Chapter 144: Sixth-Tier Crimson Dragon Wings!
Although he felt like he had grasped it, Jiang Lin didn't show it. In this area, he truly couldn't afford to perform too outrageously.
If he performed heaven-defyingly during the Mortal stage, it could still be explained by talent. But if he continued to defy common sense in the Profound domain, it would start to seem like he lacked self-awareness.
Jiang Lin had observed Fatty Yuan for half a month before slowly beginning to attempt Spiritual Forging himself.
During this time, Hu Lei's Sixth-Tier Crimson Dragon Wings were finally completed with the final step—blood refinement. That's right, Hu Lei had been tempering them in the Crimson Dragon Cauldron all that time for blood refinement. Weapon refiners were especially fond of this step because it made it difficult for others to fully utilize the weapon if stolen, thus preventing people—especially those one couldn't easily reject—from taking the weapon. And the person Hu Lei was guarding against wasn't just anyone—it was his own master, Jiang Lin's grandmaster.
"I did some modifications to your Dou Qi engine and engraved a mid-tier Earth-rank flying Dou Technique onto it. You guys go ahead and play—I'm gonna test the speed."
In the open-air forging field, four violet-golden dragon wings unfolded from Hu Lei's back. With Dou Qi manifesting as wings, he directly controlled his flight through sheer Dou Qi, discarding Jiang Lin's feather sheaths entirely. After all, Jiang Lin's sheaths were designed to simplify flight control, but Hu Lei, being a Dou Huang, didn't need such simplification. All he had to do was cover his body in Dou Qi to float in the air.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Hu Lei's Violet Radiance Dragon Wings flapped a few times, and the dragon-scale patterns on them began to glow. This was the first time, so he had to sense the energy flow in the Crimson Dragon Wings, which made the process slower. When all the dragon patterns lit up without issue, the sky above Hu Lei rippled slightly—a transparent barrier was now opening a path for him.
Swoosh!
At the ends of the biologically-forged Crimson Dragon Wings, fierce violet flames ignited. Hu Lei shot upward like a jet fighter, spiraling a few times mid-air before launching skyward. All that remained at the starting point was a DNA-like spiral trail of light and two people dumbfoundedly staring into the sky.
Boom!
In the air, the Crimson Dragon Wings behind Hu Lei transformed into pure light, and a violent sonic boom exploded high above Jia Ma Empire's capital. A violet fireball instantly shot beyond the city limits!
Whoosh, whoosh!
As Hu Lei unleashed the Crimson Dragon Wings and flew out with a terrifying sonic boom, two more Dou Huangs with light wings appeared in the sky over the capital. They activated flying Dou Techniques to try to catch up, and soon a red fireball and a yellow fireball followed.
Within the red fireball, Fa Ma shouted through Dou Qi voice transmission as he pursued, "Old Hu! Wait for me! Show us the good stuff!"
But they couldn't catch up with Hu Lei. In fact, very soon, they couldn't even see the tail of his violet Dou Qi trail.
"Damn! That's a speed comparable to a sixth-tier flying magical beast! Is that really old Hu?" Fa Ma had to stop above a forest outside the city, staring at the now-vanished Hu Lei.
"Among all the Dou Huangs in the empire, only his Dou Qi has that color. Who else could it be? The guy's so selfish—ran off so fast without even waiting." Jia Xingtian also stopped in mid-air, looking toward Hu Lei's direction in disbelief.
Of course, they didn't know Hu Lei hadn't heard them at all. He was moving so fast their voices couldn't catch up.
"How long has it been, and he's already completed a high-tier version of the feathered sheath wings? This speed could rival the Heavenly Swallow Nine-Winged Wings of the Golden Swallow Sect, right? The only drawback is that it's easier to damage, unlike those wings which can become part of the body." Fa Ma stared at the now-empty horizon in awe.
"Well, it's a device—wait, he's back." Jia Xingtian was about to say something else when a flash of violet light appeared at the horizon. Before his words finished, that light shot straight toward them, bringing a violent gust of wind.
Startled, Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma watched as Hu Lei suddenly appeared from the edge of the sky, the terrifying speed leaving them uneasy. In a real fight, they wouldn't be able to catch or outrun him. Even the initiative to attack would lie completely in his hands.
BOOM!!!
As Hu Lei came to a stop, a series of sonic booms echoed behind him in the fierce wind.
"What're you two old geezers following me for? It's not like I stole some treasure and ran off," Hu Lei hovered in the air, energetic and smug. The massive Crimson Dragon Wings behind him slowly faded as he shot an annoyed glance at the two men.
It had to be said—Crimson Dragon Wings, no, the entire concept of Jiang Lin's feather sheath wings had created a brand-new flight path. Hu Lei had originally thought the wings were only suitable for low-tier cultivators and wouldn't do much for Dou Huangs. But unexpectedly, high-tier versions had miraculous effects even for Dou Huangs.
After covering himself with Dou Qi and suspending in the atmosphere, Hu Lei's own gravity and drag were significantly reduced. For straight-line flight, all he had to do was pour massive amounts of Dou Qi into the Crimson Dragon Wings, turning them into terrifying propulsion engines and blasting forward.
Previously, Hu Lei's flight speed had been limited by his own physical meridians. If he pushed too much Dou Qi, his meridians couldn't handle it. But that pain came from damaging his own body. With the Crimson Dragon Wings, however, he could go all out. The materials used in the wings were harder than his own bones. As long as his Dou Qi kept pouring in, the output would far surpass the maximum energy load of typical Dou Huang flying techniques—resulting in extreme energy consumption and extreme speed!
The only downside was that flying at full load consumed an enormous amount of Dou Qi and greatly tested the material toughness of the Crimson Dragon Wings. But how many Dou Huangs have ever died from running out of Dou Qi? What's the point of stockpiling so much Dou Qi if you're not going to use it—save it for the enemy's pill refining?
"Of course, even if you two old bastards tried to snatch it, you wouldn't be able to catch me," Hu Lei grinned at Fa Ma and Jia Xingtian.
The two of them were speechless.
Fa Ma's expression twitched slightly as his eyes locked onto the Crimson Dragon Wings on Hu Lei's back. "Is that… a sixth-tier feathered sheath wing?"
Though the Crimson Dragon Wings looked vastly different from traditional feather sheath wings, because they followed the same design philosophy, they were still considered part of the feathered sheath category.
In a way, Jiang Lin had pioneered a whole new flight school—Feather Sheath Wings.
But the painful part was that although Jiang Lin had created the path, the one now standing at its pinnacle was the old man Hu Lei.
Perhaps this would only change once Jiang Lin's Six-Leaf Feather Sheath Wings came into existence.
After all, if the Six-Leaf Wings were already here…
Then how far away could the final Twelve-Leaf version be?
(END CHAPTER)
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