As expected, the next moment, the scene before Xu Ranās eyes began changing rapidly, and he still felt the cold aura of the giant eagle constantly following behind him.
Suddenly, the falcon and the eagle were trapped in a chase.
Little White, a peregrine falcon trained in the mysterious mountain stream, remained unmatched in speed even though its cultivation was insufficient; moreover, the giant eagleās wings were injured from the previous blow and noticeably slowed down.
"Watch out!!"
While flying, Xu Ran suddenly perceived several terrifying auras coming from behind. Turning around, he saw several Wind Blades sweeping towards them, moving so fast that they caused sonic booms in the air.
Feeling the terrifying aura too, Little White used the Divine Eagle Skill to nimbly change its position in the air, effortlessly dodging the Wind Blades the eagle launched, while Xu Ran tightly clutched the feathers on Little Whiteās back to avoid falling off.
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
...
The Wind Blades dodged by Little White landed on a nearby mountain peak, causing Huang Sha to rise. The once lush mountain could now faintly be seen as barren, undoubtedly all the handiwork of the giant eagle.
Seeing this, a sense of relief rose in Xu Ranās heart; thankfully, Little White dodged it. Otherwise, if hit, who knows the extent of the damages, possibly losing its ability to resist entirely.
Witnessing its Wind Blades dodged, the giant eagleās face became sullen. Now bereft of attack strategies, it couldnāt get closer to the peregrine falcon due to the wing injuries slowing it down. If this continues, the prey will fly away, and the Divine Eagle Skill will elude it too.
Not succeeding today would make finding the peregrine falcon in the future extraordinarily difficult.
The giant eagle felt irritated, fixing its eyes intently on Little White, when suddenly, it noticed someone it had been overlooking.
"Looks like the human on your back is critical to you. If I canāt deal with you, perhaps dealing with the baby behind you might work. Surely you canāt focus on both?"
The giant eagle fixed its gaze on Xu Ran.
Suddenly, Xu Ran clearly felt the temperature around him drop sharply as if heād fallen into an ice cave. Following the cold sensation, his gaze collided with the eagleās.
"Not good!"
Xu Ran thought to himself.
Clearly, he was targeted by the giant eagle. With his current power, even atop Little Whiteās back, he couldnāt guarantee complete safety.
Previously, dodging the eagleās attacks repeatedly greatly owed to the eagleās focus on Little White, ignoring him. Now the attention has shifted to him, facing greater pressure in an unfamiliar high-altitude domain.
As Xu Ranās spirit pet, Little White also sensed Xu Ranās emotional shift. Clearly, the only one who could cause such a drastic emotional upheaval in its owner was the formidable opponent, the giant eagle.
Indeed, when Little White turned its eyes on the giant eagle, it burned with fury, causing the surrounding air currents to stir uncontrollably, gathering Spiritual Qi to form a protective shield around Xu Ran.
Realizing the giant eagle targeted its master, Little White would not let this slide. Even if it perished here, it must protect Xu Ran.
Feeling the surrounding Spiritual Qi gathering towards him to form a protective shield, Xu Ran knew Little Whiteās intentions. Simultaneously, Xu Ran noticed Little Whiteās speed slowing compared to before.
"Little White, be careful!" Xu Ran warned.
Little White nodded.
Since the giant eagle targeted Xu Ran, Little White naturally had to protect him well.
The giant eagle trailing behind sensed that all of Little Whiteās Spiritual Qi was gathering towards Xu Ran, revealing a pleased expression. This confirmed that its assumptions were correct.
Even with all the Spiritual Qi used to protect Xu Ran, how long could it withstand?
Furthermore, Little Whiteās speed had already decreased. Soon, the giant eagle would catch up from behind.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the giant eagle flapped its wings sharply, compressing the air currents beside it as if space was collapsing, drawing air away instantly while forming a sharp Wind Blade that swept towards the protective shield on Xu Ran.
Causing sonic booms wherever it passed, the demon beasts below the Great Mountain were deafened, while Xu Ran, sheltered by the protective shield, was not heavily affected.
