Hearing Bai Ling's explanation, Mo Han was genuinely surprised. "Damn, what a fool of a bird, concerned with romance."

At Mo Han's words, a trace of helplessness immediately surfaced on Bai Ling's face; she rolled her eyes at him. Just as Mo Han finished speaking, a flash of red light appeared from the distance, instantly manifesting right in front of Mo Han and the others. It was another Fire Phoenix, identical to the one they had encountered before, confirming Bai Ling’s suspicion: these Fire Phoenixes indeed traveled in pairs.

Seeing this sight, both Mo Han and Bai Ling’s expressions grew grim.

Mo Han voiced his worry, "This is troublesome now. If it was just one Sacred Beast, we could still overcome it. If there were two, even if it was difficult, it wouldn't be impossible. But now we face three demonic beasts; I fear even escaping won't be so easy."

Bai Ling also understood that Mo Han spoke the truth. With these incredibly fast Fire Phoenixes, trying to flee was futile; a direct confrontation was the only path left.

"You deal with the Nine-Headed Serpent King; I'll handle those two Fire Phoenixes."

Bai Ling rapidly assessed the situation before them and calmly stated to Mo Han, "With your current strength, you absolutely cannot contend with two Ancient Sacred Beasts simultaneously; even I might struggle. I will try my best to stall for time; you must finish off this Nine-Headed Serpent King first, then come help me with these two Fire Phoenixes."

As Bai Ling finished speaking, she began to chant a magic spell in a low, rapid murmur. Seeing this, Mo Han knew this was no time to overexert himself. With his current power, facing both terrifying Fire Phoenixes at once would undoubtedly mean certain death. Seeing Bai Ling take action, Mo Han swiftly charged toward the nearby Nine-Headed Serpent King.

As Mo Han moved, the two Fire Phoenixes let out a quick cry and rapidly closed in on him, appearing as two streaks of red light hurtling toward him in the air. Just as they were about to reach Mo Han, a brilliant screen of white light suddenly erupted beside him.

The two Fire Phoenixes, which had been aiming directly for Mo Han, naturally slammed into the white light barrier instead.

Under the intense impact of the Fire Phoenixes, the white barrier immediately showed two small dents where they struck, pushing inward. However, the white barrier possessed remarkable elasticity. Despite being attacked simultaneously by two Sacred Beasts, it merely bowed inward but held firm, completely halting the momentum of the Fire Phoenixes’ charge and posing no threat to Mo Han.

Seeing they could not breach the barrier, the two Fire Phoenixes were forced to retreat backward, simultaneously letting out loud screeches that sounded identical to ordinary birds, yet possessing such formidable power.

Mo Han knew without looking that Bai Ling had intervened. Seeing her successfully block the charge of two Sacred Beasts in one go brought him a measure of relief. He quickly pressed his attack toward the Nine-Headed Serpent King.

Simultaneously, Bai Ling called out coldly to the Fire Phoenixes still hovering in the air, "I am your opponent. Stop wasting your effort."

As Sacred Beasts, the Fire Phoenixes understood the meaning behind Bai Ling's words perfectly. Hearing her, both Fire Phoenixes charged toward Bai Ling. Perhaps realizing the potency of Bai Ling's magical barrier, their speed this time was not as blindingly fast as before. However, the red light emanating from them grew much brighter, indicating a clear increase in power compared to when they attacked Mo Han previously. It seemed the Fire Phoenixes understood that even superior speed was useless against Bai Ling’s protective ward, so they sacrificed some velocity to increase the destructive power of their assault, hoping to shatter her magic shield.

Two brilliant red beams struck the magical barrier surrounding Bai Ling simultaneously, eliciting two muffled thuds. As these intensified red lights met the white magical barrier, it flickered violently, and the entire surface erupted in a display of iridescent light. The two Fire Phoenixes felt as though they had collided with an immovable mountain. This time, Bai Ling's magical shield lacked the previous elasticity; it was utterly rigid. Though the attack of the two enhanced red beams caused the light of Bai Ling's magical field to flare brightly, they still could not breach it. Instead, they were repelled by the shield’s immense energy. While the Fire Phoenixes had incredible resistance and sustained no actual damage, the sheer force of the impact left them both momentarily dazed.

Meanwhile, on Mo Han’s front, the Nine-Headed Serpent King, seeing Mo Han approach, frantically unleashed a torrent of magical attacks against him. A kaleidoscope of magical assaults materialized before Mo Han, completely blocking his advance. Under this dense bombardment of magic, even blocking with the Light Holy Sword left Mo Han’s arms numb, unable to close the distance even a step. For the moment, he was utterly unable to overcome his foe, a testament to the monstrous power of the Serpent King’s offensive capabilities.

On Bai Ling’s side, the two Fire Phoenixes realized that mere physical impact could never break through her magical barrier. They ceased their charges and hovered, beginning to cry out, though this sound carried a strange cadence, unlike their usual calls. Seeing this, Bai Ling’s expression darkened. A flash of blue light appeared, and in her hand materialized a staff crafted entirely of blue—the renowned Water Spirit Scepter of the continent. Bai Ling began chanting rapidly, and a wave of azure light swiftly gathered around her.

