Chapter 927: Flame Night Bird

Qiao Sang closed her eyes, preparing to perform Empathy Positioning once again with Little Treasure.

But at that moment, Yabao’s ears twitched, he suddenly leapt upward and hovered in mid-air.

Bang!

The next second, three blazing flame claws struck violently at the spot where they had been.

Hearing the sound, Qiao Sang broke the connection and opened her eyes.

A huge bird-type pet beast appeared before her, nearly six meters tall. Its entire body was crimson-red, the feathers on its crown white in the center and red at the sides. Two magnificent scarlet wings stretched wide, and its black claws had three sharp toes each. The giant creature hovered in the sky, its gaze locked directly onto them.

Flame Night Bird, a dual Fire/Flying-type General-level beast. It preferred areas with extraordinarily high heat, even at night. Legends said that wherever it nested, it never rained.

The data flashed through Qiao Sang’s mind as she shouted: “Yabao!”

“Yap!”

Yabao had already gathered his momentum.

He opened his mouth and released a fierce torrent of flames toward the Flame Night Bird’s position.

“Flame Night!”

The Flame Night Bird didn’t dodge. The thick, swirling fire beam struck it directly.

But the expected explosion didn’t happen. The Flame Night Bird snapped its wings open sharply, scattering the flames into countless red sparks.

Then, looking at the Flame Night Bird, its expression was filled with contempt, its body completely unharmed.

“Yap...”

Yabao bared his teeth.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that his opponent was silently mocking how uncool he looked right now.

“Flame-Ignite trait... its level must be high...” Qiao Sang immediately understood why the Flame Night Bird wasn’t affected. She prepared to switch beasts for battle.

Just then, the Flame Night Bird flapped its wings, unleashing a downpour of blazing flame like Meteor Rain!

The density was immense, far beyond what a beast Yabao’s size could easily evade.

“Control!” Qiao Sang commanded.

“Xun xun!”

Little Treasure teleported in front of big brother Yabao, his blue eyes glowing.

Instantly, all the incoming flames froze mid-air, held still by an invisible force.

“Flame Night...”

The Flame Night Bird finally noticed the small figure.

Its gaze sharpened, shifting toward Little Treasure.

In the next instant, all the flames reversed direction, shooting back at the Flame Night Bird!

“Flame Night!”

The bird folded its wings and turned into a streak of fire, diving straight toward Little Treasure!

“Xun xun!”

Little Treasure instinctively teleported to a higher position, narrowly evading.

Yabao hovered right behind him.

If Yabao had been alone, such a direct crash might have been manageable, but now, Yabao carried both Qiao Sang and Guo Ruiqi, a fragile human who could easily be injured.

A close-quarters clash between two General-level beasts, she couldn’t guarantee Guo Ruiqi’s safety.

“Dodge!” Qiao Sang ordered.

“Yap!”

Though Yabao wanted to fight head-on, hearing his beast master’s command, he teleported several dozen meters away.

The Flame Night Bird adjusted its body mid-air and fired another streak of flame, darting upward like a blur toward Yabao.

At the same time, a faint purple glow flashed beside him.

Guo Ruiqi felt his vision blur, his body suddenly lifted, the soft warmth beneath him turning to something cold and metallic.

He looked forward and found that the beast carrying him had changed from Fire Qilu to Gangbao, the Steel Sword Falcon.

He glanced at Qiao Sang and Mikayla beside him.

Well, sometimes having Gangbao sync thoughts with me isn’t bad at all... I just felt it was getting crowded on Yabao’s back, and now, poof, I’m moved.

Qiao Sang was momentarily startled but inwardly pleased. She quickly recovered and ordered: “Explode!”

“Yap!”

Yabao’s face lit up with excitement. He opened his mouth and instantly gathered a fireball the size of a fist, Explosive Flame Bomb!

Boom!

The sphere turned into a golden-red beam and shot toward the Flame Night Bird less than two meters away.

“Flame Night!”

The bird was blasted backward by the explosion.

Yabao’s eyes glowed blue, teleporting himself and his beast master out of the fiery blast zone.

Though Explosive Flame Bomb was Fire-type, its damage came mainly from the compressed explosive force. Yabao had practiced it to Ultimate-level. Unless the Flame-Ignite trait of that bird was A-rank, it would not escape unharmed.

Qiao Sang, still astride Yabao, watched as the flaming bird crashed to the ground with a piercing scream and fainted.

“Yap!” Yabao called out victoriously.

Gangbao flapped her wings and hovered beside him.

“Well done just now.” Qiao Sang praised.

“Gang Zhan.” Gangbao responded coolly.

Guo Ruiqi exhaled.

“Senior Qiao, I have this feeling that this place is really... unusual…”

Translation:

He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

You noticed too, can’t I? I just got interrupted by a Flame Night Bird.

.. Qiao Sang replied calmly, “We should leave here immediately.”

Guo Ruiqi nodded rapidly yes, that’s exactly what he wanted to hear.

“Little Treasure!”

Qiao Sang called to Little Treasure.

She looked up at him, ready to resume the unfinished Empathy Positioning.

But as she did, her expression changed.

Dozens of red lights filled the sky, descending fast.

Looking closely, they were all Flame Night Birds!

