The red dragon was already a demon emperor in the Divine Beast-Human War. He was Demon Emperor Redraco, and the scars from his encounter with the Dragon Emperor still lingered on his body. The cyan bird was also one of the leaders during the Divine Beast-Human War, a descendant of the Phoenix Clan known as Qingluan. Her name was Demon Empress Bluefeather.
A brilliant light shot out of the Kunlun Mirror, illuminating the space around the Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather. Time slowed a hundred times for Demon Emperor Redraco while slowing seventy times for Demon Empress Bluefeather.
Mengfei's figure vanished from Demon Emperor Blacktiger's sight and reappeared next to Demon Emperor Redraco. Accompanying her were hundreds of clear crystalline swords. Demon Emperor Redraco roared in pain as the hundreds of swords embedded themselves nearly hilt-deep into him. Similarly, Demon Empress Bluefeather also shrieked in pain from the hundreds of swords sticking in her.
Mengfei slashed with the black crystalline sword in her hand. Blood spurted from Demon Emperor Redraco's body, but to her surprise, her blade only managed to cut halfway into his arm. She had wanted to slice through it entirely.
Time had slowed down to the point that Demon Emperor Redraco only saw a hazy blur, but he knew that the three of them together were not Mengfei's opponent. Earlier, she was just wary of Demon Emperor Blacktiger's innate ability.
Red draconic qi exploded from his body and formed a domain that shielded him slightly from the Kunlun Mirror's effect. By then, it was too late as Mengfei disappeared from his sight, leaving her crystalline sword still stuck in his arm, and reappeared behind Demon Empress Bluefeather. "Watch out!"
He had tried to warn his compatriot, but it was too late. Mengfei slashed down with a newly-formed crystalline sword, bifurcating Demon Empress Bluefeather's wing from her body, causing her to shriek even more miserably.
At this time, Demon Emperor Redraco knew he could no longer hold back, and his whiskers turned a golden color. They weren't his natural whiskers or a secret technique but the divine artifact, Yellow Dragon Whiskers.
They elongated until they were over a million meters long, shattering the crystalline swords embedded into his and Demon Empress Bluefeather's bodies. More importantly, they disrupted the time dilation effect of the Kunlun Mirror.
The Yellow Dragon Whiskers stretched and grabbed Demon Emperor Blacktiger and the floating landmass holding the demons and whipped at Mengfei. She quickly stored Demon Empress Bluefeather's severed wing and raised her sword.
When the Yellow Dragon Whiskers struck her, the Kunlun Mirror encased her in a protective silver light, preventing her from shooting across the Vast Void, but the attack shattered her crystalline sword and struck her on the torso.
Mengfei grunted as black crystalline dust burst out from the attacked area. At the last moment, she had formed countless black crystals to shield her. Although the gold whisker didn't directly land on her, it still caused a massive amount of internal damage.
Under the Kunlun Mirror's silver light, time began to reverse, healing her injuries. Mengfei waved her hands, and exactly ninety-nine crystalline swords appeared, each inscribed with runes. With a single hand seal, they formed a unique pattern containing the Law of Heaven-Earth-Man.
"Don't hold back anymore!" Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. "Although we are one short, we must combine our innate abilities!"
Demon Emperor Blacktiger gritted his teeth and activated White Tiger Roar. Some innate abilities did not have a price, while others did. His innate ability, like the others, required him to burn their blood essence and tax his willpower. He had already exhausted himself once, but at this rate, holding back was not an option.
Despite losing her wing, Demon Empress Bluefeather activated her innate ability, Vermillion Bird's Sacred Fire. A gigantic bird of crimson appeared behind Demon Empress Bluefeather; each of its feathers resembled burning flames of the highest quality.
As the least injured of the three, Demon Emperor Redraco's manifestation of the azure dragon displayed the most significant pressure. The apparition of the Azure Dragon roared and struck out with its gleaming claw, Azure Dragon's Claw.
The Azure Dragon's claw, White Tiger's roar, and Vermillion Bird's sacred fire all merged, forming a pitch-black wave that shot toward Mengfei.
Mengfei immediately summoned her Tri-Unity World. This was not the first time she or the Buzhou Immortal Sect saw this combination attack. During the Divine Beast-Human War, the four demon emperors descending from the Four Divine Beasts unleashed this attack, known as the Four Element Annihilation.
The Azure Dragon represented the Law of Wood, the White Tiger represented the Law of Metal, the Vermillion Bird represented the Law of Fire, and the Black Tortoise represented the Law of Water. According to theory, it had an even superior level, the Five Element Annihilation, but it required the addition of the Yellow Dragon's innate ability.
All things were formed from the five elements. Thus, the Five Element Annihilation could destroy everything. Through research into this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect created the Five Element Destruction Formation and improved the Chaos Refining Formation.
Against the Five Element Annihilation, an attack that likely reached the divine level, Mengfei would have needed to fear for her life. Even the Four Element Annihilation, it would have likely reached the half divine-level, but the Three Element Annihilation?
The Tri-Unity World behind Mengfei exploded with the essence of the five elements. They clashed against the Three Element Annihilation, with neither side giving an inch. The two sides had reached a stalemate.
However, Demon Emperor Redraco knew they were at a disadvantage. Compared to Mengfei, Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather were too injured and wouldn't last long.
Left with no choice, the Yellow Dragon Whiskers released a golden light emitting an earthly aura. That aura shot into the Three Element Annihilation, significantly strengthening it. Consequently, the Yellow Dragon Whiskers lost their luster.
