pushing it too much too fast and even her blood essence could not contain it. Without waiting, Cao Yun who was grabbing onto her with all his strength infused her body with his own Qi mixed with the intent of the Drop of Wrath. He was literally trying to control the Evil Qi she was using. He had brought her here and was responsible for her health.

As fast as Hongyu was, the Five Bloods Pheasant was now made of living fire. A fragment of the Dao of Fire was within him. he had reached a strength equal to a 7-core demonic beast. As such, he had become even faster than she was while using all her strength and risking her life. The Five Bloods Pheasant was upon Hongyu and Cao Yun, ready to obliterate them with his last attack. And it would indeed be his ultimate attack. All his flesh had already been consumed and only his last grudge toward those two was keeping him together.

Both Hongyu and Cao Yun knew what was coming. Circulating his martial arts, Cao Yun activated 'Dragon's Heart' and 'Dragon's Chest' at the same time. Around Cao Yun and Hongyu, a pulsating ball of dragon scales appeared. From Hongyu, black flames also erupted end engulfed them both, concealing Cao Yun's Qi Manifestation.

In his last breath, the Five Bloods Pheasant completely exploded. There was a firestorm of myriad of colors. Even from Yunling City people could see it. That power was equal to an early Spirit Warrior who made all of his Dantian blow up. In a fraction of a second, all of his energy was released at once.