44: Chapter 44

44

Without warning or testing, its folded wings suddenly snapped open, bringing a gust of bloody wind as it turned into a blurry black line, lunging straight for Jiang Haojie's face! Its speed was so fast it left only an afterimage on the retina.

"Hmph!"

Jiang Haojie did not dodge or retreat; he sank his waist and steadied his stance, the Qi in his dantian erupting vigorously as a low growl burst from his throat.

In an instant, a translucent phantom of a lion's head condensed above him, eyes wide with fury, opening its mouth to release a silent roar imbued with majestic power!

The sound waves condensed into a physical force, booming as they expanded.

The lunging Red-collared Fox Bat felt as if it had slammed into an invisible wall of air. Its momentum came to a sudden halt, and with a short wail, it was sent flying back even faster than it had come, smashing heavily against the trunk of the giant tree where it had originally been perched.

"Crack—Boom!"

A tooth-aching sound of snapping erupted as that towering ancient tree, which required several people to encircle and had a diameter of five meters, actually snapped in half! The upper half of the trunk fell with terrifying force, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust and withered leaves.

The Red-collared Fox Bat lay limp beside the broken stump, its chest heaving violently as dark blood foam seeped from its nose and mouth. It was clearly heavily injured, its aura rapidly withering away.

Jiang Haojie slowly withdrew his stance, and the transparent lion's head phantom dissipated.

He glanced at the Ancient Beast that had lost its combat capability and was about to step forward to investigate when a strange tremor suddenly came from the ground beneath his feet without any warning.

No, it wasn't just a tremor.

It was as if a sleeping giant was waking up. The soil, the rocks, and even the tangled roots all conveyed a sense of... a pulse coming to life.

The entire forest—no, the entire earth of the secret realm—seemed at this moment to be endowed with a weird and majestic life.

Jiang Haojie would never waste a healing potion on a Red-collared Fox Bat.

With a slight movement of his palm, a crimson longsword condensed into existence.

The sword light flashed past, and the flying fox was killed before it could even cry out.

To its death, it didn't understand—this human had clearly just entered the Second Order, so why was it unable to withstand even a single move?

In a clearing in the distant forest, a giant python and an Ice Bear were fighting with such intensity that the ground shook.

Jiang Haojie hid behind a rock, holding his breath as he watched.

It wasn't that he didn't want to show himself, but that both giant beasts had reached the Fifth Order.

He had originally thought that breaking through to the Second Order would be enough to run rampant in this secret realm, but who knew that within two days he would be so intimidated—this deep secret realm actually hid Fifth-Order Ancient Beasts.

This was already his fifth day entering the secret realm.

For five full days, he had still not walked out of this boundless ancient forest, and he even began to suspect that the entire secret realm was composed of forest.

During this time, he had encountered all sorts of Ancient Beasts. They were completely different from the monsters of the outside world: their appearances resembled ancient creatures, and more specifically, most possessed two innate talents, while those with three were occasionally seen—though Jiang Haojie had only encountered such a case once.

The battling Frost Giant Bear suddenly let out a thunderous roar.

Jiang Haojie looked up and saw that the White Jade Cloud Python had already bitten onto the bear's arm.

The two beasts' fight had reached a frenzy, and the outcome was still undecided.

Just then, a sharp eagle's cry pierced through the air.

Jiang Haojie felt a chill down his spine as he saw a golden-feathered giant bird swooping in from the distant sky.

Ancient Beast: Golden Feather Eagle

Rank: Sixth Order

Talents: Wind Control, Sharp Gold

Status: Peak

The information provided by the Eye of Discernment made Jiang Haojie's heart turn cold.

Sixth Order—this was the first time he felt the urge to retreat.

Such an existence could probably turn him to ash with a single breath.

If he continued to watch, he would likely lose his life here.

He was just about to quietly retreat when the ground suddenly jolted.

Jiang Haojie hurriedly grabbed onto a nearby ancient tree, but the vibrations grew more intense, and he was actually flung into the air.

At the same moment, the Golden Feather Eagle was about to swoop down to seize the two giant beasts, but the violent ground movement threw both the python and the bear into the distance.

As the giant eagle flapped its wings to ascend, a rare look of daze flashed through its sharp eyes when its claws missed their mark.

The Golden Feather Eagle's left claw was tightly gripping that White Jade Cloud Python, but the sensation coming from its right claw left it in a daze—what was this thing? So strange, so tiny, it wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between its beak.

Not only was the Golden Feather Eagle confused, but even Jiang Haojie himself was stunned.

