Chapter 48: Bamboo Fruit
"Is that....an eagle?!"
With the black dot getting closer, Fang Yuan realised that the one who made a loud cry was a giant eagle. Its black feathers reflected a metallic colour under the sunlight.
"Spiritual beast! Definitely a spiritual beast!"
This black giant eagle was fast. Just as Fang Yuan lifted up his head, it already flew past the Green Peak and up into the sky.
"This is strange....how have I not seen this eagle before?"
Fang Yuan saw that the flock of Red-eyed White Birds were disturbed and had a suspicion. "Is it because of coincidence or is it because spiritual beasts are coming from elsewhere?"
"Chirp!"
At that moment, the entire flock of the Red-eyed White Birds around the cliff were disturbed. Under the leadership of a few spiritual birds, they circled around in the air in a formation like an army troop.
"Whoosh!"
The giant eagle was not intimidated by the formation created but flew straight into the Red-eyed White Birds.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Mournful bird chirpings could be heard and big white feathers came falling from the sky.
The claws of the giant eagle were as sharp as a steel hook and the spiritual birds were struggling to avoid the sharp edge of the claws. The giant eagle also used its beak to peck through the head of one of the Red-eyed White Bird, causing the bird to die instantly, its body falling straight down.
"Eagle Claw! This is the real Eagle Claw!"
As Fang Yuan observed the battle of the spiritual birds intently, he felt like he had gained a better understanding of the Eagle Claw Technique.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Finally, right after the giant eagle started to kill all of the other Red-eyed White Birds, a very loud angry chirp was heard from the top of the cliff.
A white giant bird appeared; it was the Red-eyed White King Bird!
It flapped its wings and flew right up into the sky to fight against the giant eagle. The giant bird gained the upper hand very quickly.
"Keke!"
The giant eagle fluttered its wings and dodged away from the Red-eyed White King Bird. It then used its sharp claws and broke through the defence of one of the Red-eyed White Bird by ripping the bird’s body. The giant eagle showed defiance towards the Red-eyed White King Bird and flew out of the formation like an arrow. A few of its black feathers fell as it escaped.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Dead spiritual birds were a rare sight even though Fang Yuan had come here many times to steal spiritual objects.
Looking at the damage caused, the Red-eyed White King Bird gave a long chirp and lead the formation of Red-eyed White Birds to chase after the giant eagle.
"Eh?"
Fang Yuan gave a cold look and realised something was different.
"The black giant eagle slowed down its speed on purpose. It wanted to give an illusion that the Red-eyed White Birds could catch up....What a cunning beast...."
Seeing the Red-eyed White King Bird leading the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds out of the nest, Fang Yuan’s eyes suddenly glittered. "A chance for me!"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
The birds flew further and further away. Soon, they disappeared.
Fang Yuan followed the pathway and kept climbing up. "There should be something of great value in the Red-eyed White King Bird’s nest! Even if there isn’t, I shall let those Red-eyed White Birds have a taste of a big loss!"
He could only kill a few of them previously due to the presence of the Red-eyed White King Bird and a few of others. However, what about now?
"Chirp! Chirp!"
He appeared and the Red-eyed White Birds suddenly realised there was an intruder. The birds let out mournful chirps.
"Get out!"
The Red-eyed White Birds that were guarding the nest were weaker. Fang Yuan executed his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and almost got every bird killed. Even though his shirt had been ripped quite badly, the Red-eyed White Birds were incurring much more damage.
"It is considered normal for eggs to be present in a normal bird’s nest...."
At that moment, Fang Yuan was not attracted by the eggs and went straight up to the peak. He then leapt onto a plateau.
"Puff!"
Both of his feet landed firmly on the plateau with his right hand shielding his body. He then checked his surroundings for any potential threats or movement.
The plateau was connected to the cliff and there was a giant hole inside. The hole was where the Red-eyed White Bird’s nest lay.
Seeing that an intruder had reached their nest, the Red-eyed White Birds got even crazier and went to fight against the intruder with no regard for their lives.
"Get out of my way!"
Fang Yuan shouted angrily. He fought against the birds and retreated a few steps back, and then got in deeper into the hole.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Suddenly, among all the Red-eyed White Birds, a small spiritual bird with glittering feathers charged past all the other birds and straight at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan couldn’t dodge in time. Instead, he released more inner strength. His shoulders started to vibrate like there was a sudden surge of energy.
At that moment, blood splashed everywhere!
Even though he had used his inner strength to defend himself, his shoulder was injured with a deep cut by a claw.
"There is indeed a spiritual beast guarding this nest and it managed to injure me! Good! Very good!"
He squinted his eyes and at the next moment, he leapt forward like a leopard and went straight at that spiritual beast while ignoring the rest of the birds.
"You shall have a taste of my Black Sand Eagle Claw Palm!"
His palm became black in colour like ink. His fingers and nails gave a metallic colour and a strange odour.
With the help of the system’s function and his own research, Fang Yuan managed to combine the Black Sand Palm and the Eagle Claw Technique to form a new technique called the Black Sand Eagle Claw Palm.
Now, Fang Yuan could finally unleash the true power of the [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)] by accumulating poison on the Eagle Claw, turning them into a truly lethal form!
"Chirp!"
This mutated Red-eyed White Spiritual Bird had a very fast speed. Once Fang Yuan missed his shot, it would escape to a far place.
If the spiritual bird was slower by a bit and its wings were scratched by Fang Yuan’s Eagle Claw, its feathers would drop.
"Hehe!"
After one move, Fang Yuan stopped chasing and started laughing.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
That spiritual bird did not fly far and suddenly, it gave a mournful chirp. It then fell from mid-air and was dead. A breeze blew its feathers up.
