"Shriek—"
As the piercing cry rang out, a divine bird with an eight-meter wingspan shot into the sky from Lightning Valley. Its entire body was wreathed in golden lightning, radiant with golden light. Arcs of electricity slithered across its body like living electric snakes, accompanied by crackling currents.
This was the Lightning Bird King of Lightning Valley, an exotic divine bird comparable to an Other Shore cultivator.
"Crack—"
Every Lightning Bird throughout the eight-hundred-li Lightning Valley erupted. Clanging cries came from all directions—the calls of the Lightning Birds, sharp and piercing enough to split gold and shatter stone.
Just moments ago, Jiang Ming had launched a sneak attack with the Sacred Light Technique, directly killing seven Lightning Birds within a ten-li radius.
Now, the remaining Lightning Birds rioted and charged in from all around. Blinding divine rays filled the air, endless and densely packed, numbering in the thousands and tens of thousands. Boundless divine radiance drowned the heavens and earth in every direction, turning everything golden. Amid deafening thunder, lightning fell like golden rain.
The furious, piercing cries in the sky were unceasing, clanging like violently colliding metal. They pierced the heavens and split gold and stone, making one's eardrums ache. The ground within a ten-li radius buzzed from the vibrations.
Even the master of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven would not dare lead its elders here to provoke this flock of Lightning Birds.
Besides the Lightning Bird King, there was also a female Lightning Bird incubating eggs. There were no fewer than eight Lightning Birds comparable to Divine Bridge cultivators.
Such a powerful flock was not something a mere Cave-Heaven Paradise could provoke.
But Jiang Ming had come today, entering Lightning Valley alone.
Boom!
Jiang Ming's cultivation rose again, reaching the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, and he pushed the Sacred Light Technique to its limit.
He had obtained this Quasi-Emperor Scripture only three months ago. Yet, with his understanding of cultivation realms from his previous life, the sparks of wisdom produced by different civilizations on Earth in the life before that, and his utterly ordinary comprehension in this life, the combination of all three had allowed his mastery of this secret art to far surpass that of some Other Shore cultivators from Yaoguang Sacred Land.
Moreover, the Yaoguang Scripture cultivated by Yaoguang Sacred Land was merely a Great Sage Scripture, while he cultivated a Quasi-Emperor Scripture.
His entire body bathed in blazing golden holy light, immune to myriad laws. Though his body was small, his surging blood and qi rose like beacon smoke. His tiny frame stood like a mountain or towering peak beneath the heavens, suppressing Lightning Valley without moving an inch. His radiance outshone the Supreme Yang in the sky, brilliant and resplendent. He became the sole presence within Lightning Valley; every ray of light he gave off was impossible to look at directly.
The cultivators training around Smoke Glow Ridge had originally seen a great sun crossing the region and plunging into the ruins, but no one had recognized what it was.
Now, hearing the cries of the Lightning Birds and seeing the flock's upheaval in the sky, they recalled what had happened more than three months ago. Their expressions changed drastically, and an icy chill ran through their bodies.
Buddha Light Golden Wheel Settles Heaven and Earth.
Sacred Light Technique!
Jiang Ming had no intention of wasting time. He immediately used this Supreme Treasure Art of an Immortal Antiquity First Generation. Even at only sixty percent of the power of someone at the same level, it was still comparable to the offensive might of some powerful Primordial Species.
A golden wheel of light appeared behind Jiang Ming's head. A blood-red Dao Pattern emerged between his brows, its crimson glow dazzling and woven with intricate ripples. Like a soybean-sized cinnabar mark, it bloomed with immeasurable golden light. This was the origin of the First Generation Dao Pattern of the Buddha Light Golden Wheel.
Golden light instantly enveloped a twenty-li radius.
All the Lightning Birds froze in place, suddenly unable to move. They remained suspended in all manner of flying postures, like figures imprinted upon the heavens, becoming a lifelike mural against the blue sky.
In an instant!
