The trio fell silent and suddenly, Raksha said, "Can you undo your time barrier on them?"
The question was directed to the remnant soul of the Phoenix, who replied, "It will not be one by one, they will wake up all at once. I do not think you would be able to handle them."
The sword spirit raised her brow and said, "Just do everything on my mark. You do not have to think too much if I can handle them or not. You bound those people and I have you under my thumb. Come back and talk to me when you get a body."
The Phoenix screeched in anger. However, it could not do anything to Raksha or Shi Lang. The Terran had been meditating to stabilize his injuries. He woke up and said, "Raksha, you do not have to act cruelly. Just use a sliver of sword intent and cripple their cultivation. Only one person whom I woke up might be able to resist that, but I will put his soul inside shura realm.
I do not like him."
Raksha thought for a bit and said, "Good. I will do this."
The phoenix did not understand what they were talking about but she could tell they were really confident. Shi Lang managed to tolerate her soul attack for five seconds. If it was any other expert, they would have died from the burns.
His realm dropped but looking at him it did not seem like he was injured. Shi Lang stood up from the ground and said, "Help me get to the ground."
Raksha nodded and supported him as they flew out of the triangular hole above their heads. The sword spirit knew very well the extent of damage he suffered in the attack earlier. His body was in shambles, tough exterior did not mean anything in the world of cultivation. The phoenix had left his foundation in cracks.
The spiritual pressure he displayed might be that of an Immortal King but his skill level and battle prowess have fallen down to the immortal lord level. That was why he denied using the mech earlier.
Raksha asked him, 'How do you intend to use the mech now?"
Shi Lang replied, "I do not, but I have other ways to deal with these people."
They flew up for a few minutes, and came to the surface. Shi Lang said, 'Condense intent needles and wait for my sign. Aim at their soul sea.'
The Terran landed on the ground and made his way through the crowded spot to the spot where the old man stood. He clenched his fists, the barrier of Time Dao Laws made it impossible for the old man to sense his rage, but he quickly calmed his mind.
He said to Raksha, 'Tell her to begin.'
The sword spirit communicated with the phoenix as she covered the region with her spirit sense and located every human in the vicinity. She condensed the sword intent into long and sharp needles. All of them were aimed at the forehead.
A loud Phoenix cry echoed in the region, and Shi Lang closed his battle suit. He said, "Raksha the Dao Laws are flowing back to the Phoenix, she must have started the reincarnation process."
...
Inside the cavern, the Phoenix soul remnant gazed at the fainted young man before her and said, "I never thought that I would be grateful to a human."
Raksha snarled and snapped, "Shut the fuck up and heal him. You caused this. I swear to you bitch, I will fry your new body if anything happened to him."
The Phoenix did not feel bad this time. It showed the strong bond shared by the two people. It let out a small hoot and icy blue wisps of energy flew off from Shi Lang's soul sea toward the Phoenix.
Not only that, but his broken soul sea began to repair, and expand at the same time. The Phoenix said, "I once had a human master, I wonder if this kid would be willing to keep me beside himself."
Raksha said, "That is none of my concern, its your own equation. Ask him when he wakes up."
Raksha was calm now, as she sensed the Terran's realm restoring. Suddenly she sensed something off about Shi Lang. It was as if his body left after images as it shivered from the recovery.
She was curious and asked, "What did you do to him?"
The Phoenix replied, "I owed him the debt of life, and so I am rewarding him for completing my quest by bestowing him with the Time Laws."
Raksha sucked in cold air and opened her eyes wide. The Phoenix replied, "What sort of reaction is it? Did you think I would let my benefactors go without a proper reward? I am not ungrateful and I do not wish to be indebted and tie up in the cycle of Karma."
The sword spirit said, "If so, that what did you mean by him having a contract with him?"
The Phoenix replied, "It is not that simple. I will need someone I could trust to watch over my fledgling self. I could be of great help."
Raksha thought for a bit and said, "Alright, I will agree to that."
...
Shi Lang woke up in a daze, he did not know if he had a dream or was it real but he seemed to have gained some understanding of how the Time Laws work. He sat up on the ground, and picked up a pebble from the ground. He exerted strength on the pebble and it crumbled into fine powder. Then he waved his hand and the stone returned to its original form.
Suddenly, when he was thinking about exploring this new power, a blue bird appeared on his shoulder. The sparrow looked at Shi Lang and said, "From now on, you will be my travel companion."
Shi Lang flicked his finger and made the bird fly away. He shook his head and said, "I am no companion. Find someone else."