Chapter 36: Vermillion Bird Unsealed, Dual Domains
[Author's Note:]
The original author's (Sanshui's) setting is that the Vermillion Bird is a branch of the Phoenix. In classical mythology, the Vermillion Bird (Zhuque) is a Xuan Bird (Dark Bird), a divine beast superior to the Phoenix (Fenghuang). To avoid conflict, I'm abandoning the original novel's Phoenix setting here. To hell with those fantasy floor tiles.
Besides, she wasn't much of a talker.
Jing Ni merely assumed Qin Xuan had deep, unfathomable fortune and had encountered some kind of serendipity. She was an assassin from a world of martial arts, but this man's abilities were beyond her comprehension.
After all, he had even mastered the 'contract' that allowed people to travel between Worlds. Next to that, what was a mere Spirit Bone?
Even if this Spirit Bone was a 100,000-year Spirit Bone—a treasure that was almost enough to tempt any Spirit Master or any force in this World to kill for it.
She had seen him absorb it with her own eyes, a process that was both terrifying and mesmerizing. His power had lept to a new realm, and now, he was attempting to do so again.
She just quietly watched Qin Xuan, who was sitting on the ground, preparing for his next transformation. Though her expression remained unchanged, her heroic yet beautiful, doll-like face showed a subtle curve of softness that even she didn't notice.
Perhaps living like this forever wouldn't be bad, would it, A Yan?
Jing Ni lowered her beautiful eyes, her hand gently caressing her lower abdomen. She murmured to herself, speaking to the unborn child that was now the center of her entire world.
This man, Qin Xuan, was her new master. But he was also her protector. As long as he grew stronger, she and her child, "A Yan," would be safe from the Net.
Crimson flames rapidly rose.
Qin Xuan brought his hands together, then slowly spread them apart. 5 spirit rings—2 yellow, 1 purple, and 2 black—flickered into existence around his body.
A crimson, miniature sword, about the size of a palm, appeared between his hands. This was the Changming Sword in its base form.
He took a deep breath, and with his other hand, he retrieved the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent inner core. It was a blazing, sun-like orb of pure fire energy, so hot it distorted the air around it.
He swallowed it without hesitation.
The moment it entered his body, Qin Xuan's skin and black hair turned a deep crimson at a visible rate. His impeccable features twisted slightly, his brow furrowing from the sudden, explosive pain. Even his stable, cross-legged posture became a bit unsteady.
Qin Xuan was startled. He had, after all, underestimated this inner core.
He had assumed that his current physique—tempered by the Quirky Nimbus Chrysanthemum and fortified by the Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull—was already capable of withstanding spirit rings of 50,000 years or more.
However, the raw, bestial will of the Fierce Yang Serpent contained within this inner core was not comparable to that of an ordinary 50,000-year Spirit Beast. It was 10 heads' worth of primal fury, condensed into a single point of energy.
But this was still within Qin Xuan's tolerance.
He quickly activated the Ghost Valley Breathing Technique. His spirit power, rather than fighting the fire, formed a protective vortex, laying down a flexible layer of defense tightly against his meridians. He protected them from the scorching heat of the violent energy, and then began to guide it, letting it flow into the Changming Sword.
Although Jing Ni knew that absorbing a spirit ring or bone carried some risks, she had never seen such a spectacle. She watched as the dense fire completely enveloped Qin Xuan, his body glowing like an ember, and saw his face contorted with pain and ferocity.
She couldn't help but worry.
She wanted to get up and approach, to circulate her spirit power to guide him, but she stopped herself. She was a different kind of warrior, from a different world.
Unlike the Qin's Moon World, where internal energy was almost attribute-less and martial artists could freely transfer it, the Douluo Continent was different. Everyone's Spirit had an attribute, and there was a very real, very dangerous attribute suppression.
Qin Xuan's Spirit, she knew, leaned towards the ultimate expression of fire.
And her Jing Ni Sword... it leaned towards water. Since acquiring the Slaughter God Domain, it seemed to have a tendency to transform into an ice attribute, capable of freely converting between ice and water.
The attributes of their Spirits countered each other. Going up now would not only fail to help him; it would harm him, and perhaps even herself.
Fortunately, the intense pain on Qin Xuan's face didn't last long. As the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent inner core was gradually refined, its power siphoned away, the bestiality lost its energy support and gradually weakened.
The fire around Qin Xuan began to stabilize.
It was then that a strange, new pressure filled the air.
Jing Ni's Spirit was released uncontrollably. The Jing Ni Sword appeared in her hand, buzzing.
Her dark, beautiful eyes looked at the small, elegant red sword in her hand with surprise. The hilt tilted, pointing towards Qin Xuan, as if it were... bowing.
A miniature phantom of the Stunning Salamander lay trembling on the small sword, vaguely showing a sense of primal fear. It seemed to be afraid of the aura emanating from Qin Xuan.
The ancient Jing Ni... is actually trembling.
