Cao Yun was still holding the very tip of his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' while his other hand was stuck into the palate of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Despite the pain, the giant bird's head was trying to bite off Cao Yun's arm as its broken teeth were piercing through the skin of his shoulder. However, Cao Yun's muscles were too tough for the creature to completely pierce it. Besides, although Cao Yun's arm couldn't get too far into the skull of the demonic beast, the pain was intense enough to prevent it from closing its mouth completely. At the same time, Cao Yun summoned his Black Heart Flame and his Soul Heart.

The young man was ready to stab through and through the skull of the demonic beast when he felt an agonizing pain throughout his arms. It began with his right arm still holding the spear. The black blood that had spewed from the wound had already melted his clothes and was now melting his flesh. Cao Yun's body could regenerate fast enough to prevent this dark blood from dissolving his arm, but the pain was absolutely excruciating. From the stabbed mouth and the broken teeth of the head, a similar black blood was flowing all over Cao Yun's arm and shoulder. In this case, the pain was even more intense as his arm was literally inside the body of the demonic beast. It wasn't just one splash of blood.

His mind cultivation prevented Cao Yun from losing his mind under such intense pain. Quickly, he realized the threat to his own weapon. Indeed, his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' was literally stabbed into the flesh of the beast. Without any hesitation, Cao Yun directed all of his Black Heart Flame around the spear and took it out of the wound. Thankfully, he could already tell that the structure of his 2-star Heaven spear was just slightly damaged, nothing major. After all, it had been quenched in the blood of a Devouring Storm Dragon, a 3-pearl Immortal Beast.

Now that his spear was out of the wound, Cao Yun didn't have anything to hold himself in place. Thus, the head acted immediately. Since it couldn't bite off the young man's shoulder, it quickly pulled him. The head moved with incredible speed and went back into the black flames all around the large body of the demonic beast. Cao Yun was desperately trying to use his Black Heart Flame and his Spear Heart.

From Cao Yun's right arm, the shape of a spear made out black flames appeared. His entire arm was the spear and he was trying to pierce through the skull of the creature. Inside this head, there wasn't just a brain, there was also one of the nine demonic cores of the demonic beast. This was the weakness that every demonic beast had. Their Qi and their strength came mainly from their cores. Destroying them was just like destroying a man's Dantian. The wound would not only severely injure them, it would also cause them to get weaker and weaker over time.

Now that his other arm was free as well, and with his spear in hand, Cao Yun stabbed directly at the beast's eye. This time, his spear was engulfed in both his Qi Manifestation and his Black Heart Flame while his Spear Heart was making it stronger and his spiritual senses were flowing all around it.

'Dragon's Fang'!

Cao Yun's spear turned into the white fang of the Azure Dragon. In fact, the shape of the Azure Dragon's head appeared for an instant. One fang was already inside the head of its prey while the other one was outside, targeting an eye. This produced the image of a maw closing around the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Disregarding all of that, the head was still pulling Cao Yun through the black flames, toward its main body. Its broken teeth were still razor-sharp and they were piercing Cao Yun's skin just as its dark blood was flowing in the young man's wounds.

Just as Cao Yun and the head passed through the veil of fire, his spear went directly into the eye of the beast. His two spears, both his real one and his hand, touched within the skull of the bird. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was forced to stop himself. Indeed, he was now engulfed in this black flame and had to protect himself.

'Dragon's Chest'!

His entire body got covered in the scales of the Azure Dragon with small sparks of Black Heart Flame here and there. Despite this great armor, the black flame spewed by the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu were extremely intense. They forced Cao Yun's spiritual senses to retract as he could feel his very soul being burned. Then, it began to melt his very Qi Manifestation of the Azure Dragon. Cao Yun could do nothing but focus on his defense. Thankfully, the head of the giant bird quickly went through this ocean of black flame. The next instant, Cao Yun was completely isolated in a world of strangely bright darkness. The black flames created an opaque barrier all around the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu but also shined a strange light. Everything was bathed in black shades, but seemed as luminous as day. Such a sensation was very strange.

Now, Cao Yun was truly isolated from his swords outside, but even from the Qi Manifestation of his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' and also the vast amount of Death Energy in the air. In here, there was mostly Ghost Energy and Evil Qi with very faint traces of Death Energy. Immediately, Cao Yun felt an intense pressure on his Soul Embryo but his Po could protect it. Since he didn't have enough Death Energy here, Cao Yun pushed his 'Living Death' further and made more and more Death Energy from his very soul.

In front of him was the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Several heads were still breathing fire. Indeed, the black flames were always being assaulted by Cao Yun's swords from the outside. Even though he was isolated, Cao Yun's connection to his swords was strong enough that they wouldn't stop attacking. He couldn't control them precisely but they were all attracted to it, trying to break through this black barrier. Even his seven Piercing Stars were trying to shine through the darkness. Only three heads were free to fight Cao Yun without risking the barrier collapsing. Moreover, among those three, one was stuck with Cao Yun and in a very sorry state.

As soon as Cao Yun got forced into this space, hundreds of skulls flew toward him. As his two arms were busy, Cao Yun had a hard time dealing with them. He was trying to dodge but the head was always pushing on Cao Yun, altering his trajectory. However, many skulls went crashing against the head of the bird itself. A very large part of his Po had turned into Death Energy and was leaving Cao Yun's body to fight the skulls in Ghost Energy.

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The young man was using everything he could, his legs, his shoulders, even his head. From his eyes, a terrifying light was even scaring those abominations, it was his 'Weeping Asura' technique. He was striking every skull coming his way while his very hands were digging deeper and deeper. At last, he felt something in his left hand. So he focused all of his strength there.

