Looking down, Li Qi could roughly make out the situation below with his eyesight.
The massive boulder that had blocked the cave entrance had shattered into several pieces, covering less than half of the opening. Amid the rubble was a streak of white.
Li Qi looked up, his fierce eyes fixed on the Dark Night Bird!
The Dark Night Bird tilted its head slightly, one beastly eye glancing at Li Qi with disdain and mockery, along with a trace of caution.
A Planetary Level beast possessed intelligence no less than that of an ordinary human.
In the Dark Night Bird's eyes, a human who had not even reached the Planetary Level was not worth much attention, but neither could he be completely ignored.
Li Qi did not attack. He was calm and rational now, and he knew what he needed to do.
If he had not known that Little Eighteen and Nineteen were not wearing white beast-hide clothes today, he would likely have flown into a furious rage by now.
Disregarding the weak yet somewhat threatening human, the Dark Night Bird, which saw only prey, spread its wings and dove downward.
"Ignoring me? How arrogant!"
Seeing the Dark Night Bird disregard him and even intend to attack right in front of him, Li Qi's gaze turned icy.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
Amid the shrieking of air being torn apart, ten Bone Spikes shot forth.
The ten Bone Spikes spread apart, sealing off the Dark Night Bird's diving route!
As if it had expected this, the Dark Night Bird twisted its body to the side, folded its wings around its head and abdomen, and spun downward.
Clang, clang, clang!
One Bone Spike after another struck the Dark Night Bird, knocking it into several tumbles in midair. Several black, metallic-looking feathers drifted down from its spinning body.
"Chirp—!"
At last, with a pained cry, the Dark Night Bird beat its wings several times in succession before stabilizing itself and slowly lifting the head it had been protecting.
As it watched the ten Bone Spikes return to Li Qi's side, the Dark Night Bird's beastly eyes filled with wariness, hatred, anger, and other emotions.
It had underestimated this human before it.
The power of those Bone Spikes had far exceeded its expectations. They had nearly pierced through the defense of its hardened feathers.
It had thought him nothing more than an ant, only to discover that he could threaten it!
Seeing that the Dark Night Bird had lost only a few feathers after taking the attack of his ten Bone Spikes, Li Qi was somewhat alarmed.
With Mental Force more than ten times stronger than that of others at his level, paired with Bone Spikes made from the fangs of a third-stage Planetary Level beast, he had caused only this much damage.
"These feathers are this hard... This Dark Night Bird is probably not merely first-stage Planetary Level!
"Since a single Bone Spike cannot pierce its hardened feathers, then I'll stack two together!"
Li Qi narrowed his eyes. Of the sixteen Bone Spikes around him, twelve flew before him and formed pairs, leaving only four to guard his side.
The Dark Night Bird watched Li Qi's actions without making a move, merely observing him in silence.
Suddenly, it flapped its wings and charged directly at Li Qi.
"Go!"
With a thought from Li Qi, four pairs of Bone Spikes shot out the instant the Dark Night Bird moved.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The four pairs of Bone Spikes streaked through the air toward the Dark Night Bird with unstoppable force.
The remaining two pairs of Bone Spikes fell downward behind Li Qi.
Seeing the four pairs of Bone Spikes rushing at it, the Dark Night Bird violently beat its wings and shot upward, brushing past them.
Then it dropped downward again, apparently trying to catch him off guard and kill the two human children hidden in the hill below before Li Qi could react.
"I knew you'd pull this trick!"
Knowing that Planetary Level beasts possessed intelligence no less than ordinary humans, Li Qi had prepared a countermeasure long ago. He could not allow the Dark Night Bird to reach Little Nineteen's secret base in the hill below.
He controlled the four pairs of Bone Spikes to pursue it from behind, though their speed had slowed considerably.
Meanwhile, the two pairs of Bone Spikes that had separated earlier rose upward, attacking the Dark Night Bird from both sides.
Planetary Level beasts were indeed no less intelligent than ordinary humans, but compared to the scheming minds of humans, beasts accustomed to solving problems with brute force still fell far short.