He had been flung into the air and was flailing his arms like a drowning man when he somehow grabbed onto the Golden Feather Eagle's claw... or more accurately, the Golden Feather Eagle had grabbed him.

Boom!

The ground shook again, and the Golden Feather Eagle suddenly flapped its wings to climb higher.

Jiang Haojie looked down at the ground below, filled with shock and doubt: Could it be that the outside of the secret realm was under attack?

Before he could think further, the Golden Feather Eagle had already carried him into the clouds.

When Jiang Haojie looked down from the high altitude, his entire body instantly froze—where they had been standing before was not land at all, but the carapace of a giant tortoise.

Years had covered the shell with forest and trees, making it camouflage as solid ground.

The tortoise shell was surrounded by a boundless vast ocean, the water surface churning incessantly with the giant tortoise's movements.

As the giant tortoise stretched its body, countless winged Ancient Beasts took to the sky, while creatures unable to fly desperately searched for a stable spot.

Jiang Haojie stared blankly at this cognition-shattering sight: a Tongyou Black Tortoise the size of five Longchengs, a vast ocean capable of holding tens of thousands of such giant tortoises... just how large was this secret realm?

His gaze swept across the Ancient Beasts circling in the air.

He had thought the Sixth-Order Golden Feather Eagle was an overlord, but now he perceived the terrifying auras of the Seventh, Eighth, and even Ninth Order.

After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Haojie activated the Eye of Discernment to look at the giant tortoise below.

When the light screen expanded before his eyes, his breathing suddenly stopped:

Ancient Beast: Tongyou Black Tortoise

Rank: Emperor Rank

Abilities: Water, Earth, Ice, Nether

Status: Peak

Emperor Rank? Is this an existence beyond the Ninth Order, or a higher dimension above the Ninth Order?

---

Outside the secret realm, Peng Tian faced Liu Jinglong and the Guard Department officials, his voice laced with anxiety: "It's been five full days, and X still hasn't sent any word.

I propose sending another investigation team."

They couldn't just wait endlessly.

The situation inside the secret realm had to be clarified as soon as possible.

The Guard Department representative turned to President Liu: "What does President Liu think?"

In his heart, he felt that if X were able to return, he would have appeared by now; the value of a single-person investigation was limited to begin with—it was just that he couldn't say this out loud.

Liu Jinglong remained silent for a long time before finally sighing: "Then send another team."

Five days had passed, and the thought he was unwilling to admit had finally become a reality—he understood that X would likely not be coming back.

What a pity.

It took so many years for the Longcheng Bounty Guild to produce such an SSS-rank talent, only for him to fall silently like this.

He had even secretly planned to personally train X to be the next president of the guild.

"Let's wait one last day."

The person from the Guard Department spoke up, "If X still hasn't appeared by this time tomorrow, we will immediately organize personnel to enter."

Peng Tian nodded and did not object.

Although the mission was urgent, they could afford to wait this one day.

Liu Jinglong cast a grateful look toward the man from the Guard Department.

...

Deep within the secret realm.

That Tongyou Black Tortoise seemed to have stretched its limbs and actually began to slowly move its massive body.

Seeing this, those Ancient Beasts that were circling in the air folded their wings and landed back on the tortoise's back one after another.

Although the back was still bumpy and shaking as the tortoise moved, it was much more stable compared to the previous earth-shattering commotion.

However, no one knew why this behemoth had suddenly moved or where it was headed.

Meanwhile, Jiang Haojie was taken back to its nest by the Golden Feather Eagle.

Thud!

He was heavily thrown into a giant nest woven from countless withered branches.

The structure of this nest was no different from a common eagle's nest, but its scale was staggering, being as vast as two football fields.

Jiang Haojie fell onto the coarse branches, feeling a sharp pain in his tailbone.

Thrown down along with him was that White Jade Cloud Python.

At this moment, its breath was weak, and five bloody holes were clearly visible on its trunk, with blood gushing out.

The Golden Feather Eagle stood at the edge of the nest, its sharp gaze scanning back and forth between Jiang Haojie and the cloud python, as if considering which one to start with.

The moment he was enveloped by that gaze, Jiang Haojie felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on his back, and even his breathing became heavy.

The Golden Feather Eagle suddenly extended its head, and Jiang Haojie subconsciously shrank back two steps.

However, it ignored him and directly opened its giant beak, swallowing the entire White Jade Cloud Python right in front of him.

