The Curious Qian Renxue

"Strange, where have all the spirit beasts in this area gone? Could it be that spirit beasts also have migratory habits?" Xiao Yu circled in the forest for a long time, yet he hadn't even caught a glimpse of a century-level spirit beast, which truly left him feeling puzzled.

He did not yet know that it was precisely because of his own presence that the spirit beasts within a twenty-mile radius had long since fled, fearing they might disturb this Wing-Type Elf King.

And as his strength improved, this range of deterrence would only grow wider—this was the vast difference between a king and ordinary spirit beasts.

"It seems I have no choice but to fly further away to find a target." Xiao Yu felt quite helpless.

If it weren't for the necessity, he would not want to leave this place, but right now, there seemed to be no other option.

He chose a direction at random and flapped his wings to fly off.

Coincidentally, this direction happened to be the path that the group led by Xue Qinghe was taking into the forest; one could say they were heading toward each other.

After flying out of that twenty-mile zone of silence, traces of spirit beasts finally began to appear.

"A tiger? The aura is terrifying, forget it."

"A bear? That giant paw is bigger than my entire body, and its hide is thick and tough; better not provoke it."

"A rhinoceros? Its armor is even harder than bear hide, that won't work either."

Picking and choosing along the way, Xiao Yu had unknowingly drawn closer to the forest entrance.

Just then, amidst the dense branches and leaves above, a pair of massive vertical pupils suddenly locked onto him!

Before Xiao Yu could even notice, the owner of those pupils—a century-level Datura Snake—violently coiled its body and shot out like an arrow from a bowstring! In its opened venomous maw, four sharp fangs glinted with a cold light, aiming straight for Xiao Yu!

Although Xiao Yu had not sensed that hostile gaze, as the Wing-Type Elf King, he was exceptionally sensitive to changes in air currents.

The moment the Datura Snake launched its ambush, the violent fluctuation of the air was instantly captured by him!

He instinctively flapped his wings, and his figure suddenly shot upward!

"Whoosh—" The snake's lethal bite brushed past him, missing its mark.

Xiao Yu patted his chest with his small claw and let out a long sigh of relief, his gaze locking sharply onto the Datura Snake that was coiling back up below.

"Talk about finding what you're looking for without even trying! I was just worrying about not finding a suitable opponent, and you delivered yourself to my doorstep." A flash of brilliance shone in Xiao Yu's eyes.

Although snakes have strong muscles and astonishing charging power, their defense is far inferior to that of bears and rhinoceroses. Their attack methods are also quite simple, consisting of nothing more than ramming and biting. As long as he dodged properly, Xiao Yu was confident he could handle it easily.

The eagle is the natural predator of the snake, and the eagle also belongs to the wing-type. As the Wing-Type Elf King, wouldn't he have even greater suppression capabilities?

Xiao Yu swooped down, carrying a hint of mockery: "Want to bite me? Come on then!"

The Datura Snake, having missed its strike, had already begun to consider retreating—it had keenly sensed the aura on Xiao Yu that made it tremble.

However, the ferocity of a century-level spirit beast overcame its reason. Seeing that its prey dared to turn back and provoke it, it was instantly enraged and opened its bloody maw to bite again!

But since the ambush had already failed, it was even less likely to hit Xiao Yu now that he was on guard.

Xiao Yu gave a light flap of his small wings and easily dodged the clumsy attack.

"Your aim is too poor; you need to practice more." Xiao Yu's interest was piqued, and he began to tease the angry venomous snake.

The Datura Snake launched fierce attacks time and time again, only to be dodged by Xiao Yu with effortless ease.

"Hiss—!!!" With its attacks repeatedly missing, the Datura Snake was furious, causing the branches it was coiled around to rustle and shake.

Watching the opponent's flustered and helpless state, Xiao Yu let out a mocking chuckle and continued to add fuel to the fire: "I just love watching you hate me to the bone while being completely unable to do anything about it."

Before he could finish his sentence, he once again nimbly avoided an attack.

At the same time, on a small path not far away, the sound of violent friction against the leaves reached Xue Qinghe's party.

"Your Highness, there is a strange noise ahead; it seems like spirit beasts are fighting." A soldier reported in a low voice. In the world of spirit beasts, the strong prey on the weak, and mutual slaughter was a common occurrence.

"Hmm, let's go take a look." Xue Qinghe nodded slightly.

They had been in the forest for several hours, and the few spirit beasts they had encountered were not to their liking.

Since there was nothing else to do, they might as well investigate.

"As you command!" Two soldiers cleared the path in front, and the three of them soon snuck near the battlefield, hiding behind the bushes.

"It's a Datura Snake." The soldiers recognized the spirit beast attacking in the tree at a glance.

"And that other spirit beast is..." When they tried to identify Xiao Yu, they couldn't help but frown—they had never seen such a strange little beast before.

Xue Qinghe also furrowed her delicate brows.

Even with her experience as the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire and the granddaughter of the Grand Elder of Martial Soul Hall, she could not identify the origin of this little beast.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, my knowledge is shallow, and I failed to recognize this beast's identity." The soldier apologized in shame.

"It is fine; I do not recognize it either." Xue Qinghe waved her hand, her curious gaze locked tightly onto Xiao Yu.

Most of this little beast's body was covered in pure white feathers, while the rest was adorned with strange, ever-changing feathers interwoven with black and white.

It didn't look like an ordinary spirit beast at all; it looked more like the cub of some legendary divine beast!

But how could that be? Creatures of divine status should only exist in ancient forbidden lands like the Star Dou Forest.

"In my opinion, this mysterious little beast seems to be toying with that Datura Snake." Having failed to identify it, the soldier turned to analyze the battle.

"That is indeed the case. The little beast clearly had multiple opportunities to counterattack, yet it chose to give them up and only dodged the Datura Snake's attacks." Another soldier agreed.

Xue Qinghe nodded, "With such a playful nature, it seems this little beast is still in its infancy."

"I wonder what kind of rare spirit beast it is; to have the ability to toy with a century-old Datura Snake so soon after birth is truly astonishing," the soldier remarked, following her line of thought.

"Look! The little beast seems to have had enough fun and is about to make a move!" the soldier suddenly whispered, seeing the little beast in the air change its posture, no longer dodging or weaving.

"Played enough, time to send you on your way," Xiao Yu dodged yet another lunge, hovering in mid-air and no longer baiting the snake.

With a flicker of his thought, the airflow around his body suddenly accelerated, instantly causing the surrounding leaves to tremble violently!

"Is that wind?! This spirit beast can actually command Wind Force?!" the soldier not far away couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight.

Although spirit beasts each have their own attributes, they usually manifest their power from within themselves; for instance, the fire-attributed Blaze Tiger launches attacks by spewing flames from its mouth.

Most other spirit beasts are the same, but this one was different; the wind it commanded seemed to be drawn from the surrounding environment, utilizing the power of heaven and earth.

Xue Qinghe's eyes shone with increasing brilliance.

To possess such divine abilities at birth, it must be an extremely rare and powerful spirit beast! And it is easiest to tame during its infancy... Could this fortuitous encounter be the will of heaven?

"Air Cutter!" Xiao Yu abruptly channeled his power, and the airflow around him instantly condensed, transforming into two sharp, invisible wind blades that tore through the air toward the Datura Snake!