Chapter 509: Ice Vulture (3k)
“Regarding the source, I do know of a place, but it’s about ten kilometers away from here, at the very peak of the mountain.”
The aura of the Elder Minister paused slightly. He slowly turned around, his gaze swept over the scythe, and his expression was somewhat surprised. Did that sound come from the scythe just now?
The transformation of a high-level monster. The girl in front of him likely had an unusual identity.
“Can you take me there with you?”
Since he understood Bairnis’s intention, Su Jiu didn’t want to delay and immediately asked, his gaze filled with a bit of seriousness.
“Are you sure you want to go?”
Looking at Su Jiu’s gaze, the Elder Minister was stunned and repeated the question.
“Yes, I have a rough idea of where the so-called ancestral land is.”
Su Jiu exhaled a breath of white mist, his expression quite certain. Bairnis’s words gave him some inspiration. Only in a river basin with suitable water temperature could such a scene form. As for himself, his primary avatar was an Ice Cicada, and its inherent cold attribute allowed it to freely traverse these rivers.
As long as he broke through the ice and followed the river’s source downwards, feeling the actual temperature of the river, if the water body exceeded the normal temperature, it would indicate that the target ancestral land was not far away. At that time, he could go ashore and investigate.
“Alright, this old man will take you there.”
After hearing Su Jiu’s words, the Elder Minister was silent for a moment, then turned around in resignation. The external qi transformation of an exotic curved saber appeared at his feet. He squinted his eyes, looked at the wind and snow in the sky, and muttered to himself.
“But I must say in advance, that place is also snowy and icy. It’s formed by a natural, huge crater, and it’s unlikely to be any ancestral land.”
“It’s alright, I’ll handle the rest.”
Su Jiu put the scythe into his Spiritual Space, then collected the Blue Crane’s corpse into the Storage Bag at his waist. His feet also slightly levitated, and a blood-golden long sword appeared beneath him, also looking like it was about to fly.
“Old sir, speed is of the essence! After you drop me off, you must immediately go to support the city. The city cannot be without high-end combat power.”
“Okay!”
As Su Jiu urged him, with a “Whoosh!” sound, the Elder Minister glanced at him and then soared straight into the sky, enveloped in wind and snow.
Su Jiu formed a hand seal with his hands, flicked his two fingers upwards, and followed suit. The remaining tail smoke slowly dispersed like an aura. In just a moment, their figures could no longer be seen.
A few minutes later, when there were no more auras in this place, a colossal figure slowly descended. With a “Thump!” sound, the snow was kicked up several meters high, and the ground instantly caved in and cracked around it, spreading outwards like a spiderweb.
“Roar— Who is it!?”
Gloomy eyes peered through the snow, looking at the bloodstains on the ground. Accompanied by an eagle’s cry, the three necks, resembling the roots of giant trees, saw their arm-thick black blood vessels continuously pulsating, conveying a sense of intense anger.
Someone actually killed her Demigod-level subordinate!
“Sir, I smell the residual aura of the egg, but it’s gone now. It seems someone carried the egg and escaped into the sky.”
The voice came from the Big Pine Tree behind him. It was a Human-Faced Monkey with snow-white fur, clinging to the tree. Its face resembled that of a black person, and it was three meters tall. However, compared to the colossal figure, it looked like a large ant.
“Heh heh, the sky…”
The colossal figure let out a chilling, girlish laugh. The three giant necks all turned towards the sky simultaneously, filled with resentment.
The next moment, the leftmost head twisted its head in an extremely distorted posture towards the Human-Faced Monkey. Beneath its dark feathers, eyes as large as truck headlights stared at the creature, and it slowly spoke.
“Tell me, are the conditions set by those Snow Demons true? If we stop humans from resurrecting the phoenix and then cause chaos in Loffgaragel City, they will provide this lord with resources for promotion to high-level War God and bloodline enhancement…”
“I… I’m not sure.”
A look of fright flashed across the Human-Faced Monkey’s face. Two small blue halos popped out from behind it, and then it quickly dispersed the halos, revealing a fawning expression.
“Lord Demon King, Snow Demons are a very ancient race, and they even have individuals at the Walker level. They definitely wouldn’t deceive us.”
“We can only trust them.”
Listening to the Human-Faced Monkey’s words, the colossal figure known as the Demon King narrowed its eyes repeatedly, as if thinking of something, and muttered to itself, “Since the egg can’t be found, and the time the Snow Demons gave us is running out, we must attack the city as soon as possible…”
“Attack the city? Sir, aren’t you going to look for it? Aren’t you afraid of its nirvana rebirth…”
The Human-Faced Monkey glanced at the giant head and slowly spoke, its eyes darting towards the other’s eyes, fearing that it would become agitated and act.
“Nirvana rebirth requires sufficient energy. Its lifespan is nearing its end, and it forcefully broke through using a secret method. Now, it has already consumed a large amount of energy to reshape its body. It’s merely lingering here, absorbing ice energy.”
