Divine Emperor of Death

"You're kidding, right…?"

Shirley looked at the white-hot flames dispersing from the few hundred-meter radius as they gathered towards the center. No, she could sense that they were being absorbed.

What she imagined to be molten slag from that statue didn't appear in her vision. Instead, as the white-hot flames were absorbed, the sight of the stone statue came into her view. It absorbed the entirety of the Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration and appeared unharmed, causing Shirley's eyes to twitch.

Now, she finally understood what Dewzai meant by her statement.

Ridiculously enough, Shirley could sense phoenix undulations brimming from the statue at this moment as white-hot flames rose up and manifested into a fire phoenix.

"This is too much…!"

Shirley complained.

She turned around and ran, hopping thrice in a row to gain momentum and to fly away to another circular spatial platform, but the platform was endless, so she prepared to dodge.

*Screech!~*

The ear-splitting cry of the Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration could be heard, causing Shirley's heart to skip a beat as she froze, unable to believe this technique was even cast with bloodline suppression on her by the damned statue. *BOOOM!~~~*

It landed right on her, exploding into a fountain of white flames that surged into a massive pyre like it was an incineration burial for her.

Everyone witnessing this scene in the First Haven World shook their heads. They felt it was a pity that the Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration didn't work on this mysterious statue that burned Dewzai with her own devilish flames.

It seems like Shirley met the same fate. They even felt like she won after using the Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration, but the reality was cruel. This challenge seemed far worse than the First Hidden Pagoda's trial. It seemed far more easier compared to this trial, especially when considering that its rules were actually explained while the Ninth Hidden Pagoda's trial seemed to blindside the participants.

Looking at the pyre of white phoenix flames, they felt Shirley would soon come out, but the projection sure didn't pan away from the scene, causing the intelligent ones to frown first.

As the air shimmered with frost and a soft blue light, Shirley appeared on the other side of the stone statue's Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration like a mirage.

She stepped out of a mirror made out of icy flames, her figure slightly clad in icy crystals.

"No way…! It's the Frostveil Mirage Wisp Reversal!"

Cyclonis Blizzara screamed out in shock as it was their Ice Phoenix Clan's Divine Technique used for escaping but also reversing any yin-based attacks. Unfortunately, the Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration was a yang-based attack in terms of nature, so it could not be reversed. Even then, it worked as a supreme escape technique.

It was an extremely powerful Divine Technique, but it was an escape technique. It was godly, known only to Emperor-Tier Ice Phoenixes as it allows their body to merge with the moisture as they melt and form into a crystalline structure, not only giving temporary invulnerability to attacks that don't reach a significant gap but also allowing them to disappear from the sight of their enemies into a swirl of frosty mist to escape and reappear in any place that carries a hint of yin yet Shirley also managed to learn that, leaving her wondering if she was an Ice Phoenix or an old icy bird with no bloodline.

Very few of her people had managed to comprehend it in a few million years but she still hadn't comprehended it yet, making her feel ashamed.

Shirley gasped for breath heavily, seemingly having overused her energy with the continuous usage of two Divine Techniques. Her meridians were pulsating, needing a bit of time to recover.

"Who are you?"

"You seem eerily similar to what my darling described…"

"Don't tell me you're constructed after the Celestial Transcendent?"

Shirley asked, but as she received no response from the statue, she clenched her teeth.

She knew defeating this statue would prove to be impossible for the current her since she couldn't sense the slightest bit of damage on the stone statue.

Knowing that she couldn't attack, she decisively turned around to flee.

'If this is a Greater Realm platform, then there should be other Greater Realms…!'

Shirley wondered if she could jump on some other Greater Realm to escape from this menace. It seemed dishonorable to flee like this, but she wasn't about to give up. She felt like she needed more information on the statue if she needed to defeat it, and perhaps the other Greater Realm platforms could give it to her.

*Whiiz!~*

Abruptly, white-hot flames dived down like a phoenix and crashed into her.

Shirley pounced to the right with all her strength and skill, barely dodging the move.

"Consecutive Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration…!?"

Shirley's eyes trembled as she visibly cringed.

She turned to look back and saw that the statue was readying to release another Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration at her. However, since there weren't clouds like before, she guessed that it was only a mini version of the technique.

Regardless, it was still enough to one-hit kill her if she couldn't defend herself against it.

Shirley sped up using her Ice Phoenix Clan's movement technique.

She left a trail of ice in her wake, but she was incredibly fast, piercing through the empty space like she was some construct that couldn't be stopped. Numerous mini Eternal Pyre Phoenix Conflagration tried to land on her, but she dodged each and every one of them.

The white-hot pyres were still burning without any end. Regardless, she quickly got away from the statue, putting hundreds of kilometers between them.

"Dammit! Just how big is this Greater Realm spatial platform!?"

Shirley couldn't see the edge nor the other Greater Realms she thought she would see.

She turned back and saw the stone statue still unmoving as ever. However, she didn't underestimate its capabilities for a long-range attack and hid herself using the Ice Phoenix's concealment technique from the Noble Phoenix Moon Shade Art, the Body Tempering Immortal Cultivation Manual.

It was an extremely capable concealment technique on par with the Ghostly Crows and Nadia's previous species, Dark-Winged Twilight Wolf.