Chapter 97 97 The imminent conflict "You are, killing...

September 25, the first year of the Aura Recovery, Demiplane: Lake of Fire.

“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”[1]

Phoenix and Horus silently trudged through the lake of fire, the scorching sulfur flames curling around their legs.

For Ning Changkong, who had inherited the Phoenix legacy and had been repaired from the inside out by the Nirvana Fire, these flames could not burn him at all and were nothing more than a warm caress.

He even felt that this kind of fire was... somewhat familiar.

Hao Rui Shi muttered something in a demonic language that Ning Changkong couldn't recognize. The tone and rhythm seemed like he was cursing - without a doubt, he was cursing Baril.

"The seal has been broken for so long, why does he still like to assign tasks here?" Hao Ruishi complained.

Then he started to mutter something like, "We shouldn't have let Baril take the lead when we signed the contract with Solomon," and "Why should I listen to his orders now?"

Ning Changkong tilted his head and asked him, "What does it feel like to be burned by the sulfur fire of the lake of fire?"

He has figured out the trick now: Since Phoenix's human-machine sense of speaking is already well known, if you have any questions, just ask directly. The demons around will adapt and understand, and those who can't understand will curse and walk away.

The flames in Hao Ruishi's eyes flickered, revealing an elusive light: "Ha, the Phoenix."

The immortal bird, which controls the Nirvana fire and has an immortal body, would probably just feel bored even if it was sealed in the lake of fire for a long time? Hao Ruishi quickly found a logical explanation to explain all this.

Just as Holt was about to explain, his mind involuntarily flashed back to the horrific scene of that day: the sky fire fell from the sky like a meteorite, fell into the lake of fire, and sealed the demons there...

In those fragments of memory, he suddenly discovered the blind spot of his memory:

Was the Phoenix among them at that moment?

He tried hard to search every corner of his memory, but he couldn't seem to find the Phoenix.

Forget it, now is not the time to dwell on these issues. Hao Ruishi shook his head, as if to dispel those vague memories, and finally continued to answer the question of the Phoenix:

"I didn't feel anything. It hurt at first, but then I got used to it... A thousand years is too long, it almost feels like eternity."

At this point, Holmes sneered: "Perhaps, this is why the lake of fire is called eternal punishment."

The Lake of Fire, a hellish lake eternally burning with sulfur fire, is the final place of punishment for sinners.

This is also the place where the demons were sealed during the millennium when the spiritual energy declined.

"It's very appropriate, isn't it?" Holt pointed his staff to the sky and continued, "Above the eternal punishment of sinners is the cemetery of the gods.

Ning Changkong looked up, even though he knew that here, all they could see was the dark red sky reflected by the lake of fire, like an eternal dusk, shrouding this cursed land.

But based on a few days of investigation, he already knew what was above that false sky.

—— A hidden transmission channel connecting the lake of fire that seals the devil and the burial place of the gods.

At some point, perhaps because the [Tianjue] machine inevitably suffered wear and tear over the years, or perhaps the amount of spiritual energy that the Burial Ground of the Gods could store and extract reached its limit, the spiritual energy overflowed from the Burial Ground of the Gods and sank into the Lake of Fire.

This caused cracks to appear in the seal of the devil, and eventually it completely disintegrated under the erosion of time... At a certain point earlier than ten years ago, the devils woke up one after another, broke through the seal, and began to look for a way to escape eternal punishment.

Of course, the transmission channel was not waiting there for the devil to discover it.

In fact, it was during the exploration process of the awakened demons that they accidentally discovered a space rift above the sky that was not completely closed - this rift connected the Lake of Fire and the burial place of the gods.

It was through this unexpected discovery that they were able to build this channel.

This is also why, as Chi Zhaoming said, when the Alien Bureau went to explore the burial ground of the gods ten years ago, they saw some unfamiliar Western faces.

Ning Changkong commented in his mind: "The timing is very close."

Ten years ago, the emergence of Longyuan Fantasy Land and the awakening of the devil almost coincided.

"It's like after the spiritual energy has revived, all kinds of illusions have begun to appear frequently." Chu Qingge analyzed.

"From the current situation, it seems that these changes are all qualitative changes caused by the accumulation of spiritual energy concentration to a certain level."

"Ultimately, they stem from the same cause, so it's no surprise that they're so close in time."

Ning Changkong was silent for a while: "You said, if there is no intervention of the devil, will the spiritual energy revival happen?"

"As long as they can enter the burial ground of the gods and are curious about the machine, I think it's just a matter of time." Chu Qingge responded, "The demons just have a first-mover advantage in this regard. The undead bird that maintains the machine happened to be one of them when it walked on earth... It's not accurate to say that, it's just a nice name."

Ning Changkong joked, "Whoever successfully brainwashes Phoenix first will be able to advance first after the spiritual energy is revived, right?

