2189 Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation

Based on what Zhang Xuan knew, the gray congregation of energy within Feng Jiuge's body would only consume his zhenqi, not alter his bloodline. Most likely, the reason his bloodline could not be sensed earlier was due to it being suppressed.

However, with the gray congregation of energy cleared, he should have regained his bloodline. On top of that, given that his meridians had been cleansed by the Heaven's Path zhenqi, it would likely have become purer than ever!

Thank you," Feng Jiuge said deeply before turning his gaze back to the manor.

He was not certain about his bloodline returning, but no matter what, he would never forget the debt that he owed to his teacher.

Paying no heed to the incapacitated Feng Xiang and Feng Chao, the two of them made their way through the doors and into the courtyard. The next moment, though, a group of people rushed forward to encircle them.

It seemed like the news that Feng Jiuge had regained his cultivation and injured someone at the entrance had already started spreading within the mansion.

To be able to gather so many people within just tens of seconds, the Inferno Phoenix Clan was indeed formidable. As expected of the de facto leader of the Three Great Clans!

"Jiuge, you have already been expelled from the clan. How dare you barge in here and wound our core members! Are you trying to stage a mutiny?" a young man aggressively demanded.

The current Feng Jiuge was nothing more than an outsider to the Inferno Phoenix Clan. An outsider barging into their territory could be considered an attempt to challenge and undermine the Inferno Phoenix Clan's authority.

"Humph! Feng Jiang, you sure are quick to pin crimes me on me! I believe that the bloodline test earlier was inaccurate, so I came back here to have it tested again," Feng Jiuge replied nonchalantly. "As long as I can clear the test, I will still be a core member of the Inferno Phoenix Clan. If so, a spar between fellow clan members can't be considered a mutiny, right?"

Those words made Feng Jiang frown, and he took a closer look at Feng Jiuge.

In just one short hour, the other party's aura had become completely different. It felt firm and unyielding. Just like him, the other party was at high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle!

More importantly, his confident disposition felt exactly like two years earlier.

Two years ago, the other party had been a genius who dominated the younger generation. Viewed as one who would potentially become a God King in the future, there was no one who had dared cross him. Even Feng Jiang himself would have had to lower his head whenever he encountered Feng Jiuge, not daring to show the slightest hint of disrespect.

Feng Jiang did not think that the trash of two years would actually be able to make a comeback. He found the situation very hard to accept.

"You want to test your bloodline once more?" Feng Jiang burst into laughter. "Do you think that our bloodline test is a joke, such that anyone can test it as and when they please?"

The bloodline test of the inferno Phoenix Clan was not cheap. Most disciples would only get a chance to test it once in their entire life. It was only due to Feng Jiuge's exceptional circumstances that he had been tested twice, and yet, he wanted to do it once more.

Did he think that he was in the same position as he was two years ago, that he could do as he pleased?

"I have the money to pay for it!" Feng Jiuge replied coldly.

Even though his cultivation had been slipping continuously over the past two years, he still had quite a substantial fortune to his name. It was nothing much compared to Zhang Xuan, but it was more than enough for him to pay for a test.

You'll fork out the money?" Feng Jiang harrumphed coldly as he struggled to think of a reason to stop Feng Jiuge.

He had a feeling that things would go awry if he allowed Feng Jiuge to do as he pleased.

At this moment, an idea suddenly came to his mind, and his lips crept up mockingly. "Well, no matter what, you still used to be a core member of our clan. It's only right for us to give you a chance. Clear the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation. If you can clear it, we'll allow you to return to the clan and have your test. Otherwise... I'm afraid that there's nothing much we can do!"

"Yes, that's right! Clear the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation, and we'll give you a chance!"

"Didn't you regain your strength? Prove it! As long as you can clear the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation, we'll recognize you. Otherwise, you only have yourself to blame for your weakness!"

The crowd gathered in the area burst into laughter as they watched Feng Jiuge mockingly.

"The Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation..." Feng Jiuge's face immediately turned grave upon hearing those words.

