Chapter 267: Twin Corpses Appear, Four Factions Gather (5k)
Senior Du’s eyes revealed a hint of surprise. She turned to look at the composed Su Jiu again and whispered, “Aren’t you going to catch them? Aren’t these Crimson Flame Sparrows our target?”
“No… Senior Sister, just watch from the side, don’t disturb them.” Hearing this, Su Jiu smiled and replied softly. Her gaze was fixed on the Crimson Flame Sparrows, wondering how these little chicks would act.
The flock of Crimson Flame Sparrows seemed unafraid of people. They trampled on the water’s surface, creating splashing sounds, as if walking on level ground. Their orange eyes continuously roamed the steaming water.
“Chiiii!”
Then, the slender beak of one Crimson Flame Sparrow exuded a trace of red flame. It pecked fiercely into the water and then lifted its head, its beak now holding a Red Fish. The fish’s scales, illuminated by the reflection of ice crystals, seemed as if they were about to ignite.
“These small fish have extremely potent fire elements. However, in such a cold place, there shouldn’t be any fish with such potent fire elements. Moreover, in this extreme cold environment, small fish would have no food to grow.”
The surrounding Crimson Flame Sparrows looked on with envy and then began to imitate it. Seeing this, Su Jiu’s gaze slightly narrowed. With a few quick steps, she arrived at the steaming small river. Carefully lifting her skirt, she crouched down to observe.
Meanwhile, Senior Du cautiously scanned her surroundings for other monsters, tightly gripping the ice sword in her hand. She was very confused. Weren’t there Crimson Flame Sparrows in front of her?
Didn’t this person in front of her have the goal of catching Crimson Flame Sparrows?
Soon, Su Jiu discovered the silhouettes of Red Fish in the river. Her gaze roamed, and her five fingers formed into claws. Silver-white light flickered on her hands, and with a “whoosh,” she broke through the water, intending to catch the strange little fish. However, as she broke the water’s surface, Su Jiu’s brow twitched. She slowly withdrew her hand and slowly opened it—empty.
What was going on? Those Crimson Flame Sparrows could catch the little fish, but I can’t? Logically speaking, in terms of speed and precision, I should be much faster than them.
“Gaga…”
As if noticing Su Jiu’s actions, the Crimson Flame Sparrows made sounds like ducks. Their orange eyes revealed a playful smile. One rather young Crimson Flame Sparrow once again spat out a flame from its beak and pecked fiercely at the river. It quickly succeeded in catching a Red Fish and proudly gestured towards Su Jiu.
Hearing the sounds of the Crimson Flame Sparrows, Su Jiu’s gaze fell upon the small fish in the bird’s beak. This small fish should be the key to breaking the mystery of the feathers. Thinking this, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth lifted. She softly said, “Is Brother Bird trying to share with me?”
“Cloud Piercer… Thank you, Brother Bird.”
With that, Su Jiu nodded to herself again. Blood-red light surged in her pupils, and her body transformed into afterimages, shooting directly towards the Crimson Flame Sparrow holding the Red Fish in its beak. The silver-white light on her hand became a stream of light, stretching exceptionally long, like a dark thread.
How could a Crimson Flame Sparrow with only Initial Stage Battle General strength possibly be a match for a monstrous opponent like Su Jiu? As soon as it felt Su Jiu’s attack, before it could even spread its wings, its long neck was gently grasped by the latter. The other Crimson Flame Sparrows were not very panicked, merely watching Su Jiu curiously…
“Is it the leader of the flock?”
A second after making a move on the Crimson Flame Sparrow, Su Jiu felt a rather intense aura completely lock onto her. She was slightly stunned and did not hesitate. She grabbed the Red Fish from the bird’s beak.
But when she opened the bird’s beak, the Red Fish turned into several streams of light, flowing through Su Jiu’s fingers like grains of sand, falling back into the small river and reforming into a Red Fish…
Su Jiu’s pupils tightened slightly. Indeed, she had encountered the little fish in the small river earlier. Her eyes shifted, and her gaze fell upon the fire-quenching beak of the Crimson Flame Sparrow in her hand, giving her some answers.