Holy crap, this many?!

Qiao Sang’s pupils shrank.

Even her encounters with King-level beasts hadn’t given such a visual shock.

The sky swarmed with Flame Night Birds, easily over a hundred!

One General-level beast wasn’t much, but a hundred of them together? Terrifying.

Guo Ruiqi saw Qiao Sang’s grave expression and turned to look, his face went pale.

His lips trembled as he whispered, “Senior Qiao…”

Mikayla had already looked up, her face grim.

“Xun xun…”

Little Treasure sensed the danger, stiffened, and turned, just in time to see a blazing fire beam shooting toward him.

“Xun xun!”

He teleported, narrowly avoiding it.

Bang!

Two beams collided mid-air, the explosion echoing.

“Xun xun…” Little Treasure exhaled, only to feel a tap on his shoulder. (T/n: Wow, the bird gave a notice first😆.)

He turned and came face to face with another Flame Night Bird.

“Xun xun!!!”

Before Qiao Sang could recall him, the bird fired.

“Xun xun!”

The beam hit, Little Treasure screamed as he fell from the sky.

The birds didn’t stop, dozens opened their beaks and unleashed flames.

But in that moment, Little Treasure vanished mid-fall.

The Flame Night Birds turned their gaze toward Yabao and Gangbao.

Too slow…

Qiao Sang cursed inwardly. One second earlier, and he wouldn’t have been hit.

“You shouldn’t have pulled Ghost Ring King back into the Beast Codex.” Mikayla said quietly.

“With its Spatial Shift, one flame beam wouldn’t have taken it down.”

In battle, hesitation could kill. Mikayla thought Qiao Sang was too cautious.

But before they could speak again, ten streams of flame rained down.

Yabao and Gangbao dodged through the inferno.

“You said maybe but that concentrated risk still exists…” Qiao Sang shot Mikayla a look.

“Your Hidden Shield doesn’t have Spatial Shift either, right?”

Mikayla: …

Qiao Sang’s eyes sharpened. She commanded, “Ice Field Domain!”

“Lu Di!”

Lubao didn’t jump onto her master’s shoulder, instead, she released a wave of bone-chilling cold.

Wherever it spread, everything froze solid.

But there were too many birds, the Ice Field Domain couldn’t cover them all.

Some escaped to the fringes.

“Flame Night!”

“Flame Night!”

The free birds flapped their wings, sending gales of fire toward the frozen ones, trying to melt them out.

“Gigantic Icycle! Meteor Rain!” Qiao Sang ordered.

Lubao’s energy drained fast, she’d used Ice Field Domain twice earlier. Still, she forced giant ice spears into existence.

“Lu Di!”

The icy spears fell.

“Yap!” Yabao opened his mouth, firing another Explosive Flame Bomb upward.

But as it rose, three blazing claws slashed through it...

Bang!

The bomb detonated prematurely.

Qiao Sang’s eyes narrowed. Wild beasts, they might grow slower without training, but their combat instincts were sharp. That bird had deliberately intercepted the bomb.

She turned to Mikayla.

“You’re not just sitting there, are you?”

“Of course not.”

Mikayla coughed lightly. She turned to her Sleepbird, now shrunken beside Lubao, and said, “Go.”

Sleepbird trembled, then flapped its wings and soared, growing larger as it rose.

“Sleepbird!”

“Yabao, we’re going up too!” Qiao Sang shouted.

“Yap!”

Yabao teleported next to the Flame Night Bird that had slashed the bomb and bit its wing fiercely.

Flames burst from his fangs.

“Flame Night!”

The bird shrieked.

Several others gathered fire for a counterattack but at that moment, a whirlwind of slicing wind cut across them.

The birds broke formation, forced to evade.

In that instant, Sleepbird’s body turned into a green-edged blade of wind, slashing through them.

“Flame Night!”

Another bird screamed and fell.

The one Yabao bit tried to retaliate, turning one wing white and sharp as a blade, but Yabao gathered another golden-red orb in his mouth and fired first.

Boom!

The bird was blasted away.

Yabao teleported again, launching another bomb into the air.

Bang!

The orb detonated, and fire-rain fell from the sky.

“Lu Di…” Lubao exhaled softly, lessening the Ice Field Domain’s pressure as she panted.

The fire-rain poured endlessly, explosions rocked the ground.

After a while, Flame Night Birds began to fall one after another.

The burning terrain cracked open.

A few birds broke free from ice, their eyes gleaming, the Ignition-trait ones.

Qiao Sang’s eyes locked on them.

“Gangbao!”

“Gang Zhan!”

Gangbao flashed violet light, blades slicing from unseen angles.

Two birds tried to dodge, but Yabao’s blue gaze froze them just long enough.

Hundreds of violet blades reversed and cut them down.

When the last Flame Night Bird crashed, Qiao Sang finally let out a long breath.

Thank goodness Lubao had Ice Field Domain… otherwise, there’s no way we’d have survived that.

She raised her hand and summoned Little Treasure back out.

“Xun xun…”

Little Treasure appeared, hiding his face with his claws, clearly ashamed.

Too embarrassing… As a professional escape specialist, he’d been the first one shot down, in front of big brother and his future little brother.

How was he supposed to keep his boss image now…