As the twelve treasured swords hovered in the air, forming into an extraordinary sword formation, mysterious bursts of Daoist Rhymes emanated in the skies. It covered an area with a several miles radius, trapping Master Daoist Withered Cloud within it.

That was the Four Season Sword Formation's second form, the Twelve Months Sword Formation!

“This is… a sword formation!”

“I can't believe a young lad like you will have so many techniques up your sleeves! Then again, even with this sword formation, what can a mere Battle Monarch like you possibly do to me!”

“Shatter this formation!”

Master Daoist Withered Cloud roared. Then when he raised his arm, a grim, overbearing Daoist Rhyme erupted and black flames surged in all directions.

However, the sword formation's Daoist Rhyme swirled out as the chilling sword qi whistled out like a raging blizzard during winter.

Under that barrage of sword qi, the black flames disintegrated.

“Playing with fire I see.” Chu Kuangren chuckled.

Within the sword formation, its Daoist Rhyme changed and formed into a raging sun that rose into the air with its unforgiving rays s.h.i.+ning. Surges of sword qi then intertwined with it and formed into a sea of flames which headed towards Master Daoist Withered Cloud, burning his face till it was filled with soot and dust.

“What kind of sword formation is this? I can't believe it's so powerful!” It scared Master Daoist Withered Cloud. Although he had experienced a fair share of formation spells, he had not encountered a Battle Monarch cultivator's sword formation that could pressure him to that extent.

Similar to the clone technique, he was greatly in shock by the display of that sword formation.

Those techniques had exceeded his comprehension.

“How can a Battle Monarch possess such abilities? Who the h.e.l.l are you!” Staring at Chu Kuangren who was outside the sword formation with a confused and hateful gaze, the Master Daoist Withered Cloud asked loudly.

“Take a guess.” Chu Kuangren chuckled.

With a command from his mind, the Daoist Rhymes started to emanate again within the sword formation. Countless surges of sword qi intertwined together to form into scenes depicting four seasons that continuously unleashed towards the Master Daoist Withered Cloud.

The sword qi within that attack was ever-changing. Sometimes it was silent as rainfall during spring which was impossible to guard against, sometimes it was extremely dominating like a clap of thunder, and sometimes it was scorching as if a blazing sun was raging over a drought-ridden land.

Other times it was like an autumn breeze. The sword qi could be melancholic but also as chilling as the surging winter blizzard…

As the four seasons changed, all scenes of nature materialized within the sword formation.

Although Master Daoist Withered Cloud was a Boundary Sage himself, he was still left injured, which worsened as time went by, under the successive attacks of the sword formation.

“Am I going to die?”

“I… I'm going to die in the hands of a mere Battle Monarch?”

Master Daoist Withered Cloud became extremely frightened when that thought crossed his mind.

He stared at Chu Kuangren, a young Battle Monarch whom he never thought would have possessed the strength to kill a Boundary Sage.

'This is just too unbelievable!'

“Who the h.e.l.l is he?”

A sudden thought lit up in the Master Daoist Withered Cloud's mind as he stared at the white-robed Chu Kuangren. “You're Chu Kuangren!”

“Oh, you managed to figure out who I am. Guess you're not that dumb after all.”

Chu Kuangren chuckled.

“I should've found out long ago. Having such horrifying combat prowess, specializing in swordsmans.h.i.+p, possessing a handsome appearance, not to mention that extraordinary white jade blade by your side. You are indeed Chu Kuangren!”

Master Daoist Withered Cloud said with gritted teeth.

“Now that you know who I am, it's your time to die in peace.” At that, Chu Kuangren's mind commanded the transformations within the sword formation to surge until its maximum.

A surging Sword-based Daoist Rhyme then formed into a colorful sword shadow inside the sword formation. Within it contained the force of every natural phenomenon related to the four seasons that struck down upon Master Daoist Withered Cloud.

Having been heavily injured earlier, there was no way Master Daoist Withered Cloud could resist that single sword attack. All he could do was let out a miserable howl as his body was instantly torn apart to shreds under that sword qi attack!

Even the Boundary Sage body he possessed could not withstand the might of that supreme attack!

“Return!”

Chu Kuangren tapped his sword case and one by one, the twelve treasured swords returned to their place.

The power that was displayed by the Four Seasons Sword Formation was stronger than he imagined. Moreover, that was only the second form. There were still two other forms namely the Twenty-four Solar Terms and the Three Hundred And Sixty-five Days that had not been displayed. How powerful would those sword formations be then?

