77: Chapter 77 Desperate Situation

Silver Rank!

Qin Ce's pupils constricted to the size of needlepoints.

He finally understood—

The raven he had "locked onto" earlier wasn't a stray prey at all, but bait!

Those ravens had been waiting for him all along!

"Go!"

Qin Ce shouted, and the Qingluan's wings flapped violently, instantly boosting its speed to the limit as it soared toward the sky!

But it was already too late.

The three Silver-rank Ravens moved.

Their speed was more than a level faster than the Bronze Rank ones!

If a Bronze Rank Raven's speed was 180 kilometers per hour, then a Silver Rank one reached at least 250 kilometers per hour or more!

And while the Qingluan excelled in speed, it was only at the Black Iron Peak after all. It might not lose in long-distance flight, but there was still a clear gap in short-distance bursts compared to the Silver Rank.

Three Silver Ravens flanked him from three directions, their flight paths extremely tricky, leaving Qin Ce no room to dodge at all!

Even more terrifying, the fifteen Upper Bronze Rank ravens also moved.

They didn't directly participate in the encirclement but formed a second blockade on the periphery, while continuously releasing Ink Feathers—not to attack, but to create a faint Ink Feather Mist to interfere with Qin Ce's vision and judgment!

Damn it!

Qin Ce gritted his teeth.

This was a real "hunt"!

Compared to these high-level ravens, the coordination of those three bronze low-grade ravens earlier was like child's play!

The Qingluan flapped its wings violently, flying with all its might!

A green shadow, like an arrow leaving a bowstring, rushed toward the only gap in the Bronze Rank Ravens' blockade!

However—

An Upper Bronze Rank raven simply tilted its body and blocked his path.

Its speed... was actually not slower than the Qingluan's!

Qin Ce's heart sank.

Although Upper Bronze Rank ravens were still clumsy, they were, after all, a full major realm higher than the Qingluan. In terms of absolute speed, they were no longer inferior to it!

Even more terrifyingly, their stamina, defense, and attack power crushed the Qingluan in every aspect!

The Qingluan's Wind Blades striking them left, at most, a shallow white mark.

But a single casual claw strike from them would cause heavy injury if it hit the Qingluan!

Not to mention those three Silver Rank ones that hadn't even made a move yet...

Just as he feared.

Whoosh—

A Silver-rank Raven dived down from the side, its sharp claws tearing through the air with a piercing screech!

Qin Ce maneuvered the Qingluan to dodge narrowly, but the Wind Blade generated by those claws still sliced a gash on his arm, sending blood splattering!

Before he could catch his breath, a second Silver-rank Raven pounced from the front!

Its beak opened, and a ball of black energy rapidly condensed—it was a Silver Rank Wind Arrow, its power far exceeding that of a Bronze Rank one!

Qin Ce had no time to think and instinctively had the Qingluan release a Spider-Web Wind Blade!

The large green net covered the Silver-rank Raven, and dozens of Wind Blades slashed at its body—

But those Wind Blades, which were enough to tear open the flesh of a Bronze Rank Raven, only left a few shallow white marks on the Silver-rank Raven's feathers!

And the Wind Binding was directly dispersed by the black energy that suddenly erupted from its body!

Ineffective!

Qin Ce's heart sank to the bottom.

The Spider-Web Wind Blade was completely ineffective against the Silver Rank!

Boom!

The Wind Arrow fired, and the Qingluan dodged with all its strength.

The Wind Arrow grazed past the Qingluan's tail feathers.

Even so, a large number of the Qingluan's tail feathers were shattered.

Qin Ce's heart sank to the bottom.

He couldn't win.

He couldn't win at all.

Afterward, amidst the constant struggle, the encirclement grew smaller and smaller.

Three Silver-rank Ravens blocked all paths of retreat from three directions, while fifteen Upper Bronze Rank ravens cruised on the periphery, ready to finish him off at any moment. Their coordination was terrifyingly seamless—every attack hit the Qingluan at its most awkward position, and every turn blocked the direction Qin Ce wanted to break through.

This was no longer a hunt; it was a slaughter.

Qin Ce was covered in blood.

A deep, bone-deep wound was torn open on his left shoulder by a claw, blood streaming down his arm and staining half his body red. On his right calf, a scar left by a Wind Blade was still oozing blood, every movement bringing heart-wrenching pain.

The Qingluan was in no better shape.

Its once-shimmering cyan feathers were now torn and tattered. Three tail feathers were broken, there was a deep scratch on its back, and a large patch of feathers was missing from the edge of its left wing, revealing blood-drenched flesh beneath.

But it was still flying, still doing its best to carry Qin Ce, darting back and forth within that death net woven by fifteen Upper Bronze Rank and three Silver-rank Ravens.

"Gah—!"

A Silver-rank Raven pounced from the front, its claws letting out a screech that tore through the air, aimed straight for the Qingluan's head!

Qin Ce gritted his teeth and raised his hand, sending out a Wind Blade!

"Boom!"

The power of the Wind Blade slammed into the raven's claw, only causing its momentum to stall slightly.

But this stall was enough.

The Qingluan tilted its body, narrowly avoiding the strike, while a tiny Wind Blade condensed on the edge of its right wing, slashing hard at the raven's abdomen as it flew past!

"Gah!" The Silver-rank Raven let out only a soft grunt; no mark was left on its abdomen.

Instead, it turned around and pounced even more crazily!

At the same time, the Silver-rank Ravens from the left and right sides arrived simultaneously!

A three-sided pincer attack!

Qin Ce's pupils shrank as he pressed the Qingluan into a dive.

"Pfft!"

A claw swept across his back, tearing open a long gash.

"Hiss—!"

Qin Ce sucked in a cold breath, his vision momentarily turning black.

But this move also allowed him and the Qingluan to break out of the three Silver Ravens' encirclement, temporarily opening up some distance.

Only temporarily.

Those three ravens would soon adjust their direction and pounce again.

The fifteen Upper Bronze Rank ravens on the periphery had also begun to close in, blocking all downward paths of retreat.

The encirclement was even smaller than before.

Qin Ce panted heavily, his vision beginning to blur.

He had lost too much blood.

There were too many wounds on his body.

From the time he was surrounded until now, only ten or so minutes had passed, and he could no longer remember how many times he had been hit.

If not for the defense strengthened by the [Spider Silk Bone Tendon] Mutation Essence obtained from killing the Wolf Spider King earlier, which made his bones and skin several times tougher—

He would have been dead long ago.

Silver Rank.

That was an existence that spanned two major realms.

Between Black Iron and Silver, there was the entire major realm of Bronze.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be much harder for a Silver Rank beast to kill a black iron rank Beast Tamer than to crush an ant.

That Qin Ce could hold on until now was thanks to the defense of the Spider Silk Bone Tendon, the speed of the Qingluan, and the talent of the Nine-fold Azure Sky.

But it was also reaching its end.

His physical strength and energy were being consumed rapidly.

The blood from his wounds flowed uncontrollably.

The frequency of the ravens' attacks was getting higher and higher, and the angles were getting trickier.

They were also wearing him down.

Waiting for him to be exhausted, waiting for him to be unable to hold on, waiting for a single second of slackness—

That would be death.

...