The Female Warrior

At that critical instant!

Whoosh-!!!

A shriek sharp enough to pierce eardrums, as though space itself had been torn apart, suddenly rang out from behind them to one side.

It was so fast that the sound arrived almost simultaneously with the attack.

Then Liu Qian saw an ink-black arrow wreathed in flames, trailing a long tail of light like a meteor tearing through the night. Moving faster than the eye could follow, it slammed into an eye on one of the three-headed Monster Bird's heads.

Scalding crimson blood splattered everywhere like summer fruit bursting into pulp.

The black arrow pierced one eye and emerged through the other, lodging firmly inside the Monster Bird's skull.

The scarlet flames clinging to the arrow rode the wind onto the Monster Bird's purple plumage, setting everything above its thick neck ablaze like a torch.

The arrogant purple Monster Bird let out a string of agonized cries and rolled around the Withered Woods, trying to shake off the flames that clung to it like maggots burrowing into bone.

But the Purple-feathered Monster Bird's struggles accomplished nothing beyond stirring up clouds of ash and igniting the dead branches around it.

Smoke and flames surged skyward and lingered, painting the entire Withered Woods crimson.

Liu Qian and Janice were about to hurry away.

Then rapid, powerful footsteps crunching over dead branches and fallen leaves reached them from the smoke-filled Withered Woods, accompanied by the clank of armor.

Crack! Crash!

Several burning branches were roughly kicked aside.

A striking, valiant figure suddenly charged through the curtain of smoke and flames.

She was tall and athletic, clad in an archaic suit of red-bronze plate armor covered with ancient, mysterious spirals, indecipherable pictographic runes, and etched lines that seemed to chart the paths of stars.

Those patterns gleamed faintly in the firelight.

The armor perfectly fitted the powerful curves of her body, offering formidable protection while outlining a breathtaking silhouette.

A red-bronze helmet with a nasal guard and cheek plates concealed most of her face, leaving only a pair of violet, jewel-like eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

Beneath the firelight and the helmet's shadows, her violet eyes shimmered with calm, imposing brilliance.

A broad black leather belt encircled her waist. A heavy-looking one-handed broadsword hung on her left, its scabbard also engraved with runes, while a quiver containing seven or eight black arrows hung on her right.

A leather sheath strapped to the outside of her left calf held a gleaming dagger.

But most striking of all was the weapon gripped in her right hand: an enormous bow of exceptionally rugged design.

The bow was a full five feet long.

Its entire frame was made of a grayish-white material resembling translucent bone. It was neither metal nor ordinary wood, but looked like the remains of some creature.

The bow was also densely etched with runes and swirling patterns, even more intricate and enigmatic than those on her armor. In the firelight, dark red glimmers seemed to drift slowly through those patterns as though they were alive.

Its string was made from an almost transparent material that shimmered silver-white in the firelight.

With a sharp crack, the female warrior planted the end of her enormous bow firmly against the ground. Her left hand rested on the sword at her waist, ready to draw at any moment.

Her gaze swept quickly over Janice to confirm she was unharmed. Then her cold, stern eyes instantly locked onto Liu Qian, who stood nearby with Janice's petite body tucked under his arm.

"Put my little sister down, or you will die."

Her helmet muffled her voice slightly, but the anger and worry in it were unmistakable.

Janice realized that her older sister, Jelena, had mistaken Liu Qian for someone with ill intentions. She hurriedly asked him to put her down and explained, "Sis, his name is Liu Qian. He's not a bad person. He saved me from the Scaleclaw Monsters and helped me escape this Chimera..."

Janice kept explaining the story of their encounter to her sister, finally easing some of the Valkyrie-like Jelena's suspicions.

Only Liu Qian listened to their conversation in complete bewilderment, unable to understand what was happening.

But just then, the purple-feathered Monster Bird seemed to revive and let out another piercing cry.

"Screee-!!!!!!"

This shriek was even more venomous than before, as though it contained all the hatred and murderous intent in the world.

The three of them looked over and saw the Monster Bird struggle to its feet again. To stop the fire from spreading, it used its talons to wrench the burning neck clean off.

Thick blood and pulped flesh flowed from the bowl-sized wound, making a hideous sight. Its two remaining pairs of enormous blood-red eyes now burned with rage fierce enough to consume all reason, locking precisely onto the three people in the distance.

"Janice, come with me! Hurry!"

Ignoring whatever Janice said, Jelena grabbed her tightly and ran into the forest, paying Liu Qian no attention at all.

Liu Qian froze. He had assumed this outrageously powerful woman would attack again and finish off the Monster Bird, leaving him to happily scoop up its Dragon Spirit.

But watching Jelena flee, he knew that hope had fallen through.

The purple-feathered Monster Bird seemed certain now that Jelena had fired the arrow. Its massive body swept past Liu Qian as it prepared to pursue her.

How could I let a prize already in my grasp get away?

He abruptly focused on the figures deep within his consciousness that represented his power:

Dragon bloodline purity: 1.03%.

Magic power: 2654/10340.

During his desperate flight, he had frantically absorbed Dragon Spirit from the battlefield, drawing nearly ten thousand from the corpses of over a hundred Scaleclaw Monsters. His bloodline purity had finally passed the crucial 1% threshold, and his maximum magic power had soared to 10,340 points.

More importantly, he had been frantically absorbing magic power from Ghost Grass as he ran, bringing his reserves to 2,654 points!

The ultimate skill [True Dragon Descent] required 1,000 points of magic power to transform into a dragon, then consumed one point per second to maintain the form.

With 2,654 points of magic power, he could fight in dragon form for nearly half an hour.

And with his bloodline purity at 1%, his true dragon form would reach three meters in length!

"Dragonfire Breath!!!"

A powerful roar suddenly erupted behind the Monster Bird like a thunderclap out of a clear sky.

A searing pillar of crimson fire slammed into the purple-feathered Monster Bird's unguarded rear.

Boom-!!!

The flames burst into an inferno in an instant. Its already charred, mangled feathers

and flesh became perfect fuel.

The savage blaze ravenously licked across the Monster Bird's massive hindquarters, and the foul stench of burning flesh and feathers instantly filled the air.

After breathing out the flames, Liu Qian aimed the sword in his hand straight at the center of the Monster Bird's rear and hurled it with all his might.

The immense force sent the steel sword shooting forward like a red-hot iron spike, plunging into the Monster Bird's fire-roasted rear and sending a shower of blood through the air.

"Skreeaa-!!!!!!!"

A scream agonizing enough to shatter souls erupted from the Monster Bird's enormous beaks.

Its two remaining heads whipped around a full hundred and eighty degrees in utter agony and fury.

Four enormous blood-red eyes blazing with rage fixed on the tiny human behind it who had dared to hurt it.

Overwhelming fury drowned its last shred of reason, and it abandoned Jelena and her sister, who had already vanished from sight.

Both enormous beaks opened at once. Two masses of crimson flame deep within its throats poured down on Liu Qian in an all-engulfing deluge.

The crimson torrent instantly swallowed Liu Qian.

Even the dead branches on the ground melted instantly under the terrifying heat.

Liu Qian's figure disappeared completely into the churning sea of fire.