It was like the world had stopped, at least for Zulong. The reappearance of his son healthy and hale sent him into shock followed by a flood of relief. His single minds focus was on his son made him ignore the fact that people were still fighting around him. Not even stray attacks impacting his scales could get his attention off Bi An and Yi Fei'e.

Zufeng gasped for air when she was released by her dragon counterpart. Her wingtips acted as arms, raising her huffing body. Already the bite wounds around her slim neck were catching fire, healing off the damage.

"Senior brother/Father," Yi Fei'e and Bi An greeted.

"What is? You should not be here. Return home to rest," Zulong immediately called out. His anxiousness was made visible, practically oozing off his scaling face.

"I…Aunty grabbed me and just flew here," Bi An admitted much to his own confusion. He looked at Yi Fei'e contemplatively and thought about the various ins and outs of the current situation.

"DIE!"

Before anyone could react, a massive phoenix elder flew straight at Bi An. His eyes were blood shot and drool was coated around his snarling beak.

"I'll finish what old crow couldn't do!"

It was a sight that enraged Zulong. Who was this abominable chicken to dare impose death upon his own child? The dragon would've slapped the phoenix to death were it not for Yi Fei'e.

As she was next to Zulong's son, Yi Fei'e took action far quicker than either two. With a motion of her fingers, the phoenix, who was at the Great Principle Chaos Immortal realm was sliced cleaning in two. His nascent soul was extinguished and his inner cosmos completely collapsed. Only a single strike was needed.

"Flat haired beasts truly are the most despicable beasts in the world," Zulong said with a cruel sneer.

"Urg!"

Zufeng gazed up angrily. She spread her wings with desire to continue her battle.

"You insult our kind on baseless assumptions. You scaled ones are clearly too hot headed to think straight," Zufeng retorted. "We were not responsible for what happened to your child. Call off your army this instant."

Both sovereigns roared against each other. Just another fight in a sea of battles being engaged. The scale of just the first clash had dwarfed anything that had ever happened in the entire history of the primitive world.

Not even the ancient battle of Mt Buzhou could compare to now. Such was the result of years of progress in cultivation has cultivated individuals who'd put yesteryear's grandmasters to shame.

Bloodlust permeated the air like a sickness. Emotions ran wild as the desire to exterminate the enemy hung on the minds of all those present. Bi An's sudden appearance had done little to nothing to stop this fact.

Yi Fei'e grimaced as things start returning to how they were. Her veins popped as she assumed her human guise. She held up her hand, signalling Bi An to stop. Bi An gazed at her in surprise unsure wether he should join the battle or not.

"Go join your brothers in the formation, safer for you that way," she said. She then raced forward in a place of white starlight.

Yi Fei'e was not an unintelligent person. In fact, Da Hai would dare say she was among the most observant and deductive people he knew.

The fact of the matter was, she had been scanning the entire battlefield for a while now. Though less than a minute had actually passed, even seconds were a long time to these immortals.

In her mind, no one was really out of character. Nobody from the seas liked the avians, nor did they really liked land dwellers in general. Dragons either treated them with indifference or contempt. Avians in general fell into the contempt category.

So it wasn't out of the question for such hatred to manifest itself in such an environment. However, it was just the speed of which, and suddenness of which that clued Yi Fei'e in to something being amiss. Their attitudes were more extreme then they normally were.

It was like the equivalent of going from a mild dislike of someone, to suddenly calling for their public lynching. Possible with enough build-up, but much too rapid under current conditions.

Furthermore, going by what happened to Bi An and herself when she entered his mind. The moth was already sure of what had happened.

Cultivation was the gateway to many mystical abilities both innate and developed. Yi Fei'e herself developed numerous spells based around the construct if stars and especially the formation of the big dipper constellation.

Similarly, Qinglong had a movement technique where he resembled a supercluster and Zulong's roar had mind bending effects on those with dragon blood. It wasn't out of the question for some technique out there that can influence one's emotions.

