Gu Qingxue's face paled. Just as she was about to turn back with her sword to help, Gao Qiuge doggedly pinned her down.
“Junior Sister, get back!!”
Third Senior Brother Gu Changqing bellowed, unsheathing his sword and charging forward.
Bang!
The giant eagle's terrifying claws, which seemed to be forged from steel, brutally swatted away Gu Changqing's long sword like a fly.
Qi Linger also gritted her teeth and lunged forward.
The giant eagle opened its beak and spat out several wind blades, instantly forcing Qi Linger, who was only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, to defend herself frantically.
Boom!
Gu Changqing, who was at the peak Foundation Establishment stage, was sent flying once more. He crashed heavily against a towering tree like a tattered sack, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
The raw power of a Tier Three demon beast was on full display!
Even though it was heavily injured and unable to fly, it could still easily crush those in the Foundation Establishment stage!
With a sudden leap, the giant eagle easily cleared several zhang.
Its sharp, glinting claws tore through the air with a piercing screech, lunging straight toward Bai Zhirou, who stood frozen on the spot as if paralyzed with fear.
But was Jiang Ye really dazed?
Of course not.
With his deep knowledge of the game, he knew those two stood absolutely no chance of blocking the giant eagle's attack.
He had stayed in the back earlier solely to quietly observe this broken-winged eagle's ground attack patterns!
Just as the claws were about to tear the young girl's head to shreds...
A sight that made everyone's blood run cold unfolded once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!!
A rapid, crisp succession of metallic clangs erupted across the arena once again!
The giant eagle's attack speed was simply too fast for the current Jiang Ye!
He had to focus entirely on parrying; he had absolutely no time to sneak in any attacks. Trying to get greedy would likely get him killed on the spot.
Listening to the rapid, rhythmic clanging...
Both the Sword Peak disciples below the stage, whose palms were sweating from tension,
and Gao Qiuge and Gu Qingxue, who were locked in a fierce midair battle, froze in their tracks. Their eyes were wide with absolute disbelief, as if they had just seen a ghost.
“Wait... sister?! How the fuck can you block everything?!”
Even though Jiang Ye's Perfect Parries rang out in an endless metallic rhythm,
the massive gap in their cultivation realms was still an insurmountable wall.
He simply couldn't break the giant eagle's poise bar to trigger a stagger, leaving him without even a single second to catch his breath.
The giant eagle was clearly infuriated by this bug that refused to die.
Suddenly, it spread its wings wide. The claws that had been lunging forward abruptly shifted into a fierce, sweeping wing strike!
The attack pattern had changed.
Jiang Ye raised his sword to block.
Bang!
The long sword vibrated violently.
This time, the block only mitigated eighty percent of the damage. The timing check failed, and Perfect Parry was not triggered!
Jiang Ye let out a muffled groan. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as the violent force pushed him back several steps.
The giant eagle's primal ferocity was fully unleashed. It opened its beak, unleashing over a dozen lethal wind blades that swept toward Jiang Ye in a wide fan!
In that split second...
Hum—!
The Purple Mystic Protective Pendant at Jiang Ye's waist flared with a brilliant golden light.
A semi-spherical golden barrier instantly expanded in front of him. Fortunately, he had activated the jade pendant in advance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The wind blades slammed into the barrier repeatedly. Even though it was a low-grade Treasure Tool, the shield quickly reached its limit under the continuous ultimate attacks of a Tier Three demon beast.
Crack.
With a loud pop, the barrier shattered completely, dissolving into countless specks of spiritual light.
The giant eagle let out a piercing screech. Charging forward on its thick legs like a runaway semi-truck, it barreled straight toward Jiang Ye.
The crowd below the stage gasped in despair once more.
Not far away...
The booming sounds from inside the Dragon-Binding Cauldron trapping Ye Jinghong grew increasingly violent, and fine cracks had already begun to spiderweb across its surface.
Gu Qingxue wielded her frost sword, frantically bombarding Gao Qiuge. However, as an experienced Golden Core cultivator, Gao Qiuge pulled out all the stops to tie her down, making it impossible for her to break free anytime soon.
