Since she discovered it, Cecile had never wanted to use her innate skill [Moon Phoenix Resurrection]. While it was true that the name and the effects she instinctively knew about all pointed at her ability to resurrect, what happened if it failed for any reason?
Cecile knew that it would work, at least, the feeling of it not being able to fail unless certain conditions were met was quite clear in her head. But, even when she was confident, there was a particular barrier as a human-born being that stopped her from testing it out.
Cecile was a pure Phoenix, a fact that was clear to all who saw her. Yet, she was born a human, and despite her transformation, traces of her human days remained, pushing her against some things. This struggle between her past and her present, her human nature and her Phoenix identity, was a constant battle within her.
This was extremely common among those exceptions who managed to become beasts from other species. Certain things were difficult to accept.
One of the most common was the fact that eating others strengthened them.
Many human-turned-beast people spent the rest of their days maintaining a certain moral value of never eating humanoid creatures. Even when they were a completely new being that benefited from that, they were reluctant.
So, years ago, when she unlocked it, she had never thought that she would ever use the skill. She wanted to lock the skill away and forget that it even existed. After all, death was its activation condition.
However, the call of destiny seemed to be inevitable, and when she began fighting the tribulation, the thought that her skill might get forced to be used flashed in her mind. 'Perhaps, today I might need to use it.'
The reason was the strength of the tribulation. While it was true that Cecile was a talented cultivator, she didn't do anything too special to deserve such strength from the Heavens.
If standards were something maintained, she would've needed to face 11, not 13, Heavenly Lighting Soldiers.
But 13 appeared, and the reason was the simple fact that she was connected with Yasenia at a soul level. The result of managing to become the [Interlocked Soul] of a creature like Yasenia was that Yasenia's influence was tightly interlocked with her future.
Cecile didn't resent Yasenia at all. On the contrary, she was glad.
Yasenia's influence made her tribulations stronger, which, in turn, made her stronger. The Heavenly Tribulations were as much of a punishment as they were an opportunity.
The lingering energy from the Heavenly Lightning was one of, if not the best, energy a cultivator could even absorb to strengthen their core.
Of course, even knowing that her skill might get used, Cecile fought hard and never with the intent of using it. She used every tactic, every skill, every single bit of her strength that she could squeeze out and fought back with ferocity.
She destroyed one Heavenly Soldier Lightning after another with ruthless efficiency. And for the first seven, it went well. She received injuries, but that much was well within her calculations.
Yet, when her fight against the last six began, her entire body felt threatened to the point that her soul was screaming danger. She knew at that moment that this last round was far from just increasing their numbers by two.
What she was fighting was not six Heavenly Lightning Soldiers. She was fighting four and an extra two. Those extra two, the extra that Cecile didn't know appeared because of her connection with Yasenia, were a level above the other four.
Their external appearance was deceiving, as nothing had actually changed from the other four. And yet, the second they moved, Cecile almost lost trace of them.
The following events were the six Heavenly Lightning Soldiers slaughtering her and slicing her into pieces.
While she fought against them, Cecile finally realized why her instincts shouted danger. Those two extra soldiers were the root of all her fears, which materialized.
When her escape routes got cut off, and the heavens sent pressure her way, blocking her spatial movement, Cecile knew. 'I'm going to die.'
It was such a terrifying sensation.
An inevitable outcome that, no matter how much she thought about it, it wouldn't change.
Cecile just couldn't escape.
She couldn't live.
She was in taking in her last breath.
Her remaining human insticts at that moment wanted to fill her mind with dread. No matter how calm, no matter how indifferent, a person facing Death when they didn't expect it was able to break most.
However, Cecile was a Phoenix.
While she was a human, she went through several events to be reborn into a phoenix.
Moreover, she wasn't any Phoenix.
Moon Phoenixes were among the strongest creatures in the heavens. They were powerful and influential enough that almost all worlds had tales about them.
A Moon Phoenix was not just a Phoenix that used cold instead of heat.
They were creatures that had reversed their entire existence, from being a pure Yang being that would never be associated with anything remotely close to the Yin attribute to being the incarnation of the Yin attribute.
Yang energy was related to a strong vitality, a fiery life.
Yin energy was the opposite, something that was more attuned to Death and a gloomy life.
This was the main reason the personalities of creatures with Yang and those with Yin differed.
Cultivators who possessed large amounts of Yin and were especially attuned to the energy were cold, indifferent, calculative, and silent. Some even had weak bodies at birth because of Yin's attunement to Death.
Cecile was as such even before being transformed because of her [Extreme Yin Physique]. The constitution which was upgraded into [Lunar Yin Constitution] after the Moon Goddess blessed her.
So, when Death approached, while her human remains wanted to feel terror, her Phoenix self was actually looking forward to it. As a Moon Phoenix, she knew instinctively that Death was not to be feared but a state that would make her stronger.
