Chapter 784: War Zone
Yama and the Demon Overlord were fighting in the skies way above everyone else. Their attacks were lethal to anyone beneath the Overlord rank, and even the shockwaves that appeared from their attacks were enough to reduce weaker experts to dust, wound heavenly experts, and push back half-step Overlords.
At first, Yama seemed to have the upper hand. He had constantly attacked ferociously and with vigor. His every attack had shaken the heavens and split the fabric of space, creating massive spatial tears and showing the Archaic Energy behind them.
The Blood Demon Overlord spent much of the time defending himself. He had used his weapon to defend and not attack at all, constantly retreating away from the attacks.
To someone outside the battle, it might seem as if Yama held the upper hand, however, upon consideration and seeing who had spent most energy it was clear that Yama was using his energy much faster than the Blood Demon Overlord.
Although he used energy to defend himself, and all his focus was needed to avoid the attacks, the Blood Demon Overlord was also using a lot less Archaic Energy while attacking.
Both were equal when it came to the Great Dao, there was only one Great Dao, and this dao had been comprehended by both of them.
Archaic Energy was the energy that they were using, and both had been Overlords for eons. So, for this reason, the difference in their use of Archaic Energy was very small.
Since Yama had been attacking most of the time, he had been using up more Archaic Energy than the Blood Demon Overlord, and he was starting to be out of breath.
Yanluo, the Alchemist God, and the third half-step Overlord were all trying to finish their fights so that they could go and assist Yama in his battle. Although it would be lethal for them, it was necessary for them to give it all they had, if they wished to have a chance against the Blood Demon Overlord.
Hui Yue understood this just as well as the others, and the Blood Demon half-step Overlords were also aware of this. Everyone wanted to finish their fights as soon as possible so that they could assist their Overlord.
Fortunately, Yanluo and the Alchemist God were both fighting hard and they held the upper hand. Especially the Alchemist God was quite relaxed while fighting. He was even laughing as he popped one pill after another into his mouth.
"I am the Alchemist God!" he said, and although he sounded conceited, there was real strength behind this statement.
"Just recently, I succeeded in creating a pill which restores Archaic Energy. Now come bite me!" he grinned to the Manor Lord in front of him who felt more and more despair.
Usually, half-step Overlords would be very careful when it came to using their Archaic Energy, due to not having a lot of it, but the Alchemist God was constantly using his and swallowing more and more pills as if he had a limitless supply of them.
Seeing him fight like this, then Hui Yue felt much better. This was his master! Shameless to the extreme when he needed to be, but in truth willing to do anything to win the war against the demons.
Yanluo was in a different position. He did not have pills that restored Archaic Energy, but he had his phoenix form and blood to rely on. He was after all a black phoenix, and he used a body refined by the Alchemist God.
Regarding daos, he was even with the Manor Lord he was fighting, but when it came to physical strength, Yanluo was far superior. It was this advantage he used to hold the upper hand in their exchanges.
The last group of half-step Overlords that were fighting consisted of the Manor Lord which Hui Yue had seen in the Vermilion Bird's dream, and a human who was struggling to hang on.
"We need to assist someone," Hui Yue sighed. He had gained enough strength to be able to think about fighting again, and he was already planning on where to attack next.
"We cannot make a difference in the fight with Yama and the other Overlord, but we might just be able to tip the scales for the half-step Overlords."
Hearing this, Lan Feng nodded his head. His wounded arm was almost fully healed, and he still had his claws, beak, and one good wing left to fight with.
Wang Ju Long had not gained any wounds at all, and she would never question Hui Yue's decisions, but there were two experts that looked at Hui Yue as if he had said something completely ludicrous.
"We are heavenly dao cultivators. We can be considered almost the highest ranked cultivators in the galaxy, but we are far from being a half-step Overlord, even more so a real Overlord." The elder from the eastern region said while shaking his head, and the western region elder chipped in with his opinion, "We can fight other experts who have comprehended heavenly daos but nothing more than that."
"Well, who decided on that?" Hui Yue asked. Although he was listening to these two elders, and although he understood their logic, he could not help but feel that he really needed to fight against the half-step Overlords, especially the Manor Lord who had caused problems against the Divine Beasts. This was a personal vendetta! Even if he was not strong enough alone, he could still assist the half-step Overlord that was already fighting against him.
"Our reasoning is not reaching him is it?" The eastern region elder asked the others, and the western region elder shook his head.
"We were young and hot-blooded youngsters once, but our strength was nothing compared to his who knows what he will gain from this battle. It will show us whether or not he will become a dragon flying in the sky, or one who plummets to the ground and become a corpse in the mountain of death that is spreading out below us."