'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'!

A powerful scream resounded from Cao Yun's chest. His Death Energy almost took physical form for a split second. All the skulls were pushed back just as Cao Yun's hand went through the skull of the bird and came out. Finally, Cao Yun was free. He flew upward and revealed a black stone in his left hand. As the head of the large bird went limp, Cao Yun was holding one of its nine demonic cores. Without any hesitation, he took the black stone into his spatial ring. Instead of fleeing from the black flame domain, Cao Yun charged directly toward the closest head. It was one of the heads still spewing the black flames.

While the demonic beast was still adjusting to the pain and the loss of one demonic core, Cao Yun was merciless.

'Son of Heaven's Chariot Tramples the Nine Skies'!

His spear turned into a chariot pulled by nine dragon-like horses. They charged toward the long neck of the large bird. A sudden surge of chains emerged from the mangled head Cao Yun had left behind. There were thousands of chains. They completely burst through the slain head and its neck. Still slick with its sizzling black blood, they all went after Cao Yun. Unfortunately, they were faster than he was so he had to divert his technique. Midair, the chariot turned and crashed into the chains. As Cao Yun's spear was striking those chains, other chains were moving around him, trying to attack him from behind while the head he was targeting moved in his direction. The black flames it was breathing converged toward the young man.

'Imperial Throne'!

Cao Yun spun his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' around himself. A giant tornado manifested itself with Cao Yun at its center. The chains were swallowed by this violent wind while the black flames were caught in the maelstrom. They formed a second tornado around the first one. Bolts of lightning erupted throughout Cao Yun's tornado as he was once more combining his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' and his family's 'Three Storms'. Within the tornado covered in black flames, two bright azure eyes appeared. They were the only hint of color in this gray realm. Those two piercing eyes were staring directly at the head of the bird.

Now that this head had stopped breathing fire around the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, Cao Yun's connection with his swords had become slightly stronger. He could control some of them, those that were close to him at least. Outside the black flame domain, his swords turned into azure bolts of lightning. They almost looked like small azure dragons biting through the black flames. A few swords were able to pass through it without being completely obliterated.

Suddenly, those swords harassed the head of the bird. Using this distraction, Cao Yun stabbed forward.

'Azure Dragon Tears the East Sky'!

From the sky above, the seven Piercing Stars shined brighter than ever. The shape of the Azure Dragon appeared within the tornado. In fact, the tornado itself was the massive body of the celestial dragon. It leapt through the tornado of black flames. Cao Yun's Spear Heart was fully manifested in this image, not just his Qi Manifestation. The black flames of the tornado were caught in the fury of the Azure Dragon and followed him as Cao Yun's spear was going straight for the neck of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. This time, nothing could stop Cao Yun's momentum.

The neck of the bird completely shattered under the assault of the Azure Dragon. Before it could even try to regenerate, Cao Yun's swords went through the wound and the mouth of the beast. They traveled through the corrosive black blood. At the end, only fragments of swords remained, but they did reach the skull. One sword collided with a second demonic core before flying toward Cao Yun who stored it in his spatial ring once more.

Furious, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu completely stopped breathing fire around itself as a defense mechanism. It went on the attack, fully. Only rage and fury were guiding the giant bird. As long as it killed the human, it could recover its demonic cores and digest the vast strength of the young man. Its three long tails stabbed toward the Azure Dragon that was still moving forward.

Cao Yun was still pushing his 'Azure Dragon Tears the East Sky'. He was now going straight for another head. But now, the heads were moving so fast that Cao Yun could barely follow their movements. They were like tentacles flailing all over the place. The tail struck him. Instead of harming his flesh, Cao Yun felt his Soul Embryo suffer because of the impact. It was directly injecting Ghost Energy into the young man and attacking his Hun with all the fury of the demonic beast. Even if he survived such attacks, his Soul Embryo might be injured. Cao Yun could recover from most physical injuries so long as he wasn't dead, but he couldn't heal his Soul Embryo at all.

Cao Yun stopped his attack. As his swords were dispelling the black flames all around him, Cao Yun turned into pure lightning and appeared next to one of his swords. Another tail attacked him so he moved like lightning once more. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to attack. Each time he moved somewhere else, the tails of the gigantic bird were on him before he could act directly. Thus, he would have to rely on his swords to strike the demonic beast, but they weren't powerful enough to cause substantial damage.

The chained skulls and his swords were colliding all over the place. This was a huge war in the skies. Some of his swords did reach the vast body of the beast. However, even those that could pierce its skin were quickly corroded by its black blood and the wounds regenerated as fast, if not faster, than they had appeared.

Another screech from the large beast erupted. For a mere instant, Cao Yun's spiritual senses were disrupted. His swords stopped moving. Just this single instant was enough for the skulls to get an advantage. Cao Yun's swords were literal swords while the skulls were a physical manifestation of Ghost Energy created by the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. As long as it had enough Ghost Energy, it could make new skulls to replace the destroyed ones. Unfortunately, the air around the two enemies was full of Ghost Energy and Death Energy. But Cao Yun couldn't fully manifest the Death Energy into physical shapes. He could only rely on Qi Manifestation.

Still, Cao Yun wouldn't be defeated that easily. Taking advantage of Cao Yun's fleeting stupor, the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's tail stabbed him. However, Cao Yun's mind cultivation was strong enough to recover almost immediately. At the very last moment, he dodged the attack and cut the tail. His Black Heart Flame spread through the feathers. The entire tail caught on fire as it was going straight for the main body of the beast.

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