Volume 4: The Revelation Revealed – Chapter 517: The Birth of the Fire Bird

Hou Yi had never missed a shot, yet today his three arrows were easily dodged by Ni Li. Before he could be surprised, he leaped into the air and rushed toward where the peacock stood to take cover.
It wasn’t out of concern for his own safety, but because he feared that Ni Li’s divine powers might harm others on Qi Tian Ling. The peacock also possessed considerable cultivation, so working together would be better than facing this monster alone.
Ni Li chased after Hou Yi, who lunged at the peacock, while the peacock turned to face Ni Li. Of the three, Ni Li was the fastest. He turned mid-air, paused briefly like a dragonfly skimming water, and by the time he reappeared, he was only a hundred feet away from Hou Yi.
At that moment, two streaks of cold light shot out from Hou Yi, aiming straight at Ni Li’s eyes. Ni Li was momentarily halted, and the peacock, sensing Hou Yi’s intention, landed in front of him to protect him.
Ni Li stopped and sneered at these two opponents, whose cultivation was merely at the level of Earth Saints. “Can you really protect him?” he asked.
The peacock didn’t answer; its eyes were fixed on Ni Li, while Hou Yi, standing behind it, had already drawn the Xuanyuan Bow.
With a “bang,” the string snapped, and thousands of arrows were released at once! The arrow rain formed a wall, pressing down on Ni Li. He was slightly surprised—he hadn’t expected Hou Yi to be so strong. This man of low cultivation always surprised him. Without a weapon, he was no different from an ordinary Earth Saint, but once he held a bow, he exuded an aura of dominion over the world!
Confident in his physical strength—except for the weaker protection of his head—Ni Li turned his back and braced himself against the arrows with his back. The clanging sound continued, but Ni Li remained unharmed. Just as he was about to turn around, he felt pain in his back. Reaching back, he pulled out the arrow embedded there.
The arrow was made of white jade—it was Hou Yi’s ultimate skill, the “Armor-Piercing Arrow”! The arrow had penetrated half an inch into Ni Li’s back. Ni Li let out a loud cry, but such a wound was insignificant to him. Yet he never imagined that he could still be hurt by Hou Yi.
Hou Yi was stunned. Why wasn’t Ni Li stronger than three days ago? He remembered that three days prior, the Five Elements Divine Apes had trapped Ni Li in an ice sea and sent the Divine Ape King Yu to attack him with the Three Swords of Extermination, but even that only caused minor injuries. Although his Armor-Piercing Arrow was powerful, it still wasn’t as effective as the Swords of Extermination. What Hou Yi didn’t know was that Ni Li’s cultivation level was closely tied to the Buddhist underworld.
In recent years, the Buddhist underworld had absorbed countless forces of anti-creation, not only filling this realm but also constructing a barrier of anti-creation. As a result, Ni Li’s divine cultivation had grown by leaps and bounds, making him vastly different from before.

Three days ago, the Great Sun Tathagata remained unharmed, while Nili was at his strongest. The Great Sun Tathagata was trapped in the Realm of the Five Elements and suffered slight damage; now he is using the power of the Buddhist hell to heal himself. The three aspects of the Tathagata are connected in thought. The World-Honored Tathagata embodies wisdom, while the Great Sun Tathagata embodies spiritual practice—only Bodhisattva Nili can be sacrificed. For the Great Sun Tathagata to restore his physical form, he must rely on the power of the Buddhist hell, and it is Bodhisattva Nili who must make up for this. That’s why the Five Divine Apes could not harm Bodhisattva Nili back then, but now Hou Yi can.

Nili broke the feather arrow in two, separated his palms, and shot it through the air. The peacock spread its wings and clashed with Nili, producing a deafening roar as debris rained down from the sky. Clearly, the peacock suffered heavy losses, with blood even seeping from the corners of its mouth. Hou Yi, behind it, was also forced to retreat far away.

Unwilling to give up, Nili charged again, using punches and kicks to push the peacock back step by step. Hou Yi glanced back—just a few more miles and they would reach the land where the Five Divine Apes stood. In desperation, he pulled the peacock and flew aside.

If Nili wanted to kill the peacock, it wouldn’t take much effort, but filled with anger, he wanted to destroy these two to death. Wouldn’t this cat-and-mouse game be quite amusing?

The three of them circled and changed positions. Hou Yi’s expression changed when he saw Nili very close to the Five Divine Apes, inwardly blaming himself for not thinking things through.

Seemingly aware of his thoughts, Nili shouted, “There’s still fifteen minutes. If those monkeys can’t get out, they’ll stay here forever!” Hearing this, Hou Yi realized Nili had no intention of interfering with the monkeys’ rituals and felt slightly relieved.

Though Nili wouldn’t stop the monkeys, he wouldn’t let go of Hou Yi and the peacock either. With his swift movements and the peacock’s reputation for flying, they still couldn’t escape in this Buddhist hell. With no other choice, Hou Yi drew out a black feather arrow.

