Chapter 737: 737 Contract Meridian Spirit
"Special Envoy Xia, could it be that Yun Xiao really abandoned one Meridian Spirit and then refined a new Meridian Spirit?"
From the northern chair, Xu Huang, vice-chairman of the Commerce, wore a face of incomprehension; turning his head, he sought counsel from the Special Envoy beside him, whom he knew to possess far broader knowledge.
"Dismiss a Meridian Spirit and refine anew?"
A flicker of unusual color crossed Xia Yong’s face, and at a certain moment, when inspiration struck, he clenched his fist abruptly and exclaimed, "That might not be the case!"
"Xu Huang, have you ever heard of a Meridian Spirit that can follow orders without the need to erase its Spiritual Wisdom during refinement?"
The Special Envoy didn’t beat around the bush and directly stared at Xu Huang with his enquiry, which, upon being uttered, stirred up a flood of information from the ancient tomes into his mind, leaving his face in utter shock.
"Does the Special Envoy mean... a Contracted Meridian Spirit?"
As the vice-chairman of Yuyang City’s Spirit Fighting Commerce, it appeared Xu Huang was not so out of the loop. With Xia Yong’s prompt, he instantly came to a realization, his face turning to a startled expression.
"Exactly, a Contracted Meridian Spirit. Such Meridian Spirits are not restrained by Great Rank Cultivation; one can possess as many as they wish!"
The fervor in Xia Yong’s eyes grew more intense. As the headquarters’ Special Envoy, he might understand the so-called Contracted Meridian Spirits even better, knowing them to be an elusive treasure.
A Contracted Meridian Spirit, indeed as Xia Yong had said, does not require the erasure of the Vein Demon’s Spiritual Wisdom. It is a Vein Demon willingly following a human, and a Meridian Spirit with its own Spiritual Wisdom undeniably possesses greater combat prowess.
Even a human Cultivator need not reach the Grade of Spirit Vein Realm to deploy such a Meridian Spirit—it’s the autonomous consciousness of the Vein Demon, without the need for human manipulation.
However, even within the headquarters of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, such Contracted Meridian Spirits are exceedingly rare since each Vein Demon is proud, and with a clear mind, would they willingly follow humans, becoming their brawlers?
Perhaps only under certain specific conditions, such as a dying Vein Demon saved by a Meridian Refining Master, would it willingly follow the human in gratitude.
Apart from this, some coercion and temptation might achieve such a result, but the risk is substantial; who knows if the submission under such coercion might one day backfire?
"The Special Envoy means to say that Yun Xiao’s avian-shaped Meridian Spirit is a Contracted Meridian Spirit?"
At this moment, Xu Huang finally grasped Xia Yong’s implication, and gasped, realizing that Contracted Meridian Spirits were even rarer than Xu Huan turning a Strange Spirit into a Meridian Spirit.
He had thought Xu Huan’s moment to impress the Special Envoy was upon them, but unexpectedly, the one who became the center of attention was still that young man named Yun Xiao.
"Hmph, what of a Contracted Meridian Spirit? It all comes down to real strength in the end!"
However, in the next moment, Xu Huang’s face regained a bit of confidence. For he could clearly sense that the red little bird, which hardly seemed stable in flight, had a presence of only Seventh Rank Low Level, a whole two minor grades below Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit.
A Contracted Meridian Spirit, while rare, would likely stand little chance against such overpowering strength. Xu Huang believed that as long as his son achieved final victory, no matter how much attention Yun Xiao’s Contracted Meridian Spirit received, in the end, he would just be another loser.
Moreover, the battles between Meridian Spirits were extremely perilous. A moment of carelessness could result in a Meridian Spirit being annihilated, something that young man Yun Xiao seemed to relish. Today, let him taste this flavor for himself.
...
"Seventh Rank Low Level Meridian Spirit?"
On the stage, Xu Huan naturally sensed the aura of the red little bird at the first moment, and his eyes could not help but reveal a trace of disdain, deeming it nothing more than Yun Xiao’s attempt to seek attention.
The Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit was Xu Huan’s most powerful trump card. Once, he had used the ability augmented by this Meridian Spirit to kill a Cultivator at the Peak of Qi Seeking Realm. Without a doubt, this Strange Spirit in its original form had far greater combat power than those simple Vein Demons.
"A foolish bird that doesn’t know its place dares to contend with this young master?"
A cold laugh emanated from Xu Huan, followed by a slight motion of his right hand. The Meridian Spirit, originally in the form of a snake, remarkably transformed, in a flash, into a huge net several zhang wide, casting down towards the red little bird not far away.
Strange Spirits can freely change their form, so in this moment, Xu Huan’s deployment of the Strange Spirit attack was quite different from other battles of Spirit Fighting. It resembled a powerful and special Meridian Technique.
