Chapter 173 Old Friend
Old Friend
After using his martial technique, Gao Feng managed to make a huge gash in the mouth of the serpent that was trying to swallow him whole.
However, no matter how in pain the Spirit Fruit Serpent was, it refused to open its mouth and continued trying to refine Gao Feng.
"Stupid beast!" Gao Feng was starting to regret his stupidity and reckless actions.
"Bright Moon Slash! Bright Moon Slash! Bright Moon Slash!" Gao Feng didn't want to die in the belly of a Spirit Fruit Serpent, so pushing caution to the wind, he quickly sent off three sword slashes targeting the tongue of the snake.
The first two cut deep into the tongue, almost severing it from the base, but it was the third that did the damage he wanted.
His final slash hit the tip of the Spirit Fruit Serpent where the 'island' was. And with his power as a 4th stage Law Engraving realm cultivator, the 'island' was cut off completely, resulting in his desired goal.
"ROAR!!!!" Both enraged at the fact that it lost its main hunting weapon and full of pain, the Spirit Fruit Serpent produced a roar so loud that it shook the nearby treeline and sent ripples into the lake.
Even Xue Bai, who was waiting for his chance in the void, could feel the deep anger and maliciousness that the roar contained.
Sadly as it opened its mouth to make the roar of anger and pain, it also let the tip of its tongue fall out of its mouth and, with it, the Five Elements Mystic Spirit Tree.
"Ha! Stupid beast!" Thrilled to be let out, Gao Feng quickly jumped out of the beast's stomach.
"I will also take this." Gao Feng didn't let his true goal leave his sight as he jumped out. Once again, pulling out the Essence Sealing Storage Box, Gao Feng reached for the Five Elements Mystic Spirit Tree, planning to store it before he took care of the Spirit Fruit Serpent.
Yet to his shock, before he could, a purple arrow manifested seemingly directly in front of him.
At first glance, Gao Feng felt like the arrow wasn't a threat at all. The arrow wasn't large, thick, or even full of barbs or poison, making it seem like a normal mortal wooden arrow.
However, after he sensed it, he shivered, and cold sweat drenched his body.
Trusting his instincts completely, Gao Feng quickly dodged Xue Bai's arrow, falling into the lake once more.
"Idiot." Xue Bai coldly muttered as he manifested.
Not bothering to give the hunter another glance, Xue Bai grabbed the Five Elements Mystic Spirit Tree and the island before once again entering the void leaving the two starstruck.
"Huh?"
"Roar?"
–
About a dozen miles away, Xue Bai once again deactivated his physique.
He had checked his surroundings earlier and knew he was safe for the time being. However, though he wasn't far from Gao Feng and the Spirit Fruit Serpent, Xue Bai could still feel the fluctuations from their fight, meaning that they were still in combat and wouldn't be able to chase after him yet.
So after a quick 2-minute rest, Xue Bai once again activated his physique and floated away as fast as possible, wanting to increase the distance between the two powerhouses.
Law Engraving realm powerhouses were fast and had a wide Spiritual Sense, but Xue Bai left no traces when he used his physique, so it would be next to impossible for them to find his escape route and chase him.
After three more activations of his physique, Xue Bai was almost 100 miles away from the two, and he then decided that he was safe for now.
Safe, Xue Bai thought to inspect his gains before moving on to his next goal.
Pulling out the 'island' and the Five Elements Mystic Spirit Tree, Xue Bai placed it onto the ground to inspect it fully. He hadn't been able to do so earlier because he was afraid that Gao Feng or the Spirit Fruit Serpent would've seen his cultivation base and reacted quickly.
Physique and Dao of Space aside, Xue Bai was still only in the Bone Strengthening realm and wouldn't even be able to take one stray hit from the two, let alone start a fight.
If it weren't for his arrow that had an innate suppressing effect on people who comprehended Laws, Xue Bai wouldn't have been able to scare Gao Feng away.
So that was why after he took his objective, Xue Bai wasted no time before leaving.
Looking at the Five Elements Mystic Spirit Tree closely, Xue Bai was overall satisfied with his gains.
All of the Elemental Fruits were ripe and plump, with none of them having any defects or damage.
And most spectacular of all, the 'island' was made entirely of Spiritual Soil!
It was perfectly tailored for carrying, nurturing, and supporting a natural treasure.
"That Spirit Fruit Serpent is a smart beast." Xue Bai spoke with pride in his tone, as if he was the one who taught the serpent to do it.
Content with the gains, Xue Bai put the tree back in his spatial ring and continued on his way.
Now that he was in the Inner Region of the Hysteria Forest, Xue Bai didn't need the map any longer and could navigate the forest himself.