Chu Qingge: "Rather, the key lies in who gets to master the right to use [Tianran] first? Brainwashing Phoenix, stealing Phoenix's heart, or developing a key that matches [Tianran] yourself, they are just different means."

Ning Changkong lowered his head and no longer searched in vain with his naked eyes for the transmission channel connecting the lake of fire and the burial place of the gods.

This passage is the fundamental reason why he and Hao Ruishi are going to carry out the next mission.

——Baril wants to cross the river and destroy the bridge.

Baril and Li Bo cooperated to use the Yinglong fragments on Gu Minghui, just because they wanted to borrow Yinglong's breath to open Feng Qingwu's Tongshan illusion. Gu Minghui was not killed on the night of the Lantern Festival, which can only be attributed to Li Bo's restraint and Chi Zhaoming and others returning too quickly.

Baril does not want anyone to have access to the mysterious instruments of the Boneyard, so his goal is to cut off all paths leading to the Boneyard.

For example, this road that goes through Longyuan Fantasy Land.

Things like illusions can be controlled by using magic weapons connected to their energy as anchors.

Therefore, the target of the operation is the treasure house of Longyuan Academy where Yinglong's corpse is stored.

And Gu Minghui who merged with the Yinglong fragments.

September 26, the first year of the Reiki Restoration, Longyuan Academy, the familiar group study room.

"I want to become stronger." Gu Minghui said seriously.

"Oh." This was Wen Qingsheng without even raising his eyelids.

"Got it." This was Yan Xiaoling who was concentrating on doing her homework.

"Is this the reason why you called everyone here?" This is Su Yunyao with his hands spread out.

Student Gu got anxious. He slammed the table. Before he could say the words he wanted to say, his hands, which were full of expressiveness, were still changing gestures in the air when Yan Xiaoling glared back at him: "Why are you slamming the table?" She crossed out the wrong words that she had written due to her shaking hands with a dark face.

Gu Minghui's momentum disappeared in an instant, and he immediately shrank his neck and apologized like a popped balloon.

Su Yunyao cleared his throat and tried to get the topic back on track: "You want to become stronger, so what?"

She kept her arms outstretched: "Everyone wants to become stronger."

Wen Qingsheng nodded in agreement.

Gu Minghui stared at his hands in a trance, his brows furrowed. "I mean, I feel that my progress is too slow now. My master doesn't care about me at all."

The little fox held his chin up: "That can't be helped. "That can't be helped. Director Chi is too busy... How about this? Director Chi's swordsmanship was originally taught by Yuxu Sword Pavilion. Do you want to go to Pavilion Master Zuo to take his class?"

Student Xiao Wen raised his hand and said honestly, "I have already recorded the swordsmanship tutorial of Yuxu Sword Pavilion for him."

Su Yunyao was choked by this and asked tentatively: "Is it a public recording, or..."

Wen Qingsheng said resolutely: "I have recorded everything that can be recorded and cannot be recorded."

"You two really are..." Su Yunyao looked at the two of them, glanced at Yan Xiaoling who was obviously used to it, and gave them a thumbs up speechlessly.

"Didn't we agree on this two days ago? We should become stronger together and then kill the Phoenix." Gu Minghui clenched his fist.

Yan Xiaoling poked his head out and said, "Isn't it said that the phoenix will never die? How can we kill it better?"

Wen Qingsheng said calmly: "It's a technical issue, we'll talk about it later."

The topic seemed to be heading in a dangerous direction. Su Yunyao paused and looked disapproving: "I didn't say I agreed."

"In my opinion, you are all just little brats. Don't get involved in such dangerous things before you become stronger."

Gu Minghui said stubbornly: "Lin Fenghuang has agreed! It won't be a big deal if he is just an imaginary enemy!"

Wen Qingsheng nodded in agreement.

Before Su Yunyao was about to slam her head on the table to refute, Yan Xiaoling stopped her in time and turned to Gu Minghui and said, "...Go on, do you have any ideas about becoming stronger?"

Gu Minghui immediately perked up: "I can think of two directions. Please help me with the advice."

He raised his finger and made a sign: "First, let's go to Jinsong during the National Day holiday. He can also teach us how to practice, just like he did during the summer vacation."

Yan Xiaoling raised her eyebrows: He accepted the change in status from "brother to teacher" very well.

Wen Qingsheng then taunted him: "If you want to play, just say so."

Su Yunyao shook his head and added, "The Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix is ​​scheduled for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is October 6 this year. The teacher has been so busy these days that he has not replied to messages. He must have returned to the Hundred Birds Tribe during the National Day holiday and has no time to care about us."

"Is that so..." Gu Minghui rubbed his hands regretfully, but soon he cheered up and continued speaking enthusiastically:

"Secondly, I mentioned to you before that I have a fragment of Yinglong's soul in my body. I was thinking that maybe I could use it to practice."

