Chapter 26: Flying Birds

Everlasting

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

The appearance of the flying birds turned the tide of the battlefield. The savage birds dived incessantly and their sharp claws tore off the soldiers’ throats one by one.

Truth be told, the strength of the birds was not that high. They were not comparable to the likes of the Raging Zeal Tiger and the other wild beasts on the ground. However, their ability to fly posed a huge threat to all.

Additionally, there were a few amongst them that were fairly powerful. Chen Feng noticed a black eagle the size of a building and its sharp talons swept two cultivators up into the sky before dropping them. Their bodies smashed into the ground, becoming a pile of broken flesh.

Shua!

A luminescent sword beam pierced through the sky, instantly killing off tens of the birds. When the sword beam dissipated away, another sword beam shot through the sky, piercing the air as it killed more birds. In face of the luminescent sword beams, the savage birds could do nothing. All of them were cut into two. Some of the smaller ones were immediately turned to ashes.

Those are sword beams sent out by an external discharge of primary energy (8th) expert. Truly, powerful. I wonder if a Concealed stage expert would appear? Chen Feng thought to himself.

Shua!

A black Iron Feather Eagle dived at Chen Feng. This was a more common type of flying bird. All the feathers on it were as hard as iron. By spreading its wings and flying quickly, it could cut cultivators into two. Additionally, its hook-like claws were strong enough to crush steel. Spreading open its wings, it could reach a width of two zhang (1 zhang = 3.333 m). It would normally prey upon feral tigers and wolves.

Clearly, this Iron Feather Eagle had set its eyes on Chen Feng. Spreading open its wings, it brought a gale with it as its two clawed feet dived towards Chen Feng’s neck with an air-piercing sound. It wanted to crush Chen Feng.

“Courting death!”

Quickly, Chen Feng hurled a spear up, piercing the Iron Feather Eagle with it. The destructive power within the spear erupted and the body of the Iron Feather Eagle exploded, causing its iron feathers to fall.

Chen Feng had just finished off the Iron Feather Eagle when two more birds dived at him. At the same time, a 10-metre long python attacked Chen Feng from the ground.

The flying birds and wild beasts on the ground are attacking in tandem and not attacking randomly. It seems someone is secretly commanding them. The thought quickly flashed through Chen Feng’s mind and he hastily retreated. With a wave of his hand, an undulating luminescent sword flashed out and the two red-coloured crows attacking him were cut into two each.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

The long python slithered quickly at a speed comparable to Chen Feng’s. As Chen Feng was attacking the crows, it quickly wrapped itself around Chen Feng. Its massive body began to tighten as it attempted to strangle Chen Feng to death.

Puchi! Puchi!

Two wounds suddenly appeared upon the python’s body and copious amounts of blood flowed out. Next, astral energy flowed out from Chen Feng’s body and quickly condensed to form a sword. With a few swings, the python was cut in half.

Chen Feng had just killed the python when something flashed before his eyes. A sword had arrived before him. At the same time, he could feel a gust of wind coming from behind him.

Humans! Instantly, Chen Feng knew that the ones attacking him were not wild beasts, but human cultivators.

“Hu!”

Quickly mobilizing his primary energy, Chen Feng then abruptly sprayed out a mouthful of energy to slow down the speed of the incoming sword. Next, he coated his arm with astral energy before moving to grab the sword.

“Courting death!”

A shout rang out and the sword changed its trajectory to hack Chen Feng’s arm. Unexpectedly, as Chen Feng retracted his arm, his palm made a grasping motion, unleashing a flame-like clump of astral energy. The clump of astral energy, one-chi in length, exploded outwards (1 chi = 0.333 m). The space that his palm was grasping erupted with sounds of explosions as the clump of astral energy grasped and shattered the sword. At the same time, his primary energy pulsed outwards, causing the countless fragments of the shattered sword to shoot forward.

Even as he was doing all that, Chen Feng’s body swelled up and his back was enveloped with a thick layer of astral energy, which blocked the attack from behind.

As expected, after piercing into the astral energy defending his back, the sword could not pierce its way forward anymore. Chen Feng had also condensed out two short swords behind. With a twist of his body, he broke the attacking sword.

“Ah! My eyes!”

A wretched scream rang out from before Chen Feng as a cultivator clutched his eyes with both hands. Blood was trickling down from the gaps between his fingers. He was the one who had launched the sneak attack against Chen Feng. Having taken the flying sword fragments to the face, he had become blind.

“So, it's you two. Why did you two try to ambush me?” By now, Chen Feng had gotten a good look at the two fellows who ambushed him. They were none other than the ones who were trying to get him in trouble during the feast, the cultivators from the Li and Wu Family. The one clutching his face and screaming miserably was from the Li Family.

“How could you be so powerful?” the cultivator from the Wu Family exclaimed. After that, he turned and ran, wanting to lose Chen Feng within the milling crowd of soldiers.

Only then did Chen Feng notice the extreme state of chaos within the camp. Wild beasts rampaged everywhere while the flying birds up in the sky blocked any light from shining down. All was dark, leading to a state of chaos surpassing that of when the two armies were facing each other. No wonder these two fellows would attempt to launch a sneak attack on Chen Feng. Within the chaos, no one would notice them.

“Since you have already attacked, forget running,” sneered Chen Feng. He quickly rushed forward. With a swipe of his palm, the neck of the Li Family cultivator was cut. After that, Chen Feng ignored him as he ran in pursuit of the fleeing Wu Family cultivator.

Even those within the same layer were separated to highs and lows. The two of them had only just reached the primary energy takes form (7th) layer and the weapons they condensed out were not even one-chi in length. Naturally, they were no match for Chen Feng. The Wu Family cultivator was very decisive, turning to escape immediately.

