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Though he appeared calm on the surface, Lin Feng's heart was already overwhelmed by crashing waves of shock.
Based on all the information he'd just analyzed, the corpse of the magic beast shown in that projection...
Its strength when alive must have been that of a high-level Dou Sheng!
After all, Zhao Hua Sheng Zhe ( Saint Zhao Hua ) mentioned in the original story—
In his lifetime, he was likely a nine-colored eighth-tier, or even ninth-tier treasure pill alchemist.
Therefore, his soul power must have been incomparably strong.
Yet even with such strength, he had to use a Heaven Class Dou Technique to barely repel a few mid- to low-level Dou Zun.
But that magic beast's soul fragment from earlier—
It had directly annihilated four peak Nine-Change Dou Zun experts and gravely wounded another!
The injured one had nearly half his body obliterated.
Judging by his condition, he probably wouldn't live much longer.
Lin Feng speculated that the man must have fallen shortly after leaving behind that bronze scroll.
The difference in power... was self-evident.
But what puzzled Lin Feng was—why did that creature fall atop that particular mountain peak?
And that towering mountain itself... why did it seem faintly familiar to him?
Moreover, the southern chain of mountains—though relatively lower and stretching without end—
Why did he feel an even stronger sense of familiarity?
As if... he had actually been there before?
Wait—?!
The towering peak where that magic beast lay, and the southern mountain range—it was an enormous space between them.
If that land was fully developed, even building several cities wouldn't exhaust the area.
Could it be... that area between the two ranges has already become a city?
Suddenly, Lin Feng remembered something.
He immediately pulled out a map and spread it open, eyes locking onto a very prominent city on the parchment.
"I didn't expect... this place to be there. I should have realized sooner."
Gripping the map of the Jia Ma Empire tightly in his hand, Lin Feng's gaze fixated on Yun Lan Mountain, located north of Jia Ma Sacred City.
Then, he muttered in his heart, "If I remember right, the Yun Lan Sect had a place called the Gate of Life and Death. Could that be the very place where the Rank 9 magic beast fell?"
Just as the thought formed, Lin Feng furrowed his brow again.
If the Gate of Life and Death really was where that Rank 9 magic beast perished...
Then why had the Yun Lan Sect's successors remained perfectly fine all these generations?
Logically speaking, when future sect heirs at the Dou Ling level entered the Gate of Life and Death,
They should've been crushed into powder by the lingering pressure of a high-level Dou Sheng.
But Yun Lan Sect had passed down for eight or nine generations now, all without incident.
No rumors either—no poor soul had ever been crushed to death by residual pressure within the Gate.
After a long while, and unable to come to any conclusion, Lin Feng had no choice but to set the question aside for now.
Then, he began to recall the species of that magic beast.
He remembered one of the experts saying: "This isn't just any ordinary Rank 9 Heavenly Phoenix!"
To have reached the Rank 9 meant that the beast possessed incomparably powerful bloodlines.
After all, within magic beasts, reaching a realm beyond one's innate bloodline tier was nearly impossible without great fortune or chance encounters.
Which meant that this beast likely reached its rank solely through its inherited bloodline.
And to be called a Heavenly Phoenix, with a bloodline potent enough to reach Rank 9, he could only think of one possibility— that was the ancestor of the Heaven Demon Phoenix: the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix!
As for the method used to store information within that bronze scroll, Tian Huo Zun Zhe had explained it was an ancient technique.
If so, then perhaps people of that era referred to such beasts as Tian Huang—Heavenly Phoenixes.
And as for the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, that was a name given by later generations!
Thinking of this, Lin Feng's expression turned a little strange.
Such incredibly powerful magic beasts, after death, would always leave behind a kind of protective field known as a Beast Spiritual Barrier at the place they perished.
That thing not only had extremely strong defensive capabilities, but was also extremely hard to detect.
Just like in the original story, even an 8th-tier alchemist like Xiao Yan when he was inside the micro-world of Zhao Hua Sheng Zhe, he still failed to detect the Beast Spiritual Barriers left behind by the Ancient Void Dragon and the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix.
So then, how did these few Dou Zun manage to locate the place where the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix fell?
At this moment, Lin Feng felt he had far too many questions.
And yet, no one could answer them.
"It seems I can only wait until I become stronger in the future, then go investigate it myself to get the answers I want."
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Lin Feng gazed out the window and murmured softly.
The only thing he could guess at the moment was the identity of the one who killed the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix.
If nothing unexpected happened, it was most likely the doing of the Old Dragon Emperor who was imprisoned beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
It seemed that the dried-up corpse discovered by the Black Emperor Sect was probably just a lowly minion used to deliver a warning.
The real threat—was that Rank 9 magic beast on the summit of Yun Lan Sect's mountain, which had likely been sent to either deal with or monitor Zhu Kun, a powerhouse of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix clan.
But judging from the result, that expert of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix clan had probably been severely wounded by Zhu Kun.
In the end, when it fled to Yun Lan Mountain, due to its heavy injuries, it perished there.
Otherwise, the guardian beast suppressed beneath the Tuo She Ancient God's seal would have been a powerhouse of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix clan, not the Old Dragon Emperor of the Ancient Void Dragon clan.
As for that Rank 8 one… no one knew whether it was an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix or a Heaven Demon Phoenix.
Although in the original work, Feng Qing'er said it was a pure-blooded Heaven Demon Phoenix— she, after all, had never seen an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix before. It might have been a misidentification.
Therefore, even the information regarding its identity as a member of the Heaven Demon Phoenix clan remains uncertain.
"Right, I remember that in the original, when Zi Yan saw that dried-up corpse, her reaction was—like she was facing a natural-born enemy! But if that beast was the food of the Ancient Void Dragon clan, a Heaven Demon Phoenix, then that girl should have felt… hungry instead!"
At that thought, Lin Feng felt he had an answer regarding the identity of that corpse.
At the same time, his desire for that magic beast's corpse rose yet another level.
"It's just a pity… there's no one by my side with any bloodline connection to the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix. Otherwise, having her accept the inheritance of that Rank 9 beast could make the most of this opportunity—and when she grows up, she would definitely be a powerful ally."
After figuring out the corpse's identity, Lin Feng turned his thoughts to another matter, and sighed with some regret in his heart.
As of now, he had no Heaven Demon Phoenix friends or wives.
All he could do was plunder heaven's treasures. Once he grew strong enough, he'd directly extract the magic core and refine the essence blood.
Oh, right. He also needed to find a way to obtain Yan Luotian's Sky Bird Nine Flying Wings.
Of course, if he could also obtain the Sky Demon Puppet of the Old Ground Demon Ghost, that would be even better.
By then, the wings could be refined into a Flying Dou Technique, and the magic core and corpse could be made into the Sky Demon Puppet.
Aside from the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix's inheritance, nothing would be wasted.
As for a Heaven Demon Phoenix wife... well, who could say what might happen in the future?
After he dealt with the bronze scroll, Lin Feng's life returned to its usual calm.
Every day, he cultivated, studied alchemy techniques, and prepared matters related to the upcoming auction.
Not long ago, Lin Feng had also deliberately spread the news of his sixth-tier alchemist status.
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