As Zulong and Zufeng squared off against each other, Yi Fei'e descended. In a burst of light, a cosmos manifested pushing both sovereign's back a step. Radiant dance of stars twirled into a luminescent galaxy, temporarily dissipating the raw power emanating from the two divine beasts.

Her power was stretched to the absolute maximum. Yi Fei'e had perfected her Dao all she could ages ago. She stood at the apex of immortal existence, a Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal just like Zulong and Zufeng. Her authority on the world superseded of nearly all lifeforms in existence.

There was a reason Da Hai trusted her to defend Yingzhou. Her abilities were only inferior to Zulong.

"You stand in my way?" Zulong uttered in shock.

"Fellow daoist, please move aside," Zufeng demanded.

"Senior brother, your majesty. You've both been played for fools," Yi Fei'e informed them calmly. "Do not humiliate yourselves any longer."

She spread her arms out. Her qi spread with an enormous push. A radiation resembling the explosion of a collapsing world. A force great enough that it threw all avians and scaled creatures off their feat.

Even Bi An was blown forwards before he could reach the Great Overbearing Nine Songs formation. Said formation rippled as it felt the moth's power wash over them. Perhaps if she were to attack it directly, she could even rip it apart on her own.

"Brother!" Denglong surged forwards, he caught Bi An in a hug. Then he dragged the newly awakened tiger into the protection of the formation.

"What is aunt master doing?" Suanni who followed closely behind snarled. The lion had a look of betrayal, not unthinkable given they'd also been attacked by Yi Fei'e.

"Young masters, get back," Leishen called out also reaching them with his serpentine body. "I do not know what's going on but it seems his majesty is discussing something."

The lightning dragon pointed towards the figures of Zulong and Zufeng, both halted in their movements along with Yi Fei'e. Zulong's eyes were trailing Bi An as this was going on. He only stopped when his son disappeared into the Great Overbearing Nine Songs formation.

Just as well cause the battlefield seems to have been frozen in stasis. Groaning sounds were heard everywhere as Yi Fei'e knocked them all down with just enough force to not kill anyone.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Yi Fei'e, explain yourself," Zulong spat. The lack of an affectionate 'junior sister' was very telling.

"Senior brother, no Dragon Sovereign and Phoenix Sovereign. You've both been had," Yi Fei'e began. "Haven't you noticed the sheer bloodthirstiness of everyone here? Even yourselves?"

"Yes, ridiculous considering currently…" Zulogn gestured around him and spoke sarcastically. "Get to the point."

"You're being encouraged to fight. I can feel it because I felt the same thing in Bi An. Except what happened here was a lot more subtle yet more unnoticeable. Your emotions are being amplified, irationalised. No one is thinking clearly beyond 'I hate you, you must die'."

Yi Fei'e swiped her hand, visualising the thoughts of many present including both rulers in the form of straws of qi. "Emotions are also one of the things that can be cultivated. Mental techniques are no strangers to us, even your own roar classifies as one Dragon Sovereign."

"Bi An manifested some sort of inner demon. All his self deprecating thoughts, all his insecurities, and all the feelings he suppressed manifested in the form of a monster. I witnessed it myself and even experienced it myself though I managed to overcome it."

At this point, Yi Fei'e communed her experiences into the mind of Zulong and watched as his own mind contemplated the days prior.

"It's like an infection, one seed spreading out to others. After experiencing it I can feel similar seeds all over the place. Avians and seafolk, phoenixes and dragons. Their desire for war is being amplified but not outright taking over them as Bi An's had been."

Zulong and Zufeng narrowed their eyes. "Some war hawks have been clamouring," the phoenix sovereign offered her thoughts with slight relief.

"I nor most of my own had any desire to fight. I was resigned. But when I…when I battled you, my mind was overcome emotions of loathing and dare I say it, arrogance. It was time turned back to my own youth," Zufeng said.

"Convenient excuse," Zulong scoffed. "You expect me to believe you were being mind controlled?"

