Atop the towering snowy mountain lay an icy valley, which had once been the nest of a Heaven-class spiritual beast, the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk. But now, the area was anything but quiet.
Dozens of Divine Soul Realm experts and hundreds of Spiritual Wheel Realm cultivators were gathered. Even a Heaven-class spiritual beast couldn't withstand such a siege.
"It's almost done for! Attack!"
A figure hovering in the sky at the forefront of the crowd shouted coldly.
Immediately after, the dozens of Divine Soul Realm and hundreds of Spiritual Wheel Realm cultivators behind him all roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
Boom! Boom!
Countless waves of spiritual power swept out at that moment. Even the howling wind and snow in the sky were shattered by this overwhelming force. Arcs of radiant energy pierced the heavens and landed upon the massive form of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Deep, dull sounds rang out continuously. Even the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk, faced with such a joint assault, was blasted back over a hundred zhang. The crystalline snowstorm that had been swirling around its body was punched full of gaping holes.
Now was the moment!
The leading cultivator growled in his heart. A streak of light shot out from his hand and, in a flash, pierced through the terrifying snowstorm and stabbed directly into the wing of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk.
Screech!
The sharp pain that suddenly erupted from its wing made the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk emit a piercing cry. The injury to its wing caused it to lose flight stability, and it plummeted from the sky.
When Liu Bai and An Ran arrived just outside the valley, they witnessed the exact moment the eagle's wing was broken.
"Huh? What technique did Zhou Fan just use? He managed to seriously wound the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk?" Liu Bai's expression changed.
If Zhou Fan truly had that kind of power, then Liu Bai figured he'd better retreat quickly. If Zhou Fan turned that power on him, he'd be lucky to survive.
An Ran's expression also turned grim. Seeing how many powerful followers Zhou Fan had, a sense of despair began to settle over her heart.
On the battlefield, the hawk's fall drastically reduced the threat it posed. But the pain also completely enraged it. After crashing to the ground the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk let out another furious screech, its massive snowy wings suddenly flaring out.
Violent spiritual energy swept forth like a storm. The snow in the air was rapidly condensed into countless icy spears, each one emanating a chilling spiritual aura that made hearts tremble.
Clearly, the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk was truly enraged now.
"Dodge!" Zhou Fan shouted loudly from above. Then, with a wave of his hands, a long spear crackling with lightning appeared in his grasp.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a mighty flap of its wings, the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk launched its ice spears in a torrential barrage. The air was torn apart as the spears rained down upon the cultivators who had attacked it.
Boom!
Faced with the beast's terrifying counterattack, many of the cultivators' expressions changed. They hastily circulated their spiritual power to the limit and launched spiritual attacks to defend themselves.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ice spears rained from the sky as spiritual energy howled. The scene was utterly breathtaking.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
In this terrifying clash, many unlucky individuals were struck by the ice spears. The imprints on their foreheads shattered instantly, and they were teleported out of the Northern Heavens Realm in a flash of light.
Shockwaves from the collision of spiritual powers spread out, stirring up the wind and snow across the heavens and earth.
"Thunder God Piercing Spear!"
A furious roar echoed out. Zhou Fan transformed into a bolt of lightning, the long spear in his hand forming a shadow of a Thunder God's spear dozens of zhang in length. With unstoppable force, he thrust it straight at the massive body of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out. The entire icy valley quaked from the blow, and even the millennium-old ice within the valley was shattered to powder.
The intense shockwaves triggered a massive avalanche in the surrounding mountains. Countless spiritual beasts that inhabited this icy world were caught in the collapse and crushed or buried alive.
Liu Bai and An Ran clung tightly to the icy crevices beneath them to avoid being swept away by the tremors.
"That's powerful! That spear… it must be of very high grade..." An Ran said, her face slightly pale.
Liu Bai nodded. Judging from that level of power, it must be at least a high-grade Spiritual Artifact. Even in Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, such a weapon would be considered extremely rare. This Zhou Fan either had an incredibly powerful background or was blessed with extraordinary fortune.
But then again, it wasn't hard to understand. For someone who would eventually rank in the top ten of the Heavenly Rankings, strength, talent, fortune, and even background none of it could be ordinary. Otherwise, how could one stand out among millions?
