Hu Liena Cleaves Through the Beast Horde, Di Yao Burns the Golden Wings

After the Corona Golden Eagle King was injured, the entire flock of birds above Broken Cliff grew restless.

As if they sensed their king's fury, they circled in widening loops, their piercing cries intertwining until they made people's eardrums ache.

Hu Liena was forced to the side of the mountain path.

Behind her lay Broken Cliff.

Loose stones rolled beneath her feet and fell into the depths of the clouds, with no echo heard for a long while.

Three Fire Crows swooped in from the left.

Two Red-Feather Falcons dove down from the right.

An Iron-Beak Eagle lurked in the shadow above, waiting for her to dodge before pecking at her neck.

Hu Liena's breathing was a little heavy.

Her shoulder and forearm were both wounded.

Blood dripped from her fingertips onto her short blade, making its hilt slick.

Yet her gaze remained steady.

Di Yao did not turn back to save her.

Nor did she call out.

It was not that she did not want to.

It was because she knew that if Di Yao lost focus for even a moment, the Corona Golden Eagle King would seize the chance.

If she could not even hold back this flock, what right did she have to stand at Di Yao's side?

A Fire Crow screeched and lunged at her.

Hu Liena's eyes turned cold as her First Soul Ring lit up.

The power of Charm pierced the Fire Crow's mind.

The Fire Crow's movements faltered, and it crashed into a nearby Red-Feather Falcon.

The two soul beasts tangled in midair and fell.

Hu Liena took the chance to twist aside, her short blade slashing beneath the Iron-Beak Eagle's belly.

Hot blood splattered across half her face.

She did not wipe it away.

Because the next wave had already arrived.

"Hu Liena."

Di Yao's voice suddenly came from nearby.

He did not look at her.

His eyes remained locked on the Golden Eagle King high in the sky.

"There's an opening on the left side of the flock's formation."

Hu Liena looked up.

In an instant, she saw it.

The birds appeared to be attacking chaotically, but they had actually been moving around the Corona Golden Eagle King's cries.

The lower-level birds on the left had been thrown into disarray by Charm just now, and there truly was a momentary gap in their formation.

But the opening was too brief.

So brief that if she hesitated even once, it would vanish.

Hu Liena gritted her teeth and stamped her foot. Instead of retreating, she charged into the left side of the flock.

Dugu Bo, watching from afar, raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"This girl has some nerve."

Yue Guan smiled, though his eyes grew more serious. "Following Di Yao, she can't spend all her time just watching."

Within the flock, Hu Liena forcibly broke into the gap on the left.

She released her Charm soul skill repeatedly, and her face visibly paled.

The mental strain was immense.

But the results were obvious as well.

She forcefully disrupted the rhythm of the birds on the left. Several soul beasts collided with one another, and feathers filled the air.

That fleeting moment finally exposed the Corona Golden Eagle King's dive path.

Di Yao moved.

The stone beneath his feet exploded.

Like a streak of dark-golden fire, he charged straight at the Corona Golden Eagle King.

A vicious gleam flashed in the Golden Eagle King's eyes.

It did not retreat.

It was the king of this Broken Cliff.

Even if Di Yao carried an even loftier aura of the sun, it would never retreat within its own territory.

With a beat of its wings, countless red-golden feather blades rained down from the sky.

Di Yao raised a hand.

The Great Sun Golden Flame erupted, incinerating the feather blades before him.

Yet two feather blades still pierced through the curtain of fire, grazing his shoulder and ribs.

Blood sprayed out.

Hu Liena caught sight of it from the corner of her eye, and her heart tightened.

She instinctively wanted to turn back.

But in the next instant, Di Yao's cold voice reached her.

"Watch your flock."

Hu Liena clenched her teeth fiercely.

She spun around and drove her blade into the eye of an incoming Fire Crow.

"I know!"

Her voice carried irritation, along with an indescribable ferocity.

The Corona Golden Eagle King had already dived in front of Di Yao.

Its talons tore through the air, aiming straight for Di Yao's chest.

Di Yao did not retreat again.

His Second Soul Ring lit up.

Ten Thousand Demon Edict!

A dark-golden pressure descended.

It did not force the Golden Eagle King into submission.

It merely slowed the circulation of Soul Power within its body for an instant.

An instant.

That was enough.

Di Yao's left hand suddenly clamped around one of the Golden Eagle King's talons.

The talon tore open his palm, blood seeping through the gaps between his fingers.

But as if he felt no pain, Di Yao's right hand transformed the Great Sun Golden Flame into a chain of fire, which wrapped around the Golden Eagle King's left wing.

The Corona Golden Eagle King let out a piercing, furious cry.

It beat its wings violently, trying to shake Di Yao off.

Di Yao was dragged half a foot off the ground, and the mountain rocks beneath him shattered.

But his grip did not loosen.

The dark-golden fire chain wound tighter and tighter.

Flames burrowed through the gaps in its feathers, not burning the surface, but scorching deep into the roots of its wings.

The Corona Golden Eagle King finally panicked.

It opened its beak and spat out a pillar of golden fire straight at Di Yao's face.

Hu Liena's expression changed sharply. "Di Yao!"

Di Yao lifted his eyes.

His First Soul Ring shone brilliantly.

The Great Sun Golden Flame met the golden fire pillar head-on.

The two sun-based flames collided in midair, erupting in a blinding burst of firelight.

The impact made Di Yao grunt, blood spilling from the corner of his lips again.

But there was not the slightest hint of retreat in his eyes.

He said quietly, "And you call that fire sun?"

As his words fell, the Great Sun Golden Flame suddenly overwhelmed the Golden Eagle King's fire pillar.

The fire chain abruptly tightened.

Sizzle!

A huge swath of red-golden wing feathers was burned clean through.