"Oh ho! Why do you have such a look on your face? Are you not confident in clearing the formation? If that's the case, we'll just have to take this incident as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Inferno Phoenix Clan's honor. Men! Capture him and drag him over to the Hall of Interrogation! We'll have to question him properly to see what his true motives are!" Feng Jiang said with a grand wave of his hand.

"Yes!" Four young men immediately walked out from amid the crowd.

"Let's go, our dear Young Master Jiuge!"

"Even if you have regained your cultivation, without your bloodline to back you up, you are nothing more than an unaffiliated cultivator. Did you think that things would return to how they were two years ago just because you have regained your cultivation?"

Feng Jiuge was not a bad person at heart, but having achieved success at a very young age, it was inevitable that he became complacent and arrogant. Furthermore, there was no one who dared to talk back to him and correct his attitude.

This had resulted in him looking down on his peers, so his relations with the others in the clan were not good.

"What is the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation?" Zhang Xuan asked Feng Jiuge with a frown.

"Teacher, the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation is the only way that members who have been driven out of the Inferno Phoenix Clan can be recognized by the other clan members. It's a formation made up of nine experts within the clan. One has to defeat all nine of them in order to clear the trial," Feng Jiuge replied with a slightly pale complexion. "In the past three thousand years of our clan's history, there were 317 expelled members who returned to challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation, but in the end, only three of them cleared the trial. As for the rest... they lost their lives while challenging the formation!"

"They're dead?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

Out of three hundred people, only three people had managed to clear the trial. That was a one percent probability of success!

Even though those members were driven out of the clan, no matter what, they still shared blood ties with one another. Surely there was no need to be so vicious with them.

"More often than not, those who are driven out of the clan have committed some sort of heinous sin that makes them deserving of such treatment. There is almost no one who welcomes their return. For this reason, those who challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation are often viewed with hostility. Those who have been selected to conduct the trial won't hold back against them, so they won't hesitate to resort to vicious strikes..."

"If the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation is that dangerous, and there is no one within the Inferno Phoenix Clan who is willing to recognize them even if they return, why would they still challenge it despite the risks?" Zhang Xuan asked.

In his view, it seemed ridiculous for one to brave such danger, only to become a person that was snubbed within the clan.

If no one was going to accept them in the first place, it would have been much easier for them to live in the outside world. In the first place, if they were talented enough to clear the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation, they would probably fare well anywhere else.

Feng Jiuge shook his head and replied, "Teacher, there's actually a deeper reason for them challenging the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation. Regardless of whether they clear the trial or not, they will be buried in the ancestral grave. This might appear to be nothing much, but this gesture effectively means that their descendants have a chance to return to the Inferno Phoenix Clan. On the other hand, if they don't attempt the trial, it means that they will be permanently severed from the Inferno Phoenix Clan!"

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.

A fallen leaf returns to the ground.

Most people would wish to return to their origins after their death; furthermore, this concerned the future of their descendants as well.

"So, most of those who challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation are those whose lifespan is already reaching its limit. In other words, they have already steeled their will to die in the trial. For this reason, the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation is also called the Suicide Formation!"

With an awful complexion on his face, Feng Jiuge remarked grimly, "Their very suggestion of having me challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation is as good as condemning me to death!"

He was only in his early twenties, and he still had many years ahead of him. It was clearly inappropriate for him to challenge the formation in his state.

"How strong are the opponents one will have to face in the trial?" Zhang Xuan asked.

The Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation consisted of nine cultivators. As important as the formation was, what was even more crucial was the strength of the nine cultivators.

"They are of the same power level as the one challenging the trial. In other words, it is a one versus nine scenario. Given that we possess the same bloodline, and they have been augmented by the formation, how can one possibly clear this trial through normal means?" Feng Jiuge cried in despair.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan burst into laughter.

He had been wondering how scary the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation was, but it did not seem like anything worth worrying over.

Everything aside, even the Dragon Gate Formation that Zheng Yang had gone through to become the Progeny of Combat was much more difficult than this!