"Forget that. The Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk is already a spent force after being severely injured. I'll act as a distraction and draw their attention. While they're focused on me, you seize the spiritual beast's essence!" Liu Bai said to An Ran.
"Okay. Be careful!"
Having witnessed Zhou Fan's terrifying strength, An Ran couldn't help but worry about Liu Bai's safety.
Liu Bai gave a small nod. Then, taking advantage of the spiritual turbulence in the surroundings, he quietly slipped away.
At this moment, deep within the icy valley, the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk lay weakly in a large crater. It let out sorrowful cries as blood continued to pour from a massive wound in its chest.
As the blood left its body, it quickly froze under the intense cold into blood-red ice beads that fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Zhou Fan, who had just unleashed his strongest technique, let out a long sigh of relief.
That battle had been extremely perilous. If not for the Spirit-Breaking Pearl his father had given him, which managed to wound the ice eagle, it would have been nearly impossible to bring it down today.
Unfortunately, that life-saving item was one-of-a-kind. If that spear strike just now had failed, they would have had to consider retreating.
Fortunately, everything had gone according to plan.
Looking at the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk, which had completely lost its ability to fight, Zhou Fan was just about to give the order to end it and claim the spiritual beast essence when he suddenly saw a burst of golden light erupt nearby.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Five massive golden wheels, each over ten zhang in diameter and radiating terrifying sharpness, tore through the air and crashed into the crowd.
Caught off guard and still in a relaxed state, many cultivators failed to react in time. Several were struck directly by the golden wheels, their imprints shattering as they were forcibly ejected from the Northern Heaven Realm.
"Dodge! Get out of the way!" someone shouted in panic.
The entire valley erupted into chaos. People fled in all directions, desperately trying to avoid the deadly wheels. No one had the time to care about the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk, which was now on the verge of death.
But soon…
"Not good! Protect the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk!" Zhou Fan was the first to react and immediately shouted a command.
He then tried to gather his depleted spiritual energy and raised his lightning spear with effort.
Buzz!
Before Zhou Fan could act, one of the golden wheels locked onto him and flew straight in his direction.
This confirmed Zhou Fan's suspicions it wasn't just a coincidence. Someone in the shadows was interfering, and their target was clearly the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk.
"This is a Array. Someone's set up a Array. Find them!" Zhou Fan, now utterly enraged, roared furiously.
The massive golden Array was completely exposed and couldn't be concealed. And since the one controlling it had to remain within, Zhou Fan's furious subordinates immediately charged toward it with a roar.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the Array master, a figure silently slipped beneath the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk's wing to hide.
In the next moment, Liu Bai manipulated one of the golden wheels to change direction and cleave directly through the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk's skull. The mighty beast, who had only one breath left in it, instantly perished.
A heartbeat later, An Ran's figure shot out from beneath the eagle's wing like a sharp arrow. With a grasp of her hand, several strands of blue light flew out from the shattered head of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk and landed in her palm.
Within the blue light was a miniature Ice hawk, currently struggling violently. Its force was so intense that An Ran could hardly hold on.
Gritting her teeth, An Ran paid no heed to the ice-cold force emitted by the spiritual beast essence that had turned her hand blue and purple. She sprinted directly down the mountain.
"Damned it! Stop her!" Zhou Fan was already on the verge of madness, roaring furiously.
He had led a group, expended every ounce of strength, and even revealed his trump card just to take down the Heaven-class beast. Who would have thought that someone would lie in ambush, waiting to snatch the prize? Anyone in his place would find that intolerable.
"Don't let me find out who you are. I swear I won't let this go!"
"We got it. Retreat now!"
Just then, An Ran's voice, accompanied by spiritual power, echoed into Liu Bai's ears.
Hearing this, Liu Bai's lips curled into a faint smile. In the next instant, nine thousand experience points were added to the Mountain God Art.
A violent surge of spiritual power erupted from his body. The aura of a mid-Phase Divine Soul cultivator instantly swept out. A massive brown mountain formed around him.
