Killing the Black Cloud Eagle

Before long, the battle between the two sides came to an end. The Red-striped Tiger died, its belly ripped open by the Black Cloud Eagle's razor-sharp claws.

But the Black Cloud Eagle was not much better off. Its body was covered in wounds, and one of its claws had even been bitten off by the Red-striped Tiger. It was severely injured. For the sake of the Red Sun Fruits, they had truly fought to the death.

"What a perfect chance." Jiang Chen was overjoyed. He immediately sprang out, circled around the Black Cloud Eagle, and dashed toward the Red Sun Fruits.

Eight Fifth-tier Red Sun Fruits were worth a fortune. Whether he consumed them himself or sold them, either option would be excellent.

Seeing a weak Human Race brat actually trying to steal the Red Sun Fruits, the Black Cloud Eagle flew into a rage. Enduring its pain, it shot more than a dozen feathers at Jiang Chen.

Those feathers were as sharp as blades. In its eyes, they were more than enough to deal with a mere Martial Apprentice Realm brat.

Jiang Chen had noticed the Black Cloud Eagle's movements. How could he possibly ignore it while trying to pick the Red Sun Fruits?

Jiang Chen immediately dodged to the side, evading the attacks. The feathers stabbed viciously into the spot where he had just been standing.

Jiang Chen was startled as well. If he had not dodged in time, he would have been severely injured even if he had survived.

In the Great Wilderness Forest, suffering serious injuries was an extremely dangerous thing.

Seeing that its strike had failed to kill Jiang Chen, disappointment flashed through the Black Cloud Eagle's eyes. Attacking Jiang Chen had worsened its injuries once again.

"Damn it, you actually tried to ambush me." Jiang Chen cursed under his breath. He no longer dared head toward the Red Sun Fruits, worried that the Black Cloud Eagle would attack him again.

Jiang Chen instead rushed toward the Red-striped Tiger's corpse nearby and pressed one hand against its body.

When Jiang Chen reached the Red-striped Tiger's corpse, the Black Cloud Eagle did not know what he intended to do, so it did not attack him again. Attacking was also extremely draining for it.

It needed time to recover.

A powerful devouring force directly drew out the Red-striped Tiger's blood and vital energy, which Jiang Chen devoured. He felt an enormous force surge into his body.

The blood and vital energy of a peak third-tier demon beast was indeed immense.

"Martial Apprentice Realm Eighth Level, peak."

"Martial Apprentice Realm Ninth Level."

"Martial Apprentice Realm Tenth Level."

"Pfft."

"Martial Artist Realm, First Level."

A powerful force erupted from Jiang Chen's body. He had actually broken through into the Martial Artist Realm, First Level, only stopping once he reached the peak of the Martial Artist Realm, First Level.

"The peak of Martial Artist Realm, First Level. This feels great." Joy flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes.

Feeling the surging true qi within his body, Jiang Chen felt filled with strength.

The Black Cloud Eagle nearby was also shocked. How had this Human Race brat's cultivation risen so quickly?

With his strength greatly increased, Jiang Chen looked toward the Black Cloud Eagle in the distance, killing intent flashing in his eyes. If he killed the Black Cloud Eagle and devoured the blood and vital energy in its body, his strength could advance even further.

The Sky Devouring Demonic Dragon Art recorded a secret technique: Sky Annihilation Strike.

It could strengthen other martial skills. It had ten levels in total, and the first level alone granted tenfold attack power.

Each level mastered added another tenfold increase in might. At the tenth level, it could grant a hundredfold enhancement. It was an utterly heaven-defying secret technique.

The name Sky Annihilation Strike came from its hundredfold increase in power, carrying the implication that it possessed the ability to destroy the heavens.

Jiang Chen's strength far surpassed others at the same level. He was no ordinary Martial Artist Realm, First Level cultivator. With an additional tenfold increase in power, it was still possible for him to deal with a severely injured third-tier Black Cloud Eagle.

With that thought, Jiang Chen charged straight at the Black Cloud Eagle. Golden light radiated from his palm as true qi gathered in his hand.

When the Black Cloud Eagle saw Jiang Chen actually daring to charge at it, disdain flashed through its eyes. A Human Race cultivator at the Martial Artist Realm, First Level—even injured, it would not be so easy for him to kill it.

"Sky Annihilation Strike, Eight Desolations Palm." Jiang Chen flashed before the Black Cloud Eagle in an instant, moving with astonishing speed.

