ATPnovel Chapter 43 Monster Captives
Chapter 43 Monster Captives
The three quickly extracted the demon core from the wolf's head. The demon core was jet black, only the size of a thumb, and emitted a dark light. After some discussion, they entrusted the demon core to Wang San for safekeeping, and would find an opportunity to exchange it for spirit stones after leaving the area.
"Brother Du, should we continue on our current path? I believe that even if the three of us still have talismans, we won't have many left. If we encounter magical beasts with the strength of those two demonic wolves again, we may not be able to escape as easily as we did this time. The situation in this scattered land has probably exceeded the expectations of the stewards and elders." After putting away the magic core, Wang San glanced at the high mountain in the far distance of the jungle, and a look of hesitation appeared on his face.
"Brother Wang is right. Look at the black dots on the positioning compass; there are only seven left. Apart from our group, there are no other complete groups. Xu Fu's group in the alchemy room has been completely wiped out. This place is so dangerous that even if we return empty-handed, the sect shouldn't punish us severely if they know what's going on here," Zhang Dashan said fearfully.
Du Fan frowned, deep in thought, when a clear cry suddenly echoed from the sky. Hundreds of feet away, a hawk suddenly appeared. In a flash, it was less than a hundred feet away from them. Then, a whooshing sound rang out, and a ball of dark light streaked past, like a rainbow drawn from the heavens, leaving a magnificent arc in the air. In another flash, it appeared ten feet in front of them, its speed of flight unbelievable.
The eagle was two zhang long, its entire body covered with glossy black feathers. Its eyes were sharp and gleaming with a cold light, and its claws were as sharp as weapons. Its aura was extremely imposing.
"This is... the cultivation of the peak of Qi Refining! The aura that can only be felt by the core disciples of Zhongyuan!" Among the tens of thousands of disciples of Kongsang Sect, only the core disciples of Zhongyuan are qualified to use the Demon Subduing Array to tame their own demonic pets. Zhang Dashan works in the Demon Beast Garden and is the person among the many servants who has the most opportunities to come into contact with the core disciples. The moment he sensed the aura of this eagle, he exclaimed in surprise.
"Ah!" A cry of surprise suddenly came from Du Fan's mouth. His figure flashed and disappeared from the spot. When he looked again, he was being carried into the air by the black giant eagle's claws.
"Brother Zhang, quickly take out the talisman!" Wang San only felt a black shadow flash before his eyes, and then a strong gust of evil wind swept past him. When he focused his mind again, he found that Du Fan had been grabbed and taken away by the black giant eagle.
"This..." Zhang Dashan reacted quickly. In the instant the situation changed, he took a green talisman with flowing spiritual light from his storage bag. However, before he could activate it, he discovered that the black giant eagle had already carried Du Fan away towards the distant mountains. In the blink of an eye, it had already flown dozens of feet away and was still flying forward at such a terrifying speed. Even if he activated the talisman, there would be absolutely no way to catch up.
"Sigh... Let's go back to the entrance first, and we'll talk about it later." The other two stared in disbelief at the direction where the man and the eagle had disappeared. After a long while, Wang San's expression was complicated. He sighed and made a decision with no other choice.
So the two of them mustered their spirits, turned around and left, but at this moment they were extremely cautious.
……
The black giant eagle swayed through the air for several dozen meters with each movement, carrying Du Fan like a shooting star, leaving the jungle vegetation behind as afterimages.
Upon closer inspection, the giant eagle's talons pierced through Du Fan's shoulder blade, and half of his body was soaked in blood. The fierce wind howled past, drying the blood on his body, making his clothes stand out like blood-stained garments. He himself had his eyes closed and had fainted.
His blood-red clothes fluttered loudly in the gale. An hour later, Du Fan gradually woke up, but the intense pain in his shoulder was so severe that it felt like his tendons were being pierced and his bones were being stabbed, causing his vision to go black for a moment and almost making him faint again.
