Humans, the Phoenix Bird is Under the Protection of My Blue Silver Clan

"Oh no, it's spotted us!"

Although Dean Shui and the others didn't know why they'd been exposed so quickly, it definitely had something to do with the Blue Silver Grass surrounding them. Any soul beast species with significant years of cultivation could produce variants, and these variants had the potential to become kings of their species.

Since this forest had so much Blue Silver Grass, there was bound to be a Blue Silver King somewhere—one that was very likely a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Their exposure was probably the work of these Blue Silver Grass plants and their king.

Seeing the soul beast launch an attack, Li Xianyue immediately said, "Big brother, I'll protect Bing'er. You guys go ahead and strike."

"Alright then. I'll leave that ten-thousand-year soul beast to you while I capture that weak blue bird. Remember—don't kill it unless absolutely necessary."

"Young clan leader, don't worry. I can handle this ten-thousand-year bird soul beast."

This ten-thousand-year soul beast with phoenix bloodline would be a real waste to kill, and their clan currently had no disciples at the fifty-to-sixty-level bottleneck. So they'd either capture it alive or beat it enough to make it flee, then return to absorb its spirit ring at the right time.

Elder Li immediately gathered force in his legs and leaped up. Two fiery red wings appeared behind him as he activated his first spirit skill. Twin walls of fire erupted from the ground, burning the incoming phoenix feathers to ash. The two Spirit Kings behind him followed closely, ready to assist at any moment.

Though the ten-thousand-year phoenix bird before them had phoenix bloodline and ranked among top-tier soul beasts, his martial spirit was the complete opposite of his family's ice attribute—a mutant beast martial spirit, the Blazing Fire Bird. Taking down a ten-thousand-year phoenix bird with conflicting attributes should be a piece of cake.

But just as he and the other two Spirit Kings simultaneously activated their fifth spirit skills to severely wound the phoenix bird, the creature unleashed unprecedented power. The waters of the lake behind it surged upward, forming multiple water tornadoes that came crashing toward the elder. The two Spirit Kings' fifth spirit skills rapidly dropped the temperature within an 800-meter radius. The water tornadoes quickly froze, and the phoenix bird's wings were also affected.

The weak soul beast beneath its wings was already shivering from the cold air, while the elder rushed toward them at full speed.

The phoenix bird couldn't dodge at this point. If it spread its wings and took flight with all its strength, its child would surely die at these humans' hands, even though the little one could fly.

Just then, in the core area of the Blue Silver Forest, dozens of Blue Silver Grass stalks emitted brilliant blue light, forming a blue energy shield around them.

But so what? Elder Li immediately unleashed his sixth spirit skill. Countless meteoric fireballs appeared out of thin air, crashing toward the energy barrier.

"BANG—"

Just as the phoenix bird prepared to use this opening to turn around and escape with its children quickly, the protective barrier shattered completely. Its left wing took direct hits from three fireballs.

"Young clan leader, perfect opportunity!"

Elder Li shouted loudly, quickly having his people deploy their second spirit skill to keep the phoenix bird restrained while buying time for Dean Shui.

"Xianyue, you protect Bing'er. Everyone else, follow me!"

Dean Shui gave another reminder and immediately charged forward with the remaining clan members. But just then, countless Blue Silver Grass vines grew longer and bound their hands and feet. The moment they broke free, a blue, elderly face appeared as a phantom, positioning itself directly in front of the phoenix bird. Drawing on the power of faith from numerous Blue Silver Grass plants and the external wind, it spoke in unclear human speech:

"If you... If you humans insist on this, I... I represent this forest's master and will completely eliminate you."

Everyone present was shocked and alarmed by this scene. Could there really be a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver King in this forest? But if there truly were such a king, it would have completely wiped them out before they even entered the core area.

"These Blue Silver Grass fear fire—it's just putting on a show."

After surveying the area, Elder Li found no Blue Silver Grass in the core region that exceeded ten thousand years. The phoenix bird and its child were extremely important to the Shui family.

Besides, even if there were a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass, it was ultimately just a plant that couldn't leave the soil for long periods. Their group included two fire-element spirit masters.

"In that case, you humans will all die at the hands of my people!"

As the phantom disappeared, Blue Silver Grass throughout the entire forest began continuously channeling spirit power to the core area's Blue Silver Grass. Dozens of thick Blue Silver Grass stalks shot up from the ground, forming a solid Blue Silver wall around the phoenix bird's child.

More Blue Silver Grass attacked Dean Shui and Shui Bing'er.

"Second spirit skill: Hellfire Prairie!"

A series of flames blasted toward the Blue Silver Grass, attacking Shui Bing'er and the others. In an instant, the thick Blue Silver vines were completely burned away.

But while Elder Li was distracted with the rescue, the phoenix bird lunged straight at him. He quickly reacted, flapping his wings to fly straight up, barely avoiding a fatal strike.

"First spirit skill: Ice Seal!"

Just as the phoenix bird prepared to ascend vertically, shooting countless phoenix feathers straight into the sky, Dean Shui immediately deployed his first spirit skill. All the feathers were frozen solid, crashing straight down toward the phoenix bird below.

The phoenix bird's legs were also frozen, and the resulting weight made it difficult to take flight.

However, countless Blue Silver Grass vines shooting up from the ground wouldn't give them a moment's respite, immediately shattering the ice blocks around the phoenix bird's feet.

Dean Shui immediately shouted: "Everyone, full power to stop the Blue Silver Grass from assisting the phoenix bird's attack!"

He then immediately unleashed his fifth spirit skill. Countless ice spikes shot toward the phoenix bird, while Elder Li seized the moment to charge up his fourth spirit skill.

The release of these two powerful spirit skills—especially Dean Shui's ice blast technique, which was an area attack with a secondary explosion—forced the phoenix bird to block dozens of ice spikes, though countless more still flew toward it. Seeing the moment was ripe, Dean Shui snapped his fingers with both hands.

"Explode!"

The air blasts from countless ice spikes forcibly compressed the air, sending the nearby phoenix bird flying and rolling to the ground. An enormous fireball of energy crashed toward it.

Even with countless Blue Silver Grass vines blocking its path, it was useless. The fireball successfully hit the phoenix bird's body. After the smoke cleared, a 300-meter area of the core region had been burned to ash. The phoenix bird's feathers were almost completely charred—a pitiful sight.

It looked toward its child's direction, tears flowing from its eyes as an extremely dangerous spirit power fluctuation began building within its body.

"Not good! Quickly freeze this ten-thousand-year soul beast completely—now!"

Following Elder Li's warning, several Spirit Kings with barely any spirit power remaining managed to deploy first or second ice-sealing spirit skills, completely freezing the creature before it could self-destruct.

Meanwhile, the Blue Silver King two miles away sensed that the phoenix bird was near death and captured by humans, while his people were dying in large numbers. He became furious beyond measure.

"Those humans... damn them."