The Black Cloud Eagle was shocked beyond measure. How was Jiang Chen so fast?

It did not have time to defend itself before Jiang Chen struck one of its eyes with his palm.

Boom. A tremendous force erupted, blasting one of the Black Cloud Eagle's eyes apart. The overwhelming force traveled into its head and shattered its brain as well.

The Black Cloud Eagle let out a miserable cry and died on the spot. It could not understand why a Martial Artist Realm, First Level cultivator could kill it in a single blow.

After seeing the Black Cloud Eagle die, Jiang Chen panted heavily. To kill it just now, he had pushed his true qi with all his strength and dared not hold anything back. Besides, Sky Annihilation Strike consumed an enormous amount of true qi. After receiving the tenfold increase in power, the hand with which he had used the Eight Desolations Palm was slightly numb as well.

It seemed that using Sky Annihilation Strike also placed a certain burden on the physical body.

After killing the Black Cloud Eagle, Jiang Chen began circulating his cultivation. Strands of blood and vital energy were drawn from the Black Cloud Eagle's body and refined by Jiang Chen.

Now that Jiang Chen had entered the Martial Artist Realm, he could devour blood and vital energy within a range of several meters.

Previously, Jiang Chen had been too weak and needed to touch his target to draw it out. Now that his strength had risen, his devouring methods had been enhanced. He no longer needed physical contact; as long as a target was within range, he could draw out its spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy was colorless and odorless. Ordinary people could not see it at all and could only sense its fluctuations.

Jiang Chen successfully advanced to the Martial Artist Realm, Third Level. The further one progressed, the more spiritual energy was needed. Gaining two levels of cultivation from a peak third-tier demon beast was already quite good.

Afterward, Jiang Chen picked the Red Sun Fruits and put them away, preparing to take them with him.

Demon beasts generally needed strength above the fourth tier before they could form Demon Cores. Very few demon beasts below the fourth tier possessed Demon Cores.

Looking at the two enormous demon beasts, Jiang Chen felt quite helpless. He planned to give up on them. Without a storage bag, there was simply no way he could carry these things away.

Now that Jiang Chen's strength had risen and his pack was filled with loot, he wanted to return to Qingyue Town to dispose of these things. Better yet, he hoped to buy a storage bag—then he would be able to carry even more.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to leave, someone suddenly came running this way from not far off. Now that he was in the Martial Artist Realm, his hearing and vision had become much sharper.

"Someone?" Jiang Chen frowned.

At that moment, two young women were running toward where Jiang Chen was.

"Senior Sister, I can't run anymore." One of them, a girl who looked about sixteen, said weakly.

The other woman, who appeared to be around twenty, was also extremely frail, her face deathly pale.

"Xiaoxiao, we have to hold on. We can't fall into their hands. I never thought they'd be so despicable, actually resorting to such underhanded means." Long Qingyao gritted her teeth.

Both of them were disciples of the Tianyun Sect. The younger one was called Lin Xiaoxiao, while the other was Long Qingyao.

The Tianyun Sect was one of the Three Great Sects of Beihai Prefecture. Although it could not compare to the Four Great Super Sects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, its strength was still far from weak.

The two had come here to hunt demon beasts and gather materials. However, someone had secretly used the wind to blow Soft Spirit Powder toward them. After they inhaled it, five disciples of the Yinluo Sect appeared, intending to capture them.

The Yinluo Sect was likewise one of the Three Great Sects of Beihai Prefecture.

Those five people were all at the Martial Artist Realm, Eighth or Ninth Level.

Lin Xiaoxiao was at the Martial Artist Realm, Eighth Level, while Long Qingyao was even at the Martial Master Realm, Sixth Level.

Soft Spirit Powder was a medicine that temporarily caused one to lose their cultivation and left their entire body weak. Their cultivation was rapidly fading now, and there was no way they could be a match for those five people.

Under normal circumstances, how could Long Qingyao possibly have run? She alone could have dealt with all five of them.

"Hurry up and catch them! Those two won't get far. Once we catch them, we'll have plenty of fun." A vicious voice came from behind them.

Jiang Chen heard it all clearly from not far away and knew those people were no good.

"Those two women can really run. We'll have to punish them properly later, hehe."

Qingyue Town also fell within Beihai Prefecture, which was one of the prefectures under the Great Zhou Dynasty.