Chapter 57: Rare Beast — Dragon-Headed Sword Falcon, Growing Twelve Sword Feathers
Li Dixian clung to the back of the Bloodtooth Demonic Tiger, swept away by the surging torrent of Soul Beasts towards the distance.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling chased like mad.
However.
These Soul Beasts, with a minimum cultivation of several thousand years, were too fast, far beyond human capability.
They could only watch as the Soul Beast horde transformed into a wisp of smoke in the vast forest.
Eventually, they completely disappeared.
The two women's faces instantly turned ashen.
The four members of Yu Feng, out of breath, caught up, their voices filled with alarm.
"What exactly happened?"
"Why are the Soul Beasts in this region acting so strangely?!"
Feng Xiao arrived with the Wind Sword Sect disciples, his expression grave as he said:
"Unless it's the legendary King of the Forest commanding the beasts..."
"Then there's only one other possibility..."
His aged eyes swept over the still restless dense forest.
"Some heavenly treasure has appeared in this forest, driving these Soul Beasts into a frenzy."
Feng Buyu suppressed his grim expression and said in a deep voice:
"Brother Zhe Xian is a man of good fortune, he will surely be safe."
"We will now..."
Before he finished speaking.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had already transformed into two streaks of light, rapidly soaring in the direction the Soul Beasts had disappeared.
Seeing this, Yu Feng, Ao Si Luo, and the Shi Brothers dared not hesitate and quickly followed.
On the back of the Bloodtooth Demonic Tiger.
Its crimson fur, like steel needles, pricked Li Dixian's flesh, causing him pain.
The violent jolting made his internal organs churn, almost causing him to vomit.
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, not daring to let go for a moment.
All around him were Soul Beasts of several thousand, even ten thousand years, their pungent, violent aura almost solid, completely enveloping him.
Taking advantage of the Demonic Tiger's single-minded charge, with no time to spare for anything else.
Li Dixian endured the dizziness and quickly swallowed a Turtle Breath Grass, lowering his presence.
Every minute, every second, felt like an agonizing eternity.
The Soul Beast horde moved through forests and across swamps.
He didn't know how long they had been running.
Just as Li Dixian was about to collapse from the jolting, a bottomless precipice suddenly appeared before him.
His gaze swept over the edge of the cliff and looked down.
He saw thick white mist churning and rising from the bottom of the cliff.
Faint, mournful howls of wind could be heard from the abyss.
"Hmm?!"
Li Dixian's heart sank sharply.
The path ahead was a dead end, yet this group of Soul Beasts showed no hesitation, instead charging even more frantically towards the cliff.
"Have they gone mad?!"
His face paled, and he tightly clutched the hilt of his sword.
"What exactly is beneath the cliff?!"
Boom! Boom!
The Soul Beasts surged to the cliff's edge like a tide, leaping down one after another.
The Bloodtooth Demonic Tiger's four feet suddenly exerted force, stomping heavily on the back of a three-headed green wolf.
Using this recoil, its massive body twisted in mid-air, its sharp, hook-like claws digging into the nearly vertical cliff face, and it scrambled down towards the bottomless abyss as if on flat ground.
The jolting intensified!
In the violent ups and downs, Li Dixian glimpsed other Soul Beasts displaying their unique abilities: a giant silver centipede used all its hundred legs, clinging to the rock face and slithering rapidly; a python with an elephant in its mouth coiled around stone ridges, sliding down swiftly; and even a unicorn with wings on its ribs swooped down... Only a few weaker Soul Beasts, howling in the chaos, plummeted directly into the abyss, becoming the first casualties of this mad scramble.
After about ten breaths.
The bottom of the cliff finally became clear.
Boom—!!!
The Bloodtooth Demonic Tiger, with the force of ten thousand jin, crashed heavily to the ground.
The terrifying impact, like an earth dragon overturning, instantly sent Li Dixian flying high.
