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 52 - Battle For The Phoenix Blood


In a large and luxurious room, two men in their twenties faced each others, sitting in opposite chairs. The first one was slightly younger than the other, having only turned twenty, and had a respectful, and even bashful, expression on his face.

He was none other than that proud youth whom Issei had met before, the one being flanked by his own entourage of girls – Feng Wen.

As for the man across him, he was one of the Princes of Phoenix City, the Seventh Prince and legitimate son of the Phoenix Emperor, Feng Lan.

Feng Lan was handsome, much more than Feng Wen, his half-brother and bastard son of the Phoenix Emperor. Although Feng Lan's status was much higher than Feng Wen, they still had a rather close relationship, with not much prejudice between them.

In terms of cultivation base, Feng Lan appeared to be only slightly stronger than Feng Wen.

"So… what has brought you to my room today, little brother?" asked Feng Lan, gazing at his younger brother warmly, his hands constantly playing around with a glass-cup, in which a clear velvet wine dance around.

"It's not of much importance, but I have something to ask big brother," Feng Wen smiled politely. "Not too long ago, I came across a strange-looking and seemingly young cultivator. He seemed to be only sixteen or so, and was an unfamiliar face."

Feng Wen then paused for a second before continuing, "What caught my attention was the fact that he seemed to be a distinguished elder, since he held the 'Phoenix Order Medallion'. As such, I would like to ask if big brother knows anything about him."

"A new distinguished elder?" Feng Lan's eyes widened ever so slightly, and a cold light flashed in his eyes, which went unnoticed by Feng Wen. After some moments of silence, Feng Lan fished a small stone from his robes. On the stone, a small formation could be seen.

It was a voice-transmission talisman, which could send messages from large distances.

"Let me see what I can find out about him," said Feng Lan as he brought the voice-transmission talisman to his mouth. After murmuring a few words, a dull light flashed on it, and not even a few seconds later, he already had a response.

While Feng Lan listened to whoever talked from the other side, Feng Wen looked at his brother curiously, seeing the many changes in his expression. Some times, Feng Lan appeared to be angry, other times baffled, but most of the times, enraged. Feng Wen couldn't help but to wonder just what was his brother hearing that could actually make him reveal so many negative emotions.

After some time, Feng Lan finally placed the voice-transmission talisman back in his robes, and his face that had once been warm and friendly was now cold, a deep and wretched scowl marring his features. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, and his body seemed to be trembling in what seemed to be rage and, strangely enough, anticipation.

With a stare that could freeze over the world, Feng Lan looked at Feng Wen, who flinched under his brother's gaze. Before Feng Wen could even ask what was happening, Feng Lan opened his mouth to speak.

"Feng Wen," said Feng Lan coldly, his voice full of ruthlessness. "Kill that person."

"Mn?!"

Feng Wen looked at his brother in shock, wondering if he had heard anything wrong.

"B-brother… could you please repeat that?"

"Kill him."

"Brother…," Feng Wen looked fearfully at Feng Lan, cowering under his brother's gaze. After mustering up what remained of his courage, he managed to murmur some words, "But… because… of the World Laws… If I were to kill that elder, since he is from the same faction, that would be betraying the Phoenix Faction, and… It's impossible to do that."

Without a single word, Feng Lan fished out a small, bone-colored token from his robes and tossed it to Feng Wen.

Startled, Feng Wen almost let the small token fall to the ground, but managed to grab it in the end. Despite that, the moment he read the small words engraved on them, he almost let it fall down to the ground in shock.

In small, blood-red letters, the words 'Law Breaker – 3' were engraved on the token.

'Law Breaker' were token that one could use to temporally ignore one of the World Laws. Such tokens were extremely hard to find, and it was said that only the Devil Beast King could create them with his immense power. Each of those tokens are regarded as heaven-defying treasures, and the amount of them in the three factions could be counted in a single hand.

