Although Dao Lao initially thought of it when speaking, he immediately dismissed his own speculation. First, because this was not a black hole but the realm of the underworld in the world of spirits, the Countess might not necessarily have the ability to completely disable the Mold Spirit energy pursuit system. Second, Dao Lao didn't believe the Countess would do something so foolish. Therefore, Dao Lao now leaned more towards the idea that the Countess had successfully obtained the location of the City of Spirits through Haoyun's earlier activation of the Dog Hole. Thus, she was preparing once again to launch a teleportation array using Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6, sending something powerful and terrifying to disturb the gods of the City of Spirits. After all, with the Countess's peculiar personality, she was entirely capable of such actions.
Master Gu, after listening to Haoyun and the others, once again ordered the guards on the scene, "In any case, for safety's sake, it's best for everyone to step back. Guards! Keep a close watch on this energy array and be prepared for battle at any moment."
Although the energy web being established around Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 was exactly the same as when Haoyun activated the Dog Hole, Haoyun honestly doubted whether this energy web could complete the teleportation task again. With only half of Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 remaining and in such a damaged state, could it really support such a powerful teleportation array to forcefully bring something large to the City of Spirits? As Haoyun pondered this, he couldn't help but have doubts.
"Szzz! Szzz! Szzz!"
Just as Haoyun started to doubt, the purple-red lightning intertwined within the energy web suddenly began to surge like enraged dragons, no longer controlled by the central force field generated by the dagger. The black energy condensed on the broken blade of the dagger also became restless, continuously releasing powerful streams of air, as if trying to expel something hidden deep within the darkness from this energy mass.
"Everyone, be alert! Maintain distance! Be ready to face the enemy at any moment!" Master Gu ordered again upon seeing the situation.
At this moment, Judge Yan narrowed his eyes in anger, hands behind his back, standing unflinchingly close to the dagger. He wanted to see which audacious person dared to activate the relic left by his daughter without permission. Once the culprit revealed themselves, Judge Yan would certainly make them regret it!
As the energy gathered on the lectern continued to intensify, everyone on the scene took out their weapons and prepared for battle as if facing a great enemy. However, to everyone's surprise, despite the commotion caused by the energy web on the lectern, no evil energy was released. On the contrary, from the black energy condensed on the broken blade of the dagger, an inexplicably pure and righteous energy began to emanate.
"What's going on?" Everyone was bewildered upon sensing this pure energy. Judge Yan furrowed his brows in confusion and raised his hand to signal the soldiers to stand by and not act rashly. He cautiously stepped forward, wanting to closely examine the pure energy filling the energy web. Just as Judge Yan took a step forward, a more intense burst of light broke through the black energy condensed on the dagger's broken blade, simultaneously shattering the energy web covering the lectern and flooding the entire hall with blinding light.
"Judge Yan! Protect him!" Upon seeing Judge Yan consumed by the sudden burst of light emanating from the dagger, both Master Gu and Dao Lao exclaimed in shock and rushed forward simultaneously to where Judge Yan was.
However, at this moment, Master Gu and Dao Lao heard Judge Yan loudly say, "No! Don't do anything!"
Then, Judge Yan suppressed the intense light in front of him, revealing once again a slightly short and round figure, but filled with imperial majesty. Judge Yan trembled with both hands as if wanting to embrace the intense light in front of him, and asked in a surprised and joyful tone, "Yue... Yue Er? Is that you?"
However, Judge Yan Chaoyue's voice did not respond as Judge Yan had hoped. Instead, only swift pink energy beams, resembling sword lights, shot out rapidly from deep within the intense light.
"Judge Yan, be careful!" Master Gu quickly moved forward again, pulling Judge Yan, who was still standing in place hoping for a response from Judge Chaoyue, to the side. Meanwhile, Dao Lao, with perfect coordination, stepped forward and used the protective formation formed by his Demon Slayer Rod to deflect all the sudden energy beams flying out and began to fly quickly and chaotically above the hall.
But that wasn't all. Just as Dao Lao deflected the first batch of energy beams shot out from the intense light, several more pink energy beams shot out from the center of the intense light. However, these beams did not aim at anyone on the scene but instead joined the several energy beams flying chaotically above the hall. After flying several circles together, they flew back to strengthen and accurately hit Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6, which reappeared at the center of the intense light.
With each strike of the energy beams, the damaged Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 transformed once again into a weapon of light. After continuously injecting energy beams, the broken part of the blade was completely repaired, restoring Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 to its complete form.
Finally, as the dazzling light retreated into Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6, the turbulent airflow in the Judgment Hall suddenly stopped and disappeared without a trace. At this moment, the floating Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 also reverted from its weaponized form to its original dagger shape, resembling a willow leaf with lightning-shaped hollow patterns on its blade. What shocked everyone even more was that the newly repaired dagger was not Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 but the complete form of Phoenix Thorn.
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It was only at this moment that everyone realized the pink energy beams shot out earlier were not intended to attack Judge Yan or anyone else. Their purpose was not only to repair the damaged Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 but also to restore Phoenix Thorn to its complete form. It was only now that everyone realized the twelve pink energy beams shot out from the intense light just now. They were not strange energy beams but the twelve additional Phoenix Thorn Feathers of Princess Yan Chaoyue.
"This... how did these twelve daggers come back? They actually broke through the black hole's constraints and returned to the Land of Shadows? This is truly amazing!" Having witnessed the absurd scene before him, Haoyun couldn't help but speak out.
Because Haoyun understood very well that except for the Phoenix Thorn No. 6 that helped transport him and his party back, the other twelve daggers were all embedded in the Destroyer's chest and remained forever in the VOID-360 black hole after Yan Chaoyue and the Destroyer perished together. In fact, if these twelve daggers hadn't reappeared, Haoyun would have thought they had perished along with Yan Chaoyue.
