Chapter 421 - 368: Phoenix into Flame, Golden Crow’s Nirvana
Chapter 421: Chapter 368: Phoenix into Flame, Golden Crow’s Nirvana
The Golden Crow’s originally crow-black feathers were now being overtaken by gold. Its entire body glittered, and behind the flames, the phantom of a colossal, divine bird swelled, filling all of Morhaven with abundant Fire Element Energy.
Originally, only the single plume on its head, its eyes, and its three legs were golden. Now, the feathers on its tail and the tips of its wings had turned golden as well.
When the flames finally receded, all the energy flowed back into the Golden Crow’s body through the front of its neck, forming a ruff of golden plumes that resembled the flames of the True Sun Fire.
At that moment, the Golden Crow let out a loud cry below the flock of birds. It circled once, as if inspecting their numbers, then flew down toward the golden parasol tree below.
The moment the Golden Crow landed on a branch, the golden parasol tree’s branches rapidly sprouted more leaves. They grew, withered, and fell to the ground in a seemingly endless cycle of cause and effect, life and death, repeating over and over.
The withered leaves that fell to the ground dissipated the instant they touched it, returning to dust.
Then, a miracle occurred.
The surrounding forest, which had just been incinerated by the Golden Crow’s True Sun Fire, now burst with vigorous life. The vast, barren expanse of ground, previously cracked and lifeless, slowly softened as tender green shoots emerged from the earth.
As soon as the shoots broke through the soil, they encountered the Fire Element Energy in the air. Instead of withering, they flourished with vitality, growing faster and faster. Soon, the dead trees were rejuvenated as if it were spring. The surrounding devastation was instantly restored to its original state, and the forest was even more lush and vibrant than before.
Most importantly, Flora Bloom sensed a familiar aura from the newly grown flowers and plants.
These new plants were all spiritual plants—spiritual plants that could bond with a master!
Flora Bloom dripped spiritual water from her fingertips onto the ground beside her. As the plants absorbed it, their spirits were fed back into her space, imprinted, and then released again.
This process repeated, bringing all the plants in the area under her control. Their roots grew thicker and stronger underground, showing signs of linking up with the plant life inside the Morhaven base to form a united front.
As Flora Bloom felt the thriving vitality centered around the parasol tree, she discovered that it was also an evolved plant.
Just then, a huge bird swooped past the flock in the sky and began to circle above. After a few laps, it started to descend toward the Golden Crow’s position.
After the Golden Crow molted, its original black feathers fell to the ground. There weren’t many, but each one contained an immense amount of Fire Element Energy.
Flora Bloom picked them up one by one, storing them safely in her space for the bird. At the same time, the entire flock in the sky began to fly down.
The dense flock lowered its altitude, and the birds began circling about ten meters above the parasol tree.
The Golden Crow, perched on the parasol tree, used its beak to snap off several small branches and began to build a nest.
First, the Golden Crow wove the branches of varying thickness into a large frame. Then, the birds circling above suddenly reached under their wings, plucked out their softest feathers, and, one by one, delivered them in their beaks to the Golden Crow’s newly formed nest.
As the birds flew down one by one to offer their feathers to the Golden Crow, Flora Bloom did her best to count them.
When the last bird had presented its feather for the nest, the count reached exactly ten thousand.
However, the largest bird of all had a crown on its head and claws like a chicken. Its plumage appeared brown at first glance, but up close, one could see that vibrant, multi-colored feathers were hidden beneath the brown outer layer.
It suddenly flew down and landed at the base of the golden parasol tree. After a loud cry, it shot a ball of crimson flame from its beak at the Golden Crow’s nest, setting it ablaze.
The scene was both thrilling and heart-wrenching for Flora Bloom and the others to watch. They couldn’t help but feel it was a terrible waste.
A nest frame made of parasol branches, padded with the soft feathers of ten thousand birds—it was a pity to see it all burned by this foreign flame.
But not one of them stepped forward to stop it.
They knew the Golden Crow must be performing some kind of ancient avian ritual.
’Meanwhile, the True Sun Fire energy within the Golden Crow’s body is growing stronger and purer. This must be an evolution that requires a special ceremony.’
’Interrupting it would affect the Golden Crow’s evolution.’
Flora Bloom stared at the giant, colorful bird for a long time. ’A crown on its head, colorful plumage, but its main plumes aren’t visible.’ It didn’t match any mythological bird she knew. The only similarity was the three drooping, tri-colored tail plumes on the giant bird’s tail.
It resembled the Fire Phoenix of legend.
’The Fire Phoenix and the Azure Phoenix are a pair of divine birds. People who aren’t familiar with mythology might not know their names. The Azure Phoenix is the female, and the Fire Phoenix is the male.’
’Most people only know of the Fenghuang, where the Feng is female and the Huang is male.’
’But they are actually the same type of creature. The only difference is that the Luan and Feng are categories within the Fenghuang species; red ones are typically Feng, and azure ones are Luan. In ancient times, they were numerous. As for their tail plumes, a single plume was the most common, a double plume marked nobility, and a triple plume signified a King among their kind.’
’Could this three-tailed giant bird really be a legendary phoenix? And a male King at that?’
But before Flora Bloom could think any further, the giant bird that resembled a three-tailed phoenix suddenly soared into the sky. After a sharp cry, it ignited in red flames.
The flames were brilliant, engulfing its entire body and creating streaks of red, bird-like afterimages as it flew. The Golden Crow seemed to sense something, letting out a sorrowful cry as if lamenting a loss.
Nevertheless, it spread its massive wings to receive the great bird, wreathed in fiery afterimages, as it dove down to strike.
BOOM!
A colossal collision of fire against fire. The Golden Crow ignited its True Sun Fire, clashing with the giant bird that crashed into it. Finally, under the searing heat of the True Sun Fire, the flaming giant bird dissolved into specks of Fire Element Energy that flowed into the Golden Crow’s body.
The Golden Crow mournfully closed its golden eyes, collapsing motionless in the nest of ten thousand feathers.
The ten thousand birds circling overhead began to cry out in mourning.
At that moment, as if in response to their grief, dark clouds drifted over and covered the sky.
Beneath the dark clouds, Flora Bloom and the others could already feel the humidity in the air.
"Is it... about to rain?"
The next second, droplets of rain began to fall, as if mourning the giant bird’s moth-to-a-flame sacrifice. The rain grew heavier until it became a torrential downpour, soaking the entirety of Morhaven.
Flora Bloom used her water-cleansing superpower to keep herself and the others from getting wet.
Meanwhile, the True Sun Fire burning on the Golden Crow’s body had now spread to engulf the entire golden parasol tree.
The heavy rain fell, but the True Sun Fire did not go out.
The Golden Crow, linked to Flora Bloom’s soul and spiritual power, felt immeasurably powerful in her senses. And in the midst of the flames, it was undergoing an even deeper transformation.
The phoenix flew into the fire; the Golden Crow achieved nirvana.
Only after watching the flock of birds scatter and confirming that the Golden Crow would be fine here did Flora Bloom and the others slowly start to head back.