It’s a fire attribute problem… That small fish is likely a manifestation of some element reaching extreme concentration! This clears things up: the answer lies within the river water.
But before that…
Su Jiu chuckled and then, under the gaze of the flock of birds, grabbed the Crimson Flame Sparrow in her hand—Kidding, after being a little devil, would she let it go?
Seeing Su Jiu grab its companion, the Crimson Flame Sparrows scattered, red blurs flying everywhere. Only when very loud long cry echoed from an ice wall not far away did the red blurs stop. All gazes, including Su Jiu’s, slowly turned towards it. Its aura gave her some understanding:
“Indeed, an Initial Stage Battle King!”
It was a very special Crimson Flame Sparrow. The feathers on its body seemed to burn, emitting a faint firelight. Its body was also considerably larger, and its gaze carried a warning towards Su Jiu and the other person.
“Battle King Level Monster?!”
Being stared at by that strange bird, Senior Du’s hair stood on end. Her fingers pressed down on the sword hilt, causing them to turn slightly pale. She turned to look at Su Jiu, only to find that the latter showed no surprise, merely looking at the strange bird with a calm gaze.
Soon, a rather ancient and hoarse voice echoed from the strange bird’s mouth: “Bat… I can overlook you capturing my kin. Please leave the Twin King Abyss quickly.”
“Senior, I have something that I must obtain… I hope the senior can tell me how. If the senior is willing to inform me, I am not incapable of releasing your kin.” Looking at the strange bird with a steady gaze, Su Jiu lightly tossed the White Snowball in her hand. She was certain that this strange bird knew something.
“Inform you of what?” As it landed lightly, the strange bird’s flame-clad claws stepped onto the hot river, its gaze looking at Su Jiu with interest, and it asked indifferently.
“The location of that War God Level feather…” Su Jiu’s gaze remained fixed on the strange bird, her fingernails beginning to lengthen, as if in preparation for a sudden attack. Moreover, she deliberately spoke vaguely, not mentioning whose feather it was…
From the words of the little shop owner, she knew that it was highly probable that this small river contained not only Flame Phoenix Sparrows but also other species. After all, two clans of ice and fire birds, unable to coexist, would wish for the other’s detriment.
If she had asked for the Ice Phoenix’s feather, perhaps the other party’s attitude would have changed 180 degrees.
As expected, when the strange bird heard “feather,” a hint of surprise flashed in its eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. Its gaze swept over Su Jiu’s pale, sickly face, and it said indifferently, “What use do you, with a Bat bloodline, have for a King’s feather? Return quickly.”
“Then Senior knows where the feather is?” Su Jiu’s heart leaped with joy, but her face remained expressionless as she asked, her gaze falling upon the river that seemed bottomless…
“So what if I know? That feather is one of the most precious things on the King. As an elder chosen by it, I absolutely cannot hand over this thing.” The strange bird said indifferently, its gaze inadvertently glancing downwards at the river. Although it was a casual glance—this behavior was precisely captured by Su Jiu…
Senior Du, listening to the inexplicable conversation between the two, became more and more confused, unable to understand what they were discussing—feathers?
Looking at Su Jiu facing the Initial Stage Battle King strange bird without the slightest hint of nervousness, her face filled with a calm expression, a more bizarre thought emerged in Senior Du’s mind…
Why did that strange bird call Su Jiu a bat—could it be that the black-skirted girl in front of her was a monster?
And why was she so calm? Hey, hey, this is a Battle King Level Crimson Flame Sparrow!
Senior Du was not only blank-faced but also full of internal complaints. She felt that she had indeed underestimated the black-skirted girl in front of her, but she didn’t know in what way she had underestimated her.
Ignoring the completely bewildered Senior Du, Su Jiu narrowed her eyes, licked her lips, and asked tentatively, “So… the feather is under the river, right?”
