Chapter 357: Birdshot, Earthturner Sword (II)

Caught up in the questioning, Li Hao asked excitedly, “Do you command an aura? Don’t tell me you don’t understand what that is! I’ve seen ancient tomes that talk about auras. Shake once if you have one.”

One shake.

The Flaming Phoenix Spear possessed an aura!

“A fire aura?” Li Hao lit up. “Forget it, it’s all the same. Elements stem from one’s personal comprehension, the aura is not so...”

He thought back to what Hong Yitang shared with him, suddenly finding the man to have an exceedingly unique perspective of the aura. Li Hao ceased his questions—there was no point in making the spear shake once or twice. Experiencing the origin weapon’s aura was the more important task at hand!

“Let's fight, Flaming Phoenix Spear!” Li Hao tossed the spear into the air with a flourish. It flew upward... and clattered to the ground.

Is it playing dead?

A wordless Li Hao walked over and picked up the weapon with a frown. “We fight, or I smash you into two!”

The spear shook. It shook many times. Li Hao regarded it with a raised eyebrow.

What’s it mean? These weapon souls don’t seem that smart at times.

“You’re not activated? You want mysterious power stones? Can’t you activate yourself?” The young man wanted to save resrouces where he could.

The spear continued trembling violently.

Fine, fine, I get it. You want a damned stone and won’t do anything without it.

That might not be the truth either. It could also be that these origin weapons had been inert for so long that they didn’t have enough energy to support themselves if they lacked a master. Plainly, Hou Xiaochen had infused the Flaming Phoenix Spear with some internal force or mysterious power when he gave it to Hao Lianchuan. He hadn’t done the same when he lent it to Li Hao—this was the truth behind the so-called activation!

Li Hao took out a fire stone from his storage ring. He’d reaped thirteen stones when he killed Yu Xiao and the others, adding it to the ones that he already had. He hadn’t had use for them lately, so they were all present and accounted for. There weren’t that many fire attributed ones, however. He counted only three among his storage.

One piece will last for a long time, right?

Li Hao looked at the Flaming Phoenix Spear again and was unable to withstand temptation.

Let’s give it a try!

As precious as mysterious power stones were, there would be chances to obtain more later. Meanwhile, he only had three days with the origin weapon.

Li Hao set his jaw and crushed the mysterious power stone. Fire energy surged out—Stellaris couldn’t be bothered with it. Under ordinary circumstances, the young man had to operate the Breathing Method of the Five Styles to force the little sword to absorb some. It was picky.

The Flaming Phoenix Spear was not; it furiously took in energy the moment the stone shattered. It was apparent from this point alone that the little sword was a higher class than the spear. Stellaris must have feasted only on the good stuff before; the Flaming Phoenix Spear was supplied with lower level energy.

A fiery phoenix shimmered in and out of sight when the origin weapon absorbed a vast quantity of fire energy! Scorching heat filled the living room.

Li Hao brightened. Was the origin weapon active? What was this that’d come out? Would the soul of the weapon attack, or was it the weapon itself that would take the field? He didn’t know as it was his first time manipulating an origin weapon. He’d chosen to make his attempt at the Guards because he was worried about an overly large disturbance at the family accommodations building. He might demolish Hao Lianchuan’s home.

A modest-sized phoenix appeared over the Flaming Phoenix Spear. Just as Li Hao thought that it was about to make a move and excitedly settled into his starter position... The phoenix vanished!

It was gone!

Li Hao blinked and waited for a while, but there was no further movement. He walked up to take a look at the weapon—it seemed brighter than before. But... there was nothing coming from it?

“Let’s fight!” Li Hao called out, but the Flaming Phoenix Spear trembled, as if saying it lacked strength because it hadn’t eaten enough.

The young man blinked, understanding the origin weapon’s meaning after a while. His face darkened, “Damn, I’ve been tricked by a weapon!”

Do you really take me for a fool??

Li Hao gnashed his teeth and suddenly raised his longsword, bringing it down on the phoenix!

Eat some more, why don’t you?? This is bullshit! There was a lot of fire energy in that stone, so how can’t it activate you?? You’re playing me! Imma cut you down and see if you still just lay there!

The Flaming Phoenix Spear abruptly shifted just as he was about to connect. It was an extremely sudden movement that launched itself at Li Hao’s throat. The spear was incredibly fast, like the action was premeditated and just waiting for Li Hao to draw near. The young man’s heart skipped a beat—a strong sense of danger dawned on him.

This thing knows how to ambush people?

The Flaming Phoenix Spear disappeared before the sword stroke and reappeared near Li Hao’s throat. The young man rapidly backed away, deploying the deer style to the utmost and floating backward through the air like a feather.

BOOM!

Fire ignited around the spear! It threatened to consume heaven and earth, making Li Hao feel that he was in the middle of a sea of fire. The furniture around him was undamaged, but he sensed that his mind was burning!

What kind of attack was this?

Immensely taken aback, he suddenly understood how Red Hair had died! This spear attacked the will! It didn’t destroy the physical body first, but the mind. The body was dead if the mind was dead, so Red Hair didn’t have sufficient time to evade. His will was constrained the moment the spear stabbed into his body, or it might’ve already been burned to death!

