Tracking the Bone Drake
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, focusing. The world fell quiet around him.
He whispered, "Soul Pursuit Art—Burning Thread."
From his brow, a faint golden thread of soul light shot forward, zigzagging through the sky like a serpent sniffing scent. It shimmered, locking onto the last lingering strand of the Bone Drake's escaping soul.
> "Give me back my eight arrows," Lin Yuan said coldly.
The others followed behind him, the ten demon girls moving in practiced formation. They crossed valleys and cliffs on a spirit carriage, the balloon keeping low.
Soon, they found the beast again—wounded, struggling to fly, dragging itself toward a deep ravine.
Its massive dragon-scaled head shimmered, nearly impenetrable. Lin Yuan pulled three time-arrows from his sleeve.
> "The skull's too hard. Aim for the body!"
He fired.
> Thwip—CRACK! Thwip—BOOM! Thwip—SHRRRRAK!
Each arrow pierced into its ribs, shaking the beast—but it roared and fled again, crashing through trees like a wounded serpent.
They gave chase, but when they caught up—
> It was already dead.
A spear was jutting from its skull, driven straight through its eye socket. The creature lay motionless, its soul already faded.
Standing atop the corpse…
> Xiao Hu, breathing hard, carrying a burly man in torn robes on his back.
"Uncle Mang?" Lin Yuan blinked.
Xiao Hu laughed, wincing in pain. "He made me carry him like a sack of rice."
The old man jumped down, beard twitching. Uncle Mang, the famously eccentric retired martial beast hunter, grinned.
> "Surprised?"
Lin Yuan nodded. "You pierced its skull…"
Senior Sister Qingxuan narrowed her eyes. "How? Even our arrows couldn't touch it."
Uncle Mang patted the broken, steaming spear. "Simple. When you have enough strength, you can even throw a wooden stick that can pierce stone."
He turned and pointed to the shattered shaft.
> "At high speed, even a metal ball can destroy a battleship. Same logic. I turned my body into the launcher."
"Like a human cannon?" Rina raised an eyebrow.
"I flew with Xiao Hu and threw it mid-air," Uncle Mang said proudly. "That spear is gone now—but so is the beast."
---
☕ Scene: Tea and Bruises
Later that night, the group rested by a quiet stream. The sky was turning purple.
Xiao Hu sat beside Lin Yuan, his face pale, his arms bandaged with spiritual herb gauze.
"My body hurts," he muttered. "I got bit by so many beasts today. Even one tried to chew on my butt."
Lin Yuan chuckled, poured hot tea into a wooden cup, and handed it over. "That's why you need to be humble.When you are strong mom will train you harder."
After sipping, Xiao Hu leaned back with a sigh.
"Need some soul fruit?" he offered.
Lin Yuan shook his head. "I've got enough. Save it for later."
Then, quietly, he summoned a small flame in his hand—Sunfire.
He held it against his wound and absorbed what remained of the Bone Drake's corrupted flame.
> It sizzled… then vanished.Then he pick the beast fire and feed it to sunfire.
His body healed slowly, but surely.
---
They boarded the balloon again, drifting calmly through the skies, ready to return to Taiyin Sect.
But peace did not last.
From the clouds—
> Cawwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
A massive bird spirit beast dived from above, its wings wide enough to block the moon.
Golden-black feathers launched from its wings like hundreds of flying spears.
> CLANG! CLANG! SHRRRRAK!
The first wave tore through the sky shield. The main formation cracked instantly, the balloon beginning to fall.
> "DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS, NOW!" Lin Yuan shouted.
But it was too late.
One strike—dozens of feathers—pierced the sides.
Lady Qingxuan flew up to counter—but one feather sliced across her waist, blood spraying.
> "Damn it—!" she gritted her teeth and activated a teleport talisman—vanishing in a flash of light.
Then came the screams.
> One of the demon girls was impaled straight through the chest, flung from the basket and into the clouds below.
Two others collapsed, pierced through the abdomen—but still breathing.
> "STABILIZE!" Rina shouted. "Don't let us crash!"
Lin Yuan reached out, golden robe flaring, catching the wounded girls with sunfire strings, pulling them back into the broken frame.
He looked up, eyes burning.
The bird circled again.
> "A Elemantal Spirit Beast," Uncle Mang muttered. "This thing's not from here…"
When the massive spirit bird attacked, Lady Fangyan soared into the sky, no longer cloaked in human form.
Feathers of burnished gold burst from her back, each one hard as stone and blazing with sunfire. Her face shimmered with divine light as her entire body transformed midair.
> Wings wider than the balloon spread open. Her cry split clouds.
Her feathers clashed with the enemy's like daggers against spears. Her every movement sent golden winds tearing through the sky. The two birds fought not as animals, but as ancient rivals.
> "That's… that's not a woman—" one demon girl gasped.
"That's a Golden Rock Bird… a divine beast born from mountain flame and sacred wind!"