Chu Kuangren walked to the corpse of the Master Daoist Withered Cloud and picked up the Yin and Yang ring that his opponent had left behind. He wanted to take a look at the contents within it before he tossed it into his own Yin and Yang ring.

“What kind of organization is Sacred Palace of Death? Why have I not heard of it before in the Azure Dragon Domain?”

Chu Kuangren mumbled.

After that, he recalled what the Black Heaven's Third Forefather told him previously. “Unknown matters, unknown lands… Could this Sacred Palace of Death be one of those unknown places?”

Since the unknown lands were very much unknown, hence the name, it was only natural for most ordinary cultivators to not know and hear about them as well.

Chu Kuangren raised his arm and deployed the Gluttonous Devouring Technique to refine the remains of his opponent. He really did not let go even with a dead body.

Even crus.h.i.+ng his opponent's bones into dust and scattering them about was not as cruel as this.

The Immortal G.o.dly Phoenix flew to Chu Kuangren's side and suddenly spoke, “Mommy, mommy, you're just too awesome mommy.”

“That's… Wait, what did you just call me?”

Tilting its head, the Immortal G.o.dly Phoenix said, “You're my mommy.”

Its voice which was akin to a girl around the age of seven or eight sounded sweet and clear. However, Chu Kuangren was mortified by what he was just called.

“Please, stop calling me 'mommy'.”

“Huh, do you not want me anymore, mommy?”

The Immortal G.o.dly Phoenix sounded like it was on the brink of crying. In her inheritance memories, whoever hatched her would no doubt be her mommy.

Since Chu Kuangren was the one who hatched her, who else would he be other than her mommy?

“It's not that I don't want you anymore, but you still can't call me 'mommy'. Call me 'brother' instead. Yeah, just call me 'brother',” Chu Kuangren said.

“Brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright then, mommy brother.”

“Just call me 'brother', stop adding 'mommy' in front of it!” After a few attempts to straighten things out, Chu Kuangren finally corrected how the Immortal G.o.dly Phoenix would address him.

“Alright, let's return to the Black Heaven Sect.”

“Black Heaven Sect? Where is it?”

“Just follow me. Come along now.”

Suddenly, Chu Kuangren looked at the Immortal G.o.dly Phoenix with eyes full of excitement. “Uh, dear G.o.dly Phoenix, can we talk about something?”

“Feel free to speak, brother.”

“Is it alright if you let me ride on your back?”

It suddenly crossed Chu Kuangren's mind that some skilled experts in the world of cultivation would often mount beasts such as cranes, tigers, and lions.

He might as well try it himself too.

Then again, what mount could possibly be more glamorous and extraordinary than a G.o.dly Phoenix?

“Of course you can.”

The G.o.dly Phoenix then lowered its body as a signal for Chu Kuangren to climb up on its back.

Since divine beasts were n.o.ble lifeforms, so most of them were very rebellious. It would be a challenging task even for the Emperors of Old if they intend to catch one to be their mount.

However, Chu Kuangren was different in the G.o.dly Phoenix's eyes.

Although she was to address him as 'brother', she still treated him as her mother. It was only a small matter for her if her mother wanted to ride on top of her.

Chu Kuangren then happily leaped onto the G.o.dly Phoenix's furry back. Her back felt warm and comfortable, even more so than being under a heated blanket during the winter.

“Hold on tight, brother.”

With that, the G.o.dly Phoenix then flapped its wings and rose into the air.

Meanwhile, various organizations had already arrived at the Black Heaven Sect. Everyone was invited by Honorable Xuan Qi to attend the ceremony.

The great sage orthodoxies and honorable orthodoxies of the Azure Dragon Domain were included among the attending crowd. Every one of them was an important and influential figure.

Meanwhile, before the ceremony began, the natural occurrence of ten thousand birds paying homage to the birth of the G.o.dly Phoenix greatly shocked everyone present.

For a while, everyone was heavily discussing that matter.

Despite that, Honorable Xuan Qi's expression at that time was very unpleasant as he cursed at the communication compa.s.s.

“Today's your big inauguration day, Kuangren. Each of the great orthodoxies is already here, so what the h.e.l.l are you up to? Why aren't you back yet?”

“Honorable Teacher, something urgent suddenly came up just now, but I'm on my way back now. Please help me deal with the crowd for the time being,” Chu Kuangren said.

Turning off the communication compa.s.s, Honorable Xuan Qi muttered, “This darn Kuangren is becoming more and more worrying for others now.”