Revolt against the Heavens

Three years ago, Cao Yun had given his vastest spatial ring to Hongyu. In it, he had placed many seals. Among those, there was one specific seal made solely to track it whenever it could be. As long as it was still in the Desolate Sepulcher, Cao Yun was absolutely confident he could find it without any problem. Hongyu had taken the ring and flown away as her brother had instructed. As much as she hated that, she obeyed him.

For all those years, she had been worried sick about Cao Yun. In her eyes, he was her only family. Although she was powerful, she was still a very young demonic beast. Of course, they oftentimes matured much faster than humans. After all, in the wilderness, they would be eaten alive otherwise. Parents couldn't take care of their children for too long. Unlike humans, the fenghuang almost only lived as a couple. As such, they couldn't bear the burden of a useless child. And indeed, Hongyu had become stronger than most mortals in a record time.

At that time, Hongyu was still forming her six demonic cores, which was the equivalent of a late Mortal Warrior or Golden Blood Child. This was very good, but she still wasn't on the level of the most powerful demonic beasts in the Desolate Sepulcher. After all, there were some 9-core demonic beasts. Even with her Evil Core and Wrath Core, she wouldn't be able to compete with them. However, she would most likely be stronger than any 6 end maybe even 7-core demonic beasts even without her sixth core. The mere fact that she could fly was an advantage against many demonic beasts. More than that, she was among the fastest flying demonic beasts on the entire Piaolu planet.

Using that incredible speed, she could evade any opponent on land. In the air, it would be a bit more tricky. Indeed, space was becoming more and more turbulent as one would go higher and faster. In fact, it was as if space itself was turning into a dense wall as she went faster and faster. The Desolate Pillar was causing disturbance in space, but there was also something else. She could tell because the higher she was, the more space was acting weird and this was the same in the Hongchen Kingdom. Space around the Piaolu planet had clearly been altered by something, or someone.

Despite this issue, she could still fly at incredible speeds for short amounts of time. This would be enough during a fight. But to travel through the Desolate Dune Desert, she was forced to slow down. With her current speed, she would probably have been able to simply cover the entire globe in a matter of hours, or even minutes. This wouldn't be a very sustainable speed, but she could do it, if only space was behaving. If she had been able to do so, she could have brought Cao Yun back as soon as he got taken away. But unfortunately, she couldn't... And her brother might die because she was unable to protect him. Instead, he was protecting her. He had healed her by using his own blood and all his vast knowledge. She felt as though she wasn't doing enough for him.

If Cao Yun had known Hongyu's thoughts, he would have felt very bad. After all, he still considered himself the reason for her parents' death. Obviously, he had not killed them, but his mere presence had called a catastrophe on them. Once again, they would have been long dead if Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue had not saved them from a Muddy Bashe. In fact, Hongyu would have died at that time as well. But this didn't change what had happened to them later on because Cao Yun was a target.

Hongyu avoided any place where demons were present. Instead, she found a rocky part of the desert. From above, she could only see desolation and didn't feel any trace of life. For the time being, this would be the perfect spot. With extreme elegance, she landed among the rocks and finally got some rest. After more than ten days flying int he air, she needed to sleep.

When she woke up, Hongyu was jolted back to reality by the sensation of Cao Yun's spatial ring in her claws. With her beak, she dug into one of the biggest rocks and hid the spatial ring there. Although she knew that her brother had put defenses on the object, she still was extremely cautious. After all, she also understood how important this small object was for him. Thus, she used her hottest flames to melt the rock and completely trap the ring within. It wouldn't be very hard to break the rock apart of course, but there was no indication that this rock was special so no one would have any reason to do so. However, she knew that her brother could find it, no matter where it was. Even if something were to happen to her, he could find it back.

For the moment though, Hongyu was quite hungry and thirsty. Just like Cao Yun, she could go long periods of time without eating, drinking or even sleeping. But she was undoubtedly hungry eve though she could survive without food for much longer. On the other hand, she really needed water. Thus, she focused her senses to try and smell anything. Water would also cause Water Qi to be more condensed, maybe she could feel that as well.

Finally, Hongyu sensed something. To the south, there were traces of water. It wouldn't take her more than a cup of tea's time to get there with her speed. Obviously, she didn't want to get too far from the spatial ring as it was a beacon for her brother. Thus, this place was perfect. There was just one problem though. Around that spot, she could feel the presence of many demonic beasts. Not a single one had more than six demonic cores. What worried her was the sheer number of demonic beasts. According to her senses, there were hundreds of them.

With extreme caution, she flew high above the spot. There were small trees that looked like they had been burned to a crisp. However, they were still exuding an intense vitality. Looking from above, Hongyu saw that those trees were forming some kind of circle in the center of which there was a deep pond. It wasn't very large but there was much water in it. Maybe those trees were related to its existence. Hongyu couldn't really make any guess. But she could guess what was happening down there.

The demonic beasts were waiting their turn to drink. No more than a dozen demonic beasts were drinking at a time. Hongyu saw a Silver Six-Tailed Fox, a 6-core demonic beast, slowly drinking from the deep pond. On its fur, she could feel Cao Yun's presence. It was incredibly faint, but it was there. Indeed, this was the Silver Six-Tailed Fox Cao Yun had fought and let go. The Silver Six-Tailed Fox, and the other 6-core demonic beasts around it, heard Hongyu. The fox's ears moved slightly but it didn't stop drinking as though it knew it was completely safe at the moment.

The burned trees acted as a form of barrier. The other demonic beasts refused to cross it until the 6-core demonic beasts were done. Once they were done, the Silver Six-Tailed Fox and the others, slowly moved away. Then, a dozen 5-core demonic beasts walked forward. There were Frost Shattering Bone Tigers, Sun Staring Scorpions and Earth-Shaking Elephants. Hongyu looked at the scene some more.

