Disclaimer: I don't own DxD, Against The Gods, Martial God Asura, Martial World, or the story's image. They all belong to their respective owners.

Info:

Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Divine Profound Realm and Saint Profound Realm.

World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.

Fleshly Body ranks - Strength Training Stage, Viscera Training Stage, Muscle Altering Stage, Bone Forging Stage, Pulse Condensation Period, Tempering Marrow, Eight Inner Hidden Gates and Nine Stars of the Dao Palace.

Beta-read by: KryoKon

Chapter 36 - Bloodline Of The Phoenix

(A/N: Divine Profound Realm has switched places with the Saint Profound Realm. I'm too lazy to change this in the previous chapters, but just know that from now on, the Saint Profound Realm is the highest one and Divine Profound Realm comes before it.)

A few days prior...

After Issei had gone to the Xiao Sect along with Xia Mei, Lan Xueruo had been left behind in the New Moon Profound Palace. To begin with, the relationship between Xia Mei and Lan Xueruo was already superficial, and Issei wanted nothing to do with other girls. As such, they didn't bother with her.

When Lan Xueruo learned that Issei had left, she had been struck by grief. After all, her past wasn't simple. The reason why she was in the New Moon Profound Palace was to search for geniuses who could aid her in one of her plans. She had her eyes on Issei, but since he had left to the Xiao Sect, she had decided to head back to Blue Wind Imperial City, which was where she had come from.

However, while she was using her mount to fly over the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, she had been struck by a migratory flock of Red Feather Flame Birds, which were beasts of the Nascent Profound Realm. This flock had hundreds of beasts, and Lan Xueruo ended up drowned within it along with her mount, being thrown down from the sky.

Two days ago, Lan Xueruo had managed to find this village in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. She and her mounts were injured, and she needed a place to rest. Thankfully, the villagers were glad to entertain their new guest, and carefully treated her injuries without asking for anything in return. As such, when she noticed that two powerful forces were approaching, she had disregard her wounds, wanting to help out the village if the newcomers were enemies.

Now, imagine her surprise when she saw that in reality, the two newcomers were actually Issei and Xiao Luocheng, the two cultivators that had actually caused her to leave New Moon City in the first place.

"You... Why are you two here?!" Lan Xueruo's eyes widened and she raised her trembling hand towards the two young men who looked at her with baffled expressions.

"Why are we here?" asked Xiao Luocheng, breaking through from his stupor. He then sneered and said, "The real question is: Why are you here?"

The moment Xiao Luocheng saw Lan Xueruo, all of his friendliness disappeared, replaced by his previous coldness and haughtiness. Xiao Luocheng wasn't a simple person; when between his friends, he would be kind, friendly and even enthusiastic. However, the moment he finds a stranger, and someone from another power at that, he would revert back to his dark demeanor.

Issei quickly dismounted, rushing forward. He then stopped when he was between Xiao Luocheng and Lan Xueruo, a troubled expression on his face. The last thing he wanted was to cause even more trouble. Issei sent a stern gaze in Xiao Luocheng's direction before turning around to face Lan Xueruo.

"Sister Xueruo," said Issei politely while looking at her calmly, completely opposite of Xiao Luocheng. He kept his amiable demeanor and said, "Xiao Luocheng is here with me on a mission we received in the Xiao Sect. Could Sister Xueruo tell us why you're here too?"

While Issei was saying so, the villagers that had been walking around in the village turned their heads to look in the direction of the entrance, and upon seeing the three youths, their interest was sparkled. Within a few moments, a large number of villagers was already converging near the entrance, standing a few steps away from Lan Xueruo.

"I'm here... because of some misfortunes," Lan Xueruo managed to calm down and explained the situation. "When I was heading to Blue Wind Imperial City, I was intercepted by a flock of Red Feather Flame Birds. I ended up injured, and decided to rest in this village."

"So it was like that...," said Issei, a small smile on his face. He then turned around and motioned for Xiao Luocheng to come to his side. Turning his gaze back to Lan Xueruo, he said, "Sister Xueruo, our quest here is to deal with the groups of bandits residing in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range. We would like to enter the village. Would it be possible?"

Issei's tone was soothing, and each of his words were on the perfect volume; not too loud or too quiet. He used the right amount of flatter in his voice, and kept his posture respectful. The effects of this was obvious. In a few moments, Lan Xueruo was no longer wary of them.

