"We absolutely cannot let it destroy the Seal!"
Lilia, whose face had only shown hesitation and gravity a moment ago, turned pale with shock. After all, she was still a young powerhouse, and she’d only ruled the tribe for just over a hundred years.
"Block the breach!"
Lilia let out a sharp scream, but that black flame filled with death, world‑shattering and sky‑destroying, instantly spread across a hundred meters. Even if several powerful Tristar Vultures joined forces, they still weren’t its match even for a single exchange.
The golden pentagram on Lilia’s forehead shone dazzlingly bright, and for a moment it seemed to bathe her whole body in golden fluorescence.
As the World Guardian of Xifan World, although Lilia had not yet reached the level of the ancient hundred‑clan heroes recorded in the books, she was already the strongest among this generation of Tristar Vultures.
Her talent was extraordinarily exceptional, and with her outstanding wisdom, she had created several sets of marvelous abilities unique to herself, becoming the main pillar among the Guardians of Sanxingdui.
One could see this golden vulture rapidly swelling larger and larger. This was clearly the True Form Technique that only the top powerhouses among the ancient hundred‑clan heroes could unleash!
With a piercing, resounding screech, even though Lilia’s true body at this moment was not yet thirty meters long, it already possessed a hint of the extraordinary.
As her two wings beat down savagely, two rotating orbs of intertwined blue and red light condensed before her, surging toward the crack torn open in the high sky by the Death Feather Fan, hoping to block the endless torrent of invading Death Crows flooding in through the breach.
"Worthy indeed of a Guardian of the Sanxingdui Seal! Caw caw caw caw, such power... Those National Holy Birds of the Empires are no more than this. No wonder the death leaders of past generations who tried to open the Seal all fell here one after another. Even I feel a bit of a shiver."
Despite those words, the eyes of this Death Crow leader were filled with open mockery.
"Caw caw caw caw caw! But under the Death Feather Fan, even if I can only borrow a pitiful trace of the great Three-legged Golden Crow King’s Strength, you are absolutely not someone who can oppose it. Wail in despair beneath the flames of death! The humiliation our Death Crow Clan has suffered these years—we will pay it back to you tenfold, a hundredfold. Savor the terror of being ruled by the Death Crow Clan!"
Hundreds, thousands of Death Crows squeezed into the Defense Shield, diving toward that mountain covered with lush, emerald pines and carved all over with square Three Stars Seal Runes.
The Guardian Vultures, throwing their lives aside, went all out to intercept these shrieking Black Crows.
Both sides fought to the death, neither willing to retreat a single step.
Amid the peak of his shrill, sinister cackling, the Death Crow leader flapped the Death Feather Fan once more. Again, a gigantic hundred‑meter phantom of a three‑legged crow manifested, wings spread wide, eyes releasing the coldest, purest Light of Death, swooping down!
Effortlessly, this vast phantom of the Three-legged Raven of Death swallowed Lilia’s red‑and‑blue light orbs whole.
"As long as I’m here, you will never succeed. If you want to destroy the Seal, you’ll have to step over my corpse first!"
Lilia roared, brimming with justice, like a righteous Envoy guarding the world. Facing this prepared, rampaging Evil force, she showed not the slightest fear, ready to die a thousand deaths. She charged straight into the phantom of the three‑legged crow without hesitation, intending to use her own True Body to block the Death Feather Fan’s attack.
Whoosh...
However, the instant the black flame of death wrapped around the golden flames swirling around Lilia, that bone‑piercing, soul‑freezing chill made her hair stand on end. It was as if she could see the sky‑covering Evil Demon King sealed beneath Sanxingdui, smiling at her with icy malice.
For the peace of this world, that Evil Demon King must never be allowed to reappear!
Clenching her teeth, Lilia unleashed her strongest Strength. Wisps of smoke rose from the red crest atop her head, and her heartbeat—thump, thump, thump—quickly accelerated, while the Strength in her body surged higher and higher.
"Ah... no, the power of death is too thick... Is this the Strength of the Three-legged Death Golden Crow King? Aah—!"
After resisting for only a brief moment, Lilia finally lost. The golden flames on her body were gradually swallowed by the power of death. The death flames were about to invade her body and drag her down into the hell of death.
"Steady."
With that calm voice, Lilia’s nearly exhausted oil lamp was replenished. It was that Elder, survivor of the Ancient Battlefield, making a move. Amid rippling waves of wind blades, Lilia was rescued, their Strengths merging into one. Only then did they slowly cancel out the phantom of the Three-legged Raven of Death summoned by the Death Feather Fan.
"Huff... huff... Elder."
Having narrowly escaped death, Lilia panted heavily, greedily gulping in the air of this world.
"Mm. This is the Strength of the Three-legged Death Golden Crow King. We absolutely cannot allow it to escape the Seal, or else no one in this world will be able to stop it again. It will plunge this world into an Abyss of eternal doom, into everlasting death and darkness. Now do you understand the sacred duty of guarding the Seal here?"
"Yes! I understand!"
...
Seven days and seven nights of relentless, ferocious combat.
"Huff... huff... huff... I didn’t expect there’d be an old fossil from the Ancient Battlefield hiding here, one who didn’t die back then. But with wounds this severe, how much longer can you live?"
Only a scattering of Death Crows remained in the sky. In comparison, the situation of the Tristar Vulture Clan was clearly much better.
"Heh heh heh heh, now you hold this Evil sacred artifact, yet have no Strength left to wield it. Today is the day you die! Without this Death Feather Fan, you dark Death Crows will never again be able to stir up any storms."
Though deathly aura had invaded his body and his oil lamp was nearly burnt out, the Tristar Vulture Elder’s battle spirit soared. He intended to keep this Death Crow leader here forever!
"Caw, caw caw caw caw... what a pity..."
With a trace of regret, the Death Crow leader sighed. "It’s over."
Huh!?
Amid the Tristar Vultures’ collective shock and suspicion, at an inconspicuous spot on the Sanxingdui Seal mountain, a transparent Death Crow rippled like water—and actually swallowed a single feather blazing with surging death-flames into its belly.
"Despicable Xifan, all for the Death Crow Clan!"
Boom!
Endless black flames erupted in a sweeping torrent, swallowing vast swaths of towering ancient pines and Three Stars Runes in an instant, obliterating them. The mountainside shook with deafening "rumble, rumble," as massive landslides cascaded down and boulders flew.
"No!"
Lilia screamed, her face drained of color in terror.
The Tristar Vulture Elder couldn’t help glancing back as well. His deep eyes flickered, yet he still did not show panic.
"Rooaaar..."
The entire Sanxingdui mountain shook violently; from deep beneath the earth came faint roars and bellows. Even that tiniest wisp of aura made the high heavens churn with winds and clouds, lightning and Thunder raging, as if the sky itself were about to collapse!