After advancing to the fourth layer, the mountain that took shape over Liu Bai's body became more solid, and its defensive power grew substantially stronger.
At that moment, Zhou Fan's furious followers had already arrived. Countless spiritual attacks were rushing toward him.
Liu Bai was no Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk. Faced with so many Divine Soul and Spiritual Wheel Realm attacks, even the fourth-layer Mountain God Art couldn't hold out.
Still, he did not panic. Instead, he calmly spoke a single word.
"Explode."
Boom!
The Five-Wheel Heaven-Splitting Array, a second-Rank spiritual array, detonated instantly. The terrifying shockwave generated a storm even more powerful than Zhou Fan's earlier strike on the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk.
Snow and wind were hurled into the sky. The entire world became a blizzard of white, and visibility was completely lost.
Using the force of the explosion, Liu Bai flung himself down the mountain like a meteor. Along the way, he smashed through countless icy peaks. By the time he reached the foot of the mountain, the brown mountain shield around him was riddled with cracks. It finally shattered and dissipated into countless motes of spiritual light.
This move was one he had learned from watching Uncle Long's Soaring Eagle Plan. He had underestimated the height of the snowy mountain. Had he not upgraded the Mountain God Art to the fourth layer in time, he would have ended up as a pile of broken flesh.
Even so, Liu Bai felt like his entire body had fallen apart. Dizzy and disoriented, he struggled to determine direction before finally heading toward the rendezvous point agreed upon with An Ran.
Back atop the mountain, when the chaos finally subsided, the entire icy valley had been completely destroyed.
Due to Liu Bai's self-detonated spiritual array, an unknown number of Zhou Fan's followers had been caught in the blast and were eliminated via imprint teleportation. Even Zhou Fan himself was experiencing spiritual power turbulence, and with rage surging through him, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His vision darkened as dizziness overcame him.
"Don't let me find out who you are. I will kill you. I will kill you!"
Even on the Spiritual Road, Zhou Fan had never suffered such grievous injuries. The humiliation of being outwitted stung far worse than the wounds on his body.
At that moment, a slender figure approached. Seeing Zhou Fan's bloodshot eyes, the figure could only offer a bitter smile.
He, too, was a participant in the Spiritual Road. Though not a crowned king like Zhou Fan, he was one of the top-tier cultivators just beneath that level. Yet even he felt both furious and helpless about what had transpired.
That person's identity remained unknown, but their strength was already at the mid-phase Divine Soul Realm—no weaker than his own. And what's more, the individual was a spiritual array master. The golden Array they had deployed was clearly among the best within second-rank arrays. Even peak-phase Divine Soul Realm cultivators would have trouble breaking through it in a short time.
Let alone when caught off guard. The enemy had not only prepared allies in advance but had even self-detonated their array. What were they supposed to do about that?
"Brother Zhou, don't be too furious. After detonating that spiritual array, the attacker can't be in good shape either. Someone of that level, a Second-rank spiritual array master, is unlikely to remain unknown within the Northern Heaven Realm. Sooner or later, we'll find him and repay today's humiliation."
Though Zhou Fan was burning with fury, he hadn't lost his rationality. After hearing the slender youth's words, he quickly calmed down.
He looked around at the many wounded followers nearby, then glanced at the decapitated corpse of the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk within the ruins of the valley. Coldly, he ordered, "Take the Northern Golden Stripe Seahawk's body. We're heading down the mountain."
Dozens of li away from the snowy mountain, within a cave in a barren hill, Liu Bai sat cross-legged, silently circulating spiritual power to heal his injuries.
Thanks to the protective white jade spiritual light from the Frost Skin Jade Bone Art, though his body had suffered severe impacts, his internal organs remained intact. That same white jade spiritual light also aided in healing, and in less than fifteen minutes, the pain throughout his body vanished, and all injuries were completely healed.
At that moment, Liu Bai ended his healing, exhaled deeply, and gazed toward the mouth of the cave.
An Ran had escaped earlier than he had, but she still hadn't arrived at their rendezvous point. Could something have happened to her along the way?
Just as Liu Bai was wondering whether he should head out to check, he suddenly sensed a wave of icy spiritual energy rapidly approaching his location.
.....
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