Mu Bai froze. The Golden Roc had lost every last scrap of its imposing air as well. Cowed by Tiger Might, it trembled with its feathers pressed tight, its little eyes looking at Mu Bai as though it were about to cry.
Seeing Mu Bai emerge from the cave empty-handed, the Rainbow-Winged Giant Tiger snorted out a puff of white air, then withdrew its enormous paw. With a thud, the Golden Roc dropped straight to the ground.
Seeing the Golden Roc lying as though dead, Mu Bai summoned the Crow Cauldron, ready to fight the Rainbow-Winged Giant Tiger to the death. Just then, the Golden Roc sprang up, seized Mu Bai in its claws, and fled for all it was worth.
"That was close! Good thing I didn't carry off those three suckling cubs, or that mother tiger would've fought us to the death!"
Having escaped with its life, the Golden Roc panted heavily, looking utterly drained. Mu Bai's heart was pounding too. The instant he had stepped out of the Tiger's Lair, he had felt his life coming to an end.
Exhausted and weak, the Golden Roc could not fly for long. It could only find a crevice between some rocks, and Mu Bai crawled inside with it. Their hearts still thumped with lingering fear, and neither dared venture out again. They spent the night like that.
A whole day had passed just like that. The man and roc had done nothing but strut about, yet had gained nothing of any value. Mu Bai could not resign himself to it; he was still thinking about that Moon-Howling White Wolf.
"Come on, come with me!"
The Golden Roc shook its head fiercely, like a rattle drum being swung back and forth.
"Then no pills for you!"
"Ooh..."
The Golden Roc blinked and shook its head, looking aggrieved.
"Then don't eat any more roast meat either!"
The Golden Roc hesitated for a while, then stamped its foot, thrust out its chest, and raised its head, drool streaming from its beak.
"Let's go!"
Mu Bai smiled slyly and sprang onto the Golden Roc's feathered back. The Golden Roc rolled its eyes, flapped its wings, and flew out.
Following his memory, Mu Bai directed the Golden Roc to fly stealthily toward the Mountain Summit, then swoop into the Mountain Ravine. Water burbled through the ravine, and wild grasses and little flowers swayed alongside one another. After searching briefly, they found the white wolf lying by the stream, thoroughly dead.
Mu Bai worked deftly, gripping his Soul Soldiers shortsword and skinning the wolf in a few strokes. The hide felt smooth and soft in his hands.
No wonder this white wolf had been so arrogant-it was already a third-tier Fierce Beast. The Beast Core he dug out gleamed a rich green, giving off an almost tangible sense of power. Presumably, the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger had been too busy chasing Mu Bai to deal with the white wolf, or it would never have left this prize until now.
"Worth it! This is a third-tier Fierce Beast! If I had to rely on my own abilities, who knows how long it'd take before I could kill a third-tier white wolf. Worth it!"
His scar had healed, and he had forgotten the pain. With all the treasures from the third-tier white wolf in hand, Mu Bai no longer feared any giant tiger. Still, this was no place to linger. He raised his blade and cut off several chunks of flesh from the white wolf, strung them together, and hung them around the Golden Roc's neck.
"Let's go back, refine pills, and roast some meat!"
Mu Bai could not contain his delight along the way. Though this outing had been fraught with danger, the rewards had been plentiful. Not only had he picked the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's two Rice Butterfly Orchids and gathered a third-tier white wolf's worth of beast materials, he had also broken through to the mid second level in body cultivation in one stroke. Truly, the bolder the man, the greater the land's yield. To reap rewards, one still had to risk one's life and fight for them!
Flying home, the Golden Roc began showing off again, frightening those skittish Spotted-Horned Horses into scattering everywhere. Ten thousand horses thundered across the Golden Prairie.
Wasn't this what it meant to be king of the skies? As it circled low, the Spotted-Horned Horses went mad, even scattering the herds of rhinoceroses. The Golden Roc cawed loudly and rose into the sky in satisfaction.
They sped onward, and the setting sun came to hang above the mountain.
"Little Roc, fly faster..."
Why was he urging the Golden Roc to fly faster? As Mu Bai spoke softly to it, the Coarse-Linen Robe on his body dissipated bit by bit. Before long, he was stark naked, with only a single Blood-Red Feather remaining.
"So the day's up! I can't go showing off naked up in the sky. Fly faster, Little Roc!"