That was the effect of the mutated Pearl Tail Snake’s Poison. Its effect was so strong that an expert in inner force who had been poisoned by this poison would still be in trouble.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Seeing that the spiritual bird was dead, the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds retreated and didn’t dare to go forward. The birds had no choice but to let Fang Yuan enter the nest.
"Oh!"
The hole was not too deep and there was light shining through a gap in between the rocks. Fang Yuan walked a few steps and became alert. He then started smelling and said, "This is strange!"
By right, there should be a fishy smell in the spiritual beast’s nest.
However, he could only smell fresh air and even the air smelled clean. The spiritual energy here was surprisingly copious.
At the end of the hole, there was a giant green rock and it had slight depressions in the middle. There were a few tree branches and feathers, which formed the shape of the giant bird nest.
"So this is where the Red-eyed White King Bird’s nest lies?"
Fang Yuan moved a few steps forward and was disappointed that there were no spiritual beast’s eggs.
Ever since he had adopted the Flower Fox Ferret as a pet, he became interested in adopting other spiritual beasts. It was very rare to find a spiritual beast like the Flower Fox Ferret who was willing to communicate with humans.
Fang Yuan was hoping that he could adopt one of the Red-eyed White Bird as the birds were considered spiritual beasts and could fly.
"Birds would become close to the first thing it sees as it emerges from its egg. If I managed to get the spiritual beast’s egg and take care of it from young, the young spiritual beast can be tamed....."
Fang Yuan was filled with regrets as this Red-eyed White King Bird had not laid any eggs.
He went forward a few steps and looked carefully at the bird’s nest. He eyes were attracted by something green in colour.
Beside the nest, there was spring water gurgling and flowing down, which formed a small lake.
Near the edge of the lake, there were a few strange bamboos being grown.
The bamboos were jade-green and as though the bamboos were carved with top quality crystal jade. The bamboos gave out spiritual energy and the polluted air was absorbed.
"Looks like these bamboos cause the air in this cave to be so fresh....."
Fang Yuan went forward to check out the spiritual bamboo.
"Eh?"
This time, he saw something different. He found some bamboo flower buds that were about to bloom.
"This bamboo is flowering?"
Fang Yuan then recalled an old record which stated: ’It is the circle of life. The bamboo sprouts a shoot once every 60 years. The shoot will then flower, and the flower will bear fruit and wilt. The fruit will sprout again, completing the circle.’
"The blooming flower of the Jade Bamboo is bound to produce bamboo rice which is also called the bamboo fruit."
"The legends of old spoke that a Phoenix would refuse to perch on anything other than a phoenix tree, to eat anything other than Lian Shi and to drink anything other than the best spring water. This Lian Shi they spoke of referred to the bamboo fruit!"
"Previously, the spiritual land had very few spiritual objects. I was guessing someone must have taken the rest of the spiritual objects and looks like I was correct. This Red-eyed White King Bird took everything!"
The hole was filled with spiritual light, which clearly showed that there were many spiritual objects present here.
However, there were some spiritual objects which could not be moved easily as they would be destroyed if they were rashly relocated. Hence, Fang Yuan did not dare to collect any of the spiritual objects since he did not make any proper preparations.
The spiritual bamboos, on the other hand, were grown singly and grew very quickly. Hence, the spiritual bamboos did not have this problem and could be moved easily.
Fang Yuan came to the spiritual bamboo and started digging using his Eagle Claw Technique. He was digging faster as compared to using a shovel. Not long after, he managed to dig the whole spiritual bamboo out along with its roots. The rhizome of the bamboo was in a good condition.
"With this spiritual bamboo, my trip is made worthwhile!"
Fang Yuan carried the spiritual bamboo happily and went to look for other spiritual objects.
"Keke!"
Suddenly, the Flower Fox Ferret, which was keeping a lookout, ran in anxiously.
"Is that....the black giant eagle?"
Fang Yuan came to the entrance of the hole and saw the black giant eagle. Previously, it was circling around the other Red-eyed White Birds, but now, it was charging towards him.
"It drew the Red-eyed White King Bird out of its nest to distract the bird so that it could come back to the bird’s nest?"
He looked happy and said, "Looks like you were also coming for the treasures in the Red-eyed White King Bird’s nest but unfortunately for you, I was here earlier to get them....."
At that moment, there were many white birds chasing after the giant eagle. The Red-eyed White King Bird was leading the other birds but it was still slower than the giant eagle and both of them became more distant.
Fang Yuan understood what was going on. The giant eagle was making a distraction for the Red-eyed White King Bird by picking up a fight with it and it used its faster speed as an advantage to draw them further away from the nest. Finally, the giant eagle then flew back to its target which were the treasures Fang Yuan looted from the nest.
However, this giant eagle was working alone and therefore incurred a big loss as Fang Yuan managed to reach the nest first.
"My apologies....All these stuff are mine now and I cannot give it to you!"
With the giant eagle charging right at him, Fang Yuan laughed out loud and his right hand was shaped like a black claw. He then grabbed fiercely and shouted, "Eagle Claw Technique!"
"Bang!"
The giant eagle flew right out.
The Red-eyed White King Bird was not too far away and when it saw what was happening, it was enraged and gave a long and piercing scream. The tip of its feathers was tinged with blood. The beast then flew over and accelerated at an alarming speed.
"Enraged? Then I ain’t interested in playing with you guys no more!"
Fang Yuan laughed. He carried the spiritual bamboo and escaped quickly from the peak.
Back at the entrance of the hole, the giant eagle was surrounded by the angry Red-eyed White King Bird and it gave a mournful scream.....
Translator’s Thoughts
JTJTY97 JTJTY97
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