“Can you escape?” Chen Feng sneered. His figure moved rapidly through the milling crowd of soldiers as he chased after the Wu Family cultivator.

Chen Feng was also worried that undue delay might bring potential troubles. In order to not attract the attention of others, he unleashed his full power. Every step covered a distance of over 10 metres. Like a gust of wind, he closed the distance between the two of them in merely one breath’s worth of time.

“Save me!”

The Wu Family cultivator opened his mouth to cry for help. However, his air was quickly knocked out of him. Chen Feng, who had caught up to him, knocked him down to the ground with one slap. Then, stepping forward, Chen Feng pulled him up by the neck.

“Don’t kill me,” cried the Wu Family cultivator in horror.

“Who told you that I am practicing an immortal dao sect’s cultivation technique?” shouted Chen Feng.

“It is the Eldest Brother of your very own Iron Sword Sect!” the Wu Family cultivator responded loudly.

“It is Tie Yun?!” Killing intent flashed across Chen Feng’s eyes.

“Yes! It is Tie Yun! Just let me go! I promise I will not tell anyone about this!” said the Wu Family cultivator.

“Fine, I will not kill you,” said Chen Feng.

“Really?” the Wu Family cultivator uttered in shock.

“Of course, I will not kill you; assuming you survive, that is.” After saying that, Chen Feng swung his hand, tossing the Wu Family cultivator up into the sky.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Immediately, a flock of black birds flew over. In but the blink of an eye, they tore the Wu Family cultivator into pieces.

“You lied! You said you weren’t going to kill me!” the Wu Family cultivator screamed out resentfully before his death.

“I didn’t lie, I am not the one killing you. The wild beasts are,” replied Chen Feng coolly. After that, he quickly dived amidst the milling crowd of soldiers to find the disciples of Iron Sword Sect.

“Senior Brother Chen!” someone suddenly shouted out. Glancing over, Chen Feng saw that they were disciples from the same tent. He quickly rushed over.

“Where is Ye Tian?” asked Chen Feng after arriving.

“We got separated from Ye Tian. Back then, we were chased by a ferocious tiger. We don’t know where Ye Tian had run off to,” replied one of the disciples.

“You fellows, hurry and join up with the others from our sect. I will go look around.” After saying that, Chen Feng’s figure flashed away, disappearing into the chaos once more.

Bang!

A raging flying bird was cut into two by Chen Feng’s sword slash, its blood spraying out as it fell to the ground. Along the way, Chen Feng had not encountered any high-level wild beasts. However, he would be incessantly besieged by some wild beasts. Earlier, a ferocious bird had raked at him, leaving three bloody claw marks on his shoulder. Had he not coated his body with astral energy, that attack could have torn him apart.

“Ye Tian!”

Finally, Chen Feng caught sight of Ye Tian. Ye Tian and a group of Iron Sword Sect disciples were being chased by a feral tiger with a horn growing from its head. They appear to be in a terrible state.

“One-horned Tiger!”

With a glance, Chen Feng recognized the tiger. It was said that after reaching major success, the horn on its head could release the power of lightning, comparable in power to a Concealed stage expert.

“Roar!”

The One-horned Tiger was extremely savage. With one move, its horn pierced the chest of one of the disciples, pulling him up to the sky.

As the One-horned Tiger was charging towards Ye Tian, Chen Feng finally arrived. His fist slammed heavily upon the horn on its head, sending it flying away. At the same time, Chen Feng could feel a faint, aching sensation from his fist. He had actually failed to break the horn.

What a tough horn. And my punch could deform even steel. Chen Feng thought to himself.

“Senior Brother Chen!” Ye Tian called out in surprise.

After tumbling a few times on the ground, the One-horned Tiger pounced at Chen Feng. At the same time, lightning powers began flashing upon the horn on its head.

Powerful! This One-horned Tiger has actually condensed out some lightning power. A pity, it is still too weak and incapable of shooting out lightning. If it could, I would be no match for it.”Chen Feng was taken aback. Next, he tightened his fist and punched at the One-horned Tiger once more.

“Everyone, let’s attack together!” Ye Tian shouted as he took the lead, wielding a sword to attack the tiger. The Iron Sword Sect disciples who were chased earlier all shouted along as they charged forward, sword in hand. As even the strongest amongst them was not at the astral energy (6th) layer, they were no match for the One-horned Tiger. At that moment, however, the situation had changed. With Chen Feng facing the tiger head on, the disciples were able to catch the tiger off-guard and slip in a few stabs.

Ding!

A soft clanking sound rang out as one of the disciples’ sword struck the One-horned Tiger’s horn. Electrical current flowed and the disciple’s body convulsed before falling unconscious.

Bang!

Chen Feng unleashed a heavy punch upon the One-horned Tiger’s body, sending it tens of metres backwards. After that, the disciples from Iron Sword Sect swarmed forward. Their iron sword flashed up and down, leaving several bloody holes on the One-horned Tiger’s body.

“This One-horned Tiger can be sold for a high price!” one of the disciples could not help but shout.

“Senior Brother Chen was the one who killed it!” Ye Tian shouted. Hearing those words, everyone shut their mouths, not daring to say anything else.

“As long as you are fine, that is all right. Ye Tian, did you see Tie Yun?” asked Chen Feng.

“Eldest Brother? We did meet him earlier. I think he went together with some fellow disciples to kill a big ape,” said Ye Tian.

“All right, you fellows, hurry and join up with our fellow sect members. I will go check up on the other areas.” After that, Chen Feng said nothing else. Instead, he moved towards the direction that Ye Tian had pointed out.

Seeing Chen Feng disappear, Ye Tian immediately understood what Chen Feng wanted to do. He sighed and said nothing.