With a declaration, he formed Daoist hand signs in the air, leapt upwards, and charged directly at James.

James let out a harsh, maniacal laugh, also unfurling his long robe to fly into the mid-air. Seeing Young Master Liu approaching with a tearing sound through the air, he suddenly thrust his right hand forward. A scimitar, its entire body flowing with crimson, materialized and met Young Master Liu's finger seal precisely. Following a sharp sound like tearing silk, the two figures—one white, one black—separated instantly upon contact, each returning to their original positions.

After stopping, Young Master Liu swayed a few times, and Fan Debiao quickly supported him. As everyone rushed to look, they saw Young Master Liu’s face was pale, with a faint trace of blood at the corner of his mouth—clearly an internal injury.

When the others turned their gaze to James, he was not faring much better; leaning on his scimitar, he spat out a mouthful of blood with a poof.

James opened his mouth, extended his blood-red tongue, and licked disgustingly around his lips. He glared fiercely with his crimson eyes, staring at Young Master Liu as if he wanted to devour him, then raised the blood-colored scimitar in his hand and declared, "This scimitar of mine is the Slaughter Blade, one of the thirteen Sacred Artifacts of the Blood Clan. Boy, I am not afraid of your Chinese Daoist arts; let us compete again!"

Saying this, he emitted strange sounds from his mouth, unfurled his black robe, and prepared to attack Young Master Liu once more.

Just then, a familiar clanging sound suddenly resonated in the ears of everyone in the great hall. A flash of golden light flickered before their eyes. Looking up, an unbelievable sight appeared: a pair of golden phoenixes materialized in the air above the hall.

Fan Debiao cried out in shock, "Heavens! It's the phoenixes! Another pair of phoenixes!"

The male and female phoenixes called out a few times, then suddenly folded their wings and descended to the center of the hall, landing precisely within the white and gold light shield enveloping the recumbent Cai Qingchong and the stiff, motionless Hatton wearing a clown mask.

Strangely, this pair of phoenixes seemed unaffected by the golden-white halo surrounding them. Watching them land so lightly, their bodies illuminated by the golden and white light, they appeared exceptionally mystical.

Even more miraculously, as soon as the phoenixes touched the ground, the golden pagoda suspended in mid-air suddenly rose sharply, releasing the oppressive weight it held over Cai Qingchong. In a blink, it rapidly shrank, reverting to its original golden bell form and falling back into the hand of the still-rigid Hatton. The white light emanating from the jade pendant on Cai Qingchong’s neck, having lost its adversary, seemed to have no reason to exist and vanished with a swoosh.

Fan Debiao, who had been thrown to the ground face-first, saw that the pressure on Cai Qingchong had lifted and immediately rushed forward. Under the gaze of the magical phoenix pair, he scooped up Cai Qingchong and hurried back.

By this time, both sides—everyone from the group and James’s faction—had focused all their attention on the pair of suddenly appearing phoenixes standing silently in the center of the hall.

No one knew where these phoenixes had come from—had they flown in from outside the hall, or materialized from the void? Nobody could say for sure.

What was clear was that neither group dared to make a move. The legendary divine bird phoenixes were incredibly powerful; James and his group had likely witnessed the scene of the Dragon-Phoenix battle from the shadows, following behind everyone else. The appearance of the phoenixes now—what did it signify, and what did they intend to do?—was impossible to guess.

Thus, an extremely awkward scene unfolded in the Immortal Palace: two factions and a pair of phoenixes, all standing motionless in the hall. It was then that Young Master Liu noticed that since landing, the phoenixes’ dual gazes were not directed at them or at James’s group, but were fixed solely on the white casket—in other words, on the seemingly living golden orb within it.

Young Master Liu inwardly lamented; these phoenixes, it seemed, were just like the pair that had fought the Azure Dragon to the death. Their mission was likely to guard this golden sphere.

Thus, the two factions and the phoenixes maintained this stalemate for about ten minutes, the phoenixes’ eyes never wavering from the white casket containing the golden orb, completely ignoring the humans present.

James was the first to break the silence. He maintained his vampire bat form. Their purpose in coming to China this time was undeniably for some ultimate treasure within the 'Ninety-Nine Heavens.' Now, he considered the golden orb to be the prize of his quest. With the treasure so close, his desire was palpable.

Of course, given James’s treacherous, cunning, and calculating nature, he knew the might of the divine phoenixes. He did not venture forward rashly himself but summoned the Wright brothers, ordering them to retrieve the golden orb.

The two Wrights hesitated slightly; the sudden appearance of the phoenixes made them uneasy, and they feared Young Master Liu’s side might attempt to seize the orb. However, under the gaze of James’s terrifyingly fierce crimson eyes, they reluctantly stepped forward. Carefully bypassing the phoenixes, they began walking toward the white casket on the right side of the hall.

As they drew closer to the casket, Jia Zhuangyuan and Fan Debiao were about to intervene. At that moment, a weakened Young Master Liu gave them a look, shook his head, and then pointed toward the pair of phoenixes, signaling everyone to hold still.

Everyone understood Young Master Liu’s intention: those phoenixes absolutely would not allow the Wright brothers to reach the white casket. So, they all held back, waiting to see if the Wright brothers would succeed in taking the orb.

Indeed, just as the Wright brothers were within perhaps two or three meters of the white casket, the smaller of the two phoenixes—presumably the female—let out a strange, sharp “Zuzhu” cry. She then spread her wings, and everyone saw a flash of golden light. When they could see again, she was quietly perched between the casket and the Wright brothers. Her golden feathers shimmered with multicolored light, raised high, and her narrow phoenix eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at the brothers like two sapphires.

The Wright brothers were obviously startled by her sudden appearance. They stopped, exchanged glances, and then both turned to look at James.

James suddenly let out a low growl: "Kill it for me and take the treasure!"

The Wright brothers exchanged helpless looks again, turned back to face the female phoenix, bowed their bodies, and began making cracking sounds as their forms expanded, just as they had in the Hall of Heavy Water. In moments, they transformed into giants over three meters tall, resembling iron towers.

They extended their massive palms, roaring as their four giant hands lunged toward the quietly standing female phoenix.

Young Master Liu gently shook his head, knowing these two fools were about to suffer; angering a divine phoenix would have severe consequences. Sure enough, after another “Zuzhu” cry, a flash of golden light erupted, and the massive bodies of the Wright brothers were suddenly tossed into the air like broken kites, only to crash heavily back onto the ground.