Chapter 71 - 70: Hunt in the Sky, the Thunder Wing Roc’s Wail

Chapter 71: Chapter 70: Hunt in the Sky, the Thunder Wing Roc’s Wail

In the Mountain Demon Tribe, two teams set off once again. Unlike the previous times when they were just ordinary Mountain Demons, this time, both teams consisted of powerful beings in the Qi and Blood Realm. They had continuously dispatched dozens of teams to explore outward and locate the Insect Nest.

However, due to the surveillance of the Black Thorn Eagles and Red-bellied Eagles in the sky, they would quickly be slaughtered by the Insect Swarm the moment they left the tribe. Time and time again, they suffered crushing defeats, with only a very few managing to flee back. Even a few Qi and Blood Realm Mountain Demons had been surrounded and killed by the cockroaches and Poison Burst Insects within the swarm. This threw the entire Mountain Demon Tribe into a state of anger and panic.

Now, the time to strike back had come. These invaders were merely relying on their aerial surveillance to spot their tribesmen in advance and surround them. That was the only reason they had been outmatched. As long as they allied with other Flying Demon Fiends, they could turn the tables, counterattack, and find the enemy’s lair. When that time came, the King would naturally step in and tear the enemy to shreds!

After leaving the Mountain Demon Tribe, they rapidly advanced toward their target. They were going to contact their "allies."

The Thunder Wing Roc, the Blazing Flame Fire Crows, and other Flying Demon Fiends possessed strength far beyond what those Bone Forging Realm invaders in the sky could match. The biggest difference between Flying Demon Fiends and other Demon Fiends was their massive range of activity thanks to flight. Ordinary Demon Fiends, even those at the Qi and Blood Like Dragon Realm, usually only hunted within a radius of a thousand miles. But Flying Demon Fiends could easily cross thousands, or even tens of thousands of miles. As a result, there weren’t many powerful Flying Demon Fiends in the Wilderness Mountain Range. They could place their nests in further, much more remote, and safer locations. If they encountered danger, they could simply fly far away to escape.

The Thunder Wing Roc and the Blazing Flame Fire Crows were powerful sky overlords in this region. Normally, they did not have a good relationship with the Mountain Demon Race and would even occasionally hunt their tribesmen. However, in this critical moment of crisis, they could not afford to care about such things.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

Upon entering the depths of the jungle, one of the Qi and Blood Realm Mountain Demon teams quickly spotted Rapid Insects rushing toward them at breakneck speed from not far away. Facing these enemies that were only at the Bone Forging Realm, they didn’t choose to engage them. Instead, they casually grabbed nearby rubble and branches, hurled them at the insects, and then swiftly fled into the distance. From the mouths of the tribesmen who had escaped back, they knew that once they were bogged down in a fight, more enemies would quickly arrive, among which would be powerful beings in the Qi and Blood Realm. Unless they could flee back to the tribe’s territory in time, they would undoubtedly die.

This time, their mission was to contact those sky overlords, not to tangle with the Insect Swarm. Mountain Demons were inherently jungle overlords. Their ape-like bodies and long arms allowed them to easily traverse through the forest canopy. Even the Rapid Insects found it difficult to catch up to these Qi and Blood Realm Mountain Demons.

After a continuous sprint of hundreds of kilometers, this group of Mountain Demons finally reached their destination. It was a towering cliff. Standing a full three thousand meters tall, the nearly vertical and steep mountain face was completely barren. Even Demon Fiends like the Mountain Demons, who excelled at climbing, would find it extremely difficult to scale such a surface. And the nest of that Thunder Wing Roc was located on a protruding rock ledge about two thousand meters up the middle of the cliff face.

"Those foreign Demon Fiends are attacking the Thunder Wing Roc!" a Mountain Demon growled in a low voice.

In the sky, dozens of Black Thorn Eagles converged from all directions. The Thunder Wing Roc, resting in its nest, immediately noticed them. Its eyes revealed a mix of fury and mockery. It thought, "It’s this bunch of weaklings again!"