The two elders decided not to discuss it further and allow things to take its course.
They would not participate in such a dangerous task, but they would not stop Hui Yue either. As a result, Hui Yue stood up, stretched his body as he got familiar with his restored strength, and looked at Lan Feng.
Lan Feng's body was still being restored, and the two of them were both consuming more and more Ancestral Worldpower.
It was time for them to continue their fight, and the two looked at one another and nodded their heads at the same time. They did not grin nor did they say anything, they just understood what the other one meant without the need for words.
Lan Feng had long since heard what Hui Yue said about the memories of the Vermilion Bird, and he had understood that this Manor Lord was his father’s enemy.
It was clear that he had to settle the score, and Lan Feng was willing to follow Hui Yue into battle. Lan Feng was very happy to be alive now; he had never expected that he would survive the battle against An He. But now that he had, he was willing to risk his life in the next battle.
Defeating this Manor Lord would require even more than what it had fighting An He, and Hui Yue no longer had the drop of the Vermillion Bird’s Blood Essence to burn. How should they fight such an important figure like this?
Thinking about this, Hui Yue grit his teeth. He was no longer in top shape; he had wounded his soul when he burned his blood essence, and his body wasn't in perfect form yet either despite all the time he had spent recovering.
But, Lan Feng was even worse off. One of his arms was completely shattered, and his bones would require a long time to heal, or Hui Yue would have to create him a new body. But currently they had the time for neither of these options right now, and both were willing to continue fighting, even with the wounds they had yet to heal.
"I have an idea," Lan Feng whispered to Hui Yue, ensuring that no one could hear what he said. "You cannot burn any more blood essence, but we need to kill this Manor Lord."
"He was father's enemy, and at the same time, he is our enemy."
"My suggestion is that we merge our Phoenix Descents. It was impossible for us to do this when we fought An He since one of us was forced to keep him busy, but right now the human half-step Overlord is keeping him busy."
"If we use the element of surprise and attack together, merging our Phoenix Descent and you also fuse your daos with the Nine Peach Leaves, we might be able to wound or stun him enough to let our side finish him off."
"Although he is at a disadvantage right now, our side’s expert should be able to seize the chance when the Manor Lord is distracted or wounded. We have to do our best!"
Hui Yue had no other plan. He knew that it was pointless for him to just attack randomly, but he was not willing to just give up, and this was not a bad plan.
"Your plan is better than no plan," Hui Yue agreed, and the two of them flew high into the sky. Hui Yue rode on Lan Feng's neck as the phoenix was so large that he could sit there comfortably.
Hui Yue and Lan Feng reached out to their fused soul and reached the point where the souls were merged. They then focused on their shared soul and started revolving Ancestral Worldpower in their bodies.
They reached a few kilometers above the war zone, not daring to go further as they knew that if they did, then they would end up in the area where the Overlords were fighting. As they had reached as far up as they could, Hui Yue and Lan Feng looked at one another and nodded their heads.
Hui Yue let go of Lan Feng but flew as close to him as he could, and the two of them both performed the most spectacular Phoenix Descent that they were capable of doing.
The Vermilion Bird that appeared on their bodies merged. It was not a transparent one like before but a blazing Vermilion Bird that released a cry that shook the entire battlefield. This attack was even stronger than when Hui Yue had burned his blood essence before, and because so much power was being channeled through them, the strain on their bodies was much greater than last time. They felt how their bodies were being wounded every second they had this much energy surging through them pushing them faster and faster.
Descending, they felt how their bodies were slowly disintegrating, but they grit their teeth and held on. They still had more pills to consume later to temporarily heal their bodies.
Although there would be wounds and issues with their bodies later on, they could dispose of them and get new ones, if they were so lucky as to win the war. If not then it wouldn’t matter as they would be dead.
Thinking this, they accepted the burning pain, as they flew closer and closer to the Manor Lord.
The Manor Lord knew that the human side had three half-step Overlords, and the Blood Demon side had three half-step Overlords.
He had kept an eye on the other battles and knew that they were still fighting, and as a result, he did not care about anyone else. For a heavenly dao cultivator to attack him would be considered suicide, and he never placed them in his eyes, not even when he felt two approaching fast. He was certain that they were attacking someone else. No heavenly dao expert were suicidal enough to attack a half-step overlord.
Fortunately, Hui Yue and Lan Feng were ignored, and they descended quite a bit faster than Hui Yue had earlier. Their bodies were being pushed to the limits as an overwhelming amount of strength coursed through them and constantly gathered within, ready to be released when they struck.