Boom! Boom! Boom!
The enormous snake tail slammed against the ground, and the entire mountain immediately began to shake.
Xu Ziqing lost his footing and staggered backward. In his panic, he grabbed a thick branch growing from a crack in the mountain wall behind him, yet the ground still jolted beneath him.
A piercing bird cry rang out from high in the distance. The gale was so fierce that Xu Ziqing could barely keep his eyes open, and he felt as though his feet were about to be lifted from the ground. He hurriedly tightened his grip to steady himself before finally looking upward.
A gigantic python several zhang long was thrashing among the mountains, its scales black as ink and its long tail twisting and sweeping about, knocking loose countless boulders and snapping countless great trees. Above it flew a pair of enormous eagles whose outspread wings spanned four or five zhang, one golden and one black. Both had razor-sharp beaks and hooked claws like steel.
The two eagles and the python were locked in battle, turning the surroundings upside down.
The python crawled along the ground while the two eagles held the advantage from above. One swept down from the left and the other from the right, wings spread wide. One tore at the python with sharp talons while the other pecked at its belly. Before long, the python was streaked with blood, hissing continuously in pain.
Just as the two eagles seemed to have gained the upper hand, the python suddenly raised its tail and whipped it around to coil about the golden eagle. At the same time, its body seemed to fold in half as its head whipped around to bite at the black eagle.
The golden eagle was agile enough to avoid the python’s bite, but the black eagle failed to guard against the python’s cunning and had a handful of black feathers bitten away. Its cries instantly grew sharper as it hurried back into the sky.
The python had succeeded, but the golden eagle seized the opening to peck straight through its belly, nearly tearing out its gallbladder. The python flew into a rage, opened its jaws, and spat out a cloud of black mist.
The black mist was undoubtedly highly poisonous. The golden eagle was covered in golden feathers, yet wherever even a trace of the mist touched, that patch was instantly corroded away. Startled, the golden eagle shot skyward at once.
But the python and the two eagles had already formed a deadly feud, so naturally none of them intended to stop there. The python suddenly shook its body, its entire length trembling violently, and in an instant its body shrank noticeably.
Xu Ziqing’s eyes widened abruptly. A pair of wings suddenly sprouted from the python’s back, and it actually lifted straight off the ground!
Now that both sides were in the air, the python swung its tail with a trace of awkwardness. The two eagles saw their chance and immediately attacked from both sides, but the python turned and lashed out with its tail, striking the black eagle squarely!
The black eagle gave a miserable cry and involuntarily loosened one claw.
Only then did Xu Ziqing notice something dropping from that claw, falling rapidly toward the ground. The golden eagle actually abandoned the python and beat its wings downward, apparently trying to catch it. Yet even the golden eagle could not descend as fast as the object fell. It struck the ground with a sharp crack, shattered, and spilled a pool of yellow-and-white matter.
It had been an eagle egg. No wonder the golden eagle had been so frantic.
It was already too late to save it. The golden eagle flew into a fury and quickly rejoined the black eagle, both of them clawing and biting savagely at the python with the desperation of creatures fighting for their lives. Even the vicious python seemed checked by their ferocity.
The python, however, refused to accept defeat. Driving the newly grown pair of fleshy wings, it fought the two eagles with equal desperation. Having just seen the golden eagle suffer the loss of its offspring, and now seeing how fiercely both eagles fought, it endured a rake from those iron-hard claws and lunged straight for the black eagle.
The black eagle still held another eagle egg in one claw, the sole survivor. The python intended to exploit that weakness and seize the chance to kill both eagles!
The python was indeed formidable. It managed to bite onto half of the black eagle’s wing while its tail whipped around and struck the eagle’s right claw. The black eagle loosened that claw in pain. The golden eagle’s cry became even more anguished, and in a frenzy it pecked out one of the python’s eyes!
