Chen Shuangbai looked at Senior Sister Lu Xin.
Like Ding Chengyu, she wore the robes of a Jade Spring Sect inner disciple. A lotus-purple jade pendant hung at her waist, its design seemingly depicting a luan and a phoenix singing in harmony. She had delicate, beautiful features, but her detached expression made her seem somewhat unapproachable.
She took an object from her Storage Bag: a sachet.
But Lu Xin had sealed it with Law Power, so there was evidently something unusual about its scent.
Lu Xin said, "This is Mind-Disordering Powder. It confuses the mind and amplifies animal instincts."
As she spoke,
she summoned a breeze and opened the sachet, letting the wind slowly carry the Mind-Disordering Powder toward the battlefield.
Before long,
the two Late Qi Refining Stage Demon Beasts in the distance were fighting even more fiercely. They had even closed in and begun grappling.
As the effects of the Mind-Disordering Powder gradually took hold, an increasingly frenzied, primal violence appeared in the eyes of both Demon Beasts!
Furious screeches rang out, mingled with vicious hissing. Under the influence of the Mind-Disordering Powder, the two Demon Beasts attacked with growing savagery, and blood had already begun to flow.
Screee!
The Snow-Plumed Eagle's cry had lost its clarity, becoming filled with hysterical madness.
It beat its broad, snow-white wings and plunged like a meteor. Razor-sharp claws of ice formed over its talons, radiating a bone-chilling cold in the reflected sunlight. Churning up wave after wave of ice-crystal storms, it lunged for the Rotting Venom Viper's vital spot, seven inches behind its head!
The Rotting Venom Viper slipped up and was caught in the eagle's vicious grasp. It let out a piercing wail, but its eyes were also blood-red. It immediately coiled the upper half of its body around the Snow-Plumed Eagle, opened its gaping maw, and sank its fangs into the eagle's neck.
Dark green blood sprayed out. The Snow-Plumed Eagle let out a piercing scream and gathered still more Spiritual Qi, turning it into a storm of ice crystals that sliced into the Rotting Venom Viper's body!
The two enormous creatures were like maddened beasts that had lost all reason, biting and tearing at each other as they rolled across the ground, fighting for their lives!
Blood, venom, broken feathers, and scales flew everywhere!
The scene was bloody and brutal!
The tremendous commotion carried far into the distance, startling countless birds into flight.
Hidden some distance away, Chen Shuangbai had a clear view of the entire life-and-death struggle between the two Demon Beasts, both comparable to those at the Late Qi Refining Stage. He could not help growing a little wary of the Mind-Disordering Powder.
Senior Sister Lu had never said that Mind-Disordering Powder could not be used on humans.
About half a day later,
the two giant beasts exhausted their strength and finally collapsed to the ground.
However,
after falling, the Snow-Plumed Eagle seemed to have come out slightly ahead. It slowly straightened and let out a cry toward the sky, one that sounded deeply mournful.
"It still has strength left?"
Lu Xin paused, somewhat surprised.
Mind-Disordering Powder was quite rare, and no ordinary Alchemist could concoct it.
She had obtained this bottle in secret from a market outside the sect and had kept it in her Storage Bag against unforeseen need.
Ding Chengyu, however, paid it no mind.
He circulated his Law Power, and the flying sword on his back slowly slid from its sheath. The sword was sharp and wreathed in water vapor, and its guard seemed to bear an auspicious cloud pattern that drew the eye.
"It's just an arrow at the end of its flight. Junior Sister, get ready to attack!"
Chen Shuangbai glanced at it and thought that it might not even measure up to his Cold Spring Sword.
As soon as Ding Chengyu finished speaking, he made his move.
He used the Wind Control Technique to close in, forming a sword seal with his hand. His flying sword shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, stabbing fiercely into the Snow-Plumed Eagle's chest.
The Snow-Plumed Eagle cried out in pain, its crimson eyes abruptly sweeping toward him. Seeing a group of puny cultivators, it flew into a rage.
But it was already an arrow at the end of its flight, without even the strength to take wing. It could only raise a limb and summon three wind blades, hurling them at Ding Chengyu and destroying every tree in their path.
Ding Chengyu nimbly maneuvered out of the way, dodging them one by one.
Just then,
Lu Xin struck as well.
The Cloud-Resting Peak disciple tossed the flying wheel in her hand. Spinning through a graceful arc in midair and flashing with cold light, it slashed toward the Snow-Plumed Eagle's head.
The two worked together seamlessly, and for a time, they completely suppressed the Snow-Plumed Eagle.
Chen Shuangbai truly had not expected the Snow-Plumed Eagle to remain so formidable after being poisoned by the Rotting Venom Viper.
But Chen Shuangbai did not remain idle either.
The three had already discussed their plan.
If both beasts were badly wounded, Ding Chengyu and Lu Xin would take most of the spoils from the two Demon Beasts, while Chen Shuangbai would go through the motions and pick up a token share.
If they encountered a situation like this...
Ding Chengyu suddenly shouted, "Junior Brother Chen, go to the cave in the hills behind them and get the Rotting Venom Viper's eggs!"
Chen Shuangbai's body jolted.
So that was what they were after!
As a Late Qi Refining Stage Demon Beast, the Rotting Venom Viper had both water and poison attributes. If they spared no effort in raising it, it might have a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment!
A Demon Beast companion in the Foundation Establishment Realm would give them another Foundation Establishment Realm fighter out of nowhere. How wonderful would that be?!
Chen Shuangbai hesitated no longer. Concealing his presence, he used the Wind Control Technique to descend into the forest and headed for the Rotting Venom Viper's cave.
The Rotting Venom Viper's cave was large and long, and filled with the thick stench of rotting corpses.
Along the way, Chen Shuangbai saw plenty of ghastly white bones, evidently belonging to the poor wretches that had ended up in the Rotting Venom Viper's belly.
At the very back of the cave,
Chen Shuangbai saw three eggs.
Three pristine white snake eggs.
Without hesitation, he put them all into his storage ring, then glanced around the cave to see if there were any Demon Beast materials left over from the Rotting Venom Viper's meals.
A moment later,
Chen Shuangbai rushed out of the cave. When he found the other two, he saw that both Demon Beasts at the Late Stage of the Qi Refinement Realm had fallen. They looked to be breathing in but not out, plainly on the brink of death.
Chen Shuangbai took another careful look.
He saw green blood seeping from the Snow-Plumed Eagle's beak. The Rotting Venom Viper's poison had evidently reached its heart and lungs, and it was beyond saving.
The Rotting Venom Viper was naturally no better off.
A huge wound gaped at its vital spot, with clusters of frost crystals growing from it. Its belly was swollen as well; evidently, the Snow-Plumed Eagle's frost had churned its internal organs to pulp.
Ding Chengyu and Lu Xin were nearby, both regulating their breathing. The battle just now had evidently taken a considerable toll on them as well.
Seemingly sensing Chen Shuangbai's return, they both opened their eyes.
Ding Chengyu smiled. "Junior Brother Chen, did you get them?"
Chen Shuangbai was about to take out the three snake eggs, but Ding Chengyu stopped him.
Ding Chengyu said warily, "We just made such a huge commotion here. It's bound to attract plenty of attention. We must always be on guard against others. Let's find a secluded place before we discuss it."
Lu Xin also said, "Let's get to work and strip the parts from these two Demon Beasts that can be exchanged for merit points."