Mengfei grunted as she was forced back. In her perception, the Three Element Annihilation suddenly transformed into the Four Element Annihilation. Furthermore, it was not a regular Four Element Annihilation but one that had the Law of Earth.
"Mother, spacetime is locked, I can't form a passage into the Nine Heavens Universe with this conduit's power!" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted.
Wood represented east, fire represented south, metal represented west, water represented north, and earth represented the center. As the central element, the Law of Earth acted as the merging point of the five elements. As such, the Four Element Annihilation greatly exceeded her expectations.
She began to focus everything on defense. Next, Mengfei controlled the ninety-nine crystalline swords to form a defensive formation, one with ninety-nine layers. One by one, the Four Element Annihilation broke through each layer swiftly but lost nearly ten percent of its overall energy.
Three figures emerged from her body and stood protectively in front of her. They were her three incarnations of heaven, earth, and man. The aura of time around her increased. At the same time, the Kunlun Mirror shot a ray of light on the Four Element Annihilation, causing the four elements that composed it to destabilize.
Mengfei's Man Incarnation charged straight at the incoming Four Element Annihilation and attacked. The incarnation shattered beyond repair, but it accomplished its goal as the Four Element Annihilation's energy dropped. Next, her Earth Incarnation charged, followed by her Heaven Incarnation.
After her incarnations of heaven, earth, and man sacrificed themselves again, the Four Element Annihilation's energy had plummeted to thirty to forty percent.
Mengfei's body turned ephemeral as she merged with her Tri-Unity World. The Four Element Annihilation entered her world, and the long grind between it and the world began. It seemed like an eternity, yet it also occurred in an instant.
The Four Element Annihilation disappeared, and the Tri-Unity World disappeared, revealing Mengfei. Outwardly, she appeared uninjured, but her face was pale. Her soul had been damaged.
She gazed toward where the demons had once been. As she expected, they had disappeared. Her injuries would take a few decades to heal, but the three demon emperors would need hundreds, possibly thousands, for Demon Empress Bluefeather.
Mengfei reached into her robes and pulled out the palm-sized Tianyi. She sighed in relief, "You're fine."
"What the hell?" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted. "You didn't need to protect me. I'm just a conduit, I can just condense another one!"
"Even if you are one of many, you are irreplaceable to me," Mengfei said. "I can't stand to even see a strand of your hair gone."
The palm-sized Tianyi clutched his chest, not knowing what to say. He didn't have a chance to say anything as Mengfei stuffed him back into her robes and flew back to the Huang Realm. She still had to report the matter back to Sect Master Xia. In the Divine Beast-Human War, they never showed the ability to add the Law of Earth to the Four Element Annihilation. If they formed a Five Element Annihilation, they would have to make more contingencies for the next war.
After reporting to Sect Master Xia, Mengfei returned to Jade Peak Palace. However, she wouldn't stay there for long. Ignoring her soul injuries, she would also need time to form her incarnations of heaven, earth, and man again. And the best place to recuperate would be in Tianyi's Nine Heavens Universe.
The palm-sized Tianyi floated out of her robes and formed a portal leading to the Ninth Heaven of his inner universe. Although reluctant to part with the conduit, Mengfei entered. There, she saw the Concealed Palace of the alternate timeline. It was no longer named the Concealed Palace but Nine Heavens Palace after Tianyi refined and redesigned it.
Mengfei spread her senses, but she couldn't find any trace of Tianyi. Or, more accurately, she could sense Tianyi's presence everywhere. Although not fully satisfied, Mengfei made her way to her allotted room.
Just as she entered, the dense lotus fragrance entered her nose. Her eyes slightly widened as she saw a Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus floating in the middle of her room. Unconsciously, the corner of her lips curled upward.
On the floating landmass, Donghai Longzi paced back and forth while wringing his hands behind his back. Although he didn't inherit everything from Tianyi, he still had Tianyi's love for family, so seeing Mengfei at a disadvantage really worried him. To prevent the demons from discovering anything wrong, the conduit assigned to him was sealed, so he couldn't get any updates either.
"Don't worry, young wyrmling. The humans will fall, and the demons will rise once more, like during his majesty Emperor Di Jun's era," Demon Emperor Redraco comforted, not knowing Donghai Longzi's true thoughts.
As a member of the Dragon Clan, Demon Emperor Redraco was especially partial to Donghai Longzi. He had never seen the exact dragon bloodline species that Donghai Longzi could transform into, but it didn't prevent him from speculating. Perhaps Donghai Longzi's bloodline had mutated, like him.
Demon Emperor Redraco wasn't originally a true dragon but a mixed-blood. When he advanced to Demon King Realm, his bloodline evolved and mutated, transforming him into a Scarletblood Dragon.
Seeing that Donghai Longzi still paced back and forth, Demon Emperor Redraco no longer said anything. Once Donghai Longzi truly entered the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he would learn of their confidence to compete with the Huang and Numinous Realms.
Instead, he focused on steering the floating landmass. The Vast Void was devoid of qi or essence, so both Demon Empress Bluefeather and Demon Emperor Blacktiger entered a hibernation state to halt their injuries until they could treat them in the Divine Beast Realm.
When they neared the Divine Beast Pseudo System, Demon Emperor Redraco placed a seal on the senses of every demon they brought. This was a precaution against all possible spies from the two immortal-ranked realms.
Upon entering, Demon Emperor Redraco's spirit lifted as he felt the welcoming thrum of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. He lifted the seal and allowed the newcomer demons to sense the welcoming atmosphere. Unconsciously, each one of them instinctively showed an elated expression.