Jiang Haojie sighed in his heart at the waste—if he had been allowed to finish off that python first, he could have at least obtained a B-rank beast source.

After finishing its meal, the Golden Feather Eagle stopped looking at him and curled up its massive body to take a nap in the nest.

Jiang Haojie's heart stirred.

If this giant bird had been staring at him, he naturally wouldn't dare to make a move, but now that it was resting with its eyes closed, it seemed like an opportunity to escape.

However, he did not act immediately—the intelligence of a Sixth-Order Ancient Beast was by no means inferior to a human's; could this be a test?

He quietly retreated, inching toward the edge of the nest.

The Golden Feather Eagle still showed no reaction.

Jiang Haojie breathed a small sigh of relief, but he failed to notice—those half-closed eyes had already silently opened in the shadows.

He stealthily climbed to the edge of the nest.

On the way here, he had seen clearly that this giant nest was built on a steep cliff face.

To leave, he would have to climb down the cliff.

The cliff wind was freezing as it scraped past his ears.

Fortunately, as an Awakened, even if he couldn't fly, climbing a cliff wasn't a difficult task for him.

Just as Jiang Haojie was about to lean down from the edge of the nest, a bone-chilling cold suddenly shot to the top of his head.

He turned his head stiffly—at some point, the Golden Feather Eagle had raised its neck, a hint of almost mockery floating in its sharp gaze.

Jiang Haojie's heart sank; he had actually been played by this beast.

Its intelligence was indeed far beyond expectations.

While his thoughts raced, he couldn't think of any way to escape.

The intention to resist was extinguished by logic as soon as it arose: even if this Golden Feather Eagle stood still and let him attack, he probably wouldn't be able to damage even a single feather.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Haojie forced a strained and restrained smile at the Golden Feather Eagle, slowly withdrew his right foot hanging over the cliff, slid down from the edge, and sat obediently back at the bottom of the nest.

Since he couldn't escape, he might as well wait and see.

The Golden Feather Eagle didn't immediately attack, so at least for now, his life should be safe.

Sure enough, seeing him sit down quietly, the Golden Feather Eagle also lowered its body, but those eagle eyes remained locked on him.

With no other choice, Jiang Haojie had to sit still, silently confronting the behemoth before him.

***

Peng Tian assembled fifty First-Order Awakened soldiers and ordered them to enter the secret realm.

"Everyone, the situation has been explained clearly.

If you encounter danger that you cannot withstand, retreat immediately. Do not try to be a hero—do you understand?"

"Understood!"

Amidst the thunderous response, Peng Tian nodded, raised his hand in a salute, and watched the soldiers walk toward the light screen.

If not for the desperate situation, he would never have wanted to send these warriors into such danger.

Reports from previous survivors had indicated that the secret realm was full of peril, and these fifty people might very well never return.

But most Awakened in society were unreliable; now, the only thing they could depend on was the military.

The fifty soldiers saluted in unison and then stepped into the light screen.

***

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, through a full day and night of jolting, the Tongyou Black Tortoise's speed finally slowed down.

Jiang Haojie peered over the edge of the nest and was instantly stunned—

A towering ice mountain stood at the end of his vision, its peaks piercing into the clouds, its full extent invisible.

Before the shock could fade, the giant tortoise beneath him actually began to climb the ice mountain.

The tortoise's back shook violently again, and many Ancient Beasts were shaken off, with only the avian types taking to the sky immediately.

However, the real crisis wasn't the shaking.

The extreme cold emitted by the ice mountain spread out, and many Ancient Beasts were already frostbitten or even frozen to death.

This time, even the birds were not spared; a few of the weaker ones actually had their wings frozen stiff and fell into the depths of the cold mist.

Jiang Haojie looked up at the golden shadow plummeting from high altitude and sighed softly.

The moment danger arrived, the Golden Feather Eagle had flapped its wings and fled without hesitation, leaving him alone in the rough nest.

He could have taken the opportunity to escape, but the carapace of the giant tortoise beneath him was shaking so violently that it was almost impossible to stand.

After weighing his options, he had to continue curling up in the crude but temporarily stable nest—at least for now, his life was not in danger.

The fifty soldiers had just stepped into the secret realm and hadn't even steadied themselves when a continuous low-frequency tremor came from the ground beneath their feet.

A bone-chilling cold immediately spread, as if even the air was about to freeze.

As far as the eye could see was a vast white mist, obscuring all directions and scenery.

Everyone gritted their teeth and tried to move forward, but after only a few steps, frost had already quietly climbed onto their shoulders and the tips of their hair.