Little Phoenix heard Zhuo Yue's words, naturally knew he wanted it to continue escaping with Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan.
Without any hesitation, its form suddenly enlarged, reaching over ten feet long. Then it flapped its left wing, instantly carrying Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan onto its back.
"Screech!!"
A phoenix cry rang out, and Little Phoenix, enduring the fierce wound on its right wing, flapped its wings to take Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan away.
"You think you can escape?"
Dozens of people behind them, seeing this scene, showed no emotion or change on their cold and cruel faces. One person sneered, pinched a sword technique with his hand, and immediately a flying sword shot through the air like thunder, heading straight towards Little Phoenix.
"Hah!"
Zhuo Yue, also covered in wounds, remained resolute. As if feeling nothing, he let out a light shout and fiercely leaped into the air, throwing a powerful punch towards the flying sword!
This punch was unmatched in power, like a meteor falling from the sky or a mountain collapsing, and with a bang, it struck the flying sword.
The sword, as bright as a cascade, was struck by Zhuo Yue's punch, shook a few times, and lost its divine speed, unable to continue pursuing the fleeing Little Phoenix carrying the two women.
"Taoist Brother, this won't do!"
Someone couldn't help but sneer upon seeing this.
The person who acted snorted coldly at these words, his face somewhat displeased. He pinched the spell in his hand again.
"Clang!!"
The flying sword vibrated intensely, once again bursting out with dazzling divine light. Then, with one sword slash, it severed Zhuo Yue's right arm, and without any pause, it passed through the air again, slicing off both wings of the Little Phoenix, which was about to fly away from the small grove!
"Screech!"
The Little Phoenix, having its wings severed, let out a heartbreaking screech. Although it very much wanted to take Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan away from this place, in the end, it was unable to.
The massive body crashed to the ground!
"Boom!!"
The phoenix body hit the ground, creating a deep pit. Blood splattered, dust filled the air—a scene of tragic heroism.
"Even like this, that guy hasn't appeared. I guess he really was torn to pieces in the void passage!"
"Let's just kill them; there's no time to waste. We need to find the Hedao Fruit."
The group spoke coldly, about to take the heads of the three people and the bird to give an explanation to the Wu Family.
Just as they were about to act with indifferent expressions.
"Boom!!"
Suddenly, in the distance, a dazzling golden light surged, like a blazing sun falling from the sky, so bright that it almost blinded their eyes, making it impossible to see what was rushing over.
The few powerful ones forced themselves to endure the sting of their eyes, tears flowing, and opened their heterochromia eyes to finally see what was coming.
It was an incredibly majestic Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, exuding endless majesty, and on its dragon head stood a young man with an incomparably cold expression.
Those who saw this scene, upon recognizing the young man, all shuddered, showing expressions of disbelief.
"Did they really force him out?"
"Being beaten so badly by Wu Xiongfei, he's actually unharmed? Moreover, he regenerated his severed limb and his strength increased?"
"Did he gain some heaven-defying fortune in the Secret Realm?"
After seeing Mu Jinyu's strength, everyone couldn't help but feel terrified and had thoughts of retreat.
After all, Mu Jinyu was a super tough guy. At the seventh layer of the Fanxu Realm outside, he once killed the next head of the Wu Family, Wu Zhiyuan, in one move and fought against Wu Qiyuan of the False Merged Path Realm with ease. His strength was truly unfathomable!
Now that his cultivation had gone up another layer, reaching the eighth level of the Fanxu Realm, they all understood that even dozens of them combined wouldn't be a match for Mu Jinyu.
If they had known earlier that being beaten so badly by Wu Xiongfei didn't harm him, and that he gained heaven-defying fortune in the Secret Realm, becoming even stronger, they would never have tried to pursue and kill Jian Ruyan and Wen Rou.
But who could have imagined that?
So none of them felt any fear, joining forces to chase down Wen Rou and the others.
Zhuo Yue's right arm was severed again, his expression sorrowful. He once called himself Iron Fist Zhuo Yue, invincible on Earth, ranking third on the Spiritual God Ranking, but unexpectedly, he continually lost his arm during this time.
But what he hated most was being powerless to protect Mu Jinyu's family, only being able to watch as a group of people tried to kill those two weak women in the Divinity Transformation Realm!
Just as Zhuo Yue gave a miserable smile, preparing to self-destruct to take down one opponent, he too saw the dazzling golden light coming from the sky, and sensed a familiar aura.
"It's… it's Mu Brother who's back?!"
Zhuo Yue froze for a moment, then the desolate expression on his face dissolved, replaced by excitement.
Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan, laying on the ground, watched as the Little Phoenix, with its wings broken and barely alive, cried with tears streaming down their faces.
Even when their bodies were being ravaged by Sword Qi, covered in bruises, they hadn't shed a single tear. But when the Little Phoenix tried to carry them out of here, only to suffer such brutal treatment and crash down to protect them, they couldn't hold back their tears.
"Little Phoenix, hang in there, we'll find Jinyu and let him heal you..."
Wen Rou sobbed.
Her usually kind heart was filled with great hatred, hating herself for being so weak, only able to let others protect her, unable to protect others.
Jian Ruyan didn't speak, only silently weeping. She knew that the chances of finding Mu Jinyu were slim.
Since entering the Secret Realm, learning from Little Phoenix that Mu Jinyu was being hunted by Wu Xiongfei of the Late Stage Hedao Realm, she understood Mu Jinyu was likely in grave danger.
On the platform at the Secret Realm's exit, they waited for Mu Jinyu for five whole days, but he never came.
Jian Ruyan understood, Mu Jinyu might have been killed by the Wu family at the moment he was about to enter the Secret Realm.
And it was also because they refused to give up and leave the entrance, waiting until the passage stabilized, that they directly encountered dozens of newcomers.
Otherwise, hiding deep in the Secret Realm, they might not have encountered anyone or been hunted by so many people.
At this moment, Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan, their faces wet with tears, suddenly seemed to sense something, lifting their heads to look at the brilliant golden light like a blazing sun coming from afar.
In the eyes of others, it was too bright to gaze at directly, almost requiring eyes to bleed to see clearly. But in the eyes of Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan, it wasn't sharp or aggressive but gentle, allowing them at a glance to see Mu Jinyu standing on the dragon head, with an expression as cold as ancient ice not melting for ages!
"Little Mu... Little Mu is finally here..."
Wen Rou cried out in excitement, then looked down and stroked the little Phoenix with eyes gradually fading, saying, "Little Phoenix, hold on, Little Mu has come to save us..."
Jian Ruyan watched Mu Jinyu with a dazed expression, showing excitement as well as doubt.
In her view, after Mu Jinyu hadn't entered the Secret Realm for five whole days, and even those from major powers came in, how could he still enter here?
This was simply a miracle among miracles.
"Kill!!"
Seeing Zhuo Yue's severed arm, Little Phoenix's broken wings, and Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan's grievous wounds, Mu Jinyu's face turned extremely icy, shouting angrily, and the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend restrained by the Dragon Soul was immediately released from its bonds.
Freed from its confinement, the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend roared skyward, instantly diving at the dozens of people frozen in place!