"I don't really have any power here. I'm only a guest. I'm afraid you'll have to ask the leader of the village for that," said Lan Xueruo with an apologizing tone. "Would you like me to call for him?"

"Then I must trouble Sister Xueruo," said Issei while smiling.

Lan Xueruo nodded, and was about to turn around when a slightly hoarse voice stopped her right in her tracks.

"No need to. I'm already here."

From within the crowd that had gathered around the three youths, a man in his mid-thirties walked out. He could be considered handsome, and he wore humble clothes. The moment he appeared, all of the people in the crowd made way for him to walk.

"Clan Leader Feng," Lan Xueruo turned towards the middle-aged man and politely bowed. The favors he had granted her by taking care of her were far too big, and she was naturally respectful towards this kind, humble man.

"Lady Lan," said Clan Leader Feng, smiling in her direction. He then turned towards Issei and Xiao Luocheng and widened his smile, "Come, come. If you know Lady Lan, then you definitely must be good people."

Issei glanced at Xiao Luocheng from the corner of his eyes. Both of them nodded.

"Clan Leader Feng is too kind," Issei smiled ingratiatingly and took a step forward, followed by Xiao Luocheng. "Then we'll have to intrude."

…

…

…

Once inside the village, Issei and Xiao Luocheng were quick to notice something. Although there were a couple dozens of inhabitants, most of them had their cultivation base stuck at the late Elementary Profound Realm. Even Clan Leader Feng was in the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, which was quite pitiful for his thirty-something age.

After a little bit of inquiring and leading the conversation, Issei was able to find out many things, as well as gain Clan Leader Feng's trust through his polite and calm demeanor and smooth talking. He discovered that this village actually guarded a legacy left behind by the deity they worshiped, called as the Phoenix God. This legacy was, in reality, a trial left behind by the Phoenix. By passing the trial, one would be able to acquire the bloodline of the Phoenix.

Aside from that, Issei had also learned of the reason why everyone was stuck at the Elementary Profound Realm. Apparently, their ancestors had made a mistake, and ended up harming innocent lives through use of their Phoenix Flame, which was the product of the bloodline of the Phoenix. Because of that, it seemed that the Phoenix God had cursed them, and everyone of their clan had a seal placed in their cultivation, preventing them from reaching the Nascent Profound Realm. Even though countless years had passed since the accident, the seal was passed from generation to generation.

However, even with their cultivation sealed, this tribe was still able to survive in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. The deterrence of the bloodline of the Phoenix influenced all of the Fierce Beasts and Desolate beasts, and because of that, no beasts lived near their village. The lives of the village had been peaceful, but suddenly, the Black Demon Bandits somehow found out about their village, and figured that they had some treasures. Since then, the lives of the villagers had turned into a living hell.

They lived under the constant threat of an attack from the Black Demon Bandits, and every once in awhile, some of their brothers and sisters would be kidnapped by the Black Demon Bandits, all in order to pressure them. The leader of the Black Demon Bandits had already appeared a few times, trying to negotiate with them for the treasure, promising that they would keep their lives. Clan Leader Feng would always refuse. Even if it meant dying, he was unwilling to let the bloodline of their God fall in the hands of bandits.

By the end of their conversation, the sun was already setting. Clan Leader Feng arranged a small hut for Issei and Xiao Luocheng, who politely accepted. After reviewing with Xiao Luocheng what they should do and concluding that they would decide whether or not to help them out in the following them, Issei laid down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Issei's mind wandered around. Sometimes he would think about the condition of the village, while others he would wonder about the Black Demon Bandits. Most of the times, his mind was focused on the bloodline mentioned by Clan Leader Feng. A treasure was already enough to make Issei crazy, but the bloodline of a Divine Beast... it was full of enticement.

As they say, people die for riches, birds die for food. No matter what, Issei was hell-bent on getting that bloodline. Even if it meant facing against the army of bandits, he was willing to go through with it. Originally, he hadn't been planning on taking out his most powerful weapons and Ddraig because he was still not too trustful of Xiao Luocheng. Issei was quite wary, and even though he was already good friends with Xiao Luocheng, he didn't completely trust him. As such, he had no intention of reviewing his trump cards.

