The creature that appeared above looked like a flying serpent, spreading a pair of wing membranes supported by umbrella-like struts of slender bone, trailing an exceptionally long, thin tail behind it.
It was teal-green from head to tail. Several long, nimble barbels grew from its neck to aid in hunting, each tipped with a wicked barb. Its body was clad in sharp, upturned scales. The moment it arrived, it plunged brazenly into the flock of gold essence birds, instantly whipping up a tempest of slaughter and blood.
Chen Chuan examined it closely and confirmed that no such creature was recorded in the compendium—not even anything resembling it. He knew at once that he had encountered a new species.
Encountering new species in the Confluence was common enough, but powerful ones were exceedingly rare. Such organisms usually perched near the top of the food chain, and their mere appearance could drastically reshape the local ecosystem, making them well worthy of note.
He immediately drew a specially made boundary credential from beneath his duster, fitted it over his ear, and tapped it lightly to record footage of the creature.
The Confluence was rife with intense contamination, compounded by the nocturnal incursions of the spirit realm, so ordinary boundary credentials could rarely endure in the wilderness for long. Cameras were even more susceptible to interference from overlapping fields. Thus, only these specialized boundary credentials would do.
However, its uses were limited to roughly twenty-four or twenty-five times, so he brought it out only when he encountered something truly valuable and worthy of recording.
He could have sketched it from memory or attempted to harvest a sample of mutated tissue, but that would be far more troublesome, requiring subsequent evaluation and verification.
As its first discoverer, he held naming rights over the creature. After a moment's thought, he provisionally dubbed it the "green-winged flying serpent."
Presently, the flying serpent tore through the air in a frenzied slaughter. With a flick of the long barbels along its neck, the hooks snagged a bird and dragged it in, whereupon the serpent's fangs shredded it for consumption. The torn prey often did not die immediately, dangling beneath the barbels as they convulsed and writhed, spattering blood in all directions in a scene of savage brutality.
As the flying serpent drew closer, Chen Chuan could sense that its biological life tier was remarkably close to his own. That was no small feat.
Furthermore, organisms of this type shared a common trait: they would voraciously prey upon various creatures to absorb and accumulate massive amounts of nutrients, before finding a secluded place to undergo a metamorphosis.
This meant that an immense reserve of rich nutrients was currently stored inside its body, and it might even have developed mutated storage organs for that very purpose.
If so, it was undoubtedly the most worthwhile hunting quarry he had encountered thus far.
He patted Chaoming first, gesturing for it to stay put, set down all his belongings, and bounded up toward the higher reaches of the mountain.
To avoid drawing the serpent's attention, he kept his movements measured, pausing after each ascent before proceeding. After five or six minutes, he reached a high cliff with a protruding rim that resembled a fissure, sitting only fifty or sixty meters from the opposing face of the mountain.
He surveyed the surrounding space and terrain, then glanced at the nearby flying serpent and the large gold essence birds still circling it in an attempt to protect their nests. An idea quickly formed in his mind.
Reaching out, he tore a chunk of stone from the rock wall with one claw-like grip and crushed it into small pebbles. Shifting his footing, he slipped behind a jutting crag, cleanly evading the flying serpent's line of sight.
Flattening himself against the rock wall, he tilted his head to listen to the sounds from that direction. A moment later, he flicked his wrist and snapped several pebbles toward them in quick succession. Startled by the flying stones, several large birds fell into disarray. With its flight path cut off, one of them had no choice but to veer toward him.
It swept past just a few meters to his side, but it had barely flown past when an enormous, elongated serpent head lunged from behind, snatching it in its jaws.
Chen Chuan's eyes flickered. The moment its massive body surged past him, he leaped forward, landing cleanly upon the flying serpent's broad back. At the same time, a faint luminescence shimmered over him, instantly eroding and scorching away its razor-sharp scales.
Startled, the flying serpent darted violently forward and began rolling through the air once it cleared the mountain.
Relying on his jin for adhesion, Chen Chuan kept his feet planted firmly onto the monster's back as if nailed down. His gaze remained tranquil and unmoved; no matter how wildly it barrel-rolled, it could not dislodge him. Yet right then, a savage, tyrannical surge of spirit power surged forth from the flying serpent, slamming straight at him.
Hm?
Chen Chuan was somewhat surprised. That the flying serpent possessed spirit power was no shock, given its tier, but actively wielding it to strike a target was exceedingly rare.
Unfortunately, it had chosen the wrong opponent. When their minds collided, the incoming spirit power shattered like a fragile shell against solid bedrock. The flying serpent was instantly jarred, its flight wobbling as though drunken. Even so, it did not give up struggling, flapping its wing membranes in a desperate bid to climb higher into the sky.