He could no longer hold onto the Azure Lotus Sword.
His Spirit transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into his glabella.
He fell like a broken kite, landing a hundred meters away, his internal organs feeling dislocated, a trickle of fresh blood escaping the corner of his mouth.
Excruciating pain!
But Li Dixian gritted his teeth, lying motionless on the ground.
He held his breath.
All around him were powerful Soul Beasts, eyeing him ferociously.
At this moment, only by feigning death could he have a glimmer of hope!
The Bloodtooth Demonic Tiger's crimson beast eyes glanced at Li Dixian, seemingly wanting to deliver another claw strike.
But perhaps the Turtle Breath Grass had concealed his life force, making the Demonic Tiger mistake him for dead, or perhaps the strong enemies surrounding it made it dare not act rashly.
Ultimately.
The ferocious beast merely let out a low growl, redirecting its attention towards the cliff face.
Li Dixian temporarily escaped danger.
He lay stiffly on the cold, hard rock ground, unmoving.
Approximately ten minutes later.
He very slowly opened his eyelids a crack.
There were no giant trees to block the light at the bottom of the cliff, so the light was even brighter than in the forest above.
As far as his eyes could see, the first thing that came into view were fierce and powerful Soul Beasts, either crouching or circling, their gazes intensely focused on a certain spot on the cliff face.
Li Dixian subtly turned his neck.
Following the gaze of the beasts... on the rugged cliff face, several hundred meters high, about dozens of zhang from the ground, a gnarled and ancient small tree was rooted in a rock crevice.
This tree was extraordinarily mystical!
Its trunk was silver-white, and its leaves were like carved jade.
On a branch, a budding flower quietly stood, its surface shimmering with dreamlike, magnificent iridescent light.
Li Dixian's heart was severely shaken.
However, what attracted his gaze even more was a Soul Beast guarding this mysterious treasure tree.
This was a flying Soul Beast, nearly three meters long, with an extraordinary appearance.
It had an uplifted Dragon Head but an eagle's body, silver dragon whiskers hanging from its lips, and two pairs of silver dragon horns on its head.
Its body was covered in ink-black feathers, and the edge of each feather shimmered with a metallic, sharp cold light.
But the most extraordinary thing was the twelve feathers floating behind its head!
The twelve feathers, each of a different color, were all as straight as unsheathed sharp swords, radiating a chillingly sharp aura!
In terms of aura alone.
This Soul Beast was far less powerful than some of the ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts at the bottom of the cliff.
Judging by its Soul Power fluctuations, it was probably only around seven or eight thousand years old.
However, its posture was extremely arrogant, standing steadily on the cliff face, looking down at the thousands of Soul Beasts gathered below, guarding the small tree with its shimmering light without moving an inch.
"This is..."
Li Dixian's pupils slowly contracted.
Having read through the classics and legends of the Douluo Continent, the types of Soul Beasts were as vast as the sea.
As someone who knew the original plot, he roughly categorized the countless Soul Beasts into several types:
Besides ordinary Soul Beasts, there were the top-tier existences with relict bloodlines—such as the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear, the Titan Giant Ape, the Sky Azure Bull Python, and so on... And Soul Beasts of a higher life level were pure relict bloodlines themselves, capable of influencing the fate of Soul Beasts in a region, like the legendary Emperor Auspicious Beast—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
And beyond that.
Li Dixian had also defined a special type of existence.
They were somewhere between ordinary Soul Beasts and Emperor Auspicious Beasts, having been touched by the aura of a deity and transformed by the erosion of divine power.
For example... the Dark Demonic Evil God Tiger, corrupted by the power of the Evil God.
And also... in his line of sight, this extraordinarily mystical Dragon-Headed Sword Falcon, with twelve sword feathers floating behind its head.
Li Dixian called them... Rare Beasts!
Meaning they were exceptionally rare, almost impossible to find in the world!
Perhaps only this one existed on the entire continent!