CHAPTER 206: CHAPTER 12: BEAST OF WAR

"Flower Sect disciples, heed the command: don’t let the Thousand Illusions Mountain disciples successfully comprehend the illusions!"

Currently, most of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples are besieging the Little Vermilion Bird.

Meanwhile, most of the Thousand Illusions Mountain disciples observe the Little Vermilion Bird’s battle performance, comprehending its demeanor and aura.

As for the Flower Sect disciples, who primarily cultivate wood magic, they have the least need for the opportunities presented by the Demon Ancestor Ruins. Thus, their aim in entering the ruins was clearly the Thousand Illusions Mountain and Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples.

"Haha, I picked up a snake gall!"

"Hehe, I snatched a tiger whip."

A group of Flower Sect disciples resembled scavengers, plundering the organs, hides, and blood left behind by the demon beasts that were torn apart by the Little Vermilion Bird.

"Damn it." Despite their disgust, the Beast Masters of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect consent to their actions as long as they don’t interfere with the siege of the Little Vermilion Bird.

In contrast, the Flower Sect disciples who cannot gain benefits from the Thousand Illusions Mountain disciples have another task: to disrupt the comprehension of the Little Vermilion Bird’s illusions by the Thousand Illusions Mountain disciples.

After all, if the Thousand Illusions Mountain really manages to unite its disciples to create a perfect illusion beast of Vermilion Bird, its strength will undoubtedly increase, leading to a disadvantage for the Flower Sect!

One Flower Sect cultivator after another manipulated the plants, attacking Lin Jing and others in an illusion perception state.

"Courting death!" Fortunately, the disciples of Thousand Illusions Mountain are divided into five teams, with one specifically tasked to shield Lin Jing and others from these madmen, providing a safe environment for illusion perception.

Numerous Thousand Illusions Mountain disciples manifest illusion beasts to charge at the Flower Sect cultivators, engaging them in combat.

For a time, the first hall of the Demon Ancestor Ruins turns particularly gruesome, with the demon beast corpses flying, and the disciples of Thousand Illusions Mountain and Flower Sect fighting fiercely. In just a brief moment, several have died, with their relics seized by the opposing sects as spoils.

At this moment, in front of Lin Jing, is a scene of bodies and sea of blood, rendering him silent. Coming from an ancient country, he had never witnessed such a sight.

In the ancient country, even though there were disputes between sects, under the management of the Sect Management Office, such large-scale fierce battles never occurred.

"No need to intervene, my task now is..." Lin Jing calmly fixates on the Little Vermilion Bird. In reality, merely mimicking the appearance of the Little Vermilion Bird is not difficult. Every disciple of the Thousand Illusions Mountain can accomplish this.

The challenge lies in how to mimic its aura. Without aura, no matter what magic is used in conjunction, the damage is zero, akin to brandishing a painting of a tiger to scare people, which is simply laughable.

Only a Vermilion Bird illusion with aura can intimidate demon king and demon emperor bloodlines, displaying the true power of the ancient species.

However, this step... is as hard as ascending to heaven. Even after two trials in the ruins, no disciple from Thousand Illusions Mountain was able to achieve it.

......

After half a day of battle, the Little Vermilion Bird in the first stage disintegrated.

Though this Little Vermilion Bird was incredibly strong, it still had physical limitations. Under the siege of arrays, artifacts, and human wave tactics, it eventually fell.

However, to slay it, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples paid a heavy price, with at least thousands of demon beast corpses ... and several elite disciples of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect died. As for the Thousand Illusions Mountain and Flower Sect disciples, more perished, though not by the Little Vermilion Bird’s hands but due to rival sects.

Of course, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, suffering the greatest losses, also gained the most. The surviving Beast Masters and demon beasts received some Blood of Zhu Yan, enhancing their abilities.

As for Lin Jing, due to the initial Fireball Technique, he too received a tiny trace of Blood of Zhu Yan. The damage he inflicted was so minimal that the drop he received didn’t even lead to a change in his bloodline, let alone strengthen his physique.

"The Zhu Yan bloodline is of no use to me. Obtaining the qualification to exit the ruins is enough; the key is how to visualize the Vermilion Bird..."