Chen Chuan gave it no further chance to resist. Clenching his fist, he smashed it down onto its spine. In an instant, a burst of jin penetrated deep into the flying serpent's body, propagating throughout its form in a heartbeat.
The serpent's vicious slit pupils dilated, losing focus. Without a sound, it plummeted from hundreds of meters in the air, tumbling down before crashing onto the ground with a thunderous boom.
Chen Chuan leaped clear an instant before impact, landing gracefully on the ground. Adjusting the brim of his hat, he glanced back. The flying serpent lay limp on the earth, only the faint rise and fall of its body and subtle twitches showing that it still clung to life.
In truth, its skeleton, muscles, and mutated tissues were immensely tough, so the impact of the fall had done little actual damage. Its current state was entirely the result of that blast of jin.
He looked the creature over, discerning which parts of its mutated tissue he needed. For this, a martial artist possessed an innate intuition.
Moments later, he confirmed what he was after.
By then, the flying serpent shook its head. Using its long neck barbels, it propped its upper torso back up. After this brief respite, it seemed to have recovered somewhat, and then it spotted Chen Chuan standing beside it.
Any ordinary beast would have felt terror after such an ordeal, but this serpent was fiercely aggressive and showed no sign of backing down. Instead, it snapped its head up and opened its gaping maw to strike at him.
Yet before its head could reach him, a sharp crack resounded. The flying serpent's eyes instantly rolled back into its head. Its snout flew upward, and it slammed heavily backward onto the earth, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Chen Chuan planted the Xuejun Saber's scabbard into the ground and drew the blade as he walked forward. Arriving before the flying serpent, his gaze fixed on its neck, and he raised the long saber high.
Gold essence birds circled overhead, letting out sharp, piercing cries.
A flash of blade light fell. The long saber severed the flying serpent's head in an instant. A torrent of scalding blood surged from the stump and pooled across the ground, sending a pungent stench of iron and gore wafting through the air.
The biological field around Chen Chuan kept the spraying blood completely at bay, leaving not a drop upon him. Flicking his saber clean, he stepped around to the severed head. After eyeing the clean cut, he reached forward, and shortly thereafter, a piece of pale-white meat flew out from within.
Lustrous and smooth as jade, it was roughly the size of a pigeon egg, emitting a rich, tantalizing aroma that made one crave to swallow it in a single gulp.
This was undoubtedly the mutated tissue the flying serpent used to store massive reserves of nutrients. After a brief deliberation, he chose not to eat it right away. Instead, he pulled out a sheet of film, wrapped it securely, and walked over to the severed torso.
What he needed from the flying serpent resided in two places: one in the back of its skull, which he had already obtained, and the other at its heart.
Thrusting his saber in, he flicked out a crimson mass. Translucent and crystalline, it emitted an equally exotic aroma once exposed to the air.
This immediately stirred unrest among the surrounding creatures. Insects swarmed in from the ground and through the air, and some of the closer ones began frenziedly slamming against his biological field.
This time, he did not stow it away. Once it was in hand, he placed it into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Moments later, a faint burning sensation rippled across his entire body, and his heart began to thump with quickened rhythm.
He closed his eyes to savor the sensation. This unnamed nutrient provided an immediate boost to his internal mutated tissues and even slightly expanded their maximum capacity for storing nutrients and energy. Its effects were remarkably potent.
Once the morsel was consumed, the surrounding agitation vanished completely. The insects turned around and fled from him in droves.
While he was assessing the effects, a chirp echoed from above. Chaoming folded its wings and landed beside him, gazing warily toward the sky.
Chen Chuan looked up and saw large gold essence birds swooping down toward him. Gliding low, they dropped sheets of "silver frost" held in their long beaks, piling them up right in front of him.
Chen Chuan was somewhat surprised. The gold essence birds were likely offering these gifts in gratitude for slaying the flying serpent.
No wonder people said that certain birds in the Confluence were remarkably spiritual; it was indeed true.
Watching those crane-like birds circling above, he could not help but recall how formidable figures of the ancient Xuan Sect were reputed to raise cranes and ride them into the sky—a magnificent sight that must have been. Unfortunately, he had never learned similar techniques; otherwise, he might have found a way to communicate with them.
Martial artists of the Aspect of Divinity, on the other hand, excelled at such arts. Had one been present, they might have accomplished it in a matter of moments.
The silver frost soon piled up to half a man's height on the ground, and more was steadily being delivered.
Chen Chuan did not need so much, nor would it be easy to carry. Sheathing the Xuejun Saber, he stepped forward and rested the scabbard on the stack.
The gold essence birds were exceptionally clever; understanding his intent at once, they cried out a few more times into the sky, then flapped their wings and departed one by one.
Chapter 891