Du Fan slowly opened his eyes, but a gust of fierce wind blew in his face, causing him to close them again. After a while, he carefully squinted his eyes, and with just a glance, he found himself captured by the giant eagle from before, soaring high in the sky, flying rapidly towards the distant mountains. His heart was filled with bitterness, and when he looked at his blood-red clothes again, his heart sank to the bottom.
And so, Du Fan was carried by the giant black eagle for six or seven hours, and was less than a thousand feet away from the mountain.
Du Fan could clearly see that the mountain was extremely steep, standing seven or eight hundred feet high with almost no slope. The mountain seemed to be composed of huge blocks of earth and stone, with weeds growing between the rocks, but no large trees. The entire mountain was surrounded by forests, making it appear both lonely and proud.
While he was pondering, Du Fan had already been brought to a spot a hundred feet in front of the mountain. Just as his face turned pale, thinking that the giant eagle was about to smash him to death against the mountainside, he suddenly discovered a crack cave several feet in size on the cliff face a hundred feet high up on the mountainside. It appeared there abruptly.
As Du Fan was wondering, the black giant eagle swept past him with a whoosh. For a level three eagle-type magical beast that was good at flying, a distance of a hundred feet was only a few breaths.
When they were only a few feet away from the cave halfway up the mountain, the black giant eagle suddenly shook its claws, and Du Fan broke free from its control. He shot into the cave with tremendous force, while the black giant eagle raised its head sharply and flapped its broad wings powerfully, soaring up the cliff face. After a short while, it disappeared into the horizon with a clear cry.
Driven by an invisible force, Du Fan entered the stone cave and crashed down. Due to inertia, he rolled forward seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters) before slamming hard against the stone wall with a low boom, which stopped his momentum.
Du Fan was immediately stunned, his bones cracking and popping. Indescribable pain swept through his body in an instant. Before he could even utter a sound of pain, everything went black, and he lost consciousness again.
……
When Du Fan woke up again, he felt as if all the bones in his body had been broken. Waves of excruciating pain spread throughout his body. His face was pale and bloodless, his eyes were somewhat unfocused, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. An unbearable pain made him want to end his life, but he felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He could do nothing but gasp for breath, greedily inhaling fresh air. But with each breath, the pain intensified, and a sense of despair enveloped Du Fan.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Du Fan finally regained some strength. Enduring the excruciating pain all over his body, he took out a pill from his storage bag and slowly put it into his mouth. What was usually an extremely simple action was now incredibly difficult for him.
After swallowing the pill, its medicinal properties dissolved, generating a warm current within the body that flowed throughout, repairing internal injuries.
"My leg is broken, but the rest of my body is fine. My shoulder blade is almost healed." Several hours later, Du Fan was able to sit up with difficulty, leaning against the stone wall, his hair disheveled and his face haggard.
Before coming here, he naturally prepared a lot of healing and bone-setting pills. Although these pills are extremely precious in the mortal world, they are the lowest grade pills in the cultivation world. They don't cost much spirit stone, but they are very practical and are essential items for cultivators.
Two more hours passed, and Du Fan felt that his broken leg had almost healed. His strength had also recovered to about 70-80%. Most importantly, the evil eagle had not appeared again. He breathed a sigh of relief and began to look around the entire cave.
This cave is not very large, about three or four zhang wide, two zhang high, and ten zhang deep. The four walls are made of earth and stone, and there are no other passages. This cave is a secluded cave.
When Du Fan's gaze inadvertently fell upon a pile of white bones, his heart skipped a beat and his pupils contracted sharply. It took him a few breaths to regain his composure. However, he did not rush to investigate. After taking a deep breath, he looked away and stood up, shakily walking towards the cave entrance.
Peeking out, Du Fan discovered that the stone cave he was in was suspended more than a hundred feet above the mountainside. The stone walls outside the cave were extremely steep, almost vertical, making it impossible to climb out. If he were to force his way out with his strength, he would definitely fall to his death.
"That giant eagle must have firmly believed this to leave with peace of mind," Du Fan thought bitterly.
His expression shifted unpredictably, but he eventually walked back to the cave with a gloomy expression. He looked around again, but did not sense any danger. Then, his eyes narrowed, he took a deep breath, and walked towards the pile of bones.