While urging the Golden Roc to fly faster, Mu Bai hurriedly draped the Wolf Hide over himself. It really was a perfect fit, making him look exactly like a white wolf sprawled on the Golden Roc as it flew.
It had to be said that this white wolf and the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger truly shared a bond of fate. Mu Bai had barely enjoyed his imposing appearance in the Wolf Hide before he saw the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger spreading its wings and pursuing them from behind.
"Quick! The giant tiger's back!"
Mu Bai slapped the Golden Roc's feathered back. In truth, it hardly needed his instructions; it was already beating its wings and flying for its life.
"We're dead, we're dead! We lived long enough to get all these treasures, but we won't live to use them!"
"I didn't even bully those three suckling cubs! Why don't you go back to your wife and children..."
The Golden Roc flew frantically as Mu Bai muttered. Like a killing god beneath a cold moon, the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger pursued relentlessly, closing in with a sweep of its paw in the blink of an eye. Mu Bai had already summoned the Crow Cauldron, ready for a desperate fight, when a streak of green light shot toward them and a Man in Green appeared before him.
"Little brother, you truly are a lucky star for me, Qing. I was just looking for that silver-winged tiger, and you've brought it here. My thanks!"
The Man in Green cupped his hands in thanks, then flashed with green light and went to meet the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger.
A chance to live had finally appeared, and the Golden Roc had never been one to hang around watching a spectacle. Whether it was the Man in Green or the silver-winged tiger, saving its own life came first. It did not even caw anymore, devoting itself entirely to flying for its life.
At last, they emerged from the Silver Frost Forest. The Golden Roc dropped straight into the Canyon where they sheltered, barely able to draw breath. Mu Bai was still shaken too, and only recovered after panting for a long time.
"That was truly dangerous. Looks like a person really shouldn't be endlessly greedy. One day means one day..."
Mu Bai sternly criticized himself inwardly. He had nearly lost his life for a petty gain; it truly had not been worth it. Still, since that petty gain was already in his hands, he had to put it to good use to do justice to having risked his life.
The Golden Roc was still trembling on the ground, while Mu Bai set up the Crow Cauldron and refined the Rice Butterfly Orchids into Body-Refining Pills overnight. Good things had to be used immediately. Only once swallowed did they belong to him, and every bit of strength gained counted. What if he lost his life while his treasures remained?
Smelling the finished pills, the Golden Roc stopped panting, could stand and walk again, and could even trot over in little steps. Cawing joyfully, it came to Mu Bai's side. Through all the dangers of the past few days, the Golden Roc deserved much of the credit for their successful escape. Mu Bai decided to be generous for once and slapped two pills into its mouth at once.
Before it had even swallowed the pills or tasted their flavor, the Golden Roc's expressions became a dazzling display. Truly, the Oscars owed it a Best Actor award.
When it finally tasted the pills, the Golden Roc's eyes grew dreamy. It truly felt like a ribbon of tenderness winding around muscles and bones of steel, making every bit of its flesh and bones tingle. No wonder the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger coveted those little Rice Butterfly Orchid flowers so much. They must have turned even its mighty steel muscles into softness that could wind around a finger.
Once the tingling passed, the Golden Roc shamelessly rubbed against Mu Bai and cawed joyfully. At this point, even if Mu Bai asked it to pick two more Rice Butterfly Orchids from the Tiger's Lair, it would have agreed!
After a night of commotion and blissful tingling, Mu Bai was truly tired and had no energy to play with the Golden Roc. The Golden Roc, however, was bursting with energy as though pumped full of chicken blood. Then it would go find a female roc and have some fun!
The Golden Roc spread its wings, brimming with affection, and soared gracefully into the sky. Its body was still immersed in that soft, tingling bliss, and its eyes remained dreamy. Unexpectedly, a streak of green light came speeding toward it and crashed squarely into the Golden Roc as it swayed in midair.
"Caw, caw..."
The Golden Roc cried out in panic. With a thud, man and roc tumbled repeatedly through the air and fell heavily into the Canyon.
Awakened by the crash, Mu Bai rushed out of his cave abode. A Man in Green lay unconscious on the ground. The Golden Roc still looked drunk, sprawled on the ground with foam at its beak and dreamy eyes.
Mu Bai started in shock.
"The Man in Green? A Xiu Zun?"
