Chapter 101 - A True Phoenix

His heart was racing as if it would come out right now. Anxiousness, nervousness, terror, adrenaline, dopamine, sexual pleasure—say whatever. He was feeling something new, a mix of all these.

His finger was just a few centimeters from the burning beak, with waves of flames loftily moving. His entire hand caught fire in under a second.

"Ugh!" he groaned. "Endure... I have to endure! Persevere this and... well, I’ll fucking live! What a great thing!"

Convincing himself, he walked forward more. He was using the hand covered with runic tattoos to touch the bird. It had slightly better resistance to all elements. And there was probably a skin, but no skin beneath those flames at all.

Although his hand touched the beast, the rest of his body still stretched back, ready to run away as soon as possible.

The moment Cale’s hand fully touched the blinding of the True Phoenix, a primordial heat surged directly into his meridians, echoing the devastating intensity of his previous encounter with the True Phoenix Flame. What he absorbed before was literally not even 5% of this!

’Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’

In a fraction of a second, Cale’s skin lost all moisture. His body shriveled as a terrifying burst of red, orange, and blue flames ignited his very blood and bones. His entire being was pushed to its absolute limits—burning to a dark red hue while he endured the excruciating agony of absorbing a bottomless well of energy. Cale felt his bones begin to melt under the suppression of a supreme being’s flame.

The fire did not merely burn. It sought to brutally refine his flesh and soul, locking him in a paradoxical crucible of destruction and rebirth where losing focus meant turning into eternal ash.

"What... am I dying here? Am I...? Hahahah?" he mumbled and laughed for no reason.

His body shivered while the soul bodies tried consuming any elixir and healing pills to help the main body in any simple way. The main body’s grip on the phoenix’s skin tightened.

"I will not die here! I cannot die here! You fucking bird, who do you think you are! What have you seen in life to take my very own!"

He could feel the soul of the phoenix—so enormous and fierce, burning with so much energy and yang qi itself. It was the embodiment of yang. Even if the phoenix could be reborn eternally, its soul still was one! It could be damaged.

By now, his entire torso was burning. From his face to his waist. His non-existent eyes still staring right into the phoenix’s.

And he slowly started to consume its soul.

"ArGHHHHHHH! It’s burning...fuuu....!!"

The beast shuddered, moving its entire body in all directions, shaking the very inner sanctum itself to get out of his grasp. But once he got hold of its soul, the beast would get more damaged if it forcefully pulled out. And it likely knew that.

"I cannot let go now! I don’t have another life in store. Heh! Why are you shivering? Are you scared? Yes! Get more scared! Fear my very existence! Hate me with all your being! If not today, one day then—I will kill you! Eat your very flesh like the most cherished meal of my life!"

Yes, he was going maniac. His mental state was degrading too quickly.

’This body of mine will be wrecked soon. If I die, then that’s fate. If I live, then I’ve defied fate itself. Gods? Who are gods? I will make my own way to the top!’

"Gods don’t exist! It’s just a term used for anyone with people’s awe and strength. Hell, even a dog can become a god! When I was dying, I was told ’consider this as god’s wrath. You’ve angered the gods.’ But I still can’t believe that. Let me see what a god looks like."

And like always when absorbing souls, he could read the phoenix’s memories now—although not complete.

In the river of memories, Cale opened his eyes to look at a beautiful land of spiritual beasts. Floating islands, orange clouds, trees of different types, various fragrances, fruits of many kinds. Hundreds of thousands of huge mountains below, piercing the very clouds themselves.

Waterfalls whose ends no one knew—and even the start itself. It was a literal fantasy land.

’Where is this? Is there such a place in this world too?’

Then he saw it. The phoenix. No, this was not the phoenix he was fighting. This one was huge—as large as one of the mountains below. It wasn’t fierce. It was graceful. Not a divine creature. It was a mythical beast!

’Is this... its parent? So... am I seeing scenes of before it was born?’

He followed the phoenix for days, months even.

Everywhere it flew through, warmth followed. Flowers grew. Offsprings came.

But then suddenly, the scene shifted to the phoenix fighting a demonic beast. A huge beast with a massive maw and six milky eyes. Eight limbs, four horns. A gruesome creature with mold-like rotten skin and a big huge mane. In size itself, it compared to the phoenix.

The beast roared, and even Cale shuddered. He was watching a memory. Still, he felt a primordial fear—a fear from a being so strong you could never even hope for a sliver of chance and just accept your fate. That kind of fear.

’W-what is that monster! Does there exist such a thing now too?’

The phoenix replied with a burst of flames and a flap of its wings. The entire mountain behind the monster was decimated in under seconds.

’These monsters... they’re on another level!’

The battle continued, and neither of them tired out for a single second.

The phoenix, which was once a source of growth, was now destruction incarnate. Leaving carnage and death in its wake. They didn’t care about monsters, creatures, human settlements, sects, divine lands—everything was destroyed.

’Such is the fate of the weak, huh.’

Another year passed. Their powers had depleted, albeit slightly. It would still kill an entire city in one move.

And as if by heaven’s will, the phoenix chose to fly into space itself!

What was more surprising was that the monster could fly too! Can intelligent monsters start flying after a certain point?

The scale of the fight increased. Each blow was using the powers of heaven and earth itself, shattering space and reality.

But what surprised Cale more was, ’I have heard of how monstrous true celestial beings like phoenixes are. But what monster is the other one? How is it still able to hold its ground against it! How is it still not showing even a hint of defeat? If such creatures exist, why have I never even heard of it?’