Chapter 1340: Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord
The Eternal Phoenix tribe's party of immortal lords advanced in orderly fashion.
Even though they were bird-types, they also flew in a procession that announced their hierarchy.
The one personally brought by the Provenance Phoenix Empress was said to be her youngest daughter, and she was surrounded by a bunch of 9-realm immortal lords and flew in the middle, high above.
This was the little princess of the Eternal Phoenix tribe, and evidently someone hotly watched this time around!
She had been too far from Wu Yu previously, and so he had not seen her!
And now they had vanished into the starlight portal at great speed. But Wu Yu had clearly seen that the little princess' features were exactly the same as Nangong Wei’s!
"Nangong Wei! How is that possible?! She is still in the mortal domain!"
Wu Yu was thunderstruck. His eyes refused to register this, and his steps halted, numbed by the cognitive dissonance.
In truth, he had all but forgotten Nangong Wei in these few decades in the sky palaces. And now seeing her face appear, the shock to his spirit was total.
"It's impossible. Besides, she is clearly a 7-realm immortal lord or higher, far surpassing me. I have the Heaven Devouring Titanic Beast, but am still a Xuan immortal. It's definitely impossible.
"Perhaps it's just the looks?"
His heart rose and fell unsteadily.
"What's wrong, Wu Yu?" Seeing Wu Yu suddenly stop, the others turned to him worriedly, seeing his face change.
Wu Yu composed himself and asked, "That Eternal Phoenix tribe. Who was the centermost person being protected?"
Yang Wenlan smiled. "Silly, of course that's the youngest daughter of the Provenance Phoenix Empress. Her title is the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord."
"Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord? Has she always been in the sky palaces?" Wu Yu asked.
"But of course. However, the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord is the daughter of the Provenance Phoenix Empress, and is definitely a genius. Although it has only been slightly more than one yuan since she was born, and she is still considered young, she has already reached the seventh tier of the Immortal Lord Realm. That is fairly astonishing. If not for her youth, she could probably go toe to toe against that Mo Yuji," Yang Wenlan said admiringly.
"Oh, I'm so envious of them. They are the beauties of the sky palaces, and also elite geniuses. In the future, they have the potential to rise to become the mightiest of immortal kings, or even immortal emperors. If I could just be a little immortal king in the future, I would be satisfied." Yang Wenlan was full of envy towards the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord and Mo Yuji.
"More than one yuan, meaning more than 100,000 years? Are you all sure that she has been cultivating in the sky palaces for these 100,000 years?" Wu Yu asked.
The Ancient Ink Camp members looked around at each other, and Huang-Pu Yijun smiled. "Where else? The Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord is the apple of the Eternal Phoenix tribe's eye. Of course, she was tutored by the Provenance Phoenix Empress since young, and it's said that she rarely even leaves the Immortal Phoenix Imperial Realm.
"What's the matter, Wu Yu?" Xu Zidong asked.
Wu Yu shook his head irritably. "I knew someone in the mortal domain who looked exactly like her, so...."
After hearing this, they all broke into smiles.
Qing Yuli said, "This world has innumerable beings, all of which have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. There are many immortals, just like humans. I've also met my double before."
Yang Wenlan laughed as well. "If someone can look like the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord, they must be a great beauty as well. However, look carefully. Although they may look the same, the real difference should lie in the aura. No matter how comely a mortal might be, they would not be on the same level as a woman of superior bearing like the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord."
"Indeed...." Wu Yu could only concede. Nangong Wei was already very beautiful in his regard, but aura was aura, and it was an indicator of one's status in life, the combined effect of one's identity and position. Although he had been given a big shock, the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord was on the level of Mo Yuji, and clearly very different from the mortal Nangong Wei.
After all, she was a genius of the sky palaces who had been cultivating for more than one yuan.
"Perhaps it is just a coincidence." Wu Yu nodded. He was not in a position to go back to the mortal domain for a look; otherwise, he would definitely go to the Jambu Realm to confirm things.
"What's the holdup? Get a move on, don't block the way." At this time, those behind started to grumble at their halt. Besides, they were 8-realm immortal lords, and Xu Zidong had no wish to offend them. He hurriedly shooed Wu Yu on.
They quickened their pace and rushed into the starlight portal. However, Wu Yu was still reeling from the shock, and the features of the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord were still seared in his mind.
"Are there truly doppelgangers in this world?
"We haven't met in a long time. I wonder if she's doing well in the Jambu Realm, and if she's near immortalhood yet...."
He was still in frequent communication with the Great Ancient Ink Realm. Princess You Xue had improved greatly, and would be able to rise to immortalhood without a problem. Jiu Ying and the others had caught up as well, and Wu You was doing well for herself too.