Before even approaching to examine him closely, Mu Bai felt a powerful, soul-shaking force in the pressure emanating from the Man in Green. It resembled the oppressive feeling given off by the White Wolf Tribe's Chief of Fangs and Clan Patriarch, except that this man's aura kept fading in and out.
"Isn't this the senior who chased the silver-winged tiger last night? The fellow who called me his lucky star?"
Mu Bai edged closer. "Senior, Senior..."
When the Man in Green gave no response, Mu Bai reached out to examine him. His five internal organs were all ruined, and only a faint thread of breath remained.
So badly wounded, yet his pressure hasn't dispersed. He must have just been through a battle to the death! Mu Bai considered. Even a Xiu Zun had suffered such grievous wounds; in his place, Mu Bai would have died who knew how many times. "You're the one who's my savior, brother!"
Mu Bai took out a Firecloud Pill and slapped it into the Man in Green's mouth. Though this pill could not bring back the dead, its wonder lay in stirring the blood and qi. Perhaps it could awaken his body's capacity to survive.
Smelling the pill's fragrance, the Golden Roc immediately stirred awake and raised its head, eyes shining.
"Fine, you get one too!"
Mu Bai now understood the Golden Roc through and through.
After swallowing the pill, the Golden Roc instantly sprang to life as though nothing had happened. It paced with its head held high, sizing up this uninvited guest from the heavens. Are you fucking blind? Of all the places you could fly, you had to crash into yours truly. Well? I'm perfectly fine, but you can't take it, can you!
Contempt showed in the Golden Roc's little eyes as it strutted arrogantly. Mu Bai even wondered whether the collision had knocked its nerves into the wrong connections.
"Is this Firecloud Pill really that miraculous?"
Seeing the Golden Roc more spirited than ever, Mu Bai took out another pill. After a moment's hesitation, he stuffed it into the Man in Green's mouth.
"If you're going to live, hurry up and come around. You've already eaten two of my pills. Who's going to pay me back if you die..."
It had to be said that during his year and more in the Silver Frost Forest, Mu Bai had indeed made considerable progress in cultivation. But when it came to nagging, he had advanced a thousand miles a day. He could probably hold his own against the Artifact Spirit Ancestor now.
The crucial thing was that Mu Bai was also stingy. The Man in Green had saved him and the Golden Roc from the silver-winged tiger's paw, so what was wrong with eating two of his Firecloud Pills now? Of course, Mu Bai was not truly begrudging those two pills. He merely hoped the Man in Green would survive.
"Cough, cough..."
The Man in Green really did come back to life, filling Mu Bai with delight.
"Little brother, I am an elder of the Spirit Taming Sect... Take this back to the Spirit Taming Sect for me!"
Having spoken, the Man in Green took out a brocade box, then breathed his last and died.
"Spirit what Sect? Where is the Spirit Taming Sect? What is this thing?"
"The Spirit Taming Sect lies seventy thousand li west of here..."
"Senior, you're alive again?"
"This item is confidential. Tell the sect master that I, Qing Mao, gave my life for the sect, and ask him to look after my branch of the clan."
With that, the Man in Green closed his eyes and breathed his last again.
"Seventy thousand li? Isn't that a little far..."
A second-level cultivator could travel a thousand li a day without wasting a moment. Wouldn't seventy thousand li take seventy days? Besides, who could travel day and night without resting? Who knew how long it would take? This favor was not as simple as chopping wood and carrying water for a widow. Mu Bai really did not want to go.
Just as Mu Bai was racking his brains over how to convince himself not to take this seriously, the Man in Green stuffed a pill into his mouth with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears. It dissolved on contact.
"You have been poisoned with our sect's Hundred-Day Bone-Shattering Pill. Unless you receive our sect's antidote within a hundred days, every bone in your body will shatter. Even if you survive, you will be crippled..."
"Damn you! I saved you out of kindness, and you poison me!"
Horrified, Mu Bai hurriedly examined his body. Sure enough, a thread of green light wound around his bones like maggots clinging to bone, making him uncomfortable.
"Do not blame me, little brother. I had no choice. Once you return to the sect, not only will the poison be cured, but an opportunity will await you as well..."
With that, the Man in Green breathed his last and died.
Unsure whether the Man in Green was truly dead, Mu Bai kept well away from him. Even when the sun rose in the east, the Man in Green still showed no further movement. Presumably, this time he was thoroughly dead.
Before you continue