The spiritual energy was restored, and he became a mortal immortal in two days.

"Shouldn't we have run away?"

"right."

Chen Xiang nodded. "They are hunting you down for the Heavenly Phoenix Crown, for the throne."

"If you want to live, if you want to protect the people you love, there's only one way—"

His tone was as calm as if he were stating a fact:

"Kill them all, and then you can sit on the throne yourself."

Wu Minghuang's eyes widened.

"Kill...kill them all? But they are my imperial brothers..."

"Royal brother?"

Chen Xiang laughed, but his smile was devoid of warmth. "When they threatened you with your mother's life, did they ever treat you like a sister?"

"When they ordered your palace to be burned down, did they ever consider the bond between siblings?"

"When they shot you with arrows laced with spirit-locking powder, did they ever consider showing mercy?"

He asked three questions in a row, leaving Wu Minghuang speechless.

"The struggle for the throne is, in essence, a struggle for life and death."

Chen Xiang walked back to the stone table and sat down again. "If you want to live, if you want to protect the people you want to protect, then you can only let the people who want to kill you die."

"This isn't cruelty, it's the rule, the rule of this world."

Wu Minghuang remained silent.

After a long silence, she asked softly, "But I... can't beat them. My eldest brother is at the peak of the Golden Core stage, my second and fourth brothers are at the late Golden Core stage, and there's also the Imperial Preceptor Yin Jiuyou, who is at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage..."

"They're nothing but chickens and dogs; with me here, they can't cause any trouble."

Chen Xiang said calmly.

Wu Minghuang looked into his eyes.

There was no pity, no sympathy in those eyes, only a bottomless calm.

But for some reason, this tranquility gradually calmed her panicked heart.

"What... should I do?"

Chen Xiang did not answer immediately.

He reached out and lightly touched the Heavenly Phoenix Crown in Wu Minghuang's arms with his fingertips.

hum-

The remaining six gems on the crown lit up simultaneously, though the light was dim, they were indeed bright.

"The Heavenly Phoenix Crown is a legacy left behind by the first Empress."

Chen Xiang withdrew his hand. "Its true power is not those nine attack techniques, but 'Nirvana'."

"Nirvana?"

"The phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames."

Chen Xiang said slowly, "Every near-death experience is a rebirth, and every rebirth is stronger than the last."

He looked at Wu Minghuang and said, "The Heavenly Phoenix Body you have awakened is only in its initial stage."

"If you can complete your first Nirvana between life and death, you will be able to step into the Golden Core Realm, and become the strongest 'Heavenly Phoenix Golden Core' in the Golden Core Realm."

Wu Minghuang's eyes lit up: "Then how do I undergo Nirvana?"

"It's very simple."

Chen Xiang said, "Go out and fight them."

"Fight until you're on the verge of death, and then, survive."

He spoke of it casually.

But Wu Minghuang knew that the danger involved was beyond description; even a near-death experience wouldn't be enough to describe it.

"Scared?"

Chen asked.

Wu Minghuang took a deep breath and shook her head: "I'm not afraid."

She stood up, her steps still a little unsteady, but her eyes were resolute.

"Is there anything I need to prepare?"

"unnecessary."

Chen Xiang also stood up. "You only need to remember one thing..."

He extended his right hand and placed his index finger on Wu Minghuang's brow.

A warm current flowed into her mind.

"This is the 'Nirvana Seal'."

"When you are truly on the verge of death, it will protect your last shred of life and guide you to nirvana."

"But you only get one chance. If you are not determined, if you give up halfway, or if you doubt whether you can survive, then this mark will not save you."

Feeling the warmth between her brows, Wu Minghuang nodded emphatically: "I understand."

"Go."

Chen Xiang waved his hand, "Those people outside the mountain must be getting impatient."

Wu Minghuang turned around and walked down the path.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly turned back: "Prime Minister Chen."

"Um?"

"If...if I really die, will you remember me?"

Chen Xiang looked at her for a long time, then nodded gently:

"meeting."

Wu Minghuang smiled.

That was her first genuine smile of the day.

Then she turned around and strode towards the outside of the mountain.

His back view was resolute.

Chen Xiang stood there, watching her disappear at the end of the bamboo forest, and sighed softly.

It's not clean, it's not clean.

But if you want to die, it's very difficult.

He raised his hand and made a gesture in the air.

A mirror-like surface appeared, reflecting the scenery outside the mountains.

Fifty thousand troops surrounded the deep mountains, their banners fluttering and their killing intent soaring to the sky.

The eldest prince, Wu Mingyuan, rode on a black-scaled beast, holding a halberd, his eyes cold and fierce.

The Second Prince, Wu Mingyue, drew his bow and nocked an arrow; a ghostly blue light emanated from the bowstring.

The fourth prince, Wu Minghai, carried a heavy sword, his face full of a sinister grin.

The Fifth Prince, Wu Mingchuan, stood at the rear of the army formation, toying with a blood-red jade pendant in his hand.

Above the army, the Imperial Advisor Yin Jiuyou sat cross-legged on a dark cloud, closing his eyes to rest.

"The lineup is complete."

Chen Xiang muttered to himself.

He picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Well then, let me see how far you can go."

Outside the mountains.

As Wu Minghuang stepped out of the area shrouded in white mist, five thousand pairs of eyes turned to look at her simultaneously.

