A bird's cry rang out from the distant horizon, shrill and piercing, carrying clearly even across that immense distance.
Yi Yang's expression changed at the sound. He quickly put away the little porcelain bottle of Corpse-Dissolving Water. He knew the nest's owner had returned—the Dharma Body realm Dark-Winged Roc.
Without looking back, he stuffed the jade box into his Storage Ring. Yi Wood True Qi circulated through his body as he activated his movement technique, Cloud-Leaping Crane, and vanished from the spot in a flash.
In a few bounds, Yi Yang swept out of the valley and disappeared deep into the forest. The instant he leaped clear of the valley, a black shadow that blotted out the sun plunged straight down from the clouds.
The powerful gust raised by its abruptly braking wings flattened great swaths of trees. Wild winds swept through, sending sand and stones flying.
The Dark-Winged Roc landed in its nest. Finding all four eggs missing, it realized it had been robbed, and a shriek that could pierce metal and split stone erupted through the valley.
At that single shriek, birds and beasts for dozens of miles around flattened themselves against the ground, not daring to move. The black shadow circled back and forth overhead, its broad wings casting the mountain forest into shade.
Towering trees snapped at the waist beneath its sharp talons as it vented its fury.
The maddened savage bird was searching for the thief.
By now, however, Yi Yang was already moving through dense forest dozens of miles away. He could faintly hear the commotion behind him, but never stopped, choosing routes beneath the thickest foliage.
He confined his Divine Sense to a radius of a hundred zhang, bringing every blade of grass and tree ahead into his mind as he constantly watched