Realizing that there was no aggressiveness and no violence among the demonic beasts, she felt at ease. Even the weakest 1-core demonic beasts were not afraid at all. But while they were surrounded by some of their natural predators, they should have. That fact alone told Hongyu that it was safe to go down there. Thus, she slowly descended. Although she didn't know why the demonic beasts were all waiting outside of the circle formed by the dead trees, she did the same thing.

When she landed, there was no movement among the demonic beasts. Not a single one seemed to be surprised or fearful, or hostile. She walked calmly toward the front of the line as the weaker demonic beasts simply moved out of her way until she reached a group of 5-core demonic beasts like her. A few Earth-Shaking Elephants and even a couple Sun Staring Scorpions let her walk forward. In other circumstances, she should have fought for her life, especially against the Sun Staring Scorpions. But at that moment, they were peaceful and even welcoming. Eventually, she found herself among the dozen demonic beasts that were waiting for their turn.

Just like them, she waited until the others were finished. And she walked forward with her group. Delicately putting her beak in the water, she felt how fresh it was. This wasn't just any water, it was incredibly strong in both Water Qi and Wood Qi. There was no doubt in her mind that those dead trees were somewhat responsible for that. Although she was thirsty, she controlled herself and drank as calmly as all the others. Her instincts also told her that she had to drink a reasonable amount. After all, every demonic beast was waiting for their turn and she didn't want to cross them. Even with her speed, they could rip her apart.

Hongyu decided to simply imitate the others. Somehow, they all stopped drinking at the same time, as though each one was observing the others to know what was proper. Then, she walked out. Seeing that even the first group of 6-core demonic beasts was staying, she decided to stay, just to be safe. She didn't know whether it would be considered impolite to fly away after drinking this water. And she was right, the demonic beasts would have taken it very bad.

For a few hours, all the demonic beasts waited in calm. Only when the last 1-core demonic beasts were done drinking, did they begin to move. But contrary to Hongyu's expectations, they didn't leave. They all went toward the dead trees. And they gave a drop of blood each to one specific tree. Apparently, they were trying to balance the amount of blood so each dead tree could receive the same quantity. This time, the 1-core demonic beasts gave their blood first.

Before long, it was Hongyu's group to go offer their blood. Although she was reluctant to do so, Hongyu understood that it was a form of payment for the water. She had truly needed this water and she could definitely part with a single drop of blood for it. Besides, it was only normal blood, not blood essence. Otherwise, she would have attempted to flee.

When she walked back, she crossed the path of a young Five Bloods Pheasant. He was a 6-core demonic beast who had missed her until now. But as soon as he saw her, he puffed his feathers and clearly tried to show off. Hongyu completely ignored him and walked forward. The poor Five Bloods Pheasant looked at her she got away without even acknowledging his existence. As a young demonic beast, he had never had any partner. Obviously, he was attracted to Hongyu. After all, she had the bloodline of a fenghuang while he had the bloodline of the Vermilion Bird. As such, they were very close. There was a deep rivalry between them though.

That being said, this Five Bloods Pheasant had the bloodline of the Dusk Vermilion Bird, a lesser form of the Vermilion Bird family. As a consequence, he wasn't too domineering, unlike the Five Bloods Pheasant Hongyu and Cao Yun had met. Besides, he was also much younger and was clearly courting her. Despite her young age too, Hongyu instinctively knew what he was after and she had no intention of giving it to him. Thus, she ignored him completely. But, once again, she imitated everyone else and stayed near the pond.

The poor Five Bloods Pheasant was dejected. Of course, he still walked toward the dead tree and gave a drop of his blood. He looked backward but Hongyu didn't car at all about him. With a low head, he walked away from the dead tree. Still, he tried to stay close to Hongyu. Each time he was walking toward her though, she was walking away. He was almost chasing her in a circle. Of course, he was always walking slowly as not to show any hostility. But some other demonic beasts saw it and found that scene particularly amusing, especially the Silver Six-Tailed Fox. Just like the Five Bloods Pheasant, he was a young male. So he understood the drive behind the bird's behavior. It even reminded him of what he had faced himself. Thus, he was secretly mocking him while mocking himself.

For quite some time, this game took place and amused a certain number of demonic beasts. But slowly, tension built up. When the Five Bloods Pheasant stopped chasing Hongyu around, she too realized that something was going on. The demonic beasts were clearly moving away from a specific spot. This time, she could feel fear in them. Instead of letting the Five Bloods Pheasant go near her, she went to him. Contrary to her expectations, he wasn't happy. Indeed, he was cowering in fear at that point. Even the proud Silver Six-Tailed Fox was terrified. He was hiding it a bit better though.

Seeing all the demonic beasts try to reduce their presence and become as small as they could, even the 6-core demonic beasts, Hongyu imitated them once more. Until now, it had served her well.

There were large dunes all around them. Suddenly, one of those dunes collapsed completely. It had never been a dune to begin with. A monstrous demonic beast left the sand. That creature was almost twenty times larger than Hongyu if she opened her wings in full. With each step of its four legs, the ground was shaking. On its legs, that monster had sharp claws as long as Hongyu's body. With her senses, she could smell some poison on those claws too. The demonic beast was covered in a flexible armor shell that extended to its forehead and ended up in a thin but deadly tail that was leaving traces in the sand.

The burning sand of the desert was covering that armor shell but its deep red was still shining through. If Cao Yun had been there, this armor shell would have triggered his memory. This was a Crimson Dune Lord, a 8-core demonic beast looking like a large and deformed armadillo.