Time passed, and the sun slowly set, but thankfully before it did, Xue Bai finally reached his destination.
In front of Xue Bai, the land started to sink into the earth, forming a steep and dangerous gorge.
However, what was most terrifying about the gorge was not the fact that the gorge was so deep that Xue Bai couldn't see its bottom or the fact that the walls of the ravine leading down were spiked and full of barbs capable of killing any cultivator still in the 5 physical realms, but the terrifying auras that laid within the gorge.
Even as Xue Bai stood at the top of the gorge, he could sense dozens of powerful auras full of Baleful Qi.
The auras were powerful, suppressing, and as thick as the skies themselves.
Each of the auras down below in the gorge was out in full display, showing that every demonic beast living in the gorge was so arrogant and conceited that they didn't bother holding it in.
Of all the cultivation bases that Xue Bai could sense, Law Engraving realm cultivations were commonplace, while Law Manifestation and Domain Lord realms weren't hard to spot.
Scarily enough, Xue Bai could sense cultivation bases that he couldn't even see through. And since he could sense the cultivation base of even a Domain Lord, it meant that the ones he couldn't see through had to at least be in the Xiantian Great Realm!
Thankfully, Xue Bai wasn't here to fight one of the scary behemoths down below but instead to meet one!
"I'm going to kill myself doing this." Xue Bai sighed in annoyance. And without missing a beat, jumped.
Falling down at alarming speeds, Xue Bai had his long body-length hair fluttering around him like a helicopter blade. However, his eyes were calm, and even though he was falling at speeds far beyond someone of his cultivation base could, he quickly scanned the ravine walls.
'No, no, not that one, not here,' As Xue Bai fell, he constantly looked around for a specific hole in the ravine walls, but as he fell further and further, he couldn't find it.
Even after almost 2 minutes of just pure falling, Xue Bai still couldn't find it.
'Did I fall at the wrong place?' Luckily, as he started questioning himself and was about to leave, Xue Bai saw the correct hole in the wall.
Seeing his goal within his sights, before he fell any further, Xue Bai activated his physique and shifted into the void.
Instantly, Xue Bai's sky-shattering speed halted. Going from hundreds of miles an hour to a complete stop.
And while this would've certainly given anyone whiplash, and severe injuries, to Xue Bai, nothing happened.
Back in his new home, Xue Bai peacefully floated over to the unique-looking hole that he was looking for.
The uniqueness of the hole was its size. Unlike all of the other small holes, which ranged from 20-50 meters wide and 20-40 meters tall, the behemoth-sized hole that Xue Bai was looking for was more than 100 meters tall and over 200 meters wide!
It could comfortably hold two Boeing 747s from Earth and still have dozens of meters of space left over.
"Let's hope that she's there." Xue Bai hoped in his mind as he walked in.
And as if the heavens could hear his wishes, they were granted the instant he floated into the cave. Because the second Xue Bai entered, he saw a bright pair of blue eyes the size of a car lazily looking at the hole's entrance.
The bright azure eyes that were slothfully looking in Xue Bai's direction were owned by a behemoth that managed to send shivers down Xue Bai's spine, even though he knew that it couldn't see him.
As Xue Bai floated deeper and deeper into the eerie cavern, the once 100-meter-tall roof slowly rose, and by the time Xue Bai had managed to get close enough to see the owner of the eyes, it had almost tripled, reaching a jaw-dropping height of nearly 300 meters.
But even as he ignored the height that would strain his neck should he look up, Xue Bai once again locked eyes with the beast that sat in the cave.
'Hello, old friend.' Xue Bai nostalgically thought as he looked at the beast in front of him.
In 'Children of the Plane,' like any other cultivation game, there was also the option of taking in a demonic beast as a pet or mount.
And while most people would turn their childhood dreams into reality by trying to subdue dragons, Xue Bai was different.
Instead of choosing one of the many dragon-type demonic beasts that lived throughout the Baishen Plane, or even one of the 4 Symbols of Chinese mythology, Xue Bai took a different route.
He chose an eagle.
Specifically, it was an eagle that had the bloodline of the God Great Realm beast named the Heaven Chasing Eagle.
Of course, the eagle didn't have the full God bloodline, but even with a trace of the Heaven Chasing Eagle bloodline, the eagle was more than talented enough to cultivate to the Xiantian Great Realm and even toward the Immortal Great Realm.
As for the reason that Xue Bai chose the eagle, it was rather simple. Living his entire life contained in his hospital, Xue Bai eventually grew to love flying, and in his mind, the eagle was an animal synonymous with flying and freedom.
And the very Heaven Chasing Eagle descendant he chose was here in front of him.