Chapter 288: Slapping His Face with Wings
The light at the center of the array grew increasingly intense, eventually becoming blinding. Never mind the others—even Tian Fu had to squint, no longer able to look directly at the array.
Yu An casually took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, largely unaffected.
Fortunately, the array worked without a hitch. At its center, the Blood Crystal dissolved into a blood-red mist, and within the mist, a figure faintly began to appear.
When the blood mist dissipated, Han Li’s figure appeared before everyone. He opened his eyes, looking lost.
’What happened?’
’Where am I?’
’The Divine Stone was just checking my training progress. How did my surroundings suddenly change?’
The moment he saw Yu An, the million questions racing through his mind came to a screeching halt.
"An’an!"
He shot to his feet and strode toward Yu An. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging furiously enough to take flight!
Before Yu An could even speak, he swept her into a bear hug.
"An’an, An’an, An’an, An’an, look, quick, look! I’m back to normal--"
His voice trembled with excitement, his entire being consumed by the sight of Yu An and the joy of his transformation. He was completely oblivious to anyone else’s presence.
"I know, I know," Yu An said, pushing him back a little. "But maybe you should take a look at who else is here."
Han Li blinked in confusion. "Who?"
He turned his head, and that’s when he saw--
"The Beast God... no, wait, that imposter! An’an, what’s he doing here? Quick, get behind me! And the Zaizais, why are they so close to that fake... Wait a minute!"
Those four short figures looked like the Zaizais, but the Zaizais weren’t this tall. On closer inspection, he realized they weren’t the Zaizais at all!
Little Hanli covered his face, his expression blank. He really didn’t want to admit that this hulking giant was what he would grow up to be.
’A magnificent Snow Wolf, acting like a common dog?’
’But if he was fawning over An’an...’
’Hmm, I wonder if An’an wants another puppy.’
"An’an, who are they...?"
Han Li was completely baffled. Why did he get the feeling those four little squirts weren’t looking at him very kindly?
"I’ll explain later," Yu An said, patting his arm. "Let’s deal with Tian Fu first."
Although he didn’t know who Tian Fu was, he knew he couldn’t go wrong following Yu An’s lead. Seeing Yu An command her vines to attack the Pseudo Beast God, Han Li joined in.
Tian Fu sneered. "So what if you have one more helper? I have five on my side..."
SWOOSH--
BANG--
Before he could finish speaking, Tian Fu instinctively dodged a combined attack from the four boys. He was still reeling from the shock.
"You... what are you doing!"
"Beating you up," Mo Yan replied succinctly. When his first strike missed, he spun around and attacked again. "You didn’t really think we were moved by your little speech, did you?"
Little Hanli giggled. "Idiot. Conquering the world? That sounds moronic from the get-go!"
’His ambitions were very, very small. Compared to conquering the world, he would much rather have a home with An’an.’
’A Female Master, kids, and no love rivals. Perfect!’
This love-addled declaration made Yu An want to pretend she didn’t know him, while the others gritted their teeth in frustration. If a powerful enemy weren’t standing right in front of them, they would have definitely taught Han Li a harsh lesson!
Tian Fu was so furious he could have spat blood. "You... you people... You have no ambition!"
The adult Han Li pursed his lips. ’What’s wrong with having no ambition? As long as my chest muscles are big, that’s all that matters.’
He hadn’t slacked off during his training. He’d taught himself to swim and did two laps every day, his muscles becoming visibly more powerful.
And just like that, the battle had turned into a six-on-one.
Yu An didn’t expect to be able to finish Tian Fu here. She already knew what she wanted to know, and she’d learned his true identity as a bonus.
’The old ancestor of the Tian Family... An old monster of that caliber... Hmm, I’ll wait and come back to fight him under a different identity.’
’Fighting him now, our strengths are just not a match.’
With this in mind, Yu An decided not to activate the "Gu" she had planted in Tian Fu’s body for the time being, waiting for a more valuable opportunity to use it.
