To Make It in the World, You Need Backing!

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 half the entrance. Amid the rubble was a patch of white.

Li Qi looked up, his fierce eyes fixed on the Dark Night Bird!

The Dark Night Bird tilted its head slightly, one bestial eye glancing at Li Qi with disdain and mockery, though there was also a trace of wariness.

A planetary-level demonic beast possessed intelligence no less than that of an ordinary person.

To the Dark Night Bird, 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 have already been raging with fury.

Ignoring the weak yet somewhat threatening human, the Dark Night Bird, with nothing but prey on its mind, spread its wings and dove downward.

"Ignoring me? How arrogant!"

Seeing that the Dark Night Bird was ignoring him and even intended to attack right in front of him, Li Qi's gaze turned cold.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Ten bone spikes shot through the air.

The ten bone spikes spread out, sealing off the Dark Night Bird's diving path!

As though it had expected this, the Dark Night Bird twisted its body, folded its wings to protect its head and abdomen, and spun downward.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

One bone spike after another struck the Dark Night Bird, sending it tumbling through the air several times. A few black, metallic-looking feathers drifted down from its spinning body.

"Screech—!"

At last, with a long cry of pain, the Dark Night Bird flapped its wings several times in succession before steadying itself and slowly raising the head it had been protecting.

As it watched the ten bone spikes return to Li Qi's side, the Dark Night Bird's bestial eyes filled with respect, hatred, anger, and other emotions.

It had underestimated this human before it.

The power of those bone spikes far exceeded its expectations. They had nearly pierced through the defense of its tough feathers.

It had thought him no more than an ant, only to discover that he could actually threaten it!

Seeing that the Dark Night Bird had only lost a few feathers under the assault of his ten bone spikes, Li Qi was somewhat alarmed.

With psychic power more than ten times stronger than others at the same level, supplemented by bone spikes made from the fangs of a third-stage planetary-level demonic beast, he had caused only this much damage.

Those feathers are this hard. This Dark Night Bird is probably not a first-stage planetary-level beast!

Since a single bone spike can't pierce its tough feathers, then I'll stack two together!

Li Qi narrowed his eyes. Twelve of the sixteen bone spikes beside him flew before him in pairs, leaving only four to guard his side.

The Dark Night Bird watched Li Qi's actions without attacking, merely observing him quietly.

Then, with a flap of its wings, it lunged straight 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 tore through the air toward the Dark Night Bird, charging forward without hesitation.

The remaining two pairs of bone spikes fell downward behind Li Qi.

Seeing the four pairs of bone spikes coming at it, the Dark Night Bird violently flapped its wings and shot upward, brushing past them.

Then it plunged down again, apparently trying to catch him off guard and kill the two human young hidden within the hill below while Li Qi was unprepared.

"I knew you'd try this!"

Knowing full well that planetary-level demonic beasts were no less intelligent than ordinary humans, Li Qi had prepared for this 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 closely from behind, though their speed had slowed considerably.

Meanwhile, the two pairs of bone spikes that had separated earlier flew upward, forming a pincer attack on the Dark Night Bird.

Planetary-level demonic beasts were indeed no less intelligent than ordinary humans, but compared with the scheming minds of humans, demonic beasts that were accustomed to solving problems with brute force still fell far short.

Seeing that its intentions had been exposed and facing an attack from both sides, the Dark Night Bird quickly made a decision.

Of two evils, it chose the lesser. It decided to withstand the human's attack and continue downward to hunt the two human young inside the hill.

It could tell that the two human young inside the hill were important to this human. With him guarding them, they would not be easy to kill.

But even if they were difficult to kill, it had to try. Compared with directly attacking this powerful human who could fly, attack, and defend, the two human young hidden inside the hill were clearly easier prey.

As long as it killed the humans and brought their bodies back, whether they were powerful humans or young ones, its mission would be complete.

Clang! Clang!

As the two pairs of bone spikes struck the Dark Night Bird from the front and back, two metallic collisions rang out.

The sound was immense, carrying for miles.

Each pair of bone spikes consisted of one in front and one behind. The first bone spike struck the Dark Night Bird's tough feathers, and the second immediately slammed into the tail of the first.

Borrowing the force of the second strike, the first bone spike successfully drilled into the Dark Night Bird's flesh and penetrated deep inside.

Thus, after the metallic collision, there came the faint squelch of bone spikes piercing flesh.

The enormous impact of the bone spikes brought the Dark Night Bird to a halt and even sent it drifting 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, those four pairs had little force behind them and did not accelerate its descent as expected.

How could this be?

With blood holes in its wings, the Dark Night Bird flapped them, intending to continue diving.

But at that moment, two more bone spikes struck it from below, halting it again.

Screech!

The Dark Night Bird let out an angry cry, but what greeted it was a continuous barrage of bone spikes attacking from the side.

Feinting east and attacking west? Trying to outscheme us humans? You think too highly of yourself!

Li Qi watched the Dark Night Bird being continuously battered by bone spikes and calculated the time. They should be here soon.

At the Royce Family camp in the valley below.

"What was that sound?"

"What happened?"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

From nearly twenty tents, six faintly glowing figures emerged.

Before the tent flaps had even fallen shut, they had already flown into the air.

The six people hovered above the tents, looking at one another for quite some time.

Finally, someone noticed the commotion in the sky and hurriedly said, "Look at the sky! Someone is fighting a demonic beast!"

There was no need to examine further. All six were planetary-level powerhouses, and with their eyesight, they naturally saw it clearly.

"It's Eleven!"

One person easily recognized Li Qi as the one fighting the demonic beast.

"Go!"

Another shouted, then shot into the sky, with the others following close behind.

Noticing lights rising from below, the Dark Night Bird could not help looking down.

It was one thing not to look. Once it did, it was terrified.

Human powerhouses!

And more than one!

Seeing human powerhouses arriving, the Dark Night Bird no longer dared to continue tangling with Li Qi, nor did it want to kill the two human young below anymore.

What was a mission worth? Nothing mattered more than staying alive!

Run!

Run now!

If it did not run, it was dead for sure!

Borrowing the impact of the bone spike attacks, the Dark Night Bird flapped its wings repeatedly. Its desire to survive drove it to fly at its fastest speed.

"You want to run? Stay right there!"

Seeing the Dark Night Bird trying to escape, one planetary-level powerhouse below pursued it with a psychic weapon at a terrifying speed!

Standing on the Bone Shield in midair, Li Qi watched the Dark Night Bird flee.

"I'm no match for you one-on-one, but unfortunately—

"I don't need to fight you one-on-one. I only need to hold you back long enough, because I have people behind me!"

A planetary-level powerhouse flew to Li Qi's side. "Eleven! What happened?"

"We'll talk later. I'm going down to take a look first!"

Refocusing, 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 only be one update a day. My typing speed is not fast enough yet, and my brain cannot keep up with my hands. I need some time to adjust.