So, when the four swords impaled her, Cecile wanted to send a reassuring message to Yasenia before she died because she knew that with how much her lover adored her, she might charge straight into the tribulation to save her.
Yet, the Heavenly Lightning Soldiers were not merciful enough to give her time, and her head and heart were pierced before she could do anything, disrupting her thoughts and spiritual sense and making her unable to send her message.
However, she wasn't worried because she saw Valeria and Tatyana reacting just before her vision went dark.
After that, she felt her body being sliced into pieces, and the sensations disappeared.
A darkness that seemed to want to swallow her entire being surrounded her.
Her soul, floating in what seemed the middle of everything and nothing, noticed a hidden strength inside her.
Cecile's soul was slowly swallowed by the darkness, from the tip of her wings and feet upward toward her head.
She couldn't react or do anything at first, just looking at the surrounding darkness with a blank mind.
Yet, that state was soon erased as the last traces of her human days were slowly swallowed. After that, she saw a white spark, an ethereally beautiful white flame from deep within her soul.
That flame, burning colder than her surroundings, burning bright even in absolute darkness, looked fantastical and alluring, as if it was calling her.
Cecile looked at it and slowly extended her wing, which, as she approached, transformed into a human arm.
'I was always confused.'
Cecile thought to herself.
'Mirrory, Tatyana, and Valeria always thought that I could keep up with Yasenia as long as I gained a Natural Treasure or an inheritance.'
Cecile was confused about that. 'While that would help, won't Yasenia leave me completely behind when she also gets those?'
She always felt that while the Moon Phoenix bloodline was powerful, it was somewhat lacking from the legends she heard in the past.
'A mid-level Ancient Beast Rank Bloodline should not have such an extensive and powerful history.'
It just didn't make sense. While mid-level Ancient Beast was high for middle-level worlds and below, Cecile was sure that there were myriads of similar beings in the mysterious yet incomparably vast higher-level worlds.
'Now I see.'
Her hand finally reached the flame, and more than three quarters of her body were swallowed by the surrounding darkness.
'I am a Phoenix. Creatures that do not fear death.'
Cecile surrounded the flame with her hands and spoke, her will spreading around. "A phoenix is a creature that has TAMED death. As such being, how could you defeat me."
Cecile's cold and indifferent voice echoed with an overbearing power.
"HOW COULD KILLING ME BE ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME?"
"[MOON PHOENIX RESURRECTION]!"
And right after, a profound aura that seemed filled with the desire to swallow the World spread around the entire sky. The firmament was devoured by freezing white flames, plunging the world into an atmosphere icy enough to give chills to everyone.
The sky shook, the world froze, and the flames gathered into the shape of an overwhelmingly stronger creature.
The Phoenix before and after rebirth were two entirely different beings.
Kali's eyes opened wide as she exclaimed. "Peak-Level Ancient Beast!?"
Yasenia, who had been staring blankly at the sky, was surprised as well. The Moon Phoenix's current bloodline pressure was not any lesser than her own. Moreover, it felt that it could go further, but it was limited by the Phoenix's current cultivation level.
Tatyana chopped Yasenia's forehead. "I know that you trusted her and that your body reacted before your brain could properly react, but be a bit more careful."
Yasenia looked up at the sky while rubbing her forehead and sighed. "I know. Sorry."
Tatyana grinned and hugged her arm as she looked at the majestic phoenix made of entirely white flames. "I know you know, so I won't say anything more. It was a normal reaction. Valeria and I knew you would react like that, so we were able to interfere~." Tatyana added. "If you were the one in Cecile's place, I might have reacted similarly, even if you had a similar skill to hers."
Yasenia took a deep breath and expelled all her restlessness from her body with a big exhalation. Then, she smiled and spoke. "Go get them, Sweetheart."
QYAAA~!!
A majestic phoenix cry that echoed through the entire sect and beyond spread around instantly as it harmonized with the world.
The Heavenly Lightning Soldiers were naturally not sitting still and wanted to charge forward. Still, every time they did, the powerful aura released from the reviving phoenix pushed even them, immaterial beings, back.
It was as if not even the Heavens could interrupt a Phoenix's rebirth.
A few seconds later, the silver Phoenix our girls knew reappeared in the sky, bigger, stronger, and more beautiful than before.
The icy blue phoenix eyes looked down on the six Heavenly Lightning Soldiers as if they were beneath her. Her beak opened, spreading a terrifyingly cold and aloof voice throughout the folds of the world to utter a new skill she had gained.
"[Innate Skill: Moon Hell]."
Everything froze: the air, the soil, the buildings, everything inside the Tribulation Plaza's defensive walls. Even the spherical defense created by the Plaza became faintly visible as a layer of silvery frost covered it.
It wasn't just the surroundings; all six Heavenly Lightning Soldiers froze as well.
It was just an instant, and the six beings made out of pure Heavenly Lightning had become ice statues.
Our girls couldn't help but look on, with their mouths agape, as the Moon Phoenix looked down at her frozen enemies with an indifferent face.