As the Fire Phoenixes’ cries intensified, the surrounding fire-elemental magic began to move violently. A faint red glow suffused the entire forest, indicating the astonishing density of the fire elements present. Behind the two Fire Phoenixes, the originally pale red light grew brighter and deeper crimson until it condensed into two orbs, each the size of a football, radiating a blood-red, deep crimson hue.

On Bai Ling’s side, the azure light surrounding her gradually deepened to a dark, intense blue. Bai Ling herself, positioned at the center of this field, was completely obscured, her form invisible within the glow. At that moment, the two Fire Phoenixes let out simultaneous, resounding cries that seemed to shake the heavens. Mo Han, currently locked in combat with the Nine-Headed Serpent King, was distracted by the immense sound and instinctively worried for Bai Ling’s safety, quickly turning to look.

He saw the two spheres of blood-red light rocketing toward the deep blue barrier Bai Ling had erected. The collision of these two immense magical energies did not result in the anticipated deafening explosion; neither the red orbs nor the deep blue barrier immediately shattered or burst. Instead, the deep blue barrier shone with a peculiar, rainbow luminescence, tightly gripping the two red spheres and seemingly absorbing their magical energy voraciously. Mo Han could clearly see streams of red light pouring into the dark blue field—a sight strikingly similar to the peculiar magical formation once set up by the Dragon Clan members, capable of absorbing all incoming magical attacks. However, the deep blue barrier seemed unable to fully process the energy of both attacks at once. Lines of red light began to appear across the dark blue surface, resembling fissures. The red light in the center of these fissures intensified until a cataclysmic boom echoed throughout the entire Death Forest. The blue barrier and the two red orbs appeared to have fought to a draw, exploding simultaneously.

The entire shadowy Death Forest was momentarily illuminated by a blinding white light. Where the light swept, the incredibly hard black trees in the forest were shattered into pieces by the magical force. At the exact point of impact between the two magical energies, the black trees were utterly reduced to ash, instantaneously creating a vacuum zone spanning tens of meters around the epicenter.

Mo Han, positioned not far from the magical blast, felt the residual magical energy wash over him. Fortunately, Bai Ling had previously established a protective magical barrier around him. The power of Bai Ling’s barrier was naturally incomparable to that of ordinary mages, as evidenced by its earlier ability to intercept the full force of the Fire Phoenixes’ charge. While perhaps not the absolute strongest defense, unable to withstand the direct impact of this blast, it was more than sufficient to block the residual energy. Thus, Mo Han, shielded within the barrier, suffered minimal impact. In contrast, the Nine-Headed Serpent King, caught completely off guard by the magical aftermath, was violently hurled back dozens of meters by the shockwave. A large swath of trees around it toppled under the pressure of its massive body. Despite the Serpent King’s inherently monstrous defense, which prevented serious injury, the impact was jarring. Its prior magical assaults on Mo Han immediately slowed, and the accuracy of its serpentine heads' magic decreased significantly.

At this point, Mo Han could easily surge forward and press his attack, but he ignored the Nine-Headed Serpent King entirely, rushing instead toward where Bai Ling was located. Based on his assessment of the magical energy, although the two fireballs were unimpressive visually and their destructive radius wasn't massive, their explosive power was undoubtedly on par with Fire Elemental Forbidden Spells. Having just witnessed Bai Ling absorb the impact of two Forbidden Spells simultaneously, Mo Han was deeply uncertain of her condition. He knew that had the attack been directed at him, he would have stood no chance against those two assaults. The magical power of these Sacred Beasts was certainly no less than that of human Saint Magisters. Facing even one Forbidden Spell, Mo Han lacked the confidence for a guaranteed victory; facing two simultaneously, he would have only the option of fleeing, or certain death. Even with Bai Ling's immense strength, she was not a God of Magic and could not withstand two Forbidden Spells at once, causing Mo Han great apprehension.

He saw that Bai Ling's delicate features were now completely pale, all color drained from her once rosy cheeks. A faint, tragic line of red stained the corner of her mouth. Seeing this, Mo Han's heart clenched. In all the time he had known Bai Ling, this was the first time he saw her wounded, proof that although she had weathered the energy of those two magical attacks, she was not a God of Magic and had sustained considerable harm.

"Bai Ling, how are you?" Mo Han asked, his voice filled with concern.

Hearing him, Bai Ling managed a strained smile toward Mo Han and slowly replied, "I'm fine. These two Forbidden Spells, though powerful, weren't enough to take my life."

"Why didn't you dodge?" Hearing her voice, which indicated she was not in peak condition, Mo Han anxiously pressed, "With your ability, you absolutely had time to escape the range of those two magical attacks. Why didn't you evade first?" Bai Ling merely glanced at Mo Han with a calm look. "If I had dodged, those two spells would surely have rushed toward you. You were already tied up by the Nine-Headed Serpent King; how could you have defended against those two Forbidden Spells?" Mo Han felt a surge of warmth in his chest. He wanted to say something more, but ultimately could only utter a sincere, "Thank you."

After launching those two Forbidden Spells, the two Fire Phoenixes seemed stunned that the human Magister before them was merely injured rather than reduced to fragments, as they had expected. They paused their assault, hovering in mid-air, observing Bai Ling and Mo Han in astonishment.

Jump to