Suffocating Moments

Qing Zhengyue's hand clenched around the saber hilt, veins bulging.

A seventy-year-old veteran, he had seen storms and death, but never a soul beast of this caliber.

A fifty-thousand-year soul beast was already beyond anything he had previously understood.

Qing Mufeng hovered beneath the canopy, watching the Mystic Nether Eagle from above.

His view was clearer than anyone's on the ground.

The Mystic Nether Eagle fed quickly, tearing open the Wind Wood Dragon's abdomen and swallowing its organs one bite at a time.

It ate only the organs, showing little interest in the flesh and bones.

A fifty-thousand-year Mystic Nether Eagle no longer needed to consume vast quantities of food to sustain its energy.

What it consumed was Soul Power—the most refined part within the Wind Wood Dragon, the organs richest in Soul Power.

After finishing the organs, the Mystic Nether Eagle raised its head, its pitch-black pupils sweeping across the surrounding forest.

Those eyes passed over the tree where Qing Zhengyue hid, the rock where Liu Yunlan hid, the canopy where Qing Hongyuan hid, and the bushes where Shen Wanqing hid.

Finally, it raised its head and looked toward Qing Mufeng, hovering beneath the canopy.

Their eyes met.

Qing Mufeng felt as though his blood were about to freeze—not from fear, but from the killing intent pouring from those eyes, so intense it was nearly tangible.

Yet he did not look away or retreat. The Azure Dragon's dignity would not allow him to bow his head before a bird.

The Mystic Nether Eagle stared at him for three breaths.

Then it lowered its head, used its beak to tidy the feathers on its wings, spread its wings, and gave them a light beat. Its massive body rose into the sky and vanished into the dusk.

The Wind Wood Dragon's corpse remained where it was.

Qing Zhengyue emerged from behind the tree, his saber held across his body. Only after sweeping his gaze around and confirming that the Mystic Nether Eagle had left did he speak.

"Yunlan, inspect the body. Hongyuan, get up in the trees and keep watch. Wanqing, assist. Mu Feng, watch from above."

The string of orders was crisp and decisive.

The four answered at once.

Liu Yunlan hurried to the Wind Wood Dragon's corpse and crouched beside it.

Its abdomen had been torn open and its organs eaten, but its flesh, bones, scales, and blood were largely intact.

"It can still be used." The old woman looked up. "Other than the missing organs, everything else is here."

Qing Zhengyue nodded.

"Dismantle it. Take everything we can carry."

Qing Hongyuan leaped into the canopy, his Azure Snake Dragon Wing half-spread as his gaze swept the skies. Qing Mufeng rose higher, Wind Perception covering a radius of a hundred zhang while his Azure Dragon Pupil monitored every corner of the horizon.

The Mystic Nether Eagle had left, but there was no guarantee it would not return.

If a fifty-thousand-year Mystic Nether Eagle truly wanted to kill them, they could not escape.

But it had not done so, not because it was kind, but because it disdained them.

In its eyes, these weak humans were not worthy of its attention.

It was interested in the Wind Wood Dragon's organs, not humans.

That was the greatest stroke of luck the five members of the Qing Clan had today.

Liu Yunlan took jade bottles and oil paper from her storage ring, while Qing Zhengyue crouched and began dismantling the Wind Wood Dragon's corpse.

The scales were stripped away, the blood bottled, the bones removed, and the dragon tendons pulled free.

They moved quickly, with almost no wasted motion.

In less than half an hour, the three had completely dismantled the thirty-five-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon's corpse.

More than two hundred scales, a complete skeleton, over a dozen bottles of blood, four dragon tendons, and a quantity of flesh.

There were no soul bones, but these materials alone were already worth a fortune.

"Move."

Qing Zhengyue rose to his feet, the final word falling sharply.

Rather than returning the way they had come, the five figures rapidly departed in another direction.

The Wind Wood Dragon's bloody scent would attract other soul beasts, and even the Mystic Nether Eagle's scent would not deter them for long.

They had to leave the area completely before other predators arrived.

The five figures raced through the dense forest. Only after they had put a considerable distance between themselves and that area did Qing Zhengyue slow down.

"Stop. Rest."

The four reacted as if pardoned, some leaning against trees and others squatting down.

Liu Yunlan took a waterskin from her cloth bag, handing it first to her grandson, then to her husband, before taking a sip herself.

Qing Hongyuan leaned against a large tree, his Azure Snake Dragon Wing fully retracted and his collar soaked through with sweat.

Shen Wanqing sat beside her husband, gasping for breath. That frantic march had been far too intense for her.

Qing Mufeng stood off to one side, looking quite relaxed.

His Azure Dragon Wind Control kept him in a semi-floating state for most of the journey. His feet barely touched the ground as he glided soundlessly, expending far less energy than the others.

But his mental exhaustion was considerable—his Azure Dragon Pupil and Wind Perception had remained active the entire time, tracking every slightest movement around them without allowing even a moment of carelessness.

Qing Zhengyue leaned against a tree trunk with his eyes closed. His spiritual power swept through the area, and only after confirming that no soul beasts were following them did he open his eyes.

"That Mystic Nether Eagle from before was around fifty thousand years old."

The old man spoke, his voice quiet but every word weighty.

"We were lucky. It had no interest in humans."

Liu Yunlan nodded.

The old woman's eyes were still somewhat red, but her hands had stopped trembling.

Qing Hongyuan took several deep breaths and suppressed his lingering fear.

A fifty-thousand-year Mystic Nether Eagle—an existence even Soul Douluos would not dare provoke lightly.

Though it was only fifty thousand years old, its combat power had reached the level of a Soul Douluo, perhaps even a Titled Douluo.

It was immensely powerful, and with its aerial advantage, even more terrifying.

The five of them, with the strongest among them only a level-seventy quasi-Saint, had hidden beneath the gaze of such a creature for so long.

No one would believe it if they told them.

"No."

Qing Mufeng suddenly spoke, and three pairs of eyes turned toward him at once.

He said, "That Mystic Nether Eagle didn't spare us because Mystic Nether Eagles aren't interested in humans. I saw its eyes clearly. The way it looked at us... was different from the way it looked at the Wind Wood Dragon. It saw the Wind Wood Dragon as prey, but it saw us as... its kind."

Liu Yunlan froze. Qing Hongyuan frowned, while Qing Zhengyue looked at his grandson in silence for a moment, his gaze complicated.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Qing Mufeng nodded. "My Azure Dragon Pupil saw it clearly. There was killing intent in its pupils, but not a predator's killing intent—it was the killing intent of a territory being invaded. It regarded us as competitors."

Qing Zhengyue lightly tapped the saber hilt twice with his fingers as he pondered.

"You mean it considered us beings of the same level?" The old man's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Qing Mufeng thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Not the same level. The same kind. In its senses, our Soul Power Levels may be low, but the status of our martial souls is not. Especially..."

He did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant—especially him.

The status of the Azure Dragon Martial Soul was enough to make a fifty-thousand-year Mystic Nether Eagle wary.

Qing Zhengyue drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"Either way, the result is good. It didn't attack, and we're still alive."

He stood up and swept his gaze across the four of them.

Everyone was present. No one was injured, no one had fallen behind, and they had taken all the materials they were supposed to take.

The complete corpse of the thirty-five-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon—apart from the organs being eaten, the remaining scales, bones, blood, dragon tendons, and flesh were all excellent materials.