Chapter 211 - 211 The Three-patterned Golden Eagle
“Be careful,” he warned. Everyone nodded in response. In a few breaths, he disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Seeing this, Xia’er heaved a sigh of relief and thought, ‘I hope the strange birds don’t chase us!’
Although he had obtained a drop of their blood, he did not want to waste it here. This was because there were simply too many of these strange birds. If he stayed here any longer, he would probably die.
“Shen Fei does seem quite capable. Perhaps he can solve these problems,” mumbled one of the students. In his opinion, the current Shen Fei should have the strength to fight.
However, just as everyone started their discussion, a series of muffled sounds of thunder came from the forest in the distance. The sound was getting closer and closer. It sounded like horses galloping, but also like thousands of soldiers charging toward them. The students felt a sense of monstrous hostility from this noise.
Many of the students were terrified by the sound. “A-are the beasts about to attack?”
When he heard the noise, Shen Fei frowned and looked around. The mist in the area began to churn as ancient trees rose from the ground to attack them. In the distance, there were also strange birds circling in the sky, looking down at them with scarlet eyes.
“Could it be that we’ve barged into a forbidden area and offended some existence?” a student asked. Immediately, many students frowned with uncertainty.
“Let’s go!” said Shen Fei.
They did not dare stay any longer. Everyone rode their flying swords and rushed down the path. The path was straight and led the way to the mountain peak, but first, they had to pass another dense forest.
Not long after they entered the forest, a loud cry was heard.
“What is that?!”
“It’s a Three-patterned Golden Eagle!”
Instantly, many students looked solemn.
“Look!”
Suddenly, a stone tablet appeared on the rock wall in front of them.
The stone tablet was five meters tall, and there were mysterious symbols carved into it. The symbols were like the outlines of mysterious runes, and it emitted a bleak aura.
Hearts beating wildly, everyone hesitated in front of it. “Could this be…”
The stone tablet trembled slightly, and a light shone out, along with dubious fluctuations. The nearby vegetation withered one after another from the fluctuations. It was like their essences had been sucked dry.
Meanwhile, the strange birds that were about to attack also stopped mid flight, hesitant.
“What a strange power. There must be a remnant soul of some powerful being sealed within this stone tablet,” Yang Xiaoxuan’s eyes flashed as she spoke. “It’s currently recovering, which is why it’s erupting with such terrifying power.”
This place was suppressing their cultivation. Therefore, no one could sense the divine might of the stone tablet. The runes on it flickered, and a vast divine might emerged. This kind of power made the very air tremble, and a destructive force rushed out.
In a flash, the hostile birds above them were reduced to ashes. They were completely unable to withstand a single blow from the stone tablet.
When the fluctuations from the stone tablet became more intense, Shen Fei frowned and stepped forward. “Let’s continue onward!”
In his opinion, if it was allowed to continue developing itself, the entire forest would become nothing but a ruin.
In any case, it was fortunate that they stumbled upon the stone tablet, because Shen Fei had a feeling that the strange birds were about to advance to another realm before their attack.
After a while, Shen Fei and the others successfully made their way through the forest. They soon reached a plain where the scene gave everyone a shock.
All the grass and trees in this area had been destroyed, and corpses lay everywhere in various pools of blood. Some of these bodies looked like cracked husks, some had shattered bones, and others had their skulls crushed.
A fierce battle had taken place here.
Many of the students frowned as they surveyed the bodies. “Many of these were Beastmasters from our Nanling Academy. There are even teachers…”
“What exactly happened here?”
Yang Xiaoxuan was meticulous in her observation and offered a speculation, “Could these corpses be related to the strange birds from just now?”
At this, Shen Fei raised his eyebrows slightly, and carefully looked at the corpses. Then, he noticed the imprints left on many of the corpses. He could vaguely detect the scent of spirit beasts, and it was left by something stronger than ordinary spirit beasts.
Seeing everyone’s expression, Shen Fei nodded. “You’re right. These corpses may likely have something to do with those birds.”
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“…What?”
“Since it’s so dangerous here, why did the academy still let us take the assessment?!” a student asked angrily.
“That’s right! You knew that this place is full of danger, yet you still wanted to risk bringing us here?!”
“This isn’t fair at all!”
Many of the students became resentful. If they had known how dangerous it was going to be, they would have chosen not to come.
However, some of the other students sneered at them.
“Heh, how can the world of beast taming be fair? If you don’t have enough strength, then you’re nothing more than fodder.”
The first group was enraged as they turned around and rebuked, “So you’re saying you want us to die?”
Someone in the second group snorted coldly. “Hmph! If you’re afraid, then leave.”
“Go back? No way!”
“We came all the way here; how can we return empty-handed?”
The students were about to launch themselves at each other.
A young man’s lips curved into a sinister smile. “Heh, looks like we’re going to have a fierce battle ourselves.”
“These guys…”
“We’re not afraid!”
Shen Fei indifferently cut in, saying, “We have to move on. Quickly now!”
“Yes!” Everyone nodded. Most of them came here to get good results for their assessments, after all.
At Shen Fei’s call, everyone stood to attention, and with a low shout, they jumped up and flew on once more.
“Be careful!” Yang Xiaoxuan reminded them.
“Let’s go!”
“Charge!”
“Our fate is in our hands!”
Everyone’s eyes were determined and they did not look back.
…
Suddenly, some demonic beasts rushed toward Shen Fei and the group.
These were different from the strange flock that had chased them earlier, these were demon birds. They could cross hundreds of meters with a simple flap of their wings. Their feathers were like blades that whistled as they cut through the air.
The demon birds opened their mouths and spat fireballs, which landed on the stone tablet. The flames immediately swallowed it.
“Aahhh!” someone screamed.
The flames were too terrifying. Whatever protective barriers the cultivators could set up were directly penetrated by the flames, injuring quite a number of people.