Beast Tide

In this region, encountering flying demon beasts while traveling on a weapon was well within Shi Feng's expectations. The fact that he had traveled for over half a month without meeting any could only be chalked up to good luck.

"Caw—"

Its wings injured, the Golden Flame Eagle seemed enraged. Its high-pitched cry rang through the heavens. With a flip, it folded its wings and, like a golden bolt of lightning, swooped toward Shi Feng with the force of thunder!

"Vile beast! You really think I'm afraid of you?!"

Shi Feng held the saber in reverse and advanced instead of retreating. Stamping heavily on the ground, he shot into the sky like a scallion sprouting from parched earth. His black martial outfit snapped loudly in the fierce wind, while the earth around him surged like the surface of water, raising waves of soil!

At the same time, the saber in Shi Feng's hand swelled explosively in the wind until it was more than forty feet long. Astral energy burst from its blade for over a hundred feet, and a massive scarlet saber shadow rose from below, slashing viciously upward at the Golden Flame Eagle!

"Boom—"

"Caw... caw!"

An explosive roar rang out, mixed with several pained eagle cries.

Golden feathers drifted down like rain from the sky. A huge figure was sent flying backward, tumbling several times through the air before barely stabilizing itself.

The Golden Flame Eagle no longer possessed its former divine bearing. A dark-red saber mark stretched from its left claw all the way to its head and neck, running nearly a foot deep. Its organs could almost be seen through the wound.

The Golden Flame Eagle's left claw had nearly been severed by that strike. The feathers around the saber mark had withered black, no longer bright and lustrous as before.

After stabilizing itself, intense, humanlike fear surfaced in the Golden Flame Eagle's pale-gold eyes. It frantically beat its wings and flew toward the horizon.

Trying to run?

Shi Feng wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth and revealed a feral grin. Raising his right arm slightly, he let the Xiantian True Qi within his body surge into the saber in his hand like countless rivers returning to the sea.

The already enormous saber swelled again, becoming nearly thirty feet long.

"Die!"

Shi Feng shouted fiercely and spun around. The saber flew from his hand, rolling waves of air sweeping outward. Its enormous blade was like an arrow loosed from a bow, cleaving through space and appearing behind the Golden Flame Eagle almost in the blink of an eye.

"Shhk—"

The giant blade pierced straight through the Golden Flame Eagle, its momentum unabated as it pinned the creature to a cliff face.

"Caw—"

The Golden Flame Eagle let out a shrill cry. Its wings beat frantically as it tried to break free, but no matter how it struggled, all its efforts were futile.

As it lost massive amounts of blood, the Golden Flame Eagle gradually lost the strength to struggle. In the end, it fell still.

Shi Feng recalled the saber. Deprived of its support, the Golden Flame Eagle's enormous body plunged into the bottom of the cliff, raising a vast cloud of dust. Only a large patch of dark-red blood remained on the cliff face, with a few golden feathers clinging to it.

Shi Feng coughed twice and swallowed the blood surging into his mouth. He had also suffered serious injuries in that brief clash.

The Golden Flame Eagle was huge, and meeting it head-on had not been a wise strategy. But it was the fastest way to deal with it. The surroundings were unfamiliar, and lingering even a moment longer could attract even more danger.

After calming the churning blood and qi within him, along with the Xiantian True Qi that had nearly boiled over, Shi Feng was just preparing to ride his weapon into the air and search for Shi Lan when he saw her running toward him with the wind at her feet. Her expression was panicked as she shouted:

"Run!"

Shi Feng froze. He turned his gaze toward the plain dozens of miles behind Shi Lan. Dust that blotted out the sky billowed high into the air, while wisps of demonic aura wove together into a pitch-black cloud of demon qi that nearly covered the entire sky!

"A beast tide..."

Shi Feng's heart trembled. He could barely keep hold of the saber in his hand.

His own death would not matter, but what would happen to Shi Lan?

A nameless terror seized Shi Feng's heart, leaving his mind momentarily unable to function.

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

After only a few breaths, Shi Lan had already dashed up to Shi Feng. Seeing him standing there foolishly, she grabbed his arm and sprinted wildly.

After being dragged along for two steps, Shi Feng suddenly came to his senses. He flung the saber in his hand outward, transforming it into a weapon more than ten feet long, then pulled Shi Lan onto it.

Shi Feng had no time to suppress his injuries. The Xiantian True Qi he had just calmed erupted once more, surging madly into the saber beneath his feet!

A scarlet rainbow shot into the sky. Shi Feng had only one thought now: faster! Faster still!

"Bang—"

The scarlet rainbow seemed to slam into an invisible wall and plummeted from the air.

"Urgh..."

After landing, Shi Feng rolled several times, clutching his chest as he vomited a mouthful of blood. Another immense impact had worsened his already serious internal injuries, adding injury upon injury.

Shi Lan shook her dizzy head, got to her feet, and ran to Shi Feng's side, helping him up.

"How are you? How bad are your injuries?"

Shi Feng shook his head. His eyes had already turned utterly lifeless.

That enormous cloud of demon qi rapidly drew near, but when it drifted to within a mile of Shi Lan and Shi Feng, it suddenly stopped.

The smoke and dust that had blotted out the sky slowly dispersed, revealing one savage giant beast after another.

"Thundercloud Tiger..."

"Blood Frenzy Lion..."

"Vajra Demon Ape..."

Looking at the demon beasts before him, some familiar and some unknown, a bitter smile touched Shi Feng's lips. His gaze shifted toward the center of the beast pack.

At the center of countless savage giant beasts sat a carriage that looked resplendent in gold and jade. A human girl who appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old sat inside.

The girl wore white robes. Her features were exquisite, and her black hair cascaded like a waterfall. She reclined lazily, idly playing with the snow-white, luxuriant tail that rose behind her. As her eyelids opened and closed, they revealed a pair of jade-green vertical pupils utterly devoid of emotion.

A group of enormous demon beasts and a beautiful human woman who looked seventeen or eighteen years old.

The combination of beasts and beauty created a powerful visual impact.

"As expected of a shapeshifting Demon King..."

Shi Feng's voice was hoarse. That invisible wall from earlier had been a barrier created when space solidified into something tangible. Among the Demon Race, only peerless Demon Kings who had comprehended the mysteries of space could use such a technique.

The girl's figure vanished from inside the carriage and appeared beside Shi Lan and Shi Feng almost at the same instant.

The two had just tried to react when they felt the space around them solidify as if it had become tangible, suppressing their movements completely. They could not move even a single finger.

"Human..."

The girl seized Shi Lan's arm and pushed back her sleeve, revealing a section of her fair wrist. She sniffed it lightly, then stuck out her tongue and gently licked it.

Shi Lan felt a sharp pain in her arm. The girl's tongue seemed covered in backward-pointing barbs, scraping away a layer of flesh in an instant.

Savoring the sensation in her mouth, the girl's eyes lit up. She licked her lips and murmured, "So fragrant..."

Seeing this scene, Shi Feng's eyes nearly split with rage.

The girl stuck out her tongue and licked once more, scraping away another piece of flesh before reaching out and pressing down on Shi Lan's shoulder.

Shi Lan's vision blurred. When she came to herself, she had already appeared atop the carriage amid the demon beasts.

Shi Feng, who should have been standing beside her, stood silently a mile away.