“Bat, you have thirty more breaths. If you don’t leave the Twin God Abyss, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Upon hearing Su Jiu’s words, the strange bird’s body suddenly erupted with a powerful Battle King Level aura surging outwards. The dense crimson aura emanated scorching heat waves, impacting the frost walls, causing the frost river to thin and revealing the scenes within, with small blue fish swimming about…
Catching a glimpse of the frost river’s scene, a sharp glint flashed in Su Jiu’s eyes. She simply erected an energy shield to block, completely closed her eyes, and unleashed her mental power. Moments later, her eyes slowly opened, and the joy in them could no longer be concealed. As expected, her guess was correct—
The area beneath the river was not just one meter deep, but a bottomless abyss. Moreover, there were two immensely powerful auras at the bottom, seemingly causing the strange phenomenon of the river!
The surface of both rivers was disguised by a formation, resembling Bai Zhi’s home. It was a spatial formation. In reality, those fish were merely transformed ice and fire elements floating on the surface, intended to conceal the scene beneath the river.
“Senior Bird is joking. I am actually interested in the Ice Phoenix’s feather… If you don’t believe me, you can look at my avatar—it’s also ice element.”
Su Jiu glanced at the strange bird and said with a soft smile. Then, under the gaze of all the Crimson Flame Sparrows, she slowly activated her Ice Dragon Transformation and walked about ten steps towards the frost river ahead. She then paused and waved her hand, firing a blast of external ice Qi. Finally, she shot it towards the river covered in thin frost.
The two were connected. As long as she went down this cold current, she would inevitably reach the source of the hot current on the other side—this was also why Su Jiu only mentioned the feather without specifying whose feather it was.
Subsequently, a peculiar scene unfolded. The cold ice Qi, as it passed over the ice river and reached about one meter deep “riverbed,” caused ripples like water waves. These ripples fluctuated rapidly, and finally, a vortex filled with frost flowers appeared out of thin air!
Looking at the strangely appearing vortex, Senior Du became even more bewildered. Obviously, she had never expected that the ordinary riverbed could hide such a marvel—this experience was more enriching than her entire three years of university.
The blue vortex, under the gaze of everyone, slowly enlarged with a crisp sound, and the scene behind it gradually revealed itself, like a passage forged from ice crystals…
“Half-human Bat? You’d better think clearly… Although I won’t stop you, once you trigger the mechanism, that old thing will arrive very soon.”
Seeing Su Jiu’s ice Qi, the strange bird stopped its coercion and watched her with amusement, as if nothing had happened, saying with great interest,
“The Ice Phoenix’s corpse is beside the King’s. During the last clan ritual, I glimpsed it. Her feather is on the forehead of its skeleton. You can try.”
In its eyes, Su Jiu was merely at the Battle General level. If she dared to cause trouble inside, after she came out, it could deal with her at will—and that feather could not be easily pulled out. Without guiding power of the same attribute, it would be impossible to pull it out.
It might as well use Su Jiu to annoy the Coldstream Crow clan.
“It’s alright… Thank you for your fulfillment, Senior.”
From the strange bird’s tone, Su Jiu knew that it was mostly in a spectator’s state, wishing for her to fall out with the Coldstream Crow clan.
She suspected that the two bird clans had some kind of agreement, perhaps not to interfere… and her appearance as an outsider made them think she could be a pawn.
Without further thought, Su Jiu lightly tapped her toes, and cloaked in frost Qi, she transformed into a blue stream of light and plunged downwards, continuous “gurgling” sounds echoing.
After passing through the ripples, the scenery before her completely changed. Before her was a scene of ice and fire. Su Jiu’s side was a world of ice crystals, with cold air surging and frost flowers floating in the water, while the water on the other side was like magma, occasionally emitting a “chiii” sound.
And the culprit behind all of this was the giant bird corpse before her. Two giant bird skeletons, comparable to tall buildings, were intertwined. Although already skeletal, they exuded incredibly potent and powerful auras.