If Wu Yu secured a stable place in the sky palaces one day, he wished to bring them all up so they would reach immortalhood even faster.
After they did, they could live for 120,000 years without a problem, and take it easy after that.
The starlight twinkled, and Wu Yu was plunged into the river of stars, carried along by the starlight.
"Don't get separated!"
Xu Zidong held on to them, and all nine of them supported each other as they moved through the stars. This was a tunnel, and the front grew brighter and brighter. They passed through another vortex, finally coming to a halt.
Wu Yu looked around him. He was floating in the air without using any flying techniques. In the world around him, there was not the slightest bit of immortal qi, nor the presence of anything at all.
He looked around him. Whether up, down, left, or right, it was just endless, black space. This was the Endless River of Stars, also known as the Great Void Immortal Path.
In this endless darkness, there was nothing but a majestic river before him! The river was like a knife, dividing the darkness into left and right halves. Its light was extremely resplendent.
Looking closer, the river actually comprised countless stars, and the light of the river was starlight!
This starry river was the Endless Immortal Army, and also where the Endless Immortal Army camped and trained.
Of course, this was where the Marks of an Immortal King would be fought over in these 100 years.
"It's said that there are millions of stars in the Endless River of Stars! The 50,000 Marks of an Immortal King are hidden in these millions of stars. They come in all shapes and forms, and they are preceded by all sorts of tests!"
"Right now, 100 million immortal lords are streaming in. Those that entered first will definitely rush towards the Endless River of Stars to search for a Mark of an Immortal King."
"The Great Void Immortal Path has separated many of us. We must be scattered all across the sky, evenly distributed across the length of the Endless River of Stars. This is also why we don't see many immortal lords near us."
Wu Yu also realized that not all 100 million immortal lords had been deposited in the same place by the stellar vortex. Instead, they had been spread out all over the sky, and they were approaching the river of stars from various directions.
If they had not held hands, they would have been separated too. Holding hands had been effective, which meant that the contest for the Marks of an Immortal King allowed team fighting. For example, those few hundred fighters from the Eternal Phoenix tribe could work together. They had many 9-realm immortal lords in their midst, and any who met them was in for a bad time.
After all, the strongest here were 9-realm immortal lords. Even the strongest 9-realm immortal lords would also be food when they were swamped by equals in greater numbers. Therefore, everyone knew that the strongest groups, such as the Eternal Phoenix contingent, were definitely one of the most feared.
Actually, those like the children of the Dhrtarastra would also definitely have a large group of people protecting them. They would at least have a few dozen elites in their team. Because the contest for Marks of an Immortal King had no age limit, many of the 9-realm immortal lords were already aged. They were probably already near the nine-yuan limit of their lifespans.
They, more than anyone else, desired the Marks of an Immortal King, which represented a new extension of life that would answer their troubles. Otherwise, even 9-realm immortal lords had a limit to their life, and they were no different from 9-yuan heavenly immortals.
Only immortal kings could enjoy boundless longevity.
Only immortal emperors could have eternal life.
This was also why many immortal lords pursued immortal king status - to reach the Great Void Immortal Realm, and a level of being that was beyond the Immortal Lord Realm.
"Let's go!"
Xu Zidong was bursting with enthusiasm. He led the Ancient Ink Camp members and Wu Yu towards the Endless River of Stars.
As for Wu Yu, his mind was still on the Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord. He was a little distracted as he hurried alongside them.
After many years together, the nine of them had already formed a sibling-like bond that Wu Yu highly respected.
As they neared the Endless River of Stars, they realized that there was a considerable distance between the individual stars. At their speed, they would probably take at least 10 days to travel from one star to another. The further ones would take many months.
There were millions of stars here, which meant that no one would be able to search all the stars.
It was not crowded for the 100 million immortal lords to be in this endless river.
100 years was not a long time either.
The Endless River of Stars was deceptively close. In actuality, more than half a month had passed by the time they reached the first star that Xu Zidong had determined.
They finally arrived at the Endless River of Stars.
Beneath their feet was a huge star, dark grey in color and pockmarked with craters. There were also many meteorite scars, and the accumulation of dust-colored rocks on the ground indicated the long passage of time.
This star was huge, about half the size of the Yan Huang Ancient Region. It teemed with immortal qi, but the environment was extremely harsh. Immortal qi moved chaotically, and it was not suitable for the weaker cultivators. Therefore, this Endless River of Stars was actually a barren land amidst the 8,000 Sky Palaces.
Each star had a number, and the one they had landed on was: Star 38, 731. They began their search.
"There's no one near here. Let's split up and search the whole star," Xu Zidong asserted.
Strength in numbers.
When they first appeared in the sky, they could still see a few people near them. As they veered apart, they saw no other immortal lord near them, and could search in peace.