Covered in blood, Gu Changqing and Qi Linger gritted their teeth and ran desperately toward them.
But they were clearly too late!
At this moment, Jiang Ye stood completely still, looking as if he had been paralyzed with fear.
Everyone assumed Junior Sister Bai was about to meet her tragic end.
Yet, no one noticed that Jiang Ye's fingertips had quietly pinched a black talisman treasure.
He sighed inwardly with deep regret:
“I really didn't want to use the Tier Three talisman treasure Sikong Lie gave me before he died. After all, this thing is highly toxic.”
“Now look at this. The poisoned meat definitely won't be edible. I was hoping to treat everyone to some Tier Three demon beast meat tonight.”
In the blink of an eye,
Jiang Ye flicked his wrist.
The black talisman treasure instantly transformed into a bizarre black thread. Fine as a strand of hair, it tore through the air at an unbelievable speed, shooting straight toward the giant eagle!
In midair,
Gao Qiuge, who had been sneering with a wide grin, suddenly sensed that something was deeply wrong with that black thread!
His old face twisted in horror.
“Retreat!!” Gao Qiuge shrieked.
But it was already too late.
The hair-like black thread drifted forward effortlessly, piercing through the giant eagle's tough chest scales without any resistance.
The giant eagle's frantic charge instantly froze.
Step... step... step...
Its steps grew slower and slower.
Right after, the nearly invisible puncture wound on its chest began to turn purple and black at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The toxin instantly surged through its meridians and spread to its entire body!
“Screeech—!”
The giant eagle let out an agonized wail as purplish-black toxic blood spilled from its beak.
With a thunderous crash,
its massive body slammed heavily onto the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
Jiang Ye held his long sword in a reverse grip and quickly stepped forward, preparing to deal the final blow to harvest his experience.
“Junior! How dare you!!”
In midair, Gao Qiuge's eyes threatened to split from rage as he roared in panic.
Jiang Ye didn't even look up, retorting bluntly,
“Watch me!”
With that, showing absolutely no mercy to the old geezer, he raised his long sword high, ready to bring it down.
“Sigh... stop, junior.”
Suddenly,
an old, sighing voice that seemed to transcend space echoed faintly over the entirety of Hidden Sword Peak.
Hum!
Jiang Ye felt his entire body stiffen. He was instantly pinned to the spot by a vast, ocean-like force.
He could still think normally, but his body was completely paralyzed, unable to move even a single finger!
However,
this absolute suppression lasted for only three breaths.
“Hmph.”
A cold, proud female voice, like ice from the highest heavens, suddenly erupted across the sky.
A sword qi resembling a transparent ripple sliced straight up into the sky!
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion shook the heavens as the terrifying pressure locking Jiang Ye in place was instantly shattered to pieces.
The old voice spoke again, tinged with a hint of helplessness:
“Nangong Yue, we belong to the same sect. Why must you do this?”
The cold, proud female voice did not yield an inch, her tone laced with mockery:
“Wei Zhaoyuan, you're an old geezer, yet you have the cheek to make a move on a junior?”
The two clashed head-on!
Wei Zhaoyuan fell silent for a moment before speaking:
“Release the giant eagle, and we shall call it even for today.”
Hearing this, Gao Qiuge grew anxious and cried out, “Peak Master! How can we let this junior off so easily?! Not only did she kill my Tier Two black bear, but she also heavily injured my giant eagle!”
Meanwhile,
down below...
Having regained his freedom, Jiang Ye wasn't paying any attention to the verbal sparring between the two powerhouses in the sky.
His eyes were locked onto the giant eagle on the ground, and he swallowed hard.
This was a Tier Three demon beast! A super-sized experience pack!
If he slaughtered this beast, combined with the experience he had been holding back, it would probably allow him to break straight through to the mid Foundation Establishment stage once he advanced his realm.
Jiang Ye squinted up at Gao Qiuge in the sky, mocking him indifferently:
“Now I get it. The owner of this giant eagle is just a giant baby himself. How old are you? Crying and running to your parents when you can't win a fight—aren't you embarrassed?”
Rate on N.U.
