Chapter 76: Darmian

~What's this?~

Lu Zheng was still restricted like the time he was bound in white bands of light. He couldn't even muster any resistance.

Soon, a mountain-like structure entered his line of vision.

As he approached the structure, it became more distinct.

Lu Zheng soon discovered that what he had perceived as a mountain was actually the corpse of a bird.

Moreover, it wasn't just any bird, it was a true Vermillion Bird.

It was thousands of metres long and hundreds of metres high. It had red, yellow and blue feathers and exuded a mighty and pristine aura.

The Vermillion Bird lay on its side and had a huge gash that extended from its beak to its tail.

A huge lake of blood could be found beside it.

This pool of blood was not simple. It contained Vermillion Blood many times more quality than Lu Zheng's.

A figure that was nine feet tall and had large wings of red, yellow and blue feathers arose from the pool of blood.

Seeing this figure, Lu Zheng's facial expression turned dark as he exclaimed: "Darmian!"

…..

Billions of years ago, in Lu Zheng's previous lifetime as Xue Ritian, when he was at the Eternal realm, he faced a strong adversary.

This adversary was a member of the Vermillion Bird Race, Darmian Sleid.

Darmian was unique, even among the Vermillion Birds.

Due to fortuitous encounters, he was able to dual cultivate fire path and ice path without any restrictions.

The reason for the conflict between Xue Ritian and Darmian was unknown and both men had probably even forgotten. However, they were fierce enemies.

A day came that both men decided to battle to the death.

The battle was a tremendous one that shook the world. Many lesser beings died from merely the shockwaves of the fight.

Xue Ritian held the upper hand firmly from the very beginning.

Sensing that things were going south, Darmian decided to take hostages.

He was able to protect his life by using the life of Xue Ritian's Dao partner, Ya Lin Xi.

Xue Ritian was reasoning on how to salvage the situation when Darmian resolutely used the Vermillion True Flame on Ya Lin Xi before escaping.

Xue Ritian did not give chase as he tried to douse the crimson flames. However, as a Mystical Flame, the Vermillion True Flame could not be put out.

Ya Lin Xi died a miserable death.

Angered, Xue Ritian chased after Darmian to the ends of the main world but it was all futile.

At that time, he would not have thought that Darmian would be hiding on Earth and that he would see his old nemesis after his own death.

Lu Zheng had a grim expression as he observed Darmian. Compared to the latter, Lu Zheng was only a small ant to be squashed.

Darmian stood arrogantly before Lu Zheng mid-air.

He had fair skin and red hair. His pupils were a mix of red and blue.

He had a pointed nose and a smooth jawline. His wings would flap occasionally like a valkyrie's.

For most people, Darmian would be a lovely sight to behold but to Lu Zheng, he was no more than a bringer of death.

"Hahaha. Xue Ritian, it seems you now bear the bloodline that you hate so much – the Vermillion Bird Race's bloodline. Did you think this day would ever come? You chased me all over the main world till I had nowhere to hide. Then, were it not for the sacred artifact of my race, the Vermillion Sacred Prism, you would have killed me" Darmian laughed nonchalantly.

"You don't seem to be in a good condition either" Lu Zheng examined the corpse beneath him. "Isn't that your body? Why is it dead?"

Darmian's cheerful expression disappeared as a sense of fear gripped him. He seemed to have remembered something: "Back then, when you chased me all over the main world, I was desperate to escape. After I found out that one of the paramount gods, Nuwa was not within her world, I used the Vermillion Sacred Prism's latent space abilities to infiltrate her aperture

"Life became better for me. Then, Nuwa did not allow her living beings to cultivate thus it was quite easy to disguise myself. I mated with a few women and even had my own lineage. They referred to me as the Sage. All was well for me until Nuwa returned. She attacked me relentlessly. On the day of our battle, I tried to use the Vermillion Sacred Prism to create a spatial realm to defend myself but she destroyed it, causing the Vermillion Sacred Prism to fall from rank seven Heavenly Grade to rank three Immortal Grade. After the mirror's degradation, Nuwa easily killed me, reserving only a remnant Qi to carry out one final technique"

Hearing him, Lu Zheng was stunned. The enemy that had killed his Dao partner, that he had searched the entire main world for was now an ancestor of his.

"You're lucky. I would've killed you long ago if not for Nuwa's restrictions" Darmian sneered.

"What is your final technique?" Lu Zheng was intrigued.

"You'll see" Darmian smiled as he looked at the horizon. After a short while, the members of the Jin-Jin Clan and humans arrived.