Luo Bai had only encountered the power of the Phoenix once—when Professor X brought the X-Men to his apartment in search of Polaris.
At that time, Luo Bai met the host of the Phoenix Force, Jean Grey.
After that, he hadn't paid much attention to mutants, so he naturally didn't know the specifics of Jean Grey's situation.
The reason he suddenly sensed it now was because the Phoenix Force had erupted.
In other words, Jean Grey could no longer suppress it.
And this time, as her power exploded, it was coincidentally detected by Luo Bai's immortal energy.
This made his immortal power extremely excited.
After all, the power of immortals and the power of the Phoenix had always been rivals.
These two forces had clashed once before in the Imperial City.
The final outcome? Naturally, the immortal power had won.
Rumor had it that the immortal force devoured the Phoenix Force.
However, this devouring didn't mean the Phoenix Force disappeared entirely. Instead, it was absorbed into the immortal power's domain, allowing the immortal energy to wield all the Phoenix Force's abilities at will.
The fusion of the Phoenix Force and immortal power should have made its previous wielder invincible—at least on a multiversal level.
But in the end, that host still fell to the gods.
There were two reasons for this.
First, the Phoenix Force that exists now is merely fragments of its true form. Every Phoenix Force sighted so far has only been a shard, never the complete entity.
Second, the previous host of immortal power was ambushed and killed through trickery.
As a result, all the power that had been absorbed was expelled, returning things to their original state.
It seemed that the immortal power was still unwilling to accept that defeat. That's why it had reacted so strongly upon sensing the Phoenix Force once again.
"Eat it! It's so fat!" the immortal power whispered in Luo Bai's mind.
It sounded so excited, as if the Phoenix Force was already within its grasp.
Luo Bai sighed.
While this was certainly not the right way to go about things, forcibly taking someone else's power went against his personal code.
However… considering he wasn't exactly a man of rigid principles to begin with, he decided he might as well go take a look.
After all, in his experience, every time Jean Grey lost control of the Phoenix Force, it always led to a disaster of massive proportions.
…
Activating his omniscience, Luo Bai quickly locked onto Jean Grey's location.
The moment he opened a portal, he stepped through and arrived at the scene of the incident.
As expected, the Phoenix Force within Jean Grey had completely erupted. Even she could no longer contain it.
Right now, she was battling the X-Men.
Although most of the X-Men were powerful mutants, their abilities were nowhere near enough to fight the Phoenix Force head-on.
It went without saying—they were getting crushed.
The entire team was nearly wiped out.
Seeing the X-Men fall one by one, Luo Bai wasn't surprised.
What did surprise him, however, was that Quicksilver was among them.
And what a coincidence—
After being blasted away by Jean Grey, Quicksilver rolled across the ground… and landed right at Luo Bai's feet.
Luo Bai looked down at him.
"Well, what a coincidence."
Hearing this, Quicksilver finally noticed Luo Bai.
The moment he looked up and saw him, his eyes lit up—like a drowning man seeing a lifeboat.
"Master Luo Bai, what are you doing here?" Quicksilver asked hurriedly as he scrambled to his feet.
"I detected an unusually strong energy surge on Earth, so I came to check it out," Luo Bai said with a smile. "Are you alright?"
Quicksilver sighed. "Not really. I feel awful. Jean Grey's power exploded, and now she's completely out of control."
"I figured as much. But I'm curious—why are you here? Did you join the X-Men?" Luo Bai asked.
Quicksilver nodded. "Yeah. Professor X recruited me. I was bored at home, so I figured I'd join just to see what it was like. But who knew I'd run into such a crazy mutant the moment I joined?"
Quicksilver frowned.
His expression made it obvious how helpless he felt.
And honestly… it was understandable.
Imagine joining a team on your first day, only to find yourself going up against the Phoenix Force.
Who the hell could handle that?
Even Luo Bai would find it annoying.
Thinking of this, Luo Bai patted Quicksilver's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll help you."
With that, he turned his gaze toward Jean Grey.
At the same time, Jean Grey looked at him.
They didn't actually know each other—aside from that one time they met, they'd never even spoken.
But at that moment, Luo Bai noticed something strange in Jean Grey's eyes.
Fear.
However, it wasn't her fear.
It was the fear of the Phoenix Force itself.
The Phoenix Force was afraid… because of the Fairy Force.
The two entities had sensed each other.
The moment it did, the Phoenix Force took control of Jean Grey's consciousness, and she instinctively turned and fled.
As soon as she moved, the Fairy Force shouted in Luo Bai's mind:
"Catch it! Don't let the Phoenix escape!"
Without hesitation, Luo Bai activated the Fairy Force and combined it with the power of the Reality Stone to alter reality.
A surge of crimson energy erupted from Luo Bai's body, shooting straight into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the red energy spread rapidly across the sky, dyeing everything in its path.
Reality itself shifted. A vast mirror dimension unfolded, enveloping the battlefield in an instant.
Within moments, everyone else vanished.
Only Luo Bai and Jean Grey remained, trapped in a boundless cosmic expanse.
And this was no ordinary space—this was the very universe where the Phoenix Force and the Fairy Force had fought their last battle.
Seeing there was no escape, Jean Grey finally stopped.
Slowly, she turned around.
At that moment, golden light flickered across her face, illuminating her features. Even her eyes gleamed with a radiant gold glow.
The Phoenix Force was preparing to attack.
Under normal circumstances, Luo Bai wouldn't allow the Fairy Force to take the lead in battle.
After all, if it went out of control, it could end up devouring the entire universe.
But after all this time, Luo Bai had gained enough trust in its power.
Besides, today's situation was different—this wasn't just any fight.
This was a battle between old rivals.
So, for once, Luo Bai let the Fairy Force have its way, allowing it to take control.
As its consciousness fused with his, the Fairy Force stared greedily at the Phoenix Force and spoke words it had longed to say:
"You didn't expect this, did you? I'm back."
Sensing the Fairy Force's overwhelming desire, the Phoenix Force erupted in flames.
A sea of golden fire engulfed Jean Grey.
In the next second, she merged completely with the Phoenix Force and vanished—transforming into a colossal, golden phoenix.
With a piercing cry that echoed across the universe, the Phoenix Force launched a devastating attack.
Its ultimate move—Judgment of the Phoenix—unleashed an apocalyptic surge of energy aimed directly at the Fairy Force.
Faced with this overwhelming force, Luo Bai couldn't help but mutter internally:
"Did you bully it too hard last time? Why is this Phoenix going all out the moment it sees you?"
The Fairy Force quickly responded:
"Maybe I was a little too rough back then… but I'll do the same this time!"
With that, it activated its power—warping reality once again.
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