Yingtao dashed across the ridge like an antelope, leaping up along the nearly ninety-degree vertical rock wall until she reached the top of the ridge.
However, she crouched at the mountain peak, evolving all eight eyeballs into eagle pupils, gazing far into the distance at the enormous Blood Cocoon affixed to the earth, watching as the rivers and Earth Veins appeared like thick blood vessels, delivering Spiritual Energy Essence Qi into it.
It was like some kind of Insect Clanās birthing chamber, a giantās blister, a dragonās egg sac, continuously consuming all the True Qi of heaven and earth, as if something terrifying was being nurtured within.
"What exactly are you doing?"
After watching for a while, Yingtao suddenly turned her head, fixing her gaze on the Blood Eagle that had appeared behind her at an unknown time.
"Sword casting."
The Blood Eagle groomed its wings, each feather as cold as the edge of a sword blade.
"Sword casting?"
Yingtao looked skeptical,
"...you promised to help me conquer Suiyang?"
The eagle raised a single feather,
"Firstly, I never said Iād help you attack Suiyang, I said Iād have to take a look first."
Yingtao squinted her eyes...
The eagle raised two feathers,
"Secondly, isnāt it already resolved?
The array is broken, the Barrier is lifted, Suiyang has been refined into a sword pool, and Blood Puppets have turned into Sword Spirits.
There are still thirty-seven cities in the Eastern Country to slaughter; the Heavenly King only lost one son, and you found your sword.
What else is there to complain about?"
"You call that resolved?"
Yingtao pointed at the huge blood blister blocking the river,
"That thing blocks the way, my army still canāt get to Zhenzhou!"
The eagle was impatient,
"Just bypass upstream, wait until the sword is cast, then you can cross."
Fearing the eagle would fly away after a few wing flaps, Yingtao had to ask patiently,
"When will your sword be cast then?"
The eagle counted on its claws,
"Ten years, maybe."
Yingtao exploded,
"I donāt have ten years to waste on you!"
The eagle gestured with its foot,
"Then pay more, give me those hundreds of thousands of wet items, and maybe Iāll have it done in a year."
Yingtao took a deep breath, her lungs spewing heat waves, Plasma flames spreading outward,
"Sir, donāt go too far! You said youād fight Suiyang for the Heavenly King, deceiving me of my elite soldiers! None returned alive! Now youāre demanding sky-high prices! When my army arrives, thereāll be no backing down..."
The eagle flapped its wings,
"If thereās nothing else, Iāll go back to casting the sword."
"Hiss...wait..."
Faced with this, Yingtao had no choice but to take a deep breath and hold back her anger,
"Fine, Iāll ignore the business department for now; what about the serious matter you promised me?
Donāt forget youāre still drawing pay from the monster department!"
This matter did get promised, so the eagle shook its head,
"Nothing."
Yingtao frowned and repeated,
"Really nothing?"
"Really nothing."
The eagle repeated with her,
"I have already had a Primordial Spirit Emergence, searched every inch of Suiyang, and found no trace of any monster.
Not even a Faceless dog was found. From what I see, whatever monster youāre looking for must have been taken away by the Divine Sect."
Yingtao suspected,
"You found nothing; how can you be sure it was taken by the Divine Sect?"
The eagleās wings flashed, suddenly causing a violent wind, a veil of blood obscuring Yingtaoās vision.
A magnificent altar appeared, like a wine cellar, with giant jars piled high. Although the altar was empty, the walls were covered with countless runes and Blood Talismans, showing that someone had indeed cast spells here.
And in the shrine at the center of the altar, a space was empty, clearly showing that some kind of deity statue had once been enshrined here, an object containing great energy, leaving behind residual radiation with visible burn marks in the optical illusion, as if scorched by Plasma flames.
"As soon as I got involved, Emei tangled me up, and the Divine Sectās Divine Insight has always been faster than others, how could that pile of jars wait for me to come raid them? They probably packed up and ran long ago."
Then the eagle flapped its wings, retracting the blood light,
"But I can give you a hint. Of course, youāll have to pay more."
Yingtao rolled her eyes,
"Havenāt I given you enough benefits? Tell me the intel first, if itās valuable, you wonāt be short on reward."
Seeing the point, the eagle relented,
"The matter in Suiyang was schemed by the Divine Sectās Eastern Venerable . Although he was temporarily overturned by Emei, he only lost a clone.
This personās true form is one of the Three Immortals of the East Sea, the Wuzhong Laojun. A renowned old monster like the Divine Lord, at least five thousand years old. I suppose the monster youāre looking for was brought by him to the overseas Great Wilderness Mountain."
"Wuzhong Laojun, huh, Iāll investigate thoroughly, and you..."
Yingtao nodded slowly, sweeping her gaze towards the distant Blood Cocoon,
"When the sword is truly cast, what do you intend to do?"
"Of course, dragon slaying, tell your boss to wash his neck clean and wait, Iāve wanted to eat him for a long time."
The Flying Eagle wasted no more words, transforming into a streak of blood light soaring across the sky, merging into the Blood Cocoon.
The Blood Cocoon seemed like a root, deeply embedding into the earthās crust, the blood light descending as if diving into the marrow along the spine.
It was finally drawn into the forehead of the Daoist sitting underground in the Blood Pool.
Tie Dan opened his eyes, looking at the Dragon Spine being polished repeatedly in the Earth Sinking Array,
"Hey, Zhang Xun. What exactly did you steal from the Immortal Palace to make the Divine Sect step in?"
A face surfaced from the Blood Pool, issuing the voice of the Medical Officer.
"Suixian Governor says, none of your business."
"...Tsk."
"But I remember it was a deity statue made of black crystal."
"Black crystal deity statue? Youāre talking about the Divine Lord statue?"