“What is that thing and why is it coming for the Emerald Phoenix Emperor and not me?”

Zhang Dong was holding a huge sphere of twirling energy above his head that he intended to throw at the man he was fighting. It was a critical moment between the two masters that were charging up some of their strongest attacks. His opponent was on the cusp of charging at him but right as he was about to go a strange black beam of light appeared.

It was traveling fast but it looked too thin to be able to pierce through that mass of emerald flames that were surrounding the old Emperor. He was transforming into a green phoenix of some sort, it wouldn’t be strange if a person had to go through a more complicated process to kill him. A Phoenix was a bird of many legends, they were known to be immortal. It was the same in this world and the technique that Cuilu Fenghuang was using was similar to one that Zhang Dong knew about.

It was different in a few places but in theory, it shouldn’t be different. From the outside, it would look like the person turning into the phoenix could be reborn as long as a tiny fraction of their flames survived. Even if their main body was damaged as long as some of those flames existed then they would be able to come back to life. In reality, it involved soul energy and the practitioners becoming one with the flames on a spiritual level.

Unless a person performed attacks aimed at the soul it would be impossible to defeat such a foe. Against someone like Zhang Dong that was versed in soul arts and their energy it wouldn’t be that difficult. He had expected Cuilu Fenghuang to go with a technique like this and was preparing to deliver a hit to his soul while the flames were in disarray. This would apparently not come to pass as when the black beam connected with the emerald bird, a change started to take place.

“Haha, you old fool, I waited hundreds of years for this moment!”

“Y-you… Kong, what do you think you are doing?”

“Hah, so now you remember my name father? All those years, do you think I wouldn’t take my revenge on you? You have already lived too long, I shall become the new emperor.”

“W-what do you think you are doing… t-the emerald flames, you are corrupting them with demonic magic? Who taught you this technique?”

“You don’t need to know but today the Emerald Phoenix Empire dies and a new one shall be born, one that this Cuilu Kong shall rule as the Obsidian Phoenix Emperor!”

Zhang Dong was momentarily stunned by what was happening. After the ray of black connected with the green flames it was like a virus. It started taking apart the emerald light and corrupting it into a shadowy black. It took him a moment to realize that within the black beam existed a powerful soul, it was probably Cuilu Kong’s very essence.

The son had used some type of demonic technique to strip himself of his own body. His energies were all concentrated into the beam which made it this fast. After colliding with the green flames a battle for supremacy between father and son took place. Fenghuang was already old and in his twilight years, the longer the battle took the quicker were his flames being doused.

By Zhang Dong’s calculations, the old man wouldn’t last more than a few years even less if he was forced to use his spiritual energy. It was the perfect time to make a move by the younger man that still had half a millenia left in the gas tank. The reason for this absorption process was certainly to achieve a power boost. Otherwise, Kong could have just waited the few years and taken the throne afterward. Perhaps the aim was to turn those flames black as the power level had actually spiked and his new opponent was perhaps even stronger than the original Emerald Phoenix Emperor.

‘I need to stop this…’

The attack was already formed above his head so he decided to just throw it at the mass of green and black flames. With his own soul energy in the mix there was still hope of interrupting this procedure. Perhaps if he was lucky then he could deal with both father and son at the same time, if not then he would have a new enemy to contend with.

“No, I am the Emerald Phoenix…”

“I shall take what is rightfully mine you old stupid man, give all of it to me, I deserve it!”

“N–nooo…Arghh…”

Even as he was tossing the ball of condensed spiritual energy at the mass of flames he could only feel saddened. How could a son do such a thing to his own father, instead of killing each other they should have been fighting at each other's side. While the Prince wasn’t as strong as his father, it was possible for him to cause some harm.

Both of them seemed to only garner negative feelings for each other, something he could not understand. How could a parent and his child grow so much apart that one of them wanted to kill them? Could this be something brought on by hundreds of years of living in a parent’s shadow? Could Kong’s state of mind have become eroded by people constantly comparing him to his superior father? The young man was probably one of the most powerful cultivators in their whole empire but this was apparently not enough.