Yet Little White was not as fortunate, having absorbed the full brunt of the sonic booms, causing its massive form to stagger wildly in high altitude, dropping several hundred meters.
This descent of several hundred meters had allowed Little White to successfully evade the Wind Blade the eagle launched.
Seeing its strike ineffective, the giant eagleās eyes narrowed, opening its beak wide.
"Screeeeech-----"
A deafening eagle screech echoed over the mountain, dispersing clouds within a hundred-meter radius, miraculously clearing the sky.
Below the Great Mountain, hundreds of meters-tall towering trees shivered constantly due to the screech, losing more than half of their foliage.
The river within the mountain churned from the screech, causing waves that unsettled the fish demons, even tossing some airborne with splashing waves.
This sonic attack was indiscriminate, attacking all creatures except itself.
As the primary target of the eagle call, Little White, having dropped hundreds of meters, had no time to evade or ability to dodge; it could only endure the attack.
Instantly, Little Whiteās body quaked nonstop, losing feathers due to the sonic attack, revealing a few hidden golden feathers glimmering in the air.
Meanwhile, its internal bones trembled from the sonic attack, as if its internal organs were rearranging, with ants seeming to crawl inside its body, akin to being gnawed by a thousand ants.
Within the protective shield, Xu Ran remained unscathed yet clearly felt Little Whiteās immense suffering. He placed his hands on Little Whiteās back, radiant white light emanating from his Dantian, with strands of Innate Qi flowing into Little Whiteās body.
The moment the Innate Qi entered Little Whiteās body, a boundless comfort emerged, instantly dispersing all pain. Not only that, Spiritual Qi was restored substantially.
After pondering momentarily while looking at Little White, Xu Ran shook his head.
"This wonāt do! Even if we have Innate Qi, we canāt keep taking hits; weāre not punching bags!"
Though Little White sustained wounds, Xu Ran was able to restore its Spiritual Qi and vitality with Innate Qi, but it canāt go on indefinitely.
Further, seeing the giant eagle, its reserves of Spiritual Qi seem more abundant. Perhaps even after exhausting all Innate Qi from himself, the eagleās Spiritual Qi might remain.
Understanding this issue, Little White as a raptor also realized its inferior strength and foundation compared to the eagle, while split between protecting Xu Ran. Even if desiring to fight desperately, Xu Ranās status needed consideration.
As Little White pondered, its eyes suddenly focused upon seeing a distant cliff.
Unexpectedly, unbeknownst to them, theyād reached the cliff where Divine Eagle Skill was learned.
"First place the master on the cliff, after all, the giant eagleās target is me. To obtain the Divine Eagle Skill, it must take it from me."
"The secret skills on the cliff might help the master. With the masterās perception, maybe he can quickly comprehend them!!"
Ultimately, the goal was fulfilling Xu Ranās mission to reach the cliff for Divine Techniques, leaving his fate to destiny.
Immediately, Little White retracted the protective shield around Xu Ran, focusing all Spiritual Qi within itself, while executing the Divine Eagle Skill at maximum speed towards the cliff.
Observing from the sky, the giant eagle suddenly found Little Whiteās Spiritual Qi had restored considerably, first shocked, eyes wide with disbelief, then turned even more excited.
Evidently, this was the divine ability of the Divine Eagle Skill; otherwise, it couldnāt fathom any other divine technique capable of instantly restoring such vast Spiritual Qi.
If it could obtain Divine Eagle Skill, learning this Spiritual Qi recovery technique, not only the Great Mountain, but perhaps it could escape this barren land, exploring wider horizons.
After its excitement waned, the giant eagle noticed Little Whiteās Spiritual Qi converging, flying towards the distance.
Recognizing Little Whiteās departing direction, the giant eagleās eyes narrowed, realizing it was heading to the cliff of the Divine Eagle Skill discovery, seeking to place the human there as consolation. But could it allow it to succeed?
Evidently, it could not!