Chapter 736: Seven hundred and thirty-six, the third Meridian Spirit?
"Tsk tsk, to make Huan’er use this Meridian Spirit, Yun Xiao indeed has enough reason to be proud!"
Xu Huang showed a faint smile on his face. Even though he was praising Yun Xiao, the underlying meaning was full of confidence in his own precious son.
Perhaps compared to the others from the Spirit Fighting Commerce, Xu Huang understood his son’s second Meridian Spirit more profoundly, because it was he who had helped Xu Huan erase its Spiritual Wisdom and then refine it into a Meridian Spirit after great effort.
Even Xu Huang had a faint suspicion that such a Meridian Spirit like his son’s might be as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn even at the headquarters of the Spirit Fighting Commerce. In a moment, it might shock everyone present.
"Xu Huang, your son’s Meridian Spirit is quite extraordinary!"
Just as Xu Huang’s contemplative words fell, a rather peculiar voice came from beside him. It was Special Envoy Xia Yong speaking, and hearing the tone, Xu Huang’s smile grew even richer.
"You have a keen eye, Envoy Xia!"
However, Xu Huang didn’t explain much, because he knew that once Xu Huan used the Meridian Spirit in battle, its details would no longer be hidden. It would be better for this esteemed envoy to discover the intricacies himself.
Sure enough, Xia Yong did not ask further, because the Meridian Spirit of Xu Huan in the arena had already revealed its shape. However, that shape seemed somewhat ethereal, like a flame spirit drifting in the wind.
"This aura..."
On the stage, when Yun Xiao got his first glimpse of the human yet non-human Fire Attribute Meridian Spirit, he slightly furrowed his brows.
Of course, he knew that it was not the tiger-headed snake-dragon he had seen a few days ago, but that kind of aura gave him a strange feeling, as if this aura seemed familiar from somewhere else.
"Could it be..."
Yun Xiao flipped through the memories of his past life, but it was in the memories of this life that he found a place similar to that Fire Attribute Strange Spirit, and he muttered to himself, "Fire Spirit Snake!"
Back when Yun Xiao had just joined the Jade Pot Sect, he needed to find a Fire Stone Heart to neutralize the strength of the Stone Heart Marrow refinement, so he made a trip to the Yurong Volcano.
At that time, in the molten lava of the Yurong Volcano, he saw a special Fire Attribute Strange Spirit, the Fire Spirit Snake. The aura of Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit at this moment was somewhat similar to the Fire Spirit Snake he saw back then.
Of course, the Fire Spirit Snake Yun Xiao had seen back then was only at the Fourth Rank, while Xu Huan’s Fire Attribute Meridian Spirit had reached the Seventh Rank Advanced. The two were simply incomparable.
But Yun Xiao was certain that the second Meridian Spirit of the son of the Yuyang City commerce family was not just some vein demon with erased Spiritual Wisdom, but a genuine... Strange Spirit!
On the Tenglong Continent, there were far more Strange Spirits than on the Hidden Dragon Continent, after all, the spiritual energy here is abundant and more conducive to all sorts of plants and stones developing Spiritual Wisdom, thereby cultivating into a Strange Spirit.
However, Strange Spirits are violent, and upon encountering humans or Vein Demons would kill first and ask questions later. Thus, on the Tenglong Continent, effective measures against Strange Spirits have been developed, especially among the major forces and sects, which have specialized branches dealing with them.
In dealing with Strange Spirits, aside from directly slaughtering them, there is another method; to erase their Spiritual Wisdom and refine them into one’s own Meridian Spirits. From this point of view, there’s not much difference between Strange Spirits and Vein Demons.
But to refine a Strange Spirit into one’s Meridian Spirit is far more difficult than refining a Vein Demon of the same level, let alone for someone like Xu Huan in the Qi Seeking Realm Late Stage, refining a Seventh Rank Advanced Strange Spirit.
Not to mention the fierce Fire Attribute energy within the Fire Spirit Snake, probably, at the moment of refinement, it would erupt into an extremely intense heat, incinerating the refiner into nothingness.
Some onlookers were rather puzzled and curious as to how Xu Huan had successfully refined this Strange Spirit Meridian Spirit, but Yun Xiao, with the memories of the Dragon Cloud Battle God, faintly guessed some clues.
It seems that Xu Huan, when refining this Strange Spirit, not only had the assistance of a powerful figure but also consumed some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that could neutralize the Fire Attribute Energy, thus increasing the chances of success.
But these are no longer important. What matters is that Xu Huang, with the Fire Spirit Snake Meridian Spirit, his Meridian Spirit’s combat power is probably much stronger than yesterdays’ Ruan Shiming and Xi Shaoqing.
In fact, the name Fire Spirit Snake is not quite appropriate for that Fire Attribute Strange Spirit; perhaps it was named so because those from the Jade Pot Sect saw it appear in the form of a snake.
Such a Fire Attribute Strange Spirit definitely does not have just one form. During special battles, it can change its own shape, which is one of the powerful abilities of Strange Spirits.