However, if it was for the sake of getting the bloodline of the Phoenix... then Issei would have to clench his teeth and just throw precaution to the wind. Issei didn't want profound coins. He didn't want women or riches. He wanted power, and only power. If it was for the sake of power, even more so if it was the power of a Divine Beast, then he would stop at nothing to get his hands on it.

Suddenly, Jasmine, who had kept quiet all day, spoke, "The bloodline of the Phoenix...," murmured Jasmine, unable to hide the excitement and surprise in her voice. "Who would have thought that in this backwater planet, a Divine Beast would actually leave behind its bloodline... simply unbelievable!"

Jasmine couldn't help but to think that this planet, Blue Pole Star, was certainly strange. In all of the billions of planets of the Middle Realm, why would Gods and Divine Beasts actually choose this one for leaving behind legacies? There was the Sky Poison Pearl, and then the Seeds of the Evil God. Now, she had actually come across the bloodline of the Phoenix. Each and every of those things was extremely rare, and even in the Higher Realm, it would be nigh impossible come across them. And yet, in this backwater country of this backwater planet of this backwater realm, she had already found three such things!

In the end, Jasmine could only sigh while shaking her head, "It wouldn't be wise for this princess to think about such matters. If I don't understand, I don't understand. That's it."

At the same time, Eggy also had some opinions on the matter, "Issei, you have to take this opportunity! Even though I myself am not too sure about the power of Divine Beast, their bloodline must be something impossibly powerful! No matter what happens, you must definitely get it!"

While Jasmine was more worried about herself, Eggy's focus was on Issei and Issei alone. Lately, she hadn't been able to absorb Source Energy, since Issei hadn't killed anyone in a long time, but she didn't mind it. To her, Issei getting powerful was even better than her getting powerful. She completely prioritized Issei over everything else, and was the first to urge him into becoming more powerful.

Issei smiled at Eggy's words, even though he didn't need her assurance. He had long since made his mind to getting his hands on the bloodline, and no matter what, he wouldn't come out of this mountain range without the Phoenix Blood coursing through his veins. Someone up there had given him the opportunity to become power, and he would definitely take it. But, he seemed needed to not be too blunt about his objectives.

Initially, Clan Leader Feng had suspected that Issei and Xiao Luocheng were there because they wanted the bloodline for themselves, and it had taken Issei a lot of time, smooth talking and persuasion in order to convince Clan Leader Feng otherwise. Well, it would be more correct to say that even though Issei was after the bloodline, he didn't want to steal it. At the very least, he wanted to do something for this village in return.

As such, Issei determined that after getting his hands on the bloodline, he would make sure to wipe out the bandits, even if it meant Ddraig being found out. If worse came to worst, then he would simply find some other way to deal with the situation.

While Issei thought of such things, in the small hut next to his, Xiao Luocheng seemed to share similar thoughts, and although he wasn't nearly as excited as Issei when it came to the bloodline, he was also thirsting for it.

Xiao Luocheng was someone who wholeheartedly pursued the path of cultivation and the sword, and he clearly knew that the bloodline of the Phoenix would be extremely beneficial to him. Differently from Issei, he had something to base himself on. The Divine Phoenix Empire actually had the Phoenix Blood coursing through the veins of its Royal Family, and it was because of that it could maintain its position as the number one country of the Profound Sky Continent.

When Xiao Luocheng recalled the bloodline of the Divine Phoenix Empire, he also realized why the flame-like imprints between the brows of the villagers seemed so familiar. Xiao Luocheng, by pure luck, had seen someone from the Divine Phoenix Empire in a fight, and at some point during the battle, the same imprint had appeared in their forehead. Now that he thought of it, Xiao Luocheng was sure that the Phoenix bloodline of this village was related to the one of the Divine Phoenix Empire.

"Well... no use thinking too much about it. Tomorrow, I'll be able to discuss this with Issei," murmured Xiao Luocheng, his eyes slowly closing. A few minutes later, he was already sleeping. Even though he had already reached the point where he could spend days without sleep since cultivating would have the same rejuvenating effects, he still preferred the traditional way.

Just like that, the day came to an end.

Read & Review~! (Not enough reviews last chapter for a double release. If you want a double release tomorrow, then there needs to be 35+ reviews on this chapter.)