It seemed as if time had slowed down to a crawl as Heifeng Jiansui and his women tread further and further into the Blackshadow Forest. With food, drink or rest, the three unrelentingly battled hordes upon hordes of Blackshadows without complaint.

In the beginning, the two girls following along knew that the meaning of this expedition was to test their endurance. Since the hunger, thirst and exhaustion wouldn’t kill them, they decided to tread forward without complaint. The continuous battle caused the murderous intent and bloodlust to rise until it had sunk into their bones. As minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days, the two couldn’t help but be surprised at their own endurance.

Currently, the three had arrived at a point where no more Blackshadows could be seen. Taking this moment of reprieve, their movement slowed down.

“It’s been three days already and I am still moving forward… While I knew that phoenixes had undying vitality, isn’t this ridiculous…?” Xingmei marveled over her own strength saying this.

“Both of you are pureblooded Black Phoenixes and the arts you are cultivating are top-level. You two are certainly comparable to a true phoenix that has yet to begin cultivation.” Heifeng Jiansui’s stated this like a matter of fact, yet the two couldn’t help but be flattered.

“How much do you think our performance has improved with these battles? Earlier, the endless hordes were bringing us despair but now we all can chop through them like wood!” Jiuxie asked Heifeng Jiansui with excitement.

“These Blackshadows are formed from dissipated evil yin energy while your techniques are of pure yang flames of purification, directly nullifying them. Adding to that your supreme talents and the formation gathering together our powers, this isn’t much of a surprise at all…” Heifeng Jiansui’s praise was subdued yet the two perked up again.

That said, Heifeng Jiansui was understating things. The progress between these three days was amazing. From the beginning where the three had to focus on not hurting each other while battling together, currently the three could read their companion’s body movements to read their actions and deftly assist. They had already reached the apex of technical skill in group battle, and even without the formation they could take an army of 300 together!

More importantly, their skill in coordinating the Threelaw formation had increased by a large boundary. With Heifeng Jiansui as the core and the two girls supporting, the formation brought out the innate laws sealed within their bodies into a domain capable of rewriting natural law! For the current them, Blackshadows were like chickens that could be killed with a single stroke!

With their body and spirit strained to the limit in relentless battles, their potential that was hidden within sprouted out. If they had began cultivation, it would have madly increased. But for now, the increase only displayed in their coordination, techniques and the battle formation!

Heifeng Jiansui only understated their progress to keep them from becoming lenient on themselves due to their arrogance.

As the group walked onward, the yin energy around them seemed to coagulate. Blackshadows suddenly surrounded them once more. With quick sweep with his eyes, they realized that the horde consisted 250 Blackshadows, the largest amount that they had faced ever!

“Well, our reprieve seems to have ended. Let’s kill!” Jiuxie courageously proclaimed, her fans swinging out. Xingmei’s spear was already swinging to pierce through Blackshadows deftly. As for Heifeng Jiansui, he surrounded the horde with the power of the Black Phoenix domain formed by the Threelaw formation, suppressing them in every aspect!

Facing their longest battle until now, the group didn’t hold back in the slightest as they marched forward to slaughter.

+++

Time was lost track of as they slaughtered through the army of Blackshadows. They seemed to have arrived at a critical point in this ruin as the count of the Blackshadows facing them did not lessen but rather grew. In their power and in their numbers, the army rose and rose until reached the peak of momentum, thousands forming a peerless force.

But after that, they fell regardless.

It was simple: the group of three they faced were their natural enemies. With the power of purification and the suppression of the Black Phoenix domain, their momentum was halted to zero. After that, all there remained was numbers.

The group of three fell into repetition. The enemy wasn’t intelligent and capable of advanced tactics; all it could do was use ranged and close-combat attacks. The reply didn’t have to be intelligent either: dodge blows, attack with unavoidable strikes, dodge again… This pattern could be repeated countless times. Even if they were struck, the power of their bloodline rendered it negligible anyway.

The three cleaved through the army of Blackshadows for days. It seemed that their vitality would disappear and their bodies would collapse due to lack of energy, but they pushed through regardless. Their inevitable victory was refreshing as the three faced their surroundings that were devoid of yin energy, a domain that was temporarily incapable of forming Blackshadows.

Relying on her spear to support, Xingmei staggered. Jiuxie wasn’t in a much better condition either. Only Heifeng Jiansui looked untouched by the battle they had gone through.

“Good job, both of you. There won’t be any more Blackshadows here. We purified the entirety of the yin energy, enough it might take a century or two to regenerate… Our goal isn’t that far now.” Heifeng Jiansui’s encouragement caused the condition of the two to improve.

“Our goal…?” Jiuxie unsteadily said this. She had no idea what Heifeng Jiansui meant. This damn place was fully devoid of resources, a place where only those Blackshadows roamed. The trees were all deformed and crippled, and even herbs that could form the trashiest elixirs were not to be found.

“You know, I embarked on this expedition with you two after a divination. I found out that there was a fortuitous encounter hidden here. Since we had time to spare, I took you two along.” Heifeng Jiansui was understating this as always. Fortuitous encounters that would temper him when he had already reached the peak as a mortal were near impossible. Even Nineorigin didn’t have many means to help!

“After I arrived here, I realized that this Blackshadow Forest was a site where a natural formation was formed. While there were methods to get to its core without battle, I decided that we might as well get some tempering done along the way. Well, we just broke through the final barrier of the formation so it seems as if our tempering has ended. Now, let’s have a look at our reward…” Heifeng Jiansui’s words had the effect of peerless elixirs. Hearing that they could reap their reward, the girls lost all their exhaustion!

The sound of their footsteps was the only sound in this desolate ground. The yin energy had already dispersed but the gloomy atmosphere remained.

But suddenly, they reached a point where the scenery suddenly changed. The energy reversed from the gloomy yin to the brightness of pure yang. Their bloodlines began automatically assimilating this energy to recover.

Shocked, they looked around to find a grassland with various precious herbs and tall spirit trees growing. The light of the sun that seemed to have abandoned them returned once more. Most peculiarly, a strange sensation filled the three of them, as if they had returned home after a long journey.

The two might have thought of this as an illusion, but Heifeng Jiansui had already told them that this was their goal. They looked around for treasure, and immediately, they found it.

In the middle of the wonderland was a large tree that seemed to challenge the skies. It covered the sky with grandeur, and the green leaves sprinkled the ground with grace. It seemed it be the core of the little ecosystem that had sprang around. The pure yang energy it disseminated would revert to pure yin due to the natural law, hiding this place from coveting eyes.

This was a pity, because this tree was a treasure that the Black Phoenix Clan would have overturned skies to possess. Only a parasol tree could sustain the roost of a phoenix, and this tree could support the entire clan upon it!