“Hup!” Li Hao roared. A caged tiger was breaking free and a ferocious tiger appeared in his heart! Being bolstered by the tiger, the young man deployed his sword. It didn’t seem to be rooted in reality, but was rather a battle of wills!

A phoenix appeared in his mind’s eye—the phoenix immolated the heavens! Sharp claws accompanied by fire grabbed for the tiger. The spear also stabbed toward Li Hao’s throat. The young man waved his sword around, slashing and hacking as the tiger of his mind leapt out to the cage with a snarl!

BOOM!

An explosion rang in the mind as Stellaris slashed forward. It knocked the Flaming Phoenix Spear slightly off center, but the spear didn’t break as it was durable beyond compare.

Li Hao immediately came to his senses—the tiger seemed to match the phoenix. He looked at the origin weapon close at hand and then at the sword in his grip. The Flaming Phoenix Spear... was fine?

Then what were you afraid of before?

He quickly understood certain things—the little sword might only be able to cut down souls, so the origin weapon’s soul refused to materialize. Was it the case that origin weapons could be smashed after their soul was obliterated?

The young man didn’t quite understand, but he was worried about truly ruining the Flaming Phoenix Spear. He shoved the little spear into his boot with a grin. “I won’t use this, so there’s no need to be afraid. That was impressive just now! Show me the true Flaming Phoenix Spear, come at me with everything you got!”

He had the benefit of experience this time. A phoenix image hovered in the air as soon as he put the little sword away. As deduced, the Flaming Phoenix Spear was indeed afraid of the little sword. The spear itself wasn’t, the soul was.

The phoenix morphed into a spear that swept through the air! A living spear!

The weapon was incredibly agile; Li Hao was forced into a rapid retreat, he didn’t immediately strike back. The Flaming Phoenix Spear shook out numerous copies of itself—the young man couldn’t immediately tell which one was real, or if they were all real. The spear was so quick that he only saw afterimages.

Transforming into a ferocious tiger, he punched with a snarl. A vicious tiger pounced on its prey, but the punch connected with empty air!

The spear vanished, reappearing near his head. Li Hao shot backward and tilted his head, yet proved unable to stop the attack. It grazed past his ear in the blink of an eye, scraping his right ear lobe with its aura despite his hasty head turn. Blood splattered the ground as a piece of flesh fell off. Keen spear qi abraded his cheek, covering his face and neck with blood and burn marks!

The young man sucked in a sharp breath and bounded up from the ground, frantically evading the spear’s second move. The Flaming Phoenix Spear was more nimble than a human! This ran far outside expectations—it was so fast that Li Hao couldn’t catch up to its tempo.

The spear flew into the sky like a bird as soon as he launched himself, arching through the void and aiming for Li Hao’s crotch. It wanted to run him through!

Li Hao broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn’t felt this way even when fighting peak Solars. There wasn’t much he could take into account at the moment, he roared and kicked with his foot. The spear trembled from the loud impact and transformed into a small snake, seeking to entwine itself around the young man’s legs.

This was one of Li Hao’s preferred moves. With his knowledge of the Five Styles, he sometimes likes to utilize his agility to wrap around the enemy’s weapons and follow them to defeat their wielder. Who would’ve thought that the Flaming Phoenix Spear would teach him the same lesson today?

What you know, I know too!

Li Hao shook his legs and opened his fists, curving his fingers into claws and shooting for the phoenix!

The spearhead abruptly transformed into a beak of wind and fire. Glinting with sharpness, it pecked at Li Hao’s hand.

Is this the tip of the weapon?

The young man thought dazedly. Was he fighting a phoenix instead of a spear? It was hard for him to articulate what he faced, but it reminded him of his teacher’s Five Styles!

His teacher gave enemies this kind of feeling when they fought. Although the opponent thought they were battling a human, Yuan Shuo seemed more like a real tiger, bear, or bird...

The bird style...

flashed through Li Hao’s mind. His hands also imitated bird beaks and pecked the phoenix in return!

Clang!

Fiery sparks sprayed in all directions as pain flared in the palm of Li Hao’s hand. His palm had been run through and a bloody hole was in it!

The young man cursed to himself.

It’s too sharp! This isn’t Hou Xiaochen’s aura, it’s the phoenix’s own skill!

He was such a fool to try poking the spear with his fingers! There was no effect at all. His palm was strong, but a physical body was of the mortal world. The phoenix he looked at wasn’t alive. This was a spear, an incomparably durable spear. He’d used his hand to smack a spearhead, of course he was injured!

He couldn’t be faulted for his actions, however. The phoenix was too realistic!

Li Hao came back to his senses and put everything out of his mind. He grasped certain things in this moment—

don’t treat this thing as a weapon or a phoenix. It’s a Yuan Shuo that knows the bird style!

Correct, the young man saw to the heart of things! This was a powerhouse that knew Birdshot. If he couldn’t handle it, that would mean that he wouldn’t be able to stand against a Yuan Shuo who only knew Birdshot.

Birdshot eh... That’s interesting!

An image of a tiger pouncing on a bird rose in his mind. It didn’t matter what Hou Xiaochen’s aura was, tigers could still catch birds!

The tiger and phoenix truly seemed to exist in this moment. They furiously exchanged blows in the tiny room. Tiger Roar Through Mountain and Woods, Phoenix Call Through the Nine Heavens!