The vast Fire Attribute net appeared just like the real Heaven and Earth Net, and its speed was extremely fast. Within only two breaths of time, it was merely a few feet away from the fiery red little bird, making it seem inevitable for the bird to evade capture.
"Tsk tsk, you think this shabby net can catch the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix?"
Witnessing this, Yun Xiao’s eyes also revealed a trace of cold laughter. While everyone else believed that to be a mere Meridian Spirit of Seventh Rank Low Level, only he knew the power that would surge forth once the bloodline of the Red Feather Ancient Heavenly Phoenix erupted.
As the Red Feather of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, this was also its first time engaging in battle in its true form. And, sharing the Fire Attribute, the Meridian Spirit’s giant net’s aura was clearly something it disdained.
The Fire Attribute bloodline within the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, probably was no less powerful than the Burning Flame of the Fiery Holy Rat, Chi Yan. Even if the Red Feather was only at Seventh Rank Low Level, such Fire Attribute Energy should absolutely not be something that a Seventh Rank Advanced Meridian Spirit of the Fire Spirit Snake could contend against.
Hiss!
Just as the great net was about to envelop it, the little mouth of the Red Feather suddenly opened and a tiny flame was spat out, hitting the giant net precisely.
Between the tiny flame and the Meridian Spirit’s giant net, there was a huge gap in both size and aura. Thus, at this moment, everyone, including Xu Huan, subconsciously believed the fiery red little bird was merely struggling in the throes of death.
However, the next moment, a miraculous scene occurred. The flame that burst forth from the mouth of the fiery red little bird, upon just touching the giant Meridian Spirit net, swelled with the wind, and in a blink of an eye had enveloped the giant net within it.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
A sound containing anguish emitted from the flames, causing Xu Huan’s expression to change drastically because he knew that it was his own Meridian Spirit warning him to come to its rescue quickly.
What everyone needed to understand was that the huge Fire net was not a Meridian Technique formed by Meridian Qi, but Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit. Even with its Spiritual Wisdom wiped clean, they still possessed a hint of a subconscious sense of crisis.
But now, once enveloped by the fiery red flames, the Meridian Spirit released such an urgent plea for help, and Xu Huan instantly knew he had underestimated the means of the rough-clothed youth.
The Seventh Rank Advanced Strange Spirit’s flames were unable to rival the Seventh Rank Low Level Meridian Spirit’s flames, leaving Xu Huan baffled, but he had no choice but to act. He knew if he delayed any further, his Meridian Spirit might be burned to nothingness.
"Fire Accelerating Jade Bottle, go!"
In the battle between Meridian Spirits, it was natural for Xu Huan’s physical self not to participate in the fight. Hence, with a flick of his hand at his waist, a jade bottle appeared in his hand, and upon his command, he threw it out immediately.
Boom!
Others were somewhat puzzled by Xu Huan’s actions at the moment, but soon they were no longer confused, because the jade bottle, upon nearing the battleground of the Meridian Spirits, suddenly burst open, spewing a burst of extreme flames.
The flames erupted from the jade bottle assaulted the fiery curtain, and finally the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit absorbed and devoured them, boosting its aura instantaneously.
What the crowd didn’t know was that this so-called Fire Accelerating Jade Bottle was the result of Xu Huang’s father, Xu Huang, compressing an intense flame to its extreme.
Although the jade bottle looked small, the Fire Attribute Energy released upon explosion was not to be underestimated. Xu Huan intended to utilize such Fire Attribute Energy to free the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit from the shackles of Red Feather’s flames.
"Hm?"
However, just as Xu Huan was confidently waiting for the Fire Spirit Snake to devour the energy from the flames and overturn defeat into victory, his expression once again turned ugly.
At this moment, Xu Huan was shocked to discover that it was not only his Meridian Spirit that had swallowed the flames from the jade bottle; the flames that burst from the mouth of the fiery red little bird were also absorbing them.
These flames from the Red Feather acted as if they possessed some sort of spirituality, vying and struggling against the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit. In the end, they actually gained the absolute upper hand, leaving the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit in extreme frustration.
For Xu Huan, this was utterly baffling. The flames in the jade bottle were tailored by his father, Xu Huang, based on the aura of the Fire Spirit Snake. Other Vein Demons, or even Cultivators, forcibly absorbing it should have perished if their strength was insufficient.
Yet, the single flame spat out by the fiery red little bird demonstrated such domineering assimilative power. Xu Huan felt an ominous premonition creeping up, as if something was slipping out of his control.
"Tsk tsk, the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, truly extraordinary!"
As for Yun Xiao on the other side, his eyes were filled with a sense of admiration. It seemed that even at the start, he hadn’t expected Red Feather to possess such a trick up its sleeve.
With the seesawing of advantage, the Red Feather, initially holding the upper hand, was relentless. Its seemingly delicate wings lightly fluttered, and then the power of the flames burst forth instantaneously. In just a moment, Xu Huan felt as if he and the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit had lost connection.