Nili charged again, and Hou Yi drew his bow and shot. The arrow of time passed by Nili’s side, causing him to stall instantly. Seeing Nili stop, the peacock’s eyes gleamed; it bent its bow, let out a fierce cry, and its feathers flew out like an arrow rain. In an instant, Bodhisattva Nili was once again covered in peacock feathers—just as in the past. That “Peacock Feathers” move had already cost him dearly back then with the phoenix, and now, though his physical form was much stronger, those feathers pierced him half an inch deep. Though it was just a flesh wound, the shame and anger he felt were immense!

Nili shook his body to shake off the peacock feathers and vowed to kill Hou Yi and the peacock. But despite his fury, seeing the peacock’s expression now made him shudder inwardly.

The peacock appeared from Nili, and its eyes never left him. At first, it merely stared intently, then a red glow gradually appeared in its gaze. Now, its eyes were like two blazing infernos. How could it not be enraged? Not to mention the years the peacock had suffered in the Buddhist hells, just the fact that the phoenix had self-destructed because of Nili meant the peacock was determined to fight Nili to the death!

Nili sneered, “Good! You bald bird, go join your dead father!” With that, Nili floated forward, ready to strike. Hou Yi fired arrows from both bows in quick succession—unknown how many arrows were used in that instant. Nili faced the arrow storm without even trying to dodge, showing just how furious he was.

Just before reaching the peacock, Nili suddenly stopped. Not only was Nili shocked, but Hou Yi also stopped drawing his bows and drifted away, not to avoid Nili, but because of the peacock!

The peacock had changed. Once, it had gorgeous feathers and a stunning appearance. Even after using its peacock feathers, it still retained smooth, jade-like skin. But now, it was as if it had just been tempered in a furnace—its entire body was red-hot, emitting an extremely terrifying heat.

Nili inexplicably felt a sense of danger. He had suffered losses more than once at the hands of this father-son pair—phoenix and peacock. So he asked, “What kind of dark trick is this?”

The peacock roared, “Have you heard of ‘Extreme Bird Fire’?” Extreme Bird Fire was similar to Extreme Beast Fire; it was a unique skill only the king of birds, the phoenix, could possess. This power wasn’t innate, nor could it be mastered easily.

Nili had once taken Xiang Liu as a disciple and knew a little about such things. Doubtful, he said, “Nonsense! You’re not the ruler of all birds—how could you master Extreme Bird Fire?”

The peacock didn’t answer. With a gentle flap of its wings, a green flame erupted, setting the air ablaze as it rushed toward Nili! How could it tell Nili that just moments ago, it hadn’t fully understood the essence of Extreme Bird Fire? But as Nili’s ugly face grew closer, his anger flared, and suddenly, he had an epiphany.

Nili’s expression turned grim. His pursuit had only made the peacock stronger. If he had known this, he should have struck first. But it was too late to regret now. With a wave of his hand, Nili knocked down the green flame and said arrogantly, “What can Extreme Bird Fire do to me?”

The peacock spat out a black flame and said, “Try this!”

Nili also became determined to win. “So what if I do?” He clasped his hands, projecting a hand seal that collided with the black flame.

The black flames were almost invisible in the pitch-black Buddhist hell. When struck by the power of this hand seal, they erupted like a giant firework, with colorful flames splashing in all directions and landing on Ni Li’s body, leaving barely visible black marks. Ni Li immediately felt fear. If he were at the peak of his cultivation, he wouldn’t have hesitated to fight, but now that much of his power had been taken away by the Great Sun Tathagata, he wasn’t sure how he would fare against this fire peacock, which seemed determined to fight to the death. Just a few sparks could damage his flesh—what if those black flames touched him? It would be even more dangerous! The peacock pressed forward relentlessly, its wings like two giant fire knives, slashing at Ni Li. After blocking a few times, Ni Li felt the peacock’s body was unbearably hot, which made him hesitate to fight further. The Great Sun Tathagata had said it would take only three days for him to recover. As those three days passed quickly, it was better not to provoke him. He could wait until the Great Sun Tathagata recovered and then deal with everyone in Qitianling. Revenge? Hmph, as long as they couldn’t escape the Buddhist hell, there was no need to rush—there would be plenty of time to deal with them slowly. The peacock also sensed Ni Li’s hesitation and refused to let him go. It spread its body, almost enclosing Ni Li inside. Its crimson, massive form, mixed with black flames, seemed to form a furnace in the air—furnace meant to refine Ni Li! Trapped inside, Ni Li suffered greatly, thinking he could hold on for a while and find a weakness in the peacock. But seeing that these black flames were beyond his current ability to resist, each touch left a shallow mark. Over time, his precious body couldn’t withstand such torment. Moreover, his punches and kicks had no effect on the peacock. Could using this sinister “extreme bird fire” truly make it invincible? While Ni Li was afraid, the peacock was also suffering greatly. Ni Li feared the peacock’s black flames, but the peacock had also been severely injured by Ni Li’s heavy blows. It was barely holding on, relying solely on the fury in its heart. To be fair, Ni Li’s cultivation level was actually much higher than the peacock’s. The peacock’s expression was cold and fierce; it only attacked, not defending. Panicked, Ni Li tried to use his escape technique to flee. In the Buddhist hell, no one could stop him from escaping unless someone created another realm to trap him. Just as Ni Li had this thought, he felt an extremely familiar force filling his body. It was… the Great Sun Tathagata! The Great Sun Tathagata had finally recovered!