Is it because of the Vermillion Bird sealed within that sword?
Jing Ni looked at her sword's phantom with a puzzled expression, then at Qin Xuan's Changming Sword, deep in thought.
Qin Xuan had said that her Spirit was the Jing Ni Sword. It was somewhat similar to his Changming Sword Spirit. Both seemed to have ancient Spirit Beasts sealed within them.
If Qin Xuan's Spirit was the ancient Vermillion Bird from the Douluo Continent, then her Spirit was the ancient Stunning Salamander from the Qin's Moon World.
Due to the different Worlds they belonged to, there was initially no distinction in strength between their Spirits; their Spirit quality was on par.
Now, the Jing Ni Sword was actually showing fear towards the Changming Sword. Could this be the 'Spirit evolution' Qin Xuan mentioned?
Jing Ni, who had originally intended to cultivate more during this period after seeing Qin Xuan's energy stabilize, instantly lost the desire to cultivate.
At such a time, interference from others was not tolerated. She rose, her sword in hand, and began to patrol the valley, guarding Qin Xuan.
This wait lasted for a full day and night.
From morning to noon, then to evening. The valley grew preternaturally hot, the very stones glowing with a dull red light.
Until the next day, at dawn.
Qin Xuan finally showed signs of waking up.
A strange sensation, a pulse of immense power, suddenly appeared in Jing Ni's heart. Her bright eyes, slightly red from fatigue, instantly focused on Qin Xuan.
The crimson flames that had covered Qin Xuan's body rapidly, and beautifully, turned a pure, divine golden.
The Changming Sword also turned golden.
It floated quietly between Qin Xuan's palms, its surface covered with lightning that had been rendered golden by the flames.
Vaguely, one could also see the white, bat-like demonic pattern representing the Slaughter God Domain, now etched onto the golden blade.
Qin Xuan's body trembled violently. The next second, he was completely enveloped in the new, golden flames.
Screee—!
The golden flames shot into the sky, instantly filling the entire valley. A clear, arrogant, and ancient cry—a true phoenix cry—erupted from the pillar of fire.
The brilliant golden flames sliced through the misty sky, as if the sun itself had risen, instantly illuminating the entire valley.
As they ascended, the golden flames receded, revealing a massive figure, about 7 meters long, soaring in the air.
The fiery bird soared above the valley. Its dazzling golden tail feathers, its perfect, streamlined physique, and its arrogant gaze that looked down on all beings—all showcased its majesty as the king of birds.
The most peculiar thing was the flames on its body. They were not just gold. They contained both the divine golden fire of the Vermillion Bird and the crimson, lightning-infused fire of Qin Xuan's own spirit power.
Jing Ni stood up, her hands clasped over her bulging lower abdomen, her posture graceful. Her light dress accentuated her perfect, slender curves; even pregnant, she had not gained an ounce of excess weight.
She looked up at the sky, her intelligent, beautiful eyes unblinking, murmuring to herself, "Is this... the ancient Vermillion Bird sealed within the Changming Sword?"
"No," a voice said from beside her. "It's no longer the sealed ancient Vermillion Bird. It's free now."
Qin Xuan walked over, his body steaming. He held the palm-sized, golden miniature sword in his right hand.
And around his body, 6 spirit rings—2 yellow, 1 purple, and 3 black—were static at different positions, completely enveloping him.
The 6th black spirit ring was particularly deep, and its diameter was several times larger than the others. Compared to the 4th and 5th black spirit rings, it appeared exceptionally dazzling, its 100,000-year-old pressure undeniable.
His spirit power had surprisingly reached Level 68 and a half, just a hair's breadth away from Level 69.
This meant that since breaking through Level 60 nine months ago (after leaving Slaughter City), plus the 100,000-year Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull, plus this Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent inner core...
...had allowed him to increase his spirit power by 8 and a half levels at once.
Among them, he gained about 3 levels in Slaughter City, 3 levels from the 100,000-year Spirit Bone, and the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent inner core granted him 2 and a half levels on top of his Level 66 spirit power.
Qin Xuan believed that he would definitely break through to Spirit Saint within half a year.
At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel. He hadn't expected this.
Refining the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent inner core wouldn't evolve his Spirit into something like the "Evil Fire Phoenix" in the original work.
Instead, it had lifted the seal on the Changming Sword. It restored the Vermillion Bird's freedom and allowed it to exert its full, divine power.
And, in doing so, it gave birth to an innate Domain—a Vermillion Bird's Domain of Divine Fire.
In other words, in this era before Bibi Dong and Tang San entered Slaughter City, Qin Xuan was currently the only Spirit Master on the Douluo Continent with dual Domains.
Not only that, but after being unsealed, this Vermillion Bird seemed to become a special existence within Qin Xuan's body.
Although it still resided in the Changming Sword, it was more like a separate, sentient entity. What exactly this entity's purpose was, perhaps he would get the answer when he cultivated to Titled Douluo in the future.
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