Su Jiu approached slightly to discover the specific scene. The giant bird on the left, emanating scorching heat, had a claw dug into the chest of the cold current giant bird on the right. As for the giant bird exuding scorching heat, half of its head had been blown off by some unknown long-range skill…
And what they had in common was that on their bare heads, there was a giant feather emitting light. These two feathers seemed to be the reason for the ice river and the hot river.
Just as Su Jiu’s gaze fell upon the still divine feathers on the heads of the two giant birds, contemplating how to use them, a “puff!” sound came from behind her. A wing with half green wings suddenly appeared, and then the feather from the giant ice crystal bird corpse involuntarily shot upwards, like a blade, piercing directly into Su Jiu’s right chest…
“Phew… What’s going on?!”
Suddenly grasping the feather on her chest, Su Jiu felt her breathing seemed to stop. In an instant, an extremely sharp chill surged into her entire body, and her meridians felt frozen into icicles. The feather on her chest showed no intention of letting go of Su Jiu—it continued to impact her blood circulation.
“The ice attribute is continuously strengthening… I’m about to lose balance! I can’t care about anything else, I’ll have to awaken my bloodline in the river now!”
Gritting her teeth fiercely, veins protruding on Su Jiu’s face, the hand holding the ice feather was now covered in frost. Her gaze fell upon the head of the other bird. After several months, she finally used the Ghost Car Transformation, her white hair extending to her tail end…
“Crimson Flame Sparrow feather…”
Rushing fiercely into the opposite scorching river, Su Jiu no longer cared about the boiling water. Her eyes were fixed on the feather, bloodshot. Moments later, she stood by the Flame Phoenix’s giant head and, with a “puff!”, pulled out the feather. After a few more breaths and finding no reaction from the feather…
“Phew… Awaken for me!”
Her body seemed to be corroded by frost Qi. Su Jiu, with bloodshot eyes, took out the Sub-Dragon Flame Crystal, which she had retrieved from her storage bag, and clutched it in her left hand, a look of madness in her eyes. Her right hand directly inserted the other feather into her other chest.
As she inserted it, her face slowly relaxed—the coldness gradually receded… Closing her eyes slowly, her consciousness drifted slightly.
She was just one step away from the breakthrough. Su Jiu had a feeling that it wouldn’t take long, perhaps only ten minutes, before her Ghost Car Transformation could fully advance!
Her ultimate transformed state, which she had initially considered her trump card, was about to evolve into a new trump card.
The auras of the two corpses, as if a final burst of energy, transformed into light beams shaped like fried dough sticks, rushing outwards.
…
Outside, Senior Du felt the ground shaking. She looked up again and saw two giant beams of light shooting towards the top ice layer of the gorge. Her eyes were somewhat numb. She lowered her gaze to the bottom of the river and murmured, “What exactly is she doing?”
“King, there’s a problem! It’s that little thief from just now!”
On the other side of Senior Du, the strange bird’s expression changed drastically. It spread its wings slightly, about to charge down, when a loud bird cry echoed from the sky: “Liao!”—
“Old thing! The restrictions were indeed broken by your Crimson Flame Sparrow clan! You broke the contract first, so don’t blame me for deciding to wage war!”
…
“There is indeed a great treasure beneath the gorge! The treasure belongs to me!”
The ground began to shake. Huang Ling and the others, who were still dueling outside, noticed the commotion in the Yunbai Gorge, and their expressions all changed greatly. Huang Ling laughed loudly, stomped on the ground, sent the three shadows flying away, and his figure transformed into a yellow silhouette rushing towards the gorge.
The three shadows exchanged glances with the Elder in Blue, and then transformed into three black shadows, charging forward. The Elder in Blue also followed closely behind, his muddy eyes flashing with surprise as he shouted to the crowd:
“Quickly notify the Family Head! There is a rare treasure in the gorge below!”