The Corona Golden Eagle King shrieked as it shot into the sky, a massive charred gap opening in its left wing.

For the first time, its flight became unsteady.

The flock descended into chaos as well.

Hu Liena seized the opportunity, spreading her spiritual power once more.

She no longer tried to control every bird. Instead, she selected only a few soul beasts in key positions and made them crash into their companions.

The aerial formation completely collapsed.

Hu Liena burst out of the flock, her chest heaving violently and her forehead covered in sweat.

She looked toward Di Yao.

Di Yao had just landed back on the mountain path as well, his left palm torn open by the talon and dripping with blood.

The two exchanged a glance through the roiling firelight.

Hu Liena had thought Di Yao would say she had been too slow, or that she had wasted too much Soul Power.

But Di Yao merely looked at her, his voice still indifferent.

"This time, you handled it well."

Hu Liena froze.

It was only a short sentence.

It was not even much of a compliment.

Yet it felt as though something had lightly struck her heart.

She quickly looked away and gave an unconcerned snort.

"It's not like all I can do is hold you back."

Di Yao did not respond.

But the coldness in his eyes faded slightly.

Dugu Bo watched the scene and clicked his tongue softly.

"This brat makes praising people sound like he's handing out blades."

Yue Guan covered his mouth and smiled. "But someone likes it."

Hu Liena did not hear them.

If she had, she would probably have gone cold-faced immediately.

In the sky, the injured Corona Golden Eagle King flew into a complete rage.

It no longer dived, instead flying toward the cliff's summit.

That was where its nest was.

It was also where the sunlight was strongest across all of Broken Cliff.

Dugu Bo's expression darkened. "Don't let it return to its nest. It wants to use the Corona Stone in its nest to recover!"

Di Yao looked up.

Sure enough, a patch of golden-red stone lay atop the cliff. Having absorbed sunlight for years, it radiated an intense fire-element aura.

As long as the Corona Golden Eagle King landed on it, its injuries would rapidly recover.

Hu Liena immediately said, "I'll hold back the flock!"

Di Yao did not waste words.

"Ten breaths."

Hu Liena frowned. "What?"

Di Yao looked at the Golden Eagle King flying toward its nest, his voice hard and cold. "Clear me a path for ten breaths."

Hu Liena took a deep breath.

Ten breaths.

With the flock in such a frenzy, it was nearly impossible.

But she did not say she could not do it.

She turned to face the birds charging at her again, pink light glowing in her eyes.

"Then hurry up."

Flames exploded beneath Di Yao's feet, and he shot toward the cliff's summit.

Hu Liena stood in the middle of the mountain path.

The flock bore down on her, blotting out the sky.

She tightened her grip on her short blade. There was blood on her lips, yet she smiled.

It was a stubborn smile.

"Come on."

The First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring lit up at the same time.

The power of bewitchment spread like a tide.

This time, she was no longer merely disrupting a few soul beasts.

She forcibly drove her spiritual power into the front ranks of the beast horde, making them all hallucinate at once.

There were no enemies ahead.

Only the Abyss of Flame.

The beast horde's movements collectively froze.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Hu Liena's face grew paler and paler, blood seeping from the corner of her lips.

She knew she would not be able to hold on much longer.

But Di Yao had already charged up the cliff face.

Great Sun Golden Flame transformed into Fire Tread beneath his feet.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

He raced upward along the sheer cliff, like a small sun rising against the current.

The Corona Golden Eagle King sensed the danger, abruptly turned around, and opened its beak to spew a pillar of golden flame.

Di Yao did not dodge.

He raised his right hand, condensing the Great Sun Golden Flame into a Fire Blade that cleaved straight through the pillar of fire.

Waves of flame parted around him, scorching his sleeves black, yet failing to stop him.

The eighth breath.

Hu Liena finally could not hold on any longer. The beast horde broke through her bewitchment and pounced again.

She dropped to one knee, looked toward the cliff top, and rasped, "Di Yao!"

The ninth breath.

Di Yao rushed behind the Corona Golden Eagle King.

The tenth breath.

He seized the Golden Eagle King's mangled left wing.

The Great Sun Golden Flame erupted with a roar.

"Come down."

Di Yao's voice was icy.

The next moment, the Corona Golden Eagle King's scream echoed through Broken Cliff.

Its mangled golden wing was completely burned away by Dark Gold Flame.

The massive Golden Eagle King lost its balance and crashed heavily from the cliff top.

Boom!

The entire Broken Cliff trembled.

Hu Liena looked up at the falling Corona Golden Eagle King and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Her body swayed, and she nearly collapsed.

A figure landed beside her and reached out to steady her.

Hu Liena looked up and saw that Di Yao's shoulder was still bleeding, his face frighteningly pale.

Yet the hand supporting her was steady.

He only held her for a moment.

Then quickly let go.

Di Yao looked at her, his voice calm. "Ten breaths. It was enough."

Hu Liena froze for a moment, then said quietly, "Nonsense. I always keep my word."

Di Yao nodded.

"I'll remember that."

Hu Liena said nothing more.

She lowered her head, concealing the faint ripple in her eyes.

In the distance, the Corona Golden Eagle King struggled to its feet.

Its severed wing was charred black.

Its golden eagle eyes were filled with madness.

It was not dead yet.

And at that very moment, the true Beast Tide came crashing in from the distant mountain forest.

Dugu Bo abruptly raised his head, his expression darkening.

"Something's wrong."

Yue Guan also lost his smile.

Deep within the mountain range, a heavy force shook the earth's veins.

It was as though someone were secretly striking the entire forest sea with a massive hammer.

Dugu Bo's voice turned cold.

"Someone is moving the mountain."

Di Yao looked toward the direction from which the Beast Tide surged, his gaze growing utterly grim.

"It's finally begun."