Chapter 013: The Fire Phoenix

“Germu, what do you mean by that?” Hearing Germu’s words, Leibao grew furious and shouted loudly.
“Haha, Legion Commander, don’t worry. What I said just now was just casual talk. And Leibao, why are you shouting at me? Back then, we were both at the Saint level. That guy was just a bit luckier. Why does he keep overshadowing us?” Germu suddenly said.
“Germu, did you really have the courage to enter the Divine Ruins back then?” Leibao asked in a deep voice.
Germu was stunned by this question. “Hmph, even if so, he was just bolder than us. Leibao, I have to admit I admire you more. After all, you’re ahead of us, while that guy relies only on bravery and luck.” Germu said.
“Stop talking nonsense, Germu. Do you really think the three of you can stop our army?” Leibao said.
“Let’s fight and see! Leibao, are you expecting us to surrender just because you say so?” Germu replied.
As soon as he finished speaking, Germu clashed his axes together, and instantly, fiery red combat energy surged upward. With that blazing red energy, he charged at Du Fan.
Du Fan had broken through Germu’s domain, so Germu wisely chose to duel him, as Du Fan also lacked a domain.
Hearing Germu’s words, Harochi and Chiguluo also charged at Moses and Leibao.
Harochi and Leibao seemed to have some unspoken understanding—they neither activated their domains and instead engaged in close combat.
The way they fought looked as if they had rehearsed it beforehand; it seemed they were very familiar with each other’s moves.
“Germu, are you close to the Dwarf King?” Seeing Germu swing an axe at him, Du Fan quickly dodged aside. Even as he dodged, he didn’t forget to chat with Germu.
“Indeed. I’ve known him for thousands of years.” Seeing Du Fan dodge his axe, Germu immediately swung another axe horizontally.
“Then why do you still oppose him?” Du Fan drew his blue Thunder Sword and swiftly blocked Germu’s axe strike.
Since handing Frost Snow over to Rimoldo, Du Fan had been using the blue long sword belonging to the Flame Demon. After some thought, he gave it a simple name: Thunder Sword.

Gelemu swung his axe at Du Fan’s long sword. Du Fan thrust his hand forward and firmly blocked Gelemu’s axe. Seeing that Du Fan could actually block his axe, Gelemu said in surprise, “Kid, you’re not bad. But why do you like to use tricks?”
In Gelemu’s eyes, Du Fan first used cunning tactics by slowly approaching him to launch a surprise attack. Then, when Gelemu swung his axe at him, Du Fan avoided the attack and refused to fight. Thus, in Gelemu’s view, Du Fan’s strength wasn’t very impressive. Little did he know that Du Fan could actually block his axe.
It should be noted that in close combat, the long sword is at a disadvantage compared to an axe. The fact that Du Fan could use his long sword to block Gelemu’s axe meant his strength was certainly on par with Gelemu’s, or even slightly greater.
But Gelemu wasn’t panicked, because he hadn’t used his full strength just now.
“It’s better to save some energy, right?” Du Fan said with a smile. “By the way, since you have such a good relationship with the Dwarf King, why do you still oppose him?”
“Hmph, if it were you, being suppressed by someone for hundreds of years, what would you think? Besides, that guy used to be about the same strength as you,” Gelemu said angrily.
“I would be very distressed,” Du Fan replied.
“You’re distressed! I’m also distressed!” Gelemu suddenly stopped attacking Du Fan and cried out.
“Back then, we were at the same level. Why, later on, could that guy suppress me so heavily? Not only that, but he also kept giving me orders every day! How could I tolerate that?” Gelemu shouted.
Watching Gelemu’s actions and listening to his words, Du Fan was speechless. It seemed the Dwarf King really had some problems; otherwise, why would so many people oppose him?
“Are you sure you can handle the current situation?” Gelemu stopped attacking, and Du Fan also stopped, asking.
“Hmph, since we dared to step forward, we naturally have some confidence,” Gelemu said.
“What confidence? Is it just because of your strength as a domain expert? You should know that against divine-level experts, domain experts aren’t much of a threat,” Du Fan said.
What Du Fan wanted to know most was why these people dared to openly oppose the Dwarf King and what their reasons were.
“Of course we’re confident,” Gelemu said. Just as he finished speaking, his eyes shifted, and he suddenly fell silent.