Jiang Ming became like a golden sun and slammed into the Lightning Bird King. His blazing golden fist shone brilliantly, striking the Lightning Bird's head like the fist of a Desolate Ancient Sacred Body.
This was Jiang Ming's hate-filled punch. These Lightning Birds had made him single again. His fist smashed into the Lightning Bird's vicious head, blazing with light that obscured the sun. Even the heavens rumbled and shook. That domineering bearing seemed innate, carrying the momentum to swallow mountains and rivers!
The Heavenly Tyrant Body had always been an incomparably domineering battle physique.
Pfft!
The entire Lightning Bird instantly exploded into pieces, killed in a single blow by Jiang Ming. Its blood and qi splattered everywhere, only to be evaporated into ash by the blazing heat around Jiang Ming the next moment.
"Light of Transcendence!"
Jiang Ming sensed someone watching him and immediately shouted. His fist radiance blazed brilliantly, like comets illuminating the sky and tearing through the air. One Lightning Bird after another exploded into fragments. His combat power soared to the heavens, his blood and qi surged, and his killing intent shot toward the stars.
The Sacred Light Technique intertwined with the Buddha light around him, sacred and inviolable. Wherever his golden fist radiance passed, no Lightning Bird could contend with it. His fists shook mountains and rivers. Blood and qi splashed, blood mist rose, and the sky was filled with it. This place seemed to have become Hell's copper furnace, refining all ghosts and evil entities and purifying the world!
And Jiang Ming transformed into a Bodhisattva, transcending others with his physical body. Wherever he passed, Buddha's Light Illuminates All across the heavens and earth. Holy light surged endlessly, and fist radiance pierced the clouds. Above the firmament, the great sun reigned supreme; beneath the heavens, Jiang Ming was the sovereign. Everything beneath his blazing fists was resplendent.
"Lightning Birds actually provoked such a ruthless person. This flock is probably going to be wiped out."
Someone cried out in alarm.
"These methods and this aura seem somewhat like the Sacred Light Technique of Yaoguang Sacred Land."
An elder of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven, training nearby and witnessing the scene, spoke with some suspicion.
These were merely low-level cultivators, and none of them could make sense of what they were seeing. Since they could not understand it, one "Holy shit" was enough to convey all their feelings.
Whoosh!
Jiang Ming descended from the heavens like a great sun. After finding the female Lightning Bird, which had also been imprisoned by the Buddha Light Golden Wheel and had only just recovered, he sent her to her death as well.
The female Lightning Bird panicked. She had just shot into the sky when Jiang Ming blasted her into pieces, killing her on the spot.
As for the three Lightning Bird eggs in the nest, Jiang Ming reached out and took them without hesitation. He would have boiled eggs later.
Before leaving, he also took the Lightning Bird corpses, as well as the Lightning Grass.
The glittering golden Lightning Grass was only half a chi tall. Its leaves resembled lightning, three in total, pointing straight upward. Within Lightning Valley, it could only flourish near Lightning Bird nests, nourished over long periods by Lightning Bird droppings and the lightning unconsciously released by the birds.
Later, he would go to Dark Wind Cold Pool to roast some meat, and borrow some water, meat, and vegetables from Old Cold Chi.
Or he could just make hotpot.
Five hundred li away from Lightning Valley.
There was a Wind Cave here, flanked by cliffs on both sides. The sound of howling wind echoed here throughout the year. Due to the terrain, the wind was exceptionally cold and sinister. A Sea of Bitterness cultivator might even catch a cold after being exposed to it for a while.
Even Life Spring cultivators would do best not to remain in such an environment for too long.
There was a cold pool here that covered an area of thirty li. Stream water flowing from the mountain caves filled the pool.
Or perhaps underground cold springs also welled up here.
From afar, this place looked like a ghost cave. Wailing sounds echoed continuously, and chilling mist coiled through the surroundings. Whenever the mist touched the nearby grass and trees, they were immediately coated in a layer of frost.