And yet… in his hands… there was actually a 'Law Breaker' token! Not only that, it was the token that enabled one to break the third World Law, which is the law that made the quick changing of factions possible, and also prevented people from back-stabbing their allies, along with betraying their factions. [1]

"Brother, this-"

Before Feng Wen could continue, Feng Lan tossed one more token to him. In it, the words 'Law Breaker – 1' could be seen.

"Use it to kill him; It appears that he is impervious to fire, but that doesn't necessarily means that he's strong. From my sources, he's not even of the Sky Profound Realm. Kill him and bring back his head for me."

"But-"

"You aren't allowed to ask questions," Feng Lan interrupted Feng Wen before he could even begin. "Just kill him, come back, and I'll explain the situation. Do it tonight, while he's absorbing the Phoenix Bloodline he just acquired."

"..." Feng Wen looked at Feng Lan with a terrified expression, but didn't dare to show any unwillingness. While burying his feelings of doubt deep within his heart, he turned around and exited the room without a single word, while keeping the two tokens close to his chest.

In normal situations, he wouldn't do something like killing an elder from his own faction, but… at that moment, the pressure he could feel from Feng Lan was actually from the… Divine Profound Realm. The realm above the Sovereign Profound Realm.


"It seems that I must hasten my plans…."

Feng Lan looked murmured, watching the retreating figure of the man he called brother.

"It was supposed to only happen in a few more years, but… the appearance of this boy, who is impervious to fire even though he's weak, was mentioned in the Old Writings. If he's truly the one mentioned there, then after he matures, we won't have a chance to attack… it's best to be strike earlier than to never do it…."

He then got up from his chair, walking towards the end of his room. With a wave of his hands, a formation appeared on the wall in front of him, which slowly transformed into a large, wooden door. Without hesitation, Feng Lan opened it and stepped inside.

"I must warn the Devil King… the Three Factions have reigned for far too long, and have grown complacent and arrogant. Their era has long since faded, and it's now time… for the Devil Beasts to rise!"

As he said so, Feng Lan fully passed through the door, his surroundings darkening until he couldn't even see his own hands. Not minding the eerie darkness, he continued to walk forward. At the same time, a faint light shone from his chest.

If one were to look beneath his clothes, they would be able to see that embedded on Feng Lan's torso were three tokens, the skin and flesh around them almost rotten and putrid, of a black and decaying appearance.

They were three 'Law Breaker' tokens.

One… for each law.


While plotting and scheming took place behind the scenes, Issei, who was oblivious to the fact that someone was out for his head, was rushing to his quarters, already thinking of how much power he would have once he absorbed the five drops of Phoenix Blood he had been given.

Within minutes, he reached his quarters, thereupon hastily opening the door to his room, entering it and closing it with a bang, not bothering to lock it. After doing so, he just sat down on the floor, not caring for his surroundings, and took out the small vial from his robes.

"Let's begin!"

Issei exclaimed, his eyes shining with anticipation. He then took took out the lid of the vial, and gazed at the blood-red liquid inside.

There was only a disappointingly small amount of blood within, which could be easily separated into five small drops. Despite that, Issei didn't lost spirit, already having been expecting that. He then analyzed the blood closely, paying close attention to the faint scarlet light around them, and the heat wave that surrounded it, distorting the air.

"Good stuff!" praised Issei, sure that what was in his hands was indeed what he had been expecting; five authentic drops of Phoenix Blood. Aside from the blood of Divine Beasts, which blood could possibly emanate such power and presence?

After calming down his mind, rubbing his temples and taking in deep breaths, Issei brought the small vial close to his lips, and let the equivalent of a small drop of blood fall into his mouth. Previously, he had been told that there were two methods to absorb the blood. One of them was to press them against the space between one's brown, while the other was to directly ingest it.

The first method was the safest one, and also the most used one, but happened to have the worse effect. In contrast to it, the second method was much less orthodox, and also more dangerous. At the same time, the effects of assimilating the Phoenix blood by ingestion were much better than sealing it between one's brows.

