The Shadow Blade Sect's charge was a wave of black robes and gleaming daggers. Zhang Wei gripped the Frostbite Spear, its icy aura biting into his palms. Behind him, the Celestial Dawn Sect's disciples stood ready—glittering, terrified, and absurdly outnumbered.
"Remember the plan!" Zhang Wei yelled.
"Which part?!" Little Fang squeaked, juggling a hiccup pill in each hand.
"The part where we *don't die*!"
---
**Phase 1: Trapocalypse**
The first Shadow Blade cultivator lunged over the wobbly wall—and plummeted into a pit filled with mutated mushroom spores. Pink mist erupted, sending him into a fit of giggles.
"Trap one: *Fungus Funhouse*!" Ling Ling crowed, pulling a lever.
Tripwires snapped, releasing a avalanche of stolen Golden Dragon Sect pastries. Assassins slipped on custard, cursing.
"Why pastries?!" Little Fang yelled, hurling a hiccup pill.
"They were on sale!"
A Shadow Blade elder unsheathed a sword, only to have Xiao Mao's raccoon leap onto his face. The man flailed, screaming, "Get it off! It's eating my *nose*!"
**[Shadow Blade Morale: -20%]**
---
**Phase 2: Disco Inferno**
The Celestial Dawn Core's glitter aura hit critical mass. Disciples shimmered like walking constellations, blinding attackers.
"I can't see! *Why is everything sparkly?!*" a Shadow Blade archer wailed, firing arrows into his own comrades.
Little Fang, now a glitterbomb with legs, tackled a swordsman. "Embrace the sparkle!"
Even the chicken glowed, strutting through chaos like a tiny, feathered disco ball.
---
**Phase 3: Frostbite Meets Fiend**
The Shadow Blade leader, a masked man named Viper, sliced through traps with dual poisoned daggers. "Enough games! Face me, *Sect Leader*!"
Zhang Wei stepped forward, Frostbite Spear humming. "Let's dance."
Viper struck first, blades blurring. Zhang Wei parried, ice clashing with venom. Each clash left frost creeping up Viper's arms.
"You're… annoying," Viper hissed, shattering ice with a qi burst.
"And you're *basic*," Zhang Wei shot back, channeling the core's power. The spear flared, encasing Viper's leg in ice.
The crowd gasped. Elder Zhu, watching from a safe distance, paled. "Impossible!"
---
**Phase 4: Cluck of Destiny**
As Viper broke free, the chicken flapped onto Zhang Wei's shoulder.
"Not *now*—"
The chicken pecked the Frostbite Spear. Ice exploded, engulfing Viper in a glacier.
**[Frostbite Spear Ability Upgraded: *Feathered Fury* – Chicken-assisted freeze!]**
The battlefield fell silent. Viper's frozen statue glinted in the sunlight, mid-snarl.
"Did… the chicken just…?" Little Fang whispered.
"Yes," Ling Ling said. "And I'm *never* eating omelets again."
---
**Phase 5: Retreat with Salt**
Elder Zhu turned to flee, but Ling Ling tripped him with a well-thrown hammer. He face-planted into a puddle of custard.
"This isn't over!" he spat, crawling away. "The Golden Dragon Sect will crush you!"
"Looking forward to it!" Zhang Wei called, then muttered, "*Not really.*"
---
**Aftermath: Sparkly Victory**
The surviving Shadow Blade cultivators fled, glittering and hiccuping. The Celestial Dawn Sect's courtyard was a mess of frozen enemies, pastry debris, and one very smug chicken.
"We… won?" Xiao Mao said, his raccoon gnawing on a stolen dagger.
"Barely," Ling Ling said, surveying the damage. "But we won."
The system chimed.
**[Main Quest Complete: Defend the Sect.]**
**Reward:** *Divine Protection Barrier (Lasts 12 hours. Already used.)*
"Wow. Thanks," Zhang Wei said dryly.
**New Quest: Investigate the Chicken's Origins.**
**Hint:** *That wasn't normal poultry. At all.*
---
That night, they gathered around the Celestial Dawn Core, its glow softer now. The chicken perched atop it, preening.
"Is it a spirit beast?" Little Fang asked.
"Or a cursed prince?" Xiao Mao wondered.
Ling Ling snorted. "It's a *chicken*. A really, really weird one."
Zhang Wei studied the Ancestor's Mirror. The reflection now showed the chicken in ancient murals, worshipped by robed cultivators. "Turns out, our mascot's a legend."
The system pinged. **[Hidden Bloodline Discovered: *Celestial Phoenix Guardian*.]**
The chicken clucked, and for a moment, its shadow looked like a phoenix.
---
**Epilogue: Calm Before the Next Storm**
As disciples celebrated with slightly burnt post-battle pancakes, Elder Zhu limped into the Golden Dragon Sect's hall.
"They have a *phoenix*," he rasped.
The sect's grandmaster, a man with dragon-scale tattoos, smiled. "Good. The phoenix's power will be ours."
---
Back at the Celestial Dawn Sect, Zhang Wei stared at the starry sky. "What next?"
The system's message glowed: **[Prepare for the Golden Dragon Sect's Wrath. And maybe buy more glitter.]**
The chicken pecked his foot, as if to say, *Bring it on.*