The vast blood aura permeates the hall, and the howling of battle seems to linger in Lin Jing’s ears.

"How did it go, did you gain anything?"

Having passed the first stage, each side tacitly ceased combat, and the cultivators blinded by fury were called to halt by their same sect. Senior Sister Ning also asked Lin Jing and the others, but everyone shook their heads.

"No worries..." Senior Sister Ning said, "There are still several stages ahead..."

As she spoke, with a dizzying whirl, everyone entered the second hall, and shortly after, the second Little Vermilion Bird appeared. Holding a stick, it still exuded no might, resembling an ordinary little monkey, charging toward hundreds of people.

After experiencing the first stage, although this Little Vermilion Bird still had early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, most Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples now had expressions of dread and fear, starkly different from the excitement when they first entered.

Were it not for the Vice Sect Leader outside watching for deserters, some Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples already considered retreating from the ruins!

As before in the first stage, Lin Jing quietly sat at the rear, concentrating on observing the stick-wielding, rampaging Little Vermilion Bird.

With the depletion of latent dragon fortune and the change in mood and demeanor among disciples from various sects, Lin Jing began to gain insight.

"Legend has it that the Vermilion Bird heralds war and chaos..."

"This ruins is the Vermilion Bird’s place of inheritance. Yet, the ruins do not restrict the Thousand Illusions Mountain and Flower Sect disciples from engaging in meaningless skirmishes unrelated to the inheritance."

"This aligns with cultivators’ understanding of the Vermilion Bird... Rumor has it in ancient times, whenever such a demon beast appeared, it would cause turmoil across the land. It’s a beast of disaster, leading to the near extinction of the Vermilion Bird race."

"Currently, this ancient remnant of the Vermilion Bird bloodline still retains its ability to cause chaos—perhaps as a preference or for other reasons. Through this inheritance ruins, the war-like tragic scenes now witnessed are likely something the Vermilion Bird itself wishes to see."

Amidst a hall resembling a war site, Lin Jing took a deep breath, observing the Little Vermilion Bird’s wanton slaughter and the spiritual disarray among Ten Thousand Beasts Sect disciples forced to confront it, finding clarity.

"Is there a possibility that the Vermilion Bird infects its power exceptionally well without revealing any ferocity because it enjoys chaos? It enjoys battle, enjoys personally partaking in war..."

"It doesn’t want its enemies to flee in terror upon witnessing its terrifying might, but rather wants to crush them with power, causing their spirit to collapse...?"

Watching the tireless combat of the Little Vermilion Bird, Lin Jing fell into contemplation.

"The extinction of the Vermilion Bird race resulted from its repeated instigation of worldwide turmoil. It led to meaningless wars, instilling fear among countless individuals, prompting the cultivation realm’s united destruction."

"Due to its ability to bring about war disasters, even without voluntarily displaying might, it subsequently evoked fear—much like within the ruins now. The massive casualties have already caused internal collapse among many cultivators."

"So, the premise of perfectly visualizing an aura-infused Vermilion Bird involves manifesting an exceedingly complex, brutal, and horrific war scene. This war scene could involve the demise of millions of ordinary people, millions of cultivators, or even the burial of countless immortals. The impact of the war scene on other life forms is directly linked to the Vermilion Bird’s might, forming its essence, as it is calamity incarnate."

"When the Vermilion Bird’s aura and image merge, the illusion will undergo a transformation, revealing the Vermilion Bird’s concealed true face. However, forming the war illusion as the Vermilion Bird’s heart is as difficult as conjuring the might of a demon king a hundred times over..." Lin Jing seems to grasp how to shape the aura of the Vermilion Bird, his gaze expanding beyond the Vermilion Bird to the lives it tore apart...

Although challenging, Lin Jing is full of fighting spirit. He has a hunch that perfectly visualizing an aura-infused Vermilion Bird, along with the Thousand Illusions Mountain’s Void Reversal Technique, will reward him with an exceedingly formidable illusionary pet beast, a war giant beast... He hopes throughout this process, no one interferes, and for those people to pass several stages, providing him ample material for illusion.