"It's not really mind control," Yi Fei'e retorted before any escalation took place. "You roaring to another dragon would be mind control as you're enforcing your will upon theirs. This is more akin to amplifying one's darker thoughts."

"And Bi An?" Zulong asked.

"The next stage. Actualising those thoughts like one would a Dao fruit. This presumably gives birth to a new entity, a split personality if you will. Bi An was in an internal struggle with this entity as to who may become the dominant personality in control of the body," Yi Fei'e explained.

"I know no one who has such a technique. Not even those secluded experts around the world specialise in such spells," Zulong said.

"Remember what master said? And what we've gathered from the west sea?" Yi Fei'e reminded him. She teleported over the corpse of the phoenix she slayed and played it at Zulong's feet. Steadily she lifted it up for him to examine.

With the corpse left behind, traces of various qi signatures could be observed. Zulong squinted his eyes and scrunched his nose. Put under a lens like this, the corpse did feel more than a regular phoenix.

"Doesn't these traces remind you of the west sea's early cultivation techniques?"

"Who knows what this phoenix would've picked up."

"I can show you our entire collection," Zufeng spat in indignation. "My scripture emphasises harmony, not wanton excess."

The phoenix had been examining the corpse as well. With that in mind, she verdantly denied Zulong's accusations with anger.

"Father!"

"Sister!"

"Your majesty!"

Many arrived during their stand off. From Zulong's sons and generals to Zufeng's own. As the two had ceased fighting, they too had momentarily ceased. But this didn't last long as insults began being hurled.

Zulong and Zufeng gazed back at their subordinates as tension between them began building again. They could feel the desire to kill rising again, the hatred between both forces returning in full force. Raw emotions built up rapidly the moment both groups locked eyes.

Some of the calmer ones such as Yinglong were looking either expectantly or curiously. It was a bizarre contrast that swung in both extremities but one that was noticeable.

"What are we waiting for? These…" Whoever was speaking was quickly grabbed by Yi Fei'e. In the next instant, their body was sent into a stasis body where they were analysed on an atomic scale. Then the moth ripped out another seed that dissipated.

"There are more on the avian side of things. Would explain why your lot struck first," Yi Fei'e said.

"This is what I mean when I say you've both been played. Whatever the reason, you've both accelerated the negative karma of the world," she said pointing around her.

A tacit agreement was created between all three parties. Then the two sovereigns struck.

Zulong roared and Zufeng sang. Either way, they attacked their own radical elements, knocking them out instantly.

"Yinglong, it seems the west has a personal stake in us. We should go greet those nosy bastards," Zulong said. Simultaneously, he transferred all that he had learned into the minds of his side. That sped things up and they wordlessly obeyed.

"Hold on," Zufeng spat. "Do you think you can just walk away after causing so much distraction. Where is my compensation?"

The world froze again as Yi Fei'e grimaced. "Phoenix Sovereign, now is not the right time," she advised.

"Stay out of this moth, you have no stake in this conflict," Zufeng huffed. "I agree that the devils in the west are suspicious. But you did just invade me and my own. Now you expect to walk away scot free?"

"There are far more pressing matters to attend to," Zulong said in denial. "Devils come first, you can wait or you can join us. Yinglong, we have no time to waste."

"Is that not too hasty?" Yinglong warned. "Nephew is alright now. We should approach this more carefully."

"And I want those punished found. Since these birds are not the root cause then I'll dig out the devils who attacked my son!"

Zulong took to the sky joined by many others and Yi Fei'e. "I apologise for attacking Phoenix Roost. As it is a misunderstanding, will you join me in seeking answers?"

"Go to hell!" Zufeng growled. The dragon nodded and promptly flew off, accompanied by his relatively fresh army and those knocked out stored within various devices.

"Hotheaded fool," she spat. "Repair my city and get the formation back up."

"Your majesty, you just let them go?" Chongming quizzed her from the side. His injuries were pretty severe but he was alive. The same could not be said for the majority of her ministers.

"Chongming, look me in the eye and tell me we can beat them," she responded. The divine bird couldn't say anything and merely sighed.