A low roar, accompanied by the crackle of a bursting thunderbolt, rang out. It spread its massive wings, boasting a wingspan of a full forty feet. As its wings flapped, lightning seemed to flash. The Thunder Wing Roc possessed an innate Talent for manipulating thunder and lightning. Its speed was extremely fast, and because its body was constantly surrounded by lightning, it was far more robust than its peers. With a fierce flap of its wings, it instantly vanished from its spot, transforming into a streak of lightning as it lunged toward the nearest Black Thorn Eagle at breakneck speed.

The Thunder Wing Roc’s speed was simply too fast. Even though the Black Thorn Eagles could share their vision through the Mind Network and see the Thunder Wing Roc from all directions, their bodies simply couldn’t react in time. Their several previous failed attempts to besiege the Thunder Wing Roc had all ended with it slaughtering them by relying on its speed. Extending its sharp claws, the Thunder Wing Roc’s eyes were filled with ridicule. It could already envision the scene of the Black Thorn Eagle’s brains splattering, just like the previous few times.

However, the Black Thorn Eagle opened its beak.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

In the blink of an eye, three black shadows shot out of the Black Thorn Eagle’s mouth at an astonishing speed. Almost simultaneously, the dozens of Black Thorn Eagles closing in from the sky did the same. The black shadows erupting from their mouths formed an impenetrable net that enveloped the Thunder Wing Roc.

Startled, the Thunder Wing Roc fiercely flapped its wings. With a series of CRACKLES, a coat of lightning appeared all over its body, shielding it within.

HISS! HISS!

A series of sounds erupted against its body. The Thunder Wing Roc turned its head to look, only to discover that these were tiny Flying Snakes, each only the length of an adult human’s finger. The heads of these Flying Snakes were triangular and diamond-shaped. They acted like Armor-Breaking Arrows, desperately trying to drill into its body. Even when they were scorched black by the thunderbolts crackling outside its body, they didn’t stop. There were a full several hundred Flying Snakes!

Its internal Power of Thunder was consumed at an alarming rate. Under its incredulous gaze, several Flying Snakes pierced through its protective lightning and burrowed into its feathers. These Child Gu, with lifespans of merely ten breaths, possessed terrifying speed and an extremely potent Armor-Breaking effect. Even if one had Gang Qi protecting their body, it would be very difficult to block them. When the experts of the Five Poison Sect nurtured them, their very purpose was to tear through Gang Qi and shred the enemy’s defenses.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of faint explosions rang out, sending a piercing, agonizing pain through its body. Tiny, ruptured holes appeared all over its flesh. Intense corrosion and highly lethal poison began to spread within its body.

ROAR!

The Thunder Wing Roc was instantly enraged; this was the first time it had ever been injured. Its terrifying claws grabbed the Black Thorn Eagle’s head, and with a forceful squeeze, the head exploded. In front of the Thunder Wing Roc with its forty-foot wingspan, the Black Thorn Eagle was as fragile as an infant. After easily crushing one Black Thorn Eagle to death, the furious Thunder Wing Roc did not slow down. Its wings flapped violently, its body streaking across the sky as its massive shadow loomed over another Black Thorn Eagle. However, this Black Thorn Eagle still showed no fear, its black, jade-like beak pecking toward the Thunder Wing Roc.

The surrounding Black Thorn Eagles opened their beaks once more. The Child Gu that had long been gestating within their bodies shot out, forming a black "rain of arrows" in the sky.

SQUELCH!

The Thunder Wing Roc’s sharp claws pierced the Black Thorn Eagle’s body. With a forceful tear, the thick Scale Armor covering the Black Thorn Eagle, and even the ferocious Bone Spikes on its back, snapped. But the enraged Thunder Wing Roc was also grazed by the Bone Spikes. Those ferocious Bone Spikes on the Black Thorn Eagle’s body weren’t simple decorations, but a layer of Anti-Armor. During high-speed aerial combat, it was very easy for them to pierce into an opponent’s body and inflict fatal wounds.