Nevertheless, he could not just stay there and do nothing. His two enemies were battling each other within those soul flames and the black ones were winning. Even though the situation was quite drastic this was a good turn of events. Considering that he could now directly hit his opponent without him not being able to dodge.

The skies were lit up with green, black, and golden light. The people below them backed away to the sides as the spiritual energy produced was not something anyone below a nascent soul level could handle. Even those experts that were of lesser quality started to pass out in the middle of their own fights.

A giant hole in the sky appeared as all the clouds in the vicinity were pushed to the sides. A sunny day greeted the battlefield but right in the middle of that blue sky was a strange or of pitch-black light. The only person that could tell what was happening wasn’t far away from it. To some, it looked like a black hole but to him, it was a swirling mass of black flames with only a few emerald ones still trying to hold on.

“Yes! I did it… I finally did it, I have become the new Emperor!”

Zhang Dong continued to float in his previous spot without approaching the spiral of flames that started to slowly form into the shape of a human. His new opponent looked different than the Green Emperor, he looked like a fusion of a crow and a person with wings made of pitch-black flames. His eyes were all read and he was radiating a massive amount of spiritual energy very similar to the Emerald Phoenix Emperors but at a more stable rate. At least when it came to energy, he would not be able to wear this new enemy down as easily.

“How could you kill your own father for something like power?”

“Huh? What is it to you, your fate is to be a stepping stone for this new Emperor.”

His legs had become a bird and his skin took on the color of obsidian. The current Cuilu Kong looked like some kind of beast that had attempted to become human but failed at it. It was clear that he was stronger but it wasn’t to such a degree that he could ignore Zhang Dong’s own might. Perhaps the son was watching the battle of his father. But his opponent was hiding part of his true power, in this moment of victory, he had misjudged his enemy to be a lot weaker than he actually was.

“Cuilu Kong is no more, now the Obsidian Phoenix… no I must discard that filthy title, I will become the Obsidian Crow that darkens out the lands, all shall know my might!”

His voice echoed through the whole battlefield causing people to bleed out of their eye sockets and also ears. Luckily for everyone, there was a person that could match this spiritual output. An aura of gold erupted from Zhang Dong that shielded his side of the battlefield but left the enemy generals to feel the burn.

“Is that so… are you finished? Old farty pants was already bad but you take the cake…”

“Heh, for someone that is about to die you like to talk, I must commend you for helping me take care of my stupid father, I could not have done it without you, and for this, I will offer you a painless death but if you resist I shall make it as painful as possible.”

“Hmm… that’s a very tempting offer but I think I’ll go with option three so… how about you surrender and call off your army, I’m sure they will listen to their new featherbrained emperor.”

“You dare mock this Emperor? I gave you a chance now you shall become the first one to die by my hands, you should feel honored!”

“I see… you actually haven’t noticed yet huh? Okay, then have at you crow boy let me see what you are made off!”

Zhang Dong smiled at Cuilu Kong in a mocking way. If people from outside compared their energy levels then they would probably give the Obsidian Crow the edge. However, he knew otherwise. There had been something that his opponent didn’t notice as he had been too busy fighting for supremacy with the old emperor. These sorts of demonic techniques always had a chance of failing and even more if they were tempered.

The clash between the two resounded in the air as all the fighting below ground had stopped. It was normal for everyone to be confused after the leader had been exchanged for another one. Everyone was waiting for one of the masters to be victorious as it was clear that the ones without their top fighters would be at a massive disadvantage. Some were already preparing to flee the moment the victor presented themselves.

“What is this? How can you be this fast?”

“Am I fast, or are you just slow?”

“Huh?”

The battle continued for a while but none of the attacks aimed at Zhang Dong’s throat were getting through. It looked like all of his moves were being moved but in reality, Cuilu Kong started noticing that something else was happening.

“H-how could this be… what have you done to me?”

“I see, it took you a while but you finally noticed…”