Stranger Danger

"Phoenix Burns..."

Yu Hongluan let out a long cry as golden red flames surrounded her entire person. Wreathed in golden red flames, she surged into the sky and became one with the phoenix.

She would become the luan phoenix and right all that all the wrongs and injustices in this world.

It was as if the phoenix had suddenly gained a soul after she merged with it. It grew even more lifelike and profound than before.

The fire surrounding the phoenix began turning from red to orange, orange to yellow, yellow to purple...

The purple flame was so hot that even the surrounding space was warped and melting. This was not the end though. The flame was still changing.

Now, the purple flame was slowly turning into gold. Gold and purple mixed and flowed, illuminating the phoenix's crown and dyeing its tail feather and causing waves of profound light to wash out to the surroundings.

All corrupted and mutated humans touched by the light were slowly turning back to normal. They stopped fighting and crippling each other.

"... Eternal!!!"

Yu Hongluan's voice resounded like a phoenix's cry as the gold and purple flames surrounding the phoenix surged toward the Rakshasa Divine Tree Jewel Tree Prince had transformed into.

When the phoenix took flight, all of the sky was illuminated.

Everything was cleansed as the dark, tainted sky became as bright as daytime in an instant.

Rumble!!!

The thunderclap that followed shook the entire Floating Island like a leaf being blown off by the wind. Many walls and houses were collapsing from the epic earthquake, and even more people were injured or killed by the impact. It was chaos.

The sea region within fifty kilometers of Floating Island was also boiling and steaming like a kettle of water.

Strange illusions sprang into existence here and there, gorgeous and dreamlike, mysterious and terrifying.

Alas, the light and rumbling, illusions and fantasy came as quickly as they came. In just a few breaths, they had all disappeared into nothing like bubbles.

When the dust had settled, the golden purple phoenix was nowhere to be found, and the Rakshasa Divine Tree Jewel Tree Prince had transformed into... was still around.

Sure, it looked way worse than it was at the beginning. It was missing all of its branches and leaves, and the dark light and profound energies that surrounded it were gone as well. However, its aura of brutality and chaos, destruction and devastation was scarier than ever before.

"How... how could this be?" A pale-faced Yu Hongluan dropped to one knee on the ground. She looked shocked and disbelieving of this outcome.

"Hahaha... you were so close. Just a bit more, and you would have succeeded in stopping me..."

Jewel Tree Prince spoke again scornfully and ridiculingly. "Alas, not enough is not enough!"

"You've lost, Fairy Hongluan. I may die today, but it does not change the fact that you are the loser."

"You will watch as I devastate the Floating Island you protect into ruins; kill all the civilians because of your stupidity."

"I will make you regret this for the rest of your life, Yu Hongluan!"

"Hahaha..."

"God, you're such a chatterbox."

Jewel Tree Prince was still laughing when a lazy, uncaring voice rang from above the Rakshasa Divine Tree.

"Who?" Jewel Tree Prince exclaimed with shock and trepidation. He had no idea that someone was standing on top of him until he revealed himself.

He was a young man.

"Your killer," the young man replied in an indifferent tone.

"A shameless boast!" Jewel Tree Prince snorted as if he just heard a funny joke. After all, not even Yu Hongluan's Sage-like "Phoenix Burns Eternal" could defeat him. Everyone else could only do worse.

That was what he thought, but Jewel Tree Prince wasn't planning to waste time and risk deviations to his expectations. Dark flames immediately burned on the Rakshasa Divine Tree.

"Sacred flames of the dark, burn my remaining body and kill this creature as a sacrifice to my lord..."

Dark flames capable of scorching the heavens and eroding the earth washed out. It was overflowing with brutality and chaos, death and destruction.

"You seriously talk too much."

In response, the young man waved his hand and summoned an ancient bronze bell in the sky.

THANG!

The young man flicked the bell with his finger, and a resounding bell chime and profound light washed out to the surroundings.

The bell chime was grand, but not oppressive. Wherever the bell chime went, wind and fire were suppressed, and the Five Phases were stilled. The dark flames froze in the air, and the distorted, disorderly space returned to normal as if smoothened by a giant hand.

The profound light was all-encompassing, but not dazzling. Wherever it traveled, sun and moon swayed, and all evils were repelled. Brutal, evil energies kept disappearing, and the energies of death and destruction were disintegrated inch by inch.

The bell chime quelled heaven and earth, and the profound light illuminated sun and moon.

"Impossible!"

Jewel Tree Prince roared in fury, but he discovered that his power was completely suppressed by the bell chime and the profound light. He could not use even a sliver of them.

The secret art he was using was the ultimate art of the Rakshasa royal clan and bestowed to him by the Rakshasa King himself. By sacrificing his life and igniting the sacred blood of a Rakshasa royal, he could temporarily break through his limit and unleash the power of an Ancient-class Stranger. In this state, not even an ordinary Sage would be able to stop him or defy him.

However, this young man had ended his secret art.

More accurately, he had forcefully suppressed and sealed his power—one rivaling that of an Ancient-class Stranger.

So absolute was the suppression that he could not even commit suicide.

Just how powerful was he?

"You're a Sage?!"

There could only be one possibility. The young man was a Sage; an extraordinary Sage.

"Not yet, but I will be!"

The young man answered indifferently yet confidently, and another bell chime rang.

A new chime and profound light were born before the previous ones had faded.

The bell chimes overlapped with each other like ripples, and the profound light mingled like blue waves.

The blend of light and sound washed across the sky like a blue tide, cleansing all of the filth, evils, darkness, and monsters. When all was said and done, the sky had become pure and spotless.

The Rakshasa Divine Tree Jewel Tree Prince had transformed into had also been purified of its viciousness and dark energies. He was forcefully turned back to the Five Jewel Tree of Wonder.

THANG!

THANG!

THANG!

After that, the bronze bell rang nine times in a row. Each time it rang, the Five Jewel Tree of Wonder would shrink a little more. When all was said and done, the Five Jewel Tree of Wonder had become as small and weak as a clump of grass.

With that done, a hand uprooted the Five Jewel Tree of Wonder.

"Who are you?"

Jewel Tree Prince's voice came from the Five Jewel Tree of Wonder.

"I am human!" The young man replied with a smile.

"Who are you? Tell me! Who are you?!" Jewel Tree Prince roared.

"My identity doesn't matter. What matters is that you've lost," the young man said unhurriedly.

Jewel Tree Prince jeered, "You don't want to tell me because you're afraid that my lord would seek you out, don't you? Hahaha... I know you humans are all a bunch of cowardly mice!"

The young man did not care for his taunts at all, however. "Quit wasting your breath. I'm not going to kill you. Your life is still useful at the moment."

Jewel Tree Prince's laughter halted. He knew that the young man had seen through his thoughts. Indeed, the reason he was jeering at him earlier was to provoke him into killing him.

Right now, he was completely controlled by the young man. He was unable to do anything besides thinking and talking, much less committing suicide.

He knew that he would fall into the Profound Alliance's hands if he was still alive. He knew that his existence would become a great threat to the Rakshasa Kingdom and the Rakshasa King. That was why he was desperate to die.

He couldn't kill himself though. So, he could only count on someone else.

The young man looked exceptionally young considering his power, so Jewel Tree Prince that he would be arrogant and self-conceited. A bit of taunting might be all that was needed to provoke him into a murderous rage.

He was wrong though. Not only did the young man not fall for his provocation, he had seen through his thoughts and tricks like nothing.