148: Chapter 148 Self-Destruction

On the ground.

About a minute later, as the soil on the ground churned, Nie Ning floated up as if he were on an elevator.

"The corners of my clothes are slightly dirty."

Nie Ning patted the dust off his body, a smile appearing on his face.

The harvest this time was quite good; the two azure blue disc flowers were worth a fortune, and selling them would provide him with enough resources for a long time.

However, instead of selling them, Nie Ning already had other ideas.

The azure blue disc flower could purify bloodlines, but it wasn't actually very useful for humans, at most making one's vital energy and blood more vigorous.

In Nie Ning's view, the Strange Beast Body was indeed a form of bloodline power.

But the problem was that Supernatural Adaptability had already screened for the optimal bloodline genes, so the azure blue disc flower likely wouldn't have much effect on it.

Currently, powerful strange beasts were hard to find, so Nie Ning decided that when he became stronger, perhaps he could try using the azure blue disc flower to activate his own bloodline.

However, there were many uncertainties involved; if he awakened some trash bloodline, he would have to find a way to remove it.

Of course, that possibility was not high.

According to Nie Ning's own understanding, if it were truly a trash bloodline, Supernatural Adaptability should have already made corresponding adjustments, or it might have even awakened already.

There were two possibilities for this situation: first, the bloodline hadn't been activated, so it didn't trigger Supernatural Adaptability.

Second, the bloodline was too strong for the current Supernatural Adaptability to respond.

And even if it were a weak bloodline, logically, Supernatural Adaptability should still be useful.

After all, it was a talent meant for adapting to the environment; it couldn't possibly get weaker, right?

...

Just as Nie Ning was thinking about how to use the azure blue disc flower, he suddenly felt a strong fluctuation of wind elements.

Nie Ning's expression changed, and he instantly summoned his Ice Wings, kicking off the ground and soaring into the sky.

At the same time, a flash of cyan light appeared where Nie Ning had just been, followed by a thick pillar of cyan light that burst through the soil and shot straight into the sky.

Seeing this, just as Nie Ning was feeling lucky to have escaped, the cyan pillar of light on the ground suddenly exploded.

Under Nie Ning's astonished gaze, a massive figure burst out from the ground.

'It actually didn't die!'

The Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle was now covered in dust.

Its lower jaw was blown apart, and even its throat was half-torn; the flesh of its jaw hung from its throat as dark red blood continuously sprayed from the wound.

The Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle stared fixedly at Nie Ning with its remaining eye, as if it wanted to swallow him alive.

The surrounding wind elements began to fluctuate violently. As the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle flapped its wings, a large number of Wind Blades instantly flew toward Nie Ning.

Seeing this, Nie Ning didn't hesitate for a second and turned to dive into the forest below.

Now that the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle was heavily injured, there was no need for him to face it head-on; the longer it dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for him.

A large number of Wind Blades curved in the air and continued to chase after Nie Ning.

Using the trees as cover, Nie Ning shuttled back and forth through the forest, occasionally using his Lightning Edge Blade to cancel out the Wind Blade attacks.

At this moment, the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle seemed to have lost its mind, flapping its wings to chase after Nie Ning despite its heavily injured body.

At the same time, it channeled the mana in its crystal core, constantly summoning Wind Blades to intercept Nie Ning.

...

After just a few minutes, multiple wounds appeared on Nie Ning's body, and a huge gash deep enough to show the bone appeared on his back.

On the other hand, the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle wasn't doing much better.

The wound on its beak caused the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle immense pain, and excessive blood loss made its consciousness grow groggy.

Right now, it was relying entirely on its own will to keep going.

If its enemy weren't right in front of it, it would really want to have a good sleep right now.

Though it might never wake up again.

"It's about time to end this."

Nie Ning turned his cold gaze toward the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle behind him.

After all that effort, he had twenty percent of his mana left, but that should be enough.

Then, Nie Ning took out his staff and pointed it at the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle.

It seemed the flash from last night had left a psychological shadow on the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle.

Seeing Nie Ning pointing his staff at it, the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle actually slowed down inexplicably.

But to Nie Ning, it no longer mattered.

Nie Ning summoned a large number of vines, interspersed with black trees.

The vines and brown trees split into two paths; the black trees rushed toward the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle, attempting to stall it.

Meanwhile, the vines gathered around Nie Ning, quickly forming a tightly connected cage.

The Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle continuously used Wind Blades to attack the black trees, and cyan energy began to condense at its split beak.

In an instant, a cyan pillar of light erupted from the eagle's mouth again, cutting through the incoming black trees like a sharp sword before sweeping toward the vines where Nie Ning was.

The vines shattered under the blow and fell from mid-air, but the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle could not find Nie Ning.

Suddenly, the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle felt an energy fluctuation from below, but a gray shadow had already reached it first.

This time, the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle had learned its lesson, knowing it was the strange creature that could enter its body from last night.

It immediately fused its Spiritual Power into its crystal core, and a terrifying mana shockwave erupted, directly blasting the Jerky Bear Head away.

But just as the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle was about to attack Nie Ning, several flesh tentacles suddenly appeared and firmly trapped the eagle.

The strength of the flesh tentacles was immense, and with the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle at its limit, it was dragged from the air to the ground.

The Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle struggled desperately, its wings constantly beating against the ground.

But just as it broke two flesh tentacles, a large number of tentacles emerged from the ground, wrapping around the eagle's body and lifting its head.

At this moment, Nie Ning had his sorcery ready.

Without giving the eagle a chance, an iridescent spear turned into a streak of light, following the head lifted by the tentacles and piercing into its body through the throat.

Just as Nie Ning detonated the spear, a look of determination flashed in the eagle's remaining eye, causing the surrounding wind elements to suddenly become turbulent.

Self-detonation!

Nie Ning's expression changed drastically; he hadn't expected the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle to be so unyielding.

Of course, if the roles were reversed and one knew they couldn't escape, anyone would make that choice.

However, Nie Ning didn't just wait for death; he quickly summoned two Ice Walls to block his front.

He also activated the Blood Burst Technique, burning his blood energy to enhance his defense.

'Boom!'

A violent explosion echoed through the entire forest, and a hundred-meter-wide mushroom cloud rose from the ground.

The Ice Walls instantly shattered, and Nie Ning was also sent flying by the shockwave, stopping only after crashing through several large trees and flying a hundred meters away.

The pain from his chest flooded his mind, and Nie Ning's face turned pale as he couldn't help but cough up a mouthful of blood.

As the explosion slowly subsided, a hundred-meter-wide crater was left on the ground, and the Ethereal Claw-Rending Eagle had long since vanished.

"What a huge loss!"

Nie Ning's expression was a bit unsightly.

What he wanted wasn't a mutually destructive outcome, but to take the whole bird back to nourish the apprentices of The Federation.

...