“Are you really sure?” Du Fan’s face immediately showed extreme disbelief.
“Hmph, Karu already has it.” At this point, Gelemu suddenly stopped speaking.
“What about Karu already?” Du Fan naturally pressed for an answer.
“This matter is too confidential; I can’t tell you,” Gelemu said.
“Come on, kid, stop asking these useless questions. Let’s keep fighting!” Gelemu shouted, raising his axe to strike.
Seeing Gelemu’s reaction, Du Fan moved his wrist swiftly, sending wave after wave of blue lightning at him.
Gelemu, who was charging at Du Fan, couldn’t dodge fast enough. The lightning was incredibly fast, and soon several bolts struck him.
His red hair stood on end, his clothes were scorched and smoking from the lightning, and his face was twisted in agony.
“Kid, I didn’t expect the weapon in your hands to be of such a miraculous nature—capable of automatically releasing lightning. Not bad, not bad,” Gelemu repeated.
As he spoke, Gelemu’s aura grew stronger and stronger. His red combat energy seemed to be condensing into a tangible form.
These three dwarf warriors practiced the fire-type combat energy unique to most dwarves. Now, with all his cultivation power unleashed, Gelemu resembled someone immersed in a sea of fire.
Seeing Gelemu’s state, Du Fan became more vigilant.
He put away the Thunder Sword and took out the Holy Radiance Staff, gripping it tightly as he watched Gelemu closely.
Suddenly, Gelemu exhaled into the sky—a breath that was also red. As this red breath continued to flow out, his red combat energy retracted into his body. The red airflow twisted and stretched into a long, flowing stream.
With Gelemu’s last breath released, a fire phoenix suddenly appeared in the sky. Once formed, it let out a clear cry, then flapped its wings lightly and flew toward Du Fan.

Before the Fire Phoenix could reach him, a scorching heat hit him head-on. As it flew closer, the Fire Phoenix opened its mouth, and a flame that was red to purple emerged from it. That flame began to change continuously in the air—one cluster turned into two, two turned into four, and four turned into eight.

Soon, that single flame turned into an overwhelming sea of flames that poured down upon Du Fan.

Du Fan hadn’t expected the transformation to be so fast. Waving his Sacred Radiance Staff, he sent gusts of wind at those flames, but they seemed unafraid of the wind at all and continued to rush toward Du Fan at incredible speed. Even in the strong winds, those flames didn’t flicker even slightly.

When they reached Du Fan, they stuck to his Absolute Protection.

“Kid, your domain is truly strange—it can even withstand the assault of the Fire Phoenix’s heavenly fire,” Gelmu exclaimed in admiration after seeing that the flames he had sent out hadn’t penetrated Du Fan’s domain.

“Your little bird’s flames are just passable,” Du Fan retorted. After the Fire Phoenix spat out those flames, Masan turned into a faint glow of fire and disappeared.

As soon as Du Fan spoke, fierce Dou Qi burned around his body. It was milky white Light Dou Qi. Once ignited, it spread across the surface of his Absolute Protection. Quickly, clusters of milky white Light Dou Qi automatically approached the flames, enveloping them instantly.

However, the barriers formed by the Light Dou Qi couldn’t last long before being melted by the flames. Yet, the Light Dou Qi kept flowing endlessly.

Soon, those purple flames shrank significantly.

Du Fan shouted loudly, and the speed at which his Light Dou Qi surged increased even more. Soon, a thick barrier formed around the flames. At that moment, Du Fan retracted his Absolute Protection, and he quickly moved out of the range of the flames at an almost unimaginable speed.

Those terrifying purple flames remained surrounded by the Light Dou Qi. With Du Fan’s rapid departure, those flames couldn’t cause him any harm at all.

“Kid, I never expected you to escape my Fire Phoenix Blaze in such a way.” Watching Du Fan’s escape, Ge Ermu couldn’t help but admire his cleverness. After escaping, Du Fan didn’t say a word. Pointing his Sacred Radiance Staff, he sent countless wind blades flying at Ge Ermu. After unleashing a wave of wind blades, while Ge Ermu was still trying to defend against them, Du Fan quickly switched to his Thunder Sword and, with incredible speed, swung at Ge Ermu with a single strike. Du Fan’s speed was even greater than that of the wind blades, allowing him to strike Ge Ermu’s head first. Ge Ermu hurriedly raised his axe to block, but the subsequent wind blades left deep cuts on his body. It wasn’t that Ge Ermu didn’t want to defend himself; under Du Fan’s attacks, he simply didn’t have the strength left. All his energy was focused on his axe, which managed to block Du Fan’s thunderous sword strike.