"They're out!"

Someone shouted.

The army formation instantly contracted, with spears like a forest and arrows like a rainstorm, sealing off all her escape routes.

Wu Mingyuan rode his beast forward, looking down at her from his superior position:

"Third sister, you've finally decided to come out?"

Wu Minghuang looked up at him, her eyes showing no fear: "Elder Brother, must you be so ruthless as to exterminate them all?"

"To exterminate them all?" Wu Mingyuan sneered. "Third sister, the struggle for the throne is a matter of life and death."

"If you have someone to blame, blame yourself for awakening the Heavenly Phoenix Physique and for obtaining the Heavenly Phoenix Crown!"

He paused, his voice growing even colder:

"Hand over the crown, and I'll give you a quick death."

Wu Minghuang smiled.

His smile was full of mockery: "Elder brother, do you know why the first Empress named her crown 'Heavenly Phoenix'?"

Wu Mingyuan frowned: "Enough with the nonsense!"

"Because the phoenix never compromises."

Wu Minghuang said slowly and deliberately, "Either soar through the nine heavens, or—be reborn from the ashes."

The moment she finished speaking, she moved.

Instead of charging towards Wu Mingyuan, they charged towards the weakest point in the army formation, in the direction of the Fifth Prince Wu Mingchuan!

"Stop her!"

Wu Mingchuan's expression changed drastically.

His eight hundred light cavalrymen attacked simultaneously, their arrows raining down like locusts.

But Wu Minghuang neither dodged nor avoided.

She formed a hand seal, and the Heavenly Phoenix Crown floated above her head, with the sixth gem lighting up.

"Nine Strikes of the Heavenly Phoenix, Sixth Form: Phoenix Wings Soaring Through the Sky!"

boom!

A pair of crimson-gold fiery wings unfolded behind her, spanning three zhang (approximately 10 meters). With a gentle flap, a gale arose.

The incoming arrows were completely incinerated by the fiery wings, leaving not even ashes.

Wu Minghuang's speed increased dramatically, transforming into a streak of crimson-gold light that shot straight towards Wu Mingchuan.

"Protect His Highness!"

The guards rushed forward at the cost of their lives.

But it didn't work.

As the fiery wings swept across, more than ten guards were cut in half at the waist, armor and all. The cuts were charred black, and no blood flowed out; the high temperature instantly evaporated all the blood.

Wu Mingchuan was so frightened that he turned and fled.

However, compared to Wu Minghuang in her Phoenix Wings Soaring Form, his speed was as slow as a snail.

"Fifth Imperial Brother."

Wu Minghuang's voice rang out behind him, "This strike is for my palace that was burned to ashes."

Hand up, knife down.

It wasn't a real sword, but a flaming sword formed from condensed flame wings.

Wu Mingchuan's head flew off, his face still frozen in terror.

The body lunged forward a few steps before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

One move, and he was dead.

The entire room fell silent.

No one expected that Wu Minghuang would be so ruthless in her first move, directly killing the Fifth Prince!

"Fifth brother!"

Wu Minghai's eyes widened in fury. "You bitch, I'll make you pay with your life!"

He carried the heavy sword, leaped up, and a three-zhang-long black sword aura condensed on the blade, which he then slashed down fiercely!

He used all his strength in that strike.

Wherever the blade's energy passed, it plowed a deep trench in the ground, and the air emitted a piercing shriek.

Wu Minghuang looked up, a resolute glint in her eyes.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, her fiery wings closing, transforming her into a crimson-gold meteor as she crashed into the blade's aura!

Head-on clash!

"court death!"

Wu Minghai grinned maliciously.

But the next second, his smile froze.

Because just as Wu Minghuang was about to collide with the blade's energy, she made a move that no one expected.

She folded her fiery wings.

At the same time, the fifth gem on the Tianfeng Crown exploded.

"Heavenly Phoenix Nine Strikes, Fifth Form: Phoenix Beak!"

She extended her right index finger, the tip of which gleamed with an intense crimson-gold light.

The light was small, only the size of a grain of rice, yet it seemed to contain the power to scorch the heavens and boil the seas.

The fingertip touched the weakest point of the blade's energy.

Click.

The three-zhang-long black blade energy shattered like glass.

Wu Minghai's pupils contracted sharply. He tried to back away, but it was too late.

Wu Minghuang's finger touched his brow.

puff.

A soft sound.

Wu Minghai's head did not explode, but there was a pinhole-sized hole between his eyebrows.

No blood flowed out of the hole because all the blood and brain matter were evaporated by the extreme heat the moment the body was hit.

His body swayed and he fell to the ground.

Its eyes were still open, but it was already lifeless.

Another prince has died.

"Fourth brother!"

Wu Mingyue roared, drew his longbow to its full length, and fired three dark blue arrows at the same time.

This is his signature move, "Three Stars in a Row".

Each arrow was coated with "Soul-Corroding Poison," causing the soul of the one struck to disintegrate; even Nascent Soul cultivators dared not take it head-on.

Wu Minghuang had just used the Phoenix Beak, and it was precisely at this moment that her old strength was exhausted and her new strength had not yet been generated.

The three arrows were about to hit their mark...

She did something that left everyone speechless.

She turned around and used her back to take the hit!

Puff puff!

All three arrows hit their mark.

The arrow pierced her back and emerged from her chest, spraying three plumes of blood.