He raised his head and gazed at the gray-white sea of grass rolling silently through the thick fog before him. Unrestrained ecstasy blazed in his eyes.
Magic power! Endless magic power!
How was this some ominous grass of death? It was a wellspring of magic power bestowed on him by heaven!
With this nearly inexhaustible supply of "Ghost Grass," his slow magic recovery would no longer be a weakness. A constant supply of magic power meant he could fight longer and use his ultimate skills more often.
Liu Qian suppressed his excitement and decided to replenish his magic power first.
He crouched down and pulled up several more stalks of Ghost Grass, each as thick as his wrist. Streams of cold, deathly still yet pure energy flowed into his body through his arm, and his magic power steadily ticked upward: +1, +1, +1.
Without exception, every stalk of Ghost Grass in his grasp quickly lost its luster once its magic power had been drained. Each turned dull and dry before finally crumbling.
Beside him, Janice watched Liu Qian crouch among the Ghost Grass like a tireless farmer, rapidly "harvesting" stalk after stalk. Confusion filled her small face.
She did not understand why this young wizard from the East was so "enthusiastic" about plants used mainly for rituals in Tyria. But she obediently refrained from interrupting him, standing quietly to one side and keeping a wary eye on the surrounding fog.
Just then.
SCREEECH!!!
A piercing, terrifying shriek erupted once more from deep within the gloomy sky.
It sounded clearer and closer than before.
The instant Liu Qian heard it, his expression changed drastically.
Janice's small face went deathly pale. Uncontrollable terror filled her beautiful left eye, and her slender body began to tremble.
That sound was seared into Liu Qian's memory. It belonged to the hundred-foot, three-headed, purple-feathered Monster Bird that had appeared on Dragon Road.
He glanced at the swaying sea of pale Ghost Grass, a flicker of reluctance crossing his eyes before the resolve to survive replaced it. He abruptly bent down and scooped up a huge armful of Ghost Grass with lightning speed, even abandoning all dignity to clamp a bundle between his teeth.
With his other hand, Liu Qian seized Janice's arm and growled, "Go!"
Without hesitation, he turned and sprinted toward the dead forest.
SCREEECH-!!!
The second shriek erupted almost directly overhead!
An enormous shadow instantly engulfed a vast stretch of ground, while violent air currents churned and tore through the dense fog.
The sky-blotting form of the three-headed, purple-feathered Monster Bird stood out clearly beneath the rolling clouds.
Three pairs of enormous eyes, burning with the blood-red fire of slaughter, resembled six stars from hell. They were fixed on the tiny figures fleeing across the ground, now terrifyingly close.
Liu Qian stared, pale-faced, at the boundless shadow on the ground. His arm clamped around Janice's slender waist like an iron vise and lifted her off her feet. Then he unleashed the astonishing speed and strength within him, racing like a heavy arrow loosed from its bow through the twisted dead forest and over the rugged ground.
Even after fleeing at full speed for some time, they still could not shake the purple-feathered Monster Bird. It seemed to have singled Liu Qian out, trailing behind him like a kite. The moment he stopped, it would swoop down and peck his skull open.
Liu Qian crossed a small hill. The ground beneath his feet gradually grew less rugged and increasingly level. It seemed he had reached a low-lying valley.
Yet the sight before him made his scalp prickle, even as he fled for his life.
Across the vast valley floor below the hill, countless enormous dead trees, blackened like charcoal, lay toppled in every direction. Some still stubbornly burned, their mournful crackling filling the air as flickering flames illuminated the corpses strewn across the ground.
Bodies covered the earth-not human bodies, but densely packed corpses of scale-skinned monsters.
There were over a hundred of them, all different in shape and all horribly slain.
Some had been severed at the waist, their foul blood and entrails smeared across the ground.
Others had holes punched through their skulls or hearts.
Even more had been torn apart and burned by terrifying explosions and fierce flames, reduced to twisted lumps of charcoal scattered over the earth.
The thick stench of blood mingled with the acrid stink of burning, enough to turn his stomach.
An exceptionally brutal battle seemed to have just taken place in this valley.
At the sight, a flash of delight crossed Liu Qian's eyes. To him, this bloody slaughterhouse had instantly become a treasure trove.
Wisps of "dragon spirit" that had not yet fully dissipated floated above the freshly slain monsters.
A heaven-sent opportunity!
Ecstasy surged through Liu Qian. As he ran, he desperately focused his mind, sweeping his awareness over every fresh corpse he could sense along the way.
Absorb! Absorb! Absorb!
Streams of cold, powerful life energy surged madly into his body like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.
He could clearly feel the invisible gauge representing his "Dragon Bloodline purity" soaring at an unprecedented rate. Every absorption brought another increase in strength.
By his rough estimate, there were over a hundred corpses on this battlefield, and the vast majority had yielded dragon spirit. They could provide an unprecedented increase in his bloodline purity.
As he frantically absorbed dragon spirit, the Ghost Grass in his arms continued supplying magic power, withering away in swathes.
Both dragon spirit and magic power were pouring in.
Just as Liu Qian was reveling in the rapid growth of his strength, the shadow of death overhead suddenly descended!
!!!-SCREEECH
The three-headed Monster Bird's shriek rang out right beside his ears, and violent air currents slammed down.
It had clearly lost patience. Its massive body began to dive, targeting the two figures fleeing for their lives below.
Liu Qian caught the bird's movement through the shifting shadow on the ground and instantly realized that running straight ahead offered no chance of survival. He made a sharp turn, carrying Janice toward a denser tangle of dead trees to the right, hoping the difficult terrain would obstruct the bird's attack.
But the instant he turned, the shadow of enormous purplish-red feathers engulfed him completely.
A foul wind reeking of sulfur slammed into his back like a solid wall.
In his ears rang the ghostly wail of the Monster Bird tearing through the air as it dived.
It's over! Too close!
Alarm screamed through Liu Qian's mind. He whipped his head around.
The purple-feathered Monster Bird had already folded its sky-blotting wings and landed with a thunderous crash less than twenty paces away.
Its heavy body struck with enough force to shake the earth violently, sending dust mixed with sulfurous mist billowing into the sky.
All three of its hideous heads, each like a small battering ram, were lowered.
Six enormous blood-red eyes burned with a pure desire for destruction
and stared fixedly at Liu Qian, their gaze filled with a predator's cruelty and mockery.
The purple-feathered Monster Bird opened all three huge beaks, each lined with jagged fangs. Crimson light instantly flared deep within its throats. The air heated so rapidly that it warped and shimmered, giving off a mournful hiss.
The intense sulfurous stench was almost suffocating!
Dragonfire!
It was gathering dragonfire!
This three-headed, purple-feathered Monster Bird could actually gather the dragonfire that belonged to dragons alone!
Liu Qian's expression grew graver in the furnace-like glow. Three devastating fireballs, each capable of vaporizing him in an instant, were about to erupt-and he and Janice had nowhere left to dodge!
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