Seeing through its intentions, the Dark Night Bird quickly made a decision while facing the pincer attack.
When weighing the lesser of two evils, it chose to endure the human's attacks and continue downward to kill the two human children in the hill.
It could tell that the two human children within the hill were important to this human. With him protecting them, they would not be easy to kill.
But even if they were difficult to kill, it had to try. Compared with directly attacking a powerful human who could fly, attack, and defend, the two human children hidden in the hill were clearly easier prey.
As long as it killed the humans and brought their bodies back, whether they were powerful warriors or children, its mission would be complete.
Clang, clang!
As the two pairs of Bone Spikes struck the Dark Night Bird from the front and behind, two metallic impacts rang out.
The sound was immense, carrying for miles in every direction.
Each pair of Bone Spikes consisted of one before and one behind. The first Bone Spike had barely struck the Dark Night Bird's hardened feathers when the second slammed into its tail end.
Borrowing the force of the second impact, the first Bone Spike smoothly drilled into the Dark Night Bird's flesh and sank deep within.
Thus, after the metallic clash came the faint squelch of Bone Spikes piercing flesh.
The tremendous impact of the Bone Spikes caused the Dark Night Bird's body to halt, and it even showed signs of being knocked backward upward.
Clang, clang, clang...
A continuous series of metallic impacts rang out as the four pairs of Bone Spikes pursuing from above struck the Dark Night Bird.
However, the impact of these four pairs was weak, and they did not accelerate its downward fall as expected.
"How could this be?"
The Dark Night Bird was puzzled. It flapped its bloodied wings, intending to continue its dive.
But at that moment, two more Bone Spikes struck it from below, causing its body to pause again.
Chirp!
The Dark Night Bird let out an enraged cry, but what greeted it was a continuous barrage of Bone Spikes attacking from the sides.
"A feint? Trying to play mind games with us humans? You really think too highly of yourself!"
Li Qi watched the Dark Night Bird being continuously attacked by the Bone Spikes and calculated the timing in his mind. They should be here soon.
At the Royce Family camp in the valley below.
"What was that sound?"
"What happened?"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
From among nearly twenty tents, six faintly glowing figures emerged.
Before the tent flaps had even fallen shut, the figures had already flown into the air.
The six hovered above the tents, staring at one another for quite some time.
At last, someone noticed the movement in the sky and hurriedly said, "Look up! Someone is fighting a beast!"
There was no need to investigate further. All six were Planetary Level experts, and with their eyesight, they naturally saw it as well.
"It's Eleven!"
One of them easily recognized Li Qi as the person fighting the beast.
"Go!"
Another shouted before soaring into the sky, with the others close behind.
Noticing lights rising from below, the Dark Night Bird could not help looking down.
It was fine until it looked. The moment it did, it was terrified.
Human experts!
And more than one!
Seeing the human experts arrive, the Dark Night Bird did not dare continue tangling with Li Qi, nor did it want to kill the two human children below anymore.
What mission? How could that be more important than staying alive!
Run!
Run now!
If it did not flee, it was as good as dead!
Borrowing the force of the Bone Spikes' attacks, the Dark Night Bird beat its wings repeatedly. Its desire to survive drove it to fly at its fastest speed.
"Trying to run? Stay right there!"
Seeing the Dark Night Bird attempting to flee, a Planetary Level expert below controlled a Mental Force Weapon and pursued it at astonishing speed!
Standing on a Bone Shield in midair, Li Qi watched the Dark Night Bird flee.
"In a one-on-one fight, I'm no match for you, but unfortunately—
"I don't need to fight you one-on-one. I only need to keep you occupied long enough, because I have people behind me!"
A Planetary Level expert flew to Li Qi's side. "Eleven! What happened?"
"Later. I'm going down to take a look first!"
Regaining his focus, Li Qi did not answer. After leaving those words behind, he controlled the Bone Shield and flew toward the hill below.
For now, there will be one update a day. My writing speed is not fast enough yet; my mind cannot keep up with my hands, so I need some time to adjust.
Before you continue