Dao Lao and Dream Jia shared Haoyun's thoughts, so the two of them were now staring at the dagger with confusion, simultaneously using their Mold Spirit Energy Tracking System to scan it, trying to find any suspicious elements. However, according to the system's detection results, the Phoenix Thorn appeared completely normal, apart from the divine power from the Divine Spirit Realm. Their system couldn't detect any unusual energy from the Phoenix Thorn.
"It's strange. If no one intervened, then how did the other twelve Phoenix Thorns find the trail of Phoenix Thorn No. 6 and return here on their own?" Dream Jia said in puzzlement as she looked at the system's report showing everything normal with the Phoenix Thorn.
Haoyun and the others shrugged, indicating that everyone was baffled about how the twelve daggers had left the black hole, crossed different dimensions, and breached the barrier set by the Divine Spirit Realm to return to the Spirit City.
Could it be that Phoenix Thorn No. 6's return to the Land of Shadows activated a special bond, enabling it to forcibly summon all twelve Phoenix Thorns that were in the distant chaos? Haoyun glanced again at the Phoenix Thorn in Yan Chaoyue's hand, speculating aimlessly.
Yan Chaoyue shook his head, seeming unwilling to think further about how the twelve daggers had returned. Instead, he sighed heavily, "Thirty years old, aging and weak, full of sadness, self-blame only. Now that I have the Phoenix Thorn, I can decide on my life and death from now on."
Then, Yan Chaoyue gently stroked the Phoenix Thorn, images of his daughter bravely sacrificing herself to kill the Destroyer Black Gate once again flooding his mind, causing his eyes to moisten. He sniffled, trying to adjust his emotions. Yan Chaoyue kept telling himself that although he had not reunited with his daughter as planned, he had at least regained her exclusive weapon and could use this Phoenix Thorn to commemorate his daughter's heroic sacrifice. This, to him, was a great consolation.
However, the cracks still visible on the surface of the Phoenix Thorn constantly reminded Yan Chaoyue of how much pain Yan Chaoyue had endured to defeat his enemies and how glorious his sacrifice had been. These emotions fueled Yan Chaoyue's resentment, leaving him with no place to vent his anger. Consequently, Yan Chaoyue cursed the detestable Mold Spirit Energy once again in his heart. However, before Yan Chaoyue could curse the Mold Spirit Energy again, his expression froze.
"Huh? What... what's going on?" Yan Chaoyue seemed to have discovered something on the Phoenix Thorn, so he stared at it in surprise, bringing it close to his eyes again for careful examination.
"Old Yan, what did you find?" Dao Lao noticed this and quickly approached Yan Chaoyue, staring at the Phoenix Thorn as he asked.
"Could it be that my senses are acting up? Why do I feel like there's something inside the Phoenix Thorn?" Yan Chaoyue replied skeptically, while cautiously using two fingers to probe the cracks on the blade of the Phoenix Thorn.
After a moment, Yan Chaoyue widened his eyes in relief, looking both surprised and excited. Without waiting for Dao Lao to ask again, he reached out and sent the Phoenix Thorn into the air once more, then allowed a beam of light to shoot from his forehead into the cracks of the Phoenix Thorn. Then, everyone saw that as the beam of light entered the cracks of the Phoenix Thorn, layers of ripples like ripples appeared inside the Phoenix Thorn. Then, Yan Chaoyue began to concentrate on observing the flow of the colorful halo inside the dagger, as if he was looking for something.
"It's here!" After observing the Phoenix Thorn for a while, Yan Chaoyue suddenly said, then quickly reached out and grabbed the glowing halo inside the Phoenix Thorn. Immediately, the halo flowing inside the Phoenix Thorn stopped, and after all the energy gathered at the crack of the Phoenix Thorn, a beam of energy shot toward the ground.
After all the energy gathered at the crack, it formed a gray-brown energy on the ground. This energy, similar to large single-cell organisms, began to squirm in its original place, raising and lowering its body. With the gradual increase in the intensity of movement, this group of energy soon turned into a humanoid shape that was curled up into a ball. At this point, it seemed that the biological shape was sleeping. However, it soon awoke from its dream as it seemed to sense the changes in the surrounding environment. At the same time, it gradually stretched its body and stood up from the ground.
At this point, everyone discovered that this unknown creature, originally curled up into a ball, not only exceeded two meters in height, but also had an extremely robust physique. It was only after this humanoid creature, which was similar in appearance to humans in the world of Earth, stood up that everyone also noticed the differences between it and humans on Earth. This was because the head of this unknown creature clearly had a pair of huge antlers, and its feet were stepping on a pair of strong deer hooves.
“Is it an Eternal Longing Star being? How is there a soul of an Eternal Longing Star being hidden inside the Phoenix Thorn?!" Haoyun, Dao Lao, and Dream Jia exclaimed simultaneously as they looked at the strange creature presenting itself before them, its form outlined in gray-brown.
"It's a seal. The soul of this Eternal Longing Star being was sealed inside the Phoenix Thorn. Because I also have permission to use the Phoenix Thorn, just now, I sensed a sealing power that doesn't belong to the Phoenix Thorn and poses no danger. So I infused power into the Phoenix Thorn and found this sealed soul inside. I have completed the extradition of this soul and granted it permission to remain active within the Land of Shadows because this soul is quite special," Yan Pian answered.
"What makes it special?" Dao Lao asked again.
Yan Pian's expression turned strange as he replied, "Although I perceive a transcendent aura deeply hidden within this soul, I am also certain that this person is not a transcendent. After a transcendent falls, it's impossible for them to leave behind a soul. In fact, after our Holy Bodies self-destruct, they completely dissipate, leaving nothing behind."