Issei, being the daring youth he was, obviously opted for the second way, even though Feng Huan had heavily instructed him not to.

"Gulp."

The small drop of Phoenix Blood passed through Issei's throats, leaving behind a searing hot sensation it its wake. Not even the Fire Seed could completely negate the feeling of warmth of the blood of a Divine Beast.

Soon, the small drop of blood reached Issei's stomach, where it surprisingly seemed to have gained life, phasing through his innards and heading towards his blood-veins. Once there, it was about to circulate together with the other drops of blood, but just at that moment, something happened within Issei.

Inside Issei's heart, a small object made its appearance. It was black and shaped like a cube, with faint magical symbols etched on its surface. This object… was none other than the Magic Cube, which had been slumbering with Issei's body ever since it had been first activated. [2]

At the same moment that the Magic Cube awakened, the small drop of Phoenix Blood suddenly stopped in place, and if it had a face, it would surely reveal an expression of terror. That was because, in that moment, an overbearing and tyrannical pressure had locked onto it, bringing it towards Issei's heart.

"What?!"

Issei's eyes widened, feeling the chances within his body. At first, he was jubilant, seeing that the mysterious Magic Cube had awakened, but when he used his consciousness to see that the Phoenix Blood was being dragged to the Magic Cube, his expression went from surprise to shock.

"This… don't tell me… that it plans to absorb it!"

He didn't know why, but at that moment, he had a hunch on what the Magic Cube was planning. Even though it had never happened before, it was clear to Issei that the Magic Cube actually planned on absorbing that drop of Phoenix Blood!

"Dammit! This is MY Phoenix blood!"

In that moment, all of the surprise on Issei's face disappeared, being replaced by rage. The Magic Cube had been sleeping for years, not doing anything no matter how much Issei called for it, and now it actually wanted to just wake up and steal his OWN rewards?!

There was no way that Issei would be willing to see that happen!

"I dare you to!"

Issei roared in rage, employing all of his mental forces in battling against the Magic Cube's oppressive power, which had been about to absorb the Phoenix Blood. At that moment, the Phoenix Blood, which was quickly being dragged towards the Magic Cube, stopped. It immediately became joyous, but before it could celebrate, misfortune struck again!

The Magic Cube also happened to be unwilling to let go of its prey! With reinforced power, it blocked Issei's mental forces, once more locking onto the Phoenix Blood with his power.

At that moment, what was happening was a battle between an angered youth and a magic cube. A battle for the drop of blood of a Divine Beast!

Read & Review~! (If we reach more than 40 reviews on this chapter, there will be two chapters tomorrow. By the way, I'll already warn you guys that the next chapter ends in a cliffhanger, so if you don't want to suffer because of it, then I suggest that you review so you can get the two chapters. If you don't... well, good luck with the cliffhanger!)

Also, per a guest's request, I just want to make it clear that this story is based on Chinese novels, and most of the content before this arc was unoriginal, for most of their part, at least. As for this arc, although it was influenced by Chinese stories, it's still something of my own, with the ideas behind it and the plot being thought up by me. I just want to make all of that clear.


Footnotes:

[1] As mentioned before, there are three World Laws. They are:

The First Law - Spiritual power can only be used as fuel for flame-related attacks.

The Second Law - The Saint Profound Realm can't be reached through normal means.

The Third Law - It's the law that enables the quick changing of factions, as well as the one that makes cultivator unable to betray their own faction. Of course, if they are assimilated into another faction after losing a war, that wouldn't count as betraying, but instead as being converted. The moment they are converted, the color of their armors changes, and the bloodline within them of their previous faction would be eliminated, being replaced by the bloodline of the Divine Beast of their new faction.

[2] Issei received that Magic Cube in Book 1. The previous owner of the Sky Poison Pearl, Liang Ye, gave it to him. If you want, re-read chapters 77 and 85 of the first book.