The two eagles and the python now seemed bent on mutual destruction. Each fought with savage desperation, heedless of method and caring only about attacking the enemy. Soon flesh and blood were flying, while feathers rained down through the air…
Xu Ziqing watched until his eyes could scarcely keep up. Then he saw another object fall from the sky. Remembering the anguish of the two eagles moments earlier, and then recalling how dearly his parents in his previous life had cherished him, he stepped forward and released what little spiritual power he possessed to slow the egg’s descent. Then he broke into a quick run and barely managed to catch it.
Only then did he let out a breath of relief. Xu Ziqing placed the eagle egg into the cloth pouch at his chest and carefully protected it.
The battle in the sky had also reached its fiercest point. The python was streaming with blood, and both eagles were badly wounded and bedraggled. The two sides threw themselves at each other with even greater savagery. At last, the golden eagle tore open the python’s belly, only for the python to clamp its jaws around the eagle’s throat. The black eagle tried to help the golden eagle, but the python abruptly wrapped its long tail around it. All three fierce beasts crashed to the ground. The golden eagle had already died, the python was steadily weakening, and although the black eagle still lived, the snake tail kept it bound and slammed it violently against the ground until it too fell still. In the end, this battle between eagles and python concluded in mutual destruction.
Xu Ziqing kept one hand protectively over the eagle egg at his chest, his blood roiling in his veins. The battle had been terribly brutal, yet in only a few short minutes, three beasts had already lost their lives.
He breathed lightly for a moment before realizing that he had been holding his breath just now.
Everything around him was in ruins. Earth, stones, grass, and trees had been scattered by the three beasts, and many parts of the mountain wall had cracked apart. A perfectly good, rugged mountain peak had been battered almost beyond recognition.
Xu Ziqing looked at the python’s scales and remembered the ones he had seen inside the cave, leaving him with a lingering chill.
That cave must have been this python’s lair. Whatever had caused it to fight the two eagles had also allowed Xu Ziqing to keep his life. Otherwise, if the python had returned in the middle of the night and trapped him inside, he would have ended up buried in its belly.
All three creatures had been extremely fierce. Xu Ziqing had no idea whether they had developed intelligence, how many years they had lived, or whether they possessed demon cores. But none of that concerned him. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he found that he no longer had any intention of leaving.
At that moment, several figures suddenly appeared in the distance. Xu Ziqing was startled and quickly retreated into the cave. He pulled a rock across the entrance to conceal it, then cautiously peered outside from within.
A blue-robed young man arrived standing atop a flying sword and landed directly in front of the three beast corpses, delight showing plainly on his face. But within moments, several more figures descended. They too had flown in on magical artifacts: a gourd, a jade ruler, a silk ribbon, and others. There were both men and women among them, all looking spirited and extraordinary.
Xu Ziqing could not see through their cultivation, but he knew at least this much: anyone capable of flying on an artifact had to be at least at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement. If he showed his face, he would barely amount to a mouthful before them. There was a Xu family member among them, but Xu Ziqing did not know that person well. He quietly hid himself, realizing that these people had most likely been drawn here by the battle among the three beasts.
The three enormous beast corpses were impossible to overlook, and every Qi Refinement cultivator’s eyes lit up when they saw them.
Someone said, “This giant python must have cultivated for some three hundred years. It has wings growing from its back. Could it perhaps carry the bloodline of the ancient Yinglong?”
Among them, a yellow-robed young woman spoke in a melodious voice, her expression indifferent. “This creature is a Black-Scaled Profound Snake. It carries the ancient Huanshe bloodline and is far from comparable to a divine creature like Yinglong. Its cultivation is indeed around three hundred years. Give it another two hundred years and it would grow a horn and transform into a Profound Jiao.”
Elio’s Notes: Yinglong (应龙) and Huanshe (化蛇) are creatures from classical Chinese mythology. Yinglong is associated with a winged dragon, while the Huanshe is a serpent-like creature linked in the Classic of Mountains and Seas with disastrous floods. Jiao (蛟) is another distinct dragon-like creature, often associated with water. I’ve kept these mythic names distinct because the novel is using them as separate bloodline forms.
