It was at this critical moment!
Chii—!!!
A sharp shriek, piercing the eardrums as if space itself was tearing, suddenly erupted from obliquely behind him.
Its speed was so great that the sound arrived almost simultaneously with the attack.
Immediately after, Liu Qian saw a dark, flaming arrow, trailing a long, luminous tail, like a meteor tearing through the night sky, striking one of the three-headed monster bird's eyes with a speed beyond the limits of vision.
Crimson, scalding blood splattered everywhere like bursting summer fruit pulp.
The jet-black arrow pierced through one eye and exited through the other, firmly embedded in the monster bird's skull.
The scarlet flames attached to the arrow climbed the Purple-haired Monster Bird's purple feathers with the wind, and the entire thick neck and head above it ignited like a torch.
The arrogant Purple-haired Monster Bird let out a series of agonizing wails, rolling around in the dead tree forest, trying to shake off the flames that clung to it like maggots.
However, the Purple-haired Monster Bird's actions were futile, only stirring up clouds of ash and igniting the surrounding dead branches.
Smoke mixed with flames soared into the sky, lingering for a long time, painting the entire dead tree forest a fiery red.
Liu Qian and Janice had intended to escape quickly.
Then they heard a rapid and forceful sound of footsteps crushing dead branches and fallen leaves, accompanied by the clanking of armor, coming from the smoke-filled dead tree forest.
Crack! Crash!
Several burning broken branches were roughly kicked aside.
A heroic figure suddenly strode out from behind the curtain of smoke and flames.
She was tall and athletic, wearing a suit of ancient-looking, reddish-bronze full-body armor, covered with ancient and mysterious spiral patterns, unidentifiable pictographic runes, and etched lines that seemed to depict the trajectories of stars.
These patterns flowed with a faint metallic luster under the firelight.
The armor perfectly conformed to her powerful body curves, providing strong protection while also outlining a breathtakingly graceful silhouette.
A reddish-bronze helmet with a nose guard and cheek guards largely obscured her face, revealing only a pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes like violet gemstones.
Under the firelight and the shadows of the helmet, her purple eyes gleamed with a calm yet imposing brilliance.
A wide, thick black leather belt was fastened around her waist; a seemingly heavy one-handed broadsword hung on her left side, its scabbard also engraved with runes; and a quiver containing about seven or eight black arrows hung on her right.
A leather sheath was strapped to the outside of her left calf, holding a gleaming dagger.
But what was most striking was the weapon she held tightly in her right hand: an extremely rugged giant bow.
The bow itself was five feet long.
It was entirely made of a translucent, bone-like, grayish-white material, neither metal nor ordinary wood, but rather like the skeleton of some creature.
The bow was also densely etched with runes and swirling patterns, even more intricate and profound than those on her armor; these patterns seemed to have dark red streams of light slowly moving within them under the firelight, as if alive.
The bowstring, made of a nearly transparent material, shimmered with a silvery-white luster in the firelight.
With a 'thump,' the female warrior forcefully planted the end of the giant bow on the ground, her left hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist, maintaining a stance ready to draw her sword at any moment.
Her gaze first quickly swept over Janice, confirming her safety, and then her cold and stern eyes instantly locked onto Liu Qian, who had Janice's small body cradled in his arm.
"Put down my sister, or you won't escape death."
Her voice was somewhat muffled through the helmet, but the anger and concern within it were clearly discernible.
Hearing this, Janice realized that her sister, Jielinna, had mistaken Liu Qian for someone with ill intentions, and she hastily asked Liu Qian to put her down, explaining, "Sister, his name is Liu Qian, he's not a bad person. He saved me from the Scale Claw monsters and even helped me escape from this Chimera's pursuit..."
Janice incessantly explained the story of their encounter to her sister, finally dispelling some of the Valkyrie-like Jielinna's suspicions.
Only Liu Qian listened to their conversation in a fog, completely unaware of the situation.
But just then, the Purple-haired Monster Bird seemed to come back to life, letting out another shriek.
"Lii—!!!!!!!"
This shriek was even more venomous than before, as if it condensed all the hatred and killing intent in the world.
Liu Qian and the other two looked over, only to see the monster bird struggling to stand up again, and to prevent the fire from spreading, it used its sharp claws to twist off its own burning neck.
The bowl-sized wound oozed thick blood and pulp, grotesque and terrifying, and its two remaining blood-red giant eyes now burned with a raging fury capable of incinerating all reason, precisely locking onto Liu Qian and the two sisters in the distance.
"Janice, come with me, quickly!"
Jielinna, ignoring whatever Janice said, embraced Janice tightly and ran into the forest, completely disregarding Liu Qian.
Liu Qian was stunned; he had thought this incredibly powerful woman would finish off the monster bird, and then he could happily collect the Dragon Spirit.
But seeing Jielinna's fleeing figure, his hopes were clearly dashed.
The Purple-haired Monster Bird seemed to have identified Jielinna as the culprit who shot the arrow; its massive body swept past Liu Qian, preparing to give chase.
Liu Qian thought, how could he let his prize slip away?
He abruptly looked at the data representing power deep within his consciousness:
Dragon Bloodline Purity: 1.03%.
Mana: 2654 / 10340.
During the desperate escape and frantic absorption of Dragon Spirit from the battlefield just now, he had absorbed nearly ten thousand Dragon Spirit from hundreds of Scale Claw monster corpses, and his bloodline purity finally broke through the crucial 1% threshold, with his mana cap soaring to 10340 points.
More importantly, he had frantically absorbed the mana of the ghost grass while running, and his mana had actually reached 2654 points!
The ultimate skill [True Dragon Descent] requires: consuming 1000 mana to transform into a dragon, and 1 point per second to maintain the form.
2654 mana points were enough to sustain him in dragon form for nearly half an hour of combat.
And with bloodline purity reaching 1%, his True Dragon form would be 3 meters long!
"Dragon Flame Breath!!!"
A powerful roar, like a sudden clap of thunder, exploded from behind the monster bird.
A scorching crimson column of fire slammed into the Purple-haired Monster Bird's unguarded rump.
Boom—!!!"
The flames instantly ignited, and the already charred and rotten feathers and flesh became the best fuel.
The raging inferno frantically licked the monster bird's massive hindquarters, and a foul stench of burning flesh and hair instantly permeated the air.
After spewing flames, Liu Qian aimed the sharp sword in his hand at the center of the monster bird's rear and hurled it with all his might.
The immense force sent the steel sword flying, like a red-hot iron poker, into the monster bird's fire-scorched tail, splattering a rain of blood everywhere.
"Hiss—!!!!!!!"
A piercing shriek, enough to shatter the soul, erupted from the monster bird's massive beak.
Its two remaining heads, filled with extreme pain and fury, suddenly twisted 180 degrees.
Four blood-red giant eyes, burning with rage, locked onto the tiny human behind it who dared to harm it.
Overwhelming fury drowned out its last shred of reason; it abandoned Jielinna and her sister, who had already vanished.
Both giant beaks opened simultaneously, and two torrents of crimson flames from deep within their throats poured down like a deluge towards Liu Qian's location.
The crimson inferno instantly engulfed Liu Qian's figure.
The dead branches on the ground instantly melted under the terrifying high temperature.
Liu Qian's figure completely vanished into a churning sea of fire