The colossal figure continued to speak. With a flash of white light, its body suddenly shrank, transforming into a human form. The feathers turned into a black dress, and its cascading Green Silk dangled behind its shoulders, even trailing onto the snow due to its height, leaving some snow traces, giving it a somewhat pitiable appearance.
This appearance was quite similar to the Shrine Maidens of the Cherry Blossom Country.
“Then shall we attack the city now?”
The Human-Faced Monkey chuckled twice. With a flash of white light, it also transformed into a Shadowy Young Man. It looked at the petite figure with a wary gaze and then tentatively asked.
“While they haven’t completely left yet, we also have human traitors in the defenders. We can eat quite a few people then.”
“Eating again… Is what I get for you each year not enough?”
The transformed colossal figure turned around, revealing a face that was completely different from its voice. It had an oval face similar to Bai Zhi’s, but with less playfulness and more coldness. On its dark-colored lips, disgust was evident.
“Every time I watch you eat people, I feel sick. You’re like uncivilized wild beasts, only knowing how to eat garbage!”
“Lord Demon King speaks the truth.”
The Shadowy Young Man, who had transformed from the Human-Faced Monkey, did not dare to talk back and simply agreed. However, a hint of displeasure flickered across his slightly lowered face, but he didn’t dare to show it.
Then, he paused, as if with curiosity, and asked, “However, why have you been resisting disasters for these humans all these years without asking for anything in return?”
The girl turned around and replied faintly, “To purify karma, and to take a step further…”
“I am not a high-level race. In fact, my parents were only War General level. Others call me the Frost Sky Vulture, but no one knows that I am just an ordinary Ice Vulture.”
The Shadowy Young Man nodded thoughtfully but did not respond. His racial value was not low, but it was not as high as hers. He chuckled and asked again, “Then why are you willing to attack humans like us?”
“Like the Phoenix, one can effortlessly reach the Walker level, while we ordinary monsters can barely reach its starting point even with a lifetime of effort. This lord hates it!”
Looking at the fluttering light snow, the girl clenched her fists. A hint of unwillingness was in her purple pupils, but it was quickly concealed. Her hair swayed gently with the wind and snow, stirring up some snow dust.
Black blood flowed down her fist, staining the white snow black, making a “hissing” sound, as if corroded by venom. A resolute voice sounded.
“If I don’t seize the future, this lord might forever be stuck at the half-step intermediate War God level.”
The snow continued to fall for a long time. The Shadowy Young Man crossed his arms and stood still, silently watching the Black Skirt Girl, awaiting her command.
“Let’s attack the city.”
Glancing at the Shadowy Young Man, the girl paused for a second or two and then slowly spoke. With that, she leaped out, flickering in the air and disappearing.
The next moment, hundreds of meters in the sky, the colossal figure reappeared. Accompanied by a clear eagle’s cry, a cold and emotionless voice echoed in the sky.
“I will hold the formation for you in my true form. You are not allowed to eat people while I am holding the formation. This lord does not want to be tainted with karma.”
…
“It’s right here.”
Amidst the howling wind and snow, two figures landed on a snow-covered pine tree on a mountain peak. Looking out, the peak resembled a huge treasure basin. The surface of the “treasure basin” was emerald green and covered with a thick layer of ice.
“Thank you, old sir.”
Su Jiu cupped his hands slightly in thanks to the Elder Minister. He flipped over and landed lightly on the treasure basin. He felt his feet were a bit slippery. He looked around the surroundings. There were five rivers flowing in other directions, some large and some small. If he had to inspect them one by one, it would take some time…
Seeing Su Jiu observing the river flow, the Elder Minister stroked his beard and guessed his thoughts. After sighing at his intelligence, he laughed heartily.
“You want to use the rivers to detect the third ancestral land? Then you can directly probe the middlemost river. The other rivers are actually false tributaries, with a length of less than a thousand meters.”
“This is much clearer. It would have been exhausting to find them one by one.”
Su Jiu’s expression relaxed. He then used his Ice Cicada transformation. As his cheeks were covered by scales, his gaze fell on the middlemost river ahead. Even through the ice, he could feel that it had the largest flow.
Without further ado, he half-crouched, pressing his hand onto the ice. The external qi from his palm instantly erupted, piercing through the ice. Shattered ice pieces splashed outwards, and bone-chilling river water splashed up…
“Why break the ice?”
The Elder Minister looked at his actions, seeming to ponder if he had missed something. His wrinkled skin folded together.
“I’ll go first. You should return to the city as soon as possible!”
After saying this to the Elder Minister, Su Jiu, enveloped in a layer of external qi, jumped directly into the large hole in the ice, making a “bang!” sound with a faint splash.
The Elder Minister stared at Su Jiu going down the river beneath the ice, looking somewhat bewildered. Wouldn’t flying be better for reconnaissance?
After a few minutes, he also realized what he had missed and suddenly slapped his forehead, muttering to himself, “Damn it, I forgot to mention that there will be more forks later! In that case, he won’t be able to find his direction in the river!”
Sighing, he looked at Su Jiu, who had already completely entered the riverbed, and could only shake his head helplessly before flying towards the city.