Everyone sucked in a breath. The person who had mentioned a Yinglong bloodline had only been joking. Who would have thought that this mere demon snake truly possessed an ancient bloodline? It was not Yinglong, but the Huanshe was still a fierce beast capable of bringing great floods. If the Black-Scaled Profound Snake reached a thousand years of cultivation and awakened its bloodline, it could awaken the Huanshe divine ability hidden within its bloodline. By then, even Golden Core cultivators would have reason to fear it!
At once, everyone’s gaze toward the python corpse grew even hotter.
Someone suddenly asked, “If the Black-Scaled Profound Snake was so formidable, what sort of unusual creatures were those two eagles? They actually managed to perish together with it!”
The others remembered this as well and grew curious. The two eagles, one female and one male, did not appear particularly unusual at first glance. But considering that their opponent had been such a rare creature, the eagles too now seemed anything but ordinary.
The same yellow-robed young woman walked over and examined them before saying slowly, “The female eagle is merely an ordinary black eagle that cultivated for five hundred years. The male, however, is also an unusual variant. With its body covered in golden feathers, its bloodline likely contains a trace of Dapeng blood. Unfortunately, that trace is extremely faint, almost nonexistent, and the golden eagle has cultivated for only a little over two hundred years. That is why it could not match the Black-Scaled Profound Snake.”
Elio’s Notes: Dapeng (大鹏), literally the “Great Peng,” is the gigantic mythic bird associated with the Zhuangzi. The source invokes it here as a distant bloodline ancestor rather than identifying the golden eagle itself as a Dapeng.
When ordinary birds and beasts cultivated by the proper means, a hundred years could be enough for a demon core to form within them. These three creatures naturally all possessed demon cores, and the bodies of demon beasts like these were treasures both inside and out. The group had discovered the three corpses together, so no single person could claim everything, but every one of them wanted a share.
Xu Ziqing counted eight people in all. The Tian, Xu, and Meng families had one person each; the Luo family had three, and the Wei family had two. If the spoils were divided according to numbers, the Luo family would naturally take the largest share. But in terms of cultivation, these were all outstanding disciples of their respective families, most at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refinement. One member of the Meng family, however, had already reached the seventh layer: the yellow-robed young woman who had just explained the origins of the three beasts. That meant the division could not be decided by headcount alone.
For a time, no one could settle on a decision. They argued back and forth, none willing to let the others gain an advantage.
Just as it seemed they were about to fight over the spoils, everyone suddenly felt a chill creep over their bodies, as though cold were invading from every direction and making them shiver uncontrollably.
What powerful spiritual pressure!
C-could this be a Foundation Establishment cultivator?!
Under such overwhelming pressure, none of them dared move. A streak of light suddenly shot in from the distant sky and landed before the group. A figure emerged: a tall, upright man whose bearing was straight and proud, an icy chill surrounding him.
He turned his head. His features were handsome and sharply defined, while a hard, cold edge lingered around his eyes and brows, making him seem utterly unapproachable.
“Greetings, Senior Xu!” The cultivators all bowed together at once, their manner extremely respectful.
Xu Ziqing recognized him as well. It was Xu Zifeng!
Xu Zifeng carried a long sword on his back, his entire body suffused with spiritual light. Even merely standing there, he possessed a presence that could not be ignored.
His gaze swept once across the cultivators. Without saying a word, he merely raised one hand and sent out an object gleaming with treasure-light.
One cultivator recognized it. “An upper-grade storage pouch!”
Aside from the Xu family cultivator, whose face brightened with delight, everyone else was bitterly disappointed. No matter how fiercely they had argued here, in front of Xu Zifeng they were not even worth mentioning. They immediately regretted it bitterly. Had they known this would happen, they should never have wasted time arguing and should simply have taken whatever pieces they could from the beast corpses and left.
Sure enough, Xu Zifeng had no intention of chatting with anyone. The storage pouch flared once in midair, and all three beast corpses were sucked inside without so much as a scrap left behind.
The other cultivators did not dare object. The Xu family cultivator had already moved to stand behind Xu Zifeng, while Xu Zifeng’s gaze sharpened and turned toward the snake den concealed behind the rock.
“Come out,” he said coldly.