"Buzz!"
As the Blood Flame Bird let out a low roar, a powerful aura suddenly swept outward from its body, forming an invisible wave of energy that pressed directly towards Xiao Yan and the others.
"Hmph! Your tone is certainly arrogant. Your Blood Flame Bird clan was indeed glorious in the past, but you have long since fallen. Your glorious era is over, so please take back your arrogance!"
Before Xiao Yan could make a move, the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape immediately leaped forward, blocking Xiao Yan and the others. Its body trembled, and a powerful aura surged outward, forcefully blocking the oncoming shockwave.
"Rumble..."
The aftershocks swept through, causing the entire mountain to tremble, and many flying beasts and powerful humans outside were also frightened as a result.
"You're asking for it!"
At this moment, the Blood Flame Bird inside the cave was enraged by the roar of the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape. Its massive body, which had been lying horizontally, suddenly trembled violently, and its wings spread open. A fiery hurricane swept through the cave, and sand and stones flew everywhere. Countless discarded Spirit Stone were carried by the hurricane and hurled towards Xiao Yan and the others.
" Blazing Sun Flames!"
With a roar, the Blood Flame Bird spewed out raging flames from its beak, covering the stones and instantly burning them to a bright shine. The intense heat enveloped every single stone, raining down like a meteor shower.
"Break!"
The Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape showed no fear. As its inner Origin Qi surged, it immediately covered its fists. With a swing of its arms, accompanied by a piercing gust of wind, it shattered all the fiery rocks that came flying at it.
"Bang!"
However, immediately afterward, a beam of fire pierced through space and struck the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape shattered the last stone and regained its senses.
The terrifying heat instantly burned away the cloth covering the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape's body, turning its skin charred black in the blink of an eye. The horrifying flames continued to ravage its body.
"You arrogant, ignorant monkey, get out of here!"
As the shout rang out again, the pillar of flames that landed on the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape became even more powerful. Then, with a loud bang, it actually blasted the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape away.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
However, the Blood Flame Bird did not seem to want to stop there. As the sound of air being torn apart rang out, several fiery feathers shot out, chasing after the Heaven-Reaching Giant Ape had already been blasted back.
"Ding ding ding!"
But then, as the black shadow flashed by, all the fiery feathers that pierced the air were blocked. When everyone looked up, Xiao Yan was standing in the void, holding Black Ruler, staring at the giant bird in front of him with a slightly sinister look in his eyes.
"Consider what I just said my greetings. Now, I only hope that you will cooperate with us."
Xiao Yan spoke calmly, and with a flick of his wrist, the Heavy Xuan Ruler was stored in his Storage Ring.
"Human? You want to meddle in this stuff?"
Upon seeing Xiao Yan, the Blood Flame Bird's beastly eyes immediately revealed a look of fear. It could naturally sense that the human before it had reached the Origin Return Realm, which was something it could not compare to.
However, from Xiao Yan's words, he could tell that the group of humans in front of him had obviously come to seek his help. Since that was the case, Xiao Yan would never kill them. Moreover, with Liu Ya present, he had even less to fear.
"He's our friend. If you want to hurt him, of course I'll stop you."
Xiao Yan's tone remained calm, but a hint of coldness gradually crept into his gaze as he stared at the Blood Flame Bird.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, the Blood Flame Bird's enormous body suddenly vanished into the void. Almost simultaneously, a giant beast claw suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Yan, tearing through the void in the blink of an eye and viciously grabbing at Xiao Yan's body.
If this attack were to land, even with Xiao Yan's physical strength, he would likely suffer severe injuries.
However, the result was that when the beast's claw swept across the void, it didn't touch anything at all.
"What! He's gone? How could he...?"
An incredulous cry suddenly rang out from the empty void.
"Are you saying that, given my speed, how could I possibly dodge your attack?"
As a unique species, the Blood Flame Bird clan possesses an innate advantage in speed. Coupled with years of cultivation, even ordinary Late Origin Transformation Realm can rival the speed of the Origin Return Realm experts in terms of speed. Not to mention this Blood Flame Bird, whose cultivation has reached the Peak Late Origin Transformation Realm.
Logically speaking, given his speed, an ordinary Origin Return Realm expert would have no chance to dodge if they weren't careful.
However, at this moment...
"Bang!"
Xiao Yan raised his right leg high, and his downward strike came down in an instant. Immediately afterwards, the previously empty void suddenly caved in, and a huge body suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
Then, with a loud bang, the Blood Flame Bird's massive body was buried deep beneath the rocks at the bottom of the cave.
"How is that possible!"
Even now, the Blood Flame Bird still couldn't believe it, but Xiao Yan was too lazy to care. Standing in the void, he looked down at the Blood Flame Bird, which was buried deep in the rubble below, and slowly said:
"Now I'm giving you two choices: one, obediently come with us and lead us to the Far Southern Land; two, I'll beat you until you obey me and lead us to the Far Southern Land yourself."
"Human, you...!"
"Bang!"
However, before the Blood Flame Bird could finish its rebuttal, a fierce bombardment suddenly descended from above, burying its Blood Flame Bird deep into the earth in an instant. The entire mountain trembled violently, and two clearly visible, huge cracks immediately split open symmetrically from the skylight, dividing the mountain in two.
Such an explosive action made both Liu Ya and Liu Changsheng swallow hard.
"This guy... he went way too far."
" Xiao Yan's actions will only make this guy more violent and unlikely to listen to him. Moreover, if something really happens to the Blood Flame Bird, then..."
At this point, Liu Changsheng couldn't help but cast a wary glance at Liu Ya. If something really happened to the Blood Flame Bird, their Liu Clan would be in trouble.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
In the sunlit cave, Xiao Yan held the Blood Flame Bird by one claw in each hand. With each swing of his arm, powerful force emanated outwards, causing the massive body of the Bloodflame Bird to be slammed left and right by Xiao Yan as if it were a dead object. This caused the entire mountain to tilt to both sides, and the empty cave was completely exposed to the sunlight.
The relentless bombardment continued for nearly an hour. The Blood Flame Bird was completely disoriented and its consciousness was on the verge of collapse, yet it still refused to cooperate with Xiao Yan's demands.
Faced with this guy's stubborn personality, even Xiao Yan was somewhat helpless. He hadn't expected this guy to be so unyielding, even to the point of death. Perhaps it was because he knew that Xiao Yan would never dare to kill him that his attitude was so resolute.
Seeing this, Liu Ya and Liu Changsheng couldn't help but feel a little emotional, but fortunately, the Blood Flame Bird's life was not threatened. They didn't care about anything else.
As long as the Blood Flame Bird survives, they don't care how Xiao Yan deals with it. They already have the Spirit Stone, so they can just consider Xiao Yan's actions as helping them teach this scruffy bird a lesson.
Killing it was out of the question, but if he didn't do it, the beast would definitely not cooperate. While he was anxious, a sudden inspiration flashed in Xiao Yan's mind, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"Damn beast! Still not cooperating!"
Words filled with rage burst from Xiao Yan's mouth, revealing the fury in his heart. Despite such relentless attacks, this guy still refused to yield, making it hard not to be enraged.
"Boy, if you have the guts, kill me! Otherwise, I'll make you pay!"
The Blood Flame Bird roared with its last ounce of strength; compared to Xiao Yan, it was Xiao Yan who was truly furious.
"Hmph, since I can't kill you, and you won't cooperate with me, there's only one way left..."
"Old Yuan! You hold him down, I'm going to pluck this bastard's feathers today!"