At almost the exact same time, hundreds more Flying Snake Gu crashed into it with overwhelming force. This time, even more Flying Snake Gu burrowed into the Thunder Feather Peng’s body. A portion of them specifically burrowed into its left wing before detonating. Feathers instantly flew in all directions, revealing the flesh, blood, and bones beneath. If the first round of attacks only left the Thunder Wing Roc lightly injured, then this time, it was thoroughly heavily injured. With its wing damaged, its speed plummeted drastically, and its flight even became somewhat unsteady.

Having consecutively slaughtered two Black Thorn Eagles, the Thunder Wing Roc grew somewhat panicked. It flapped its wings, intending to fly toward the outer perimeter. Even with its wing injured, these Black Thorn Eagles still wouldn’t be able to catch up to it. However, when it flapped its wings and broke out of the encirclement in an attempt to escape, its pupils suddenly shrank. Dozens of Black Thorn Eagles flew toward it from its escape route. From a distance, they opened their beaks, spitting out a barrage of Flying Snake Gu.

CRACKLE—

The lightning around the Thunder Wing Roc surged wildly. Amidst the flashing arcs of electricity, it wanted to endure this wave of attacks head-on and forcibly break through the area. As long as it broke through this zone, it would be impossible for these Black Thorn Eagles to catch up to it. But waves of agonizing pain emanated from its left wing. The corrosion from the deadly poison still affected the outburst of its Qi Blood, and almost all of the Black Thorn Eagles’ attacks were aimed directly at its left wing.

The Flying Snake Gu were not arrows, but living Gu Insects capable of turning and tracking targets on their own! Once spat from the Black Thorn Eagles’ mouths, they would fly toward their target of their own accord. When hatched by the Insect Nest and controlled through the Insect Nest’s Mind Network, this characteristic was pushed to the absolute extreme, allowing them to form exquisite attack networks in mid-air.

RIIIP!

A series of explosive sounds rang out. The vast majority of the Flying Snake Gu were shredded by the lightning as they approached the Thunder Wing Roc’s wings. But the remnants tunneled directly into the Thunder Wing Roc’s wounds and detonated once again. This explosion nearly tore the Thunder Wing Roc’s left wing apart. A massive, visible wound appeared, leaving the Thunder Wing Roc with a trace of panic alongside its immense fury. It opened its beak, shooting out a ten-foot-long bolt of lightning that blasted a Black Thorn Eagle diving at it into charcoal. Arcs of electricity flashed. It repeatedly spat out lightning in mid-air, causing three more Black Thorn Eagles to plummet. But this small number was not even worth mentioning compared to the swarm of Black Thorn Eagles closing in. Some of the Black Thorn Eagles lunged directly at it, but even more opened their beaks again to spit out Flying Snake Gu. The Thunder Wing Roc roared in anger. The lightning radiating from its entire body seemed to condense into physical substance as it engaged in a brutal melee with the Black Thorn Eagles.

...

"This Thunder Wing Roc is finished! Let’s go quickly and report to the King that these birds can spit out Flying Snakes to attack, and the power is astounding."

The Mountain Demons hiding in the jungle below watched the aerial siege in horror. This Thunder Wing Roc was incredibly powerful; it had already reached the Qi and Blood Like Dragon Realm. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been taken seriously by the Mountain Demon King. Yet, after killing seven or eight Black Thorn Eagles in a row, its body was covered in crawling Flying Snake Gu. With its left wing injured, its flight speed had sharply declined. For a Flying Demon Fiend, an injured wing was almost equivalent to death! Meanwhile, the number of Black Thorn Eagles in the sky was only increasing. Perhaps, if it fought with its life on the line, it could kill a portion of them. But it could no longer escape.

"Let’s go!"

All the Mountain Demons didn’t dare make a sound as they attempted to leave under the cover of the dense forest. But the leading Mountain Demon suddenly halted in its tracks. A dangerous glint flashed in its eyes as it let out a low growl.

RUMBLE—

Vibrations emanated from the ground, the leaves in the dense forest rustled, and densely packed figures darted through the jungle. They had been surrounded.