The group meeting room fell into silence, with several people looking at each other in bewilderment.

Wen Qingsheng was the first to break the silence. He said sincerely, "The fragment is in your body. How do we know how to use it for cultivation?"

Yan Xiaoling shook her head: "The Yinglong fragment should be handed over. You are keeping it for the Abnormal Bureau now, so you shouldn't take the risk. Besides, if you rashly stimulate the fragment for the sake of practicing, what will you do if something happens to you?"

Su Yunyao continued, "If you, who hold the fragment, don't know how to use it to practice, then others will know even less. The only person who might know is the teacher - but he probably doesn't have time to talk to us for a while, so we're back to the beginning."

Gu Minghui was about to retort unconvinced, wanting to talk about those strange flashbacks and the strange power surging in his body.

However, before he could finish his words, his body reacted first. He stood up suddenly, looking straight in the direction of the treasure house with a gleam of golden light.

An indescribable premonition spread in his heart, and he couldn't help but speak:

"I feel like something is wrong."

September 26, the first year of the Reiki Restoration, in front of the Treasure Pavilion of Longyuan Academy.

"After all, why is Yinglong's corpse still here? Shouldn't it be used as fuel for [Tianluo]?" Standing in front of the treasure pavilion, Ning Changkong couldn't help but feel puzzled.

On the other end of the telepathic connection, Phoenix hummed incomprehensibly.

Ning Changkong clicked his tongue in his heart: What kind of temper is this?

But he was not surprised by Phoenix's reaction, as the investigation into Feng Qingwu had not been going smoothly.

How did Feng Qingwu create him, why did he create him... Phoenix remained silent on these questions and could not tell the specific experiences of a thousand years ago.

It was as if there was an invisible ban that strictly sealed off his past.

Ning Changkong scratched his head and tried to induce Phoenix to speak in various ways, hoping to bypass the invisible firewall. Even so, he could only barely piece together some scattered and incomplete fragments.

Ning Changkong continued to mutter in his heart: "If it were me, I wouldn't let Phoenix travel around China so frequently, and I wouldn't worry about him being stimulated to recall some memories..."

If the phoenix hadn't come to cause trouble during the final exam for Gu Minghui and others, Ning Changkong wouldn't have been identified as the master because of the phoenix spiritual power, Feng Qingwu's vest mechanism wouldn't have been triggered, he wouldn't have been teleported in the middle of the night... and he wouldn't have discovered this shocking truth in the end.

Chu Qingge took over the conversation: "So, Phoenix came under your nose twice. Once, you accidentally got the other key cast by Feng Qingwu, which saved your life; once, the relationship between Phoenix and Immortal Bird was exposed, which saved your life again."

Ning Changkong couldn't help laughing after hearing this. He deliberately teased, "From the perspective of the Devil's Cube, you really did a lot of harm, Phoenix."

"I was useful," Phoenix responded seriously, "I recognized the dragon."

Ning Changkong was startled: "Did you identify Gu Minghui as Cheng Yinglong?"

Yes, Gu Minghui accidentally came into contact with and merged the Yinglong fragments because of his parents. As for the accident that happened in the Longyuan Fantasy, it should be known only to those related to the Alien Bureau...

The information about the Phoenix might have been provided by Phoenix, but how did the Western Demons know that they had to kidnap Gu Minghui in order to open the Phoenix's residence?

Phoenix added proudly, "I have confirmed it with humans, but I discovered it first."

In the end, the devil's side was dealt with through the cooperation of Li Bo and Chi Zhaoming. Although Chi Zhaoming knew everything about the Yinglong fragments, if he didn't know the relationship between Gu Minghui and Yinglong in advance... he probably wouldn't know who to cooperate with.

Well, Phoenix is ​​really obsessed with the mission of hunting down Yinglong. Yinglong himself has been dead for so many years, and even his ashes have to be taken out, and even the fragments of his soul have to be taken out to kill him.

Ning Changkong narrowed his eyes and stared at the familiar figures rushing over from afar. Hao Ruishi beside him was already ready to make a move, and the scepter in his hand was gathering energy, ready to meet the upcoming conflict.

I notified the Alien Affairs Bureau in advance, and originally just planned to create some noise so that I could report back to Baril. But now looking at the expressions of Gu Minghui and the others... I'm afraid it won't be that easy to get away.

As he thought about it, he felt helpless: Oh, what is going on?

Lin Jinsong's original death was simply due to his involvement with Gu Minghui, and he was killed by Phoenix who intended to destroy the cooperative relationship between Li Bo and Chi Zhaoming.

And the root cause of Gu Minghui’s kidnapping...this points back to Phoenix.

Ning Changkong sighed and said, "From this perspective, you are the murderer of Lin Jinsong. There is no way to wash your name off."

The flame in his hand shone brightly.