"Fire Attribute Meridian Spirit, what a coincidence!"
After a moment of inward exclamation, Yun Xiao’s eyes flashed with a hint of strangeness the next moment. He then extended his right hand, and a streak of fiery red light dramatically appeared before him.
"Eh? Yun Xiao’s Meridian Spirit, how could..."
When the blaze of fiery red light burst forth from Yun Xiao’s right hand, many sharp-eyed individuals were taken aback by an extreme sense of incredulity, even more shocked than when they found out Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit was a Strange Spirit.
Because what appeared before Yun Xiao at this moment was neither the Three-legged Toad exuding chilling ice all over its body, nor the Golden Snake Worm wrapped in golden light, but a fiery red little bird that no one had ever seen before.
This fiery red little bird seemed to be only the size of an adult’s palm, its two wings fluttering as if unsteady in flight, much like a fledgling that had just learned to fly.
However, what astonished the crowd was not the fiery red little bird itself, nor the intense Fire Attribute energy it emitted, but that this was the third Meridian Spirit that Yun Xiao had summoned in this Spirit Fighting Conference.
As everyone knows, once cultivators reach the Spiritual Vein Realm, they can start refining a Meridian Spirit, and from this Great Rank onwards, every breakthrough in a Great Rank allows them to refine one more Meridian Spirit for their use.
Some cultivators reaching the Heaven Rank or Holy Rank could even call forth more than a dozen Meridian Spirits, their battle with Meridian Spirits flying all over presenting an overwhelming sight to their opponents.
Yet, why does that young man named Yun Xiao on the platform, with only the cultivation of the Qi Seeking Realm Early Stage, possess a third Meridian Spirit? Everyone thought their understanding of Meridian Spirits had been completely overturned by this young man.
"Could it be that he broke off the connection with one of his Meridian Spirits overnight and then refined a new one all through the night?"
Some deeply thoughtful individuals came up with this the only possible explanation since at the Qi Seeking Realm one shouldn’t be able to refine a third Meridian Spirit.
However, such a thought seems somewhat unrealistic. With the Spirit Fighting Conference heating up, wouldn’t that young man risk his advancement by not using his well-practiced Meridian Spirits and instead attempting to refine a new spirit from scratch?
It is known that any newly refined Meridian Spirit cannot be controlled as easily as one’s own limb right away. Even if it matches one’s own Attribute, it requires time to master its use before it can effectively defeat an opponent.
In the course of a single night, even if Yun Xiao successfully refined the little bird as his own Meridian Spirit, he would surely be very unfamiliar with its use. Using such a Meridian Spirit against Xu Huan’s Strange Spirit in combat would simply be too dismissive.
Upon the platform, Xu Huan himself naturally had this suspicion after his initial shock, his face instantly darkening as he felt mocked by Yun Xiao this moment.
"Why does this silly bird’s aura feel a bit familiar?"
Just as Xu Huan’s anger started to rise, he suddenly sensed a somewhat familiar aura emanating from the fiery red little bird, leaving him utterly puzzled.
In fact, this fiery red little bird summoned by Yun Xiao was the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix fledgling that had just hatched from an old hen’s egg a few days ago.
Back at the Meridian Spirit trading street, Xu Huan and Yun Xiao had a dispute over the old hen, which ended in a fallout and resulted in Yun Xiao facing an endless succession of formidable opponents at this Spirit Fighting Conference.
Originally, Yun Xiao never considered letting this fiery red little bird, Red Feather, take action. Yet, he discovered in astonishment last night that the fledgling, just born two or three days ago, had incredibly reached the Seventh Rank Level.
Such a discovery took Yun Xiao aback until the Golden Snake Worm explained why, bringing a semblance of balance to the shock in his heart.
It turned out that the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix carries a special bloodline that allows it to rapidly increase its strength during three phases of its life, the first being the few days following its birth.
The eggshells consumed by Red Feather contained the accumulation of countless years of energy and, after the three days of refining, were fully absorbed by it, leading to a breakthrough to the Seventh Rank Low Level.
The second phase is when the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix undergoes the Heavenly Tribulation to transform into a human form. At this time, they endure the Heavenly Dao Tribulation, and after a successful transformation, their strength soars once again.
As for the third phase, even the Golden Snake Worm calling itself a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon seemed to have only heard about it—it’s the mythical Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana. This secret technique, exclusive to the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, is rarely seen by outsiders, which is why even Xiao Wu, the Golden Snake Worm, dared not be too certain.
Regardless, Red Feather’s breakthrough made Yun Xiao quite eager to try out its power. After getting the former’s consent and encountering Xu Huan who also possesses a Fire Attribute Meridian Spirit, he did not hesitate to summon it.
Strictly speaking, just like Xiao Wu, the Golden Snake Worm, it does not belong to Yun Xiao’s Meridian Spirit, so it is not bound by the restriction that only two Meridian Spirits can be refined at the Qi Seeking Realm Level. This also marks Red Feather’s first battle since its birth. What kind of surprise will it bring to Yun Xiao?