Known for their indestructible feathers and control over stone-fire wind, Golden Rock Birds are rare aerial titans, and Lady Fangyan was one of the last.But she has a different power. Power of time control.
Beside her, Lady Bihua's body writhed and twisted, flesh shimmering like liquid sapphire. Her arms became serpentine, her pupils slitted.
A vast, sinuous body exploded from her back, wings of smoke and lightning unfurling.
She became the Heaven-Swallowing Winged Python, a mythical beast capable of devouring energy, spirit, and even laws of heaven itself.
> "Retreat if you value your souls!" she roared, coiling in air.
Her body wrapped around the attacking bird like a tidal storm. She opened her massive jaws and swallowed a volley of the enemy's spear-feathers whole—devouring their energy mid-flight.
Where Lady Fangyan slashed and outsped, Lady Bihua absorbed and crushed.
Together, they tore the invader to pieces.
When the battle ended and the sky went still, the cost remained.
The bird was slain, soul is collected.
But Lin Yuan's soul was breaking apart, burdened by guilt and cursed self-awareness.
One demon girl was dead.
Two were pierced and clinging to life.
Lady Fangyan returned in human form, golden feathers still falling like ash.
Lady Bihua stood beside her, eyes cold, her scales fading into silk again.
> These weren't just protectors.
They were goddesses hidden among mortals.
Before the beast died, it had taken everything to bring it down.
Meanwhile—
Lady Mingyan Struggles to Stabilize the Balloon
And still—
> The damage was done.
Among the broken timbers and wounded souls, Lin Yuan knelt beside two demon girls, pierced by feathers, their blood staining the floor.
Lady An arrived, pressing two Flesh Recovery Pills into their mouths.
One girl began to breathe easier.
But the second—
> Her lips turned pale.
Her limbs went cold.
Her breath slowed… and her eyes rolled back.
"NO!" Lin Yuan grabbed her shoulders. "You're safe now—wake up!"
But she didn't respond.
His body froze.
His soul shivered.
His heart pounded like a war drum.
> "Why did that bird come…?"
> "Why now? Was it… my soul?"
His mind spiraled.
> "Did I… bring death to her?"
> "Am I the reason…?"
> "Am I cursed?"
His spirit cracked.
His inner sea rippled violently. The golden and black flames within his soul clashed, refusing balance. His evolving soul could no longer hold its shape.
> His soul began to dissolve.
Lin Yuan fell backward, eyes wide open—but seeing nothing.
> Unconscious.
Lady Mingyan caught him, panic on her face. "His soul is unraveling…"
She turned sharply to Lady Bihua, who had just returned, stained in bird blood.
> "We must use a sacrificial formation in Secret Realm. Now. He won't survive without soul rebirth!"
Lady Bihua nodded grimly. She didn't ask questions.
---
The Tragedy Remains
Nearby, Qingxiu stood pale, her head bowed. She didn't speak.
Then Qingxue arrived, face pale.
> "Where's my brother?" she whispered.
"What happened to my brother?"
Lady An didn't respond.
She simply lowered her head…
> And began to cry.
Xiao Hu, tears running down his face, clenched his fists.
> "Everyone—focus! Make the defensive formation first!"
He barked orders despite the shaking in his voice.
> "Eat healing pills. Give those two girls spiritual water. We can grieve after we survive!"
Rina moved at once, activating her formation talismans, carving runes into the ground. The other demon girls followed—cut, burned, and shaking, but still moving.
In the corner of the balloon, Xiao Hu cradled Xiaoluan, trying to distract her.
She looked around, confused. Everyone was still. No one was laughing.
So—
> She started to cry too.
Xiao Hu wiped her eyes, forced a smile. "No, no, baby bird. We don't cry forever. You want to help?"
She sniffed.
He leaned in. "I'll teach you how to build a formation."
Her eyes lit up slightly.
Together, they tapped the stone with a talisman. She giggled weakly and tried to break the glyph Xiao Hu drew.
> It pulsed, cracked...
"You're third place now," he teased.
"You're catching up to me."
She laughed once, then yawned.
Xiao Hu gave her a gentle sleeping pill. Her head drooped, and she fell asleep in his arms.
> Safe, for now.
Tearlume walked quietly over to one of the unconscious girls.
She held the girl's hand with both of hers.
A soft green glow bloomed around her fingertips—pure life essence.
> The girl's breathing slowed… then stabilized.
Then—
A cold wind swept through the broken balloon.
The Sect Leader had arrived.
She said nothing. Her robes billowed with moonlight. Her gaze swept the battlefield—blood, pain, stillness.
Qingxuan stood beside her, head lowered. Silent.
One surviving demon girl, her arm still bleeding, raised her voice:
> "You—fled when that bird attacked! Why are you here now?"
The air turned heavy.
But the Sect Leader did not respond.
She simply walked to unconscious girl.
She placed her hand gently on her brow.
Her expression did not change—
> But her other hand trembled.
Lady An say you must save the girl otherwise Lin yuan might die out of guilt.
Sect Lady say don't have healing powers. I can't do anything.