Little Stone was in the middle of checking Han Li’s training progress. Unlike how it coaxed the Zaizais to train, it adhered to the philosophy that a strict master produces a brilliant student when it came to Han Li.
The slightest bit of slacking was met with a little whipping, as was any progress that wasn’t up to par. It had gotten to the point where Han Li was practically traumatized.
Halfway through the inspection, Han Li suddenly vanished. Little Stone was stunned for a moment, then realized he had probably transformed back from the Blood Crystal into a person.
’Well, well. It seems the Little Phoenix managed to escape the Illusion Realm even without my help.’
’In that case... I’ll just wait a while before revealing myself and coming clean to the Little Phoenix.’
’I’ll put it off for as long as I can. Besides, the Little Phoenix hasn’t recovered her memories from before she was the Beast God, and explaining everything would be a real pain.’
’Also, once I’ve trained the Zaizais to become peerless masters, for their sake, the Little Phoenix probably won’t hold a grudge about me dumping her in the Beastman World...’
Little Stone quickly convinced itself and then contentedly went back to sleep.
Just as Yu An had expected, the power of an old monster like Tian Fu, who had lived for who knows how many years, was truly unfathomable. After fighting for a long time, all they had managed to do was slightly dirty the hem of his clothes.
In contrast, her group, especially the four little ones, was starting to run out of steam.
Perhaps because of this, Tian Fu had no intention of escaping. Instead, he doubled down on attacking the four little ones, aiming to kill as many as he could.
Yu An once again blocked a killing blow for them. Protected behind her, Feng Xuan’s eyes darkened, and he exchanged a look with the other three.
’So be it. They were formed from lingering obsession in the first place. Now that they had found their fiancée, they would dissipate upon leaving the Illusion Realm anyway. It was better to die a worthy death.’
’If they could seriously injure Tian Fu, it would be a great help to An’an.’
"An’an."
Feng Xuan softly called Yu An’s name. She glanced at him instinctively, only to see four rays of light fly into the space between her eyebrows.
The next second, a familiar yet strange power was unleashed within her. She could feel her superpower surge dramatically.
A clear phoenix cry echoed across the sky. Han Li, who had been about to attack Tian Fu, heard it. A tacit understanding forged over ages compelled him to retreat immediately.
’He had an ominous feeling. If he kept charging forward, he’d get caught in an indiscriminate attack. Better get back and enjoy the show as his Female Master unleashes her ultimate move!’
Beautiful, fiery red wings unfurled in the air, every single feather luminous.
Tian Fu was dumbfounded. "You... how did you suddenly..."
Moreover, that fiery red figure was his nightmare!
Abundant power coursed through her body. Ignoring Tian Fu, Yu An attacked without a word.
She led the main assault, with her vines providing support. Gripped by fear, Tian Fu’s defense became clumsy and flustered, and he was injured several times.
Yu An felt her power surge. Hitting people with her wings felt incredibly satisfying. ’It would be even better if I could breathe fire,’ she thought. ’Wood for fuel, my wings to fan the wind, the fire riding the gusts... Even if I couldn’t burn Tian Fu to death, I could at least scorch him half-dead.’
’Doesn’t the legendary Phoenix have something called the Nirvana Fire?’
’Guess it’s just a legend after all.’
’Speaking of which, why do I only have a Wood Element Ability and no others? I remember there were all sorts of superpowers in the Apocalypse World.’
These thoughts didn’t stop her from smacking Tian Fu in the face with her wing.
’If I weren’t worried about how dirty he was, I would’ve even used my beak to peck ferociously at his head!’
Tian Fu wailed incessantly. The deep-seated fear in his heart left him unable to even think of fighting back; his only thought was to escape this place immediately.
The fiery red figure grew ever more brilliant in his eyes. Tian Fu nearly ground his teeth to dust.
’Yu An, you just wait!’