Chapter 044: Walking on Roofs and Scaling Walls!
There was someone nearby!
Ever since his soul power had increased, Su Jingxing had grown ever more sensitive to the gaze, glances, and scrutiny of others. He could discern, almost instinctively, whether a look was friendly or hostile, mocking or admiring. He didn’t even need to meet someone’s eyes to sense their intentions.
Take now, for instance—the person hiding in the shadows and secretly watching him bore no malice. Because of this, Su Jingxing didn’t react, but instead maintained his composure and original posture.
He waited for a moment, but the watcher lingered. He decided his patience had run out. Even if there was no ill will, being stared at so intently for so long was enough to make anyone uneasy.
In a flash, Su Jingxing’s figure flickered. He performed the “Eight-Step Soaring Dragon,” leaping swiftly from treetop to treetop, racing toward the direction from which the gaze emanated.
Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings echoed through the darkness. From the shadowy forest, a snow-white bird burst forth, beating its wings and soaring straight into the night sky.
“How is that possible…” Su Jingxing’s pupils contracted as he came to a halt atop a tall tree, his astonishment evident as he watched the white bird rapidly disappear into the distance.
“Wasn’t the one watching me just now a person? How could it have been a big bird?”
“A bird with such human-like eyes?”
His surprise gave way to a look of strange curiosity. It wasn’t the fact that a bird might possess a human-like gaze that shocked him, but rather that such a spirit bird would dare to approach him.
Yes, a spirit bird!
Or, more broadly, a spirit beast—an animal that had awakened its intelligence.
Before the demonic insects from beyond descended upon Earth, spirit beasts were exceedingly rare, found only in remote and extreme places. Each one possessed unique supernatural abilities, some so formidable as to be considered natural disasters in their own right.
However, their scarcity meant they posed little threat. That all changed eighty-odd years ago, when the arrival of the demonic parasites brought chaos—especially the “Beast Spirit Parasite,” which could emit a peculiar energy that infected animals and transformed them into spirit beasts.
It was much like the “Corpse Parasite,” which targeted human corpses and turned them into corpse puppets.
The “Beast Spirit Parasite” specifically targeted vertebrates. To this day, no invertebrate spirit beasts had ever appeared.
Even so, the sudden proliferation of these new spirit beasts unleashed wave after wave of “beast tides” upon the world. No fewer than a hundred cities were overrun, and countless humans perished.
Both corpse tides and beast tides had since been classified as disasters on the level of natural catastrophes—words that filled everyone with dread.
The root of the problem was that, although spirit beasts had awakened intelligence, most were still ruled by their animalistic and wild natures, retaining a bloodthirsty, savage instinct for slaughter.
It was only natural for humans to eat beasts. Likewise, it was only natural for beasts to prey on humans.
Ordinarily, no matter how ferocious a wild animal, it was no match for humans. But when directed by intelligent spirit beasts, even first-rank martial artists could only flee before a beast tide.
Of course, not all spirit beasts were bloodthirsty killers, bent on eradicating humankind. A small portion of them possessed a spirituality that surpassed their animalistic natures, bearing little malice toward people. As long as they weren’t provoked, these spirit beasts would keep their distance from humanity.
Such beasts were called spirit beasts, while those dominated by animalistic savagery were known as berserk beasts. Berserk beasts would attack humans on sight, while spirit beasts would steer clear. But if someone could earn a spirit beast’s approval, they would gain a powerful ally—such spirit beasts were also called battle beasts, or spirit companions.
Spirit beasts were far rarer than berserk beasts, and spirit companions, rarer still. Their uniqueness made them coveted by everyone, from ordinary people to martial artists alike.
Yet, those who actually possessed one were vanishingly few. Even in the city of Qinghe, with its population in the millions, the number of people with spirit companions could be counted on one hand.
Wei Jiajia had previously tried to use this as leverage with Su Jingxing, but he had promptly rebuffed her.
A spirit companion? He wanted one, too! But it took more than luck—it required a powerful charisma to win a spirit beast’s recognition. Without charm, one could dream on.
Many had tried to subdue them by force, but true success stories were exceedingly rare. On the other hand, many berserk beasts had been forcibly tamed through suppression.
Su Jingxing hadn’t expected to encounter a spirit bird on his very first foray into Qingyun Mountain—and one that had been watching him from the shadows, no less.
If he were a person of overwhelming charisma, perhaps the bird would have even approached him of its own accord.
“Wait, does that mean my charisma is zero?” Su Jingxing’s mouth twitched. He refused to accept that.
Most likely, the spirit bird had merely been curious, having seen a human for the first time. Once Su Jingxing discovered it and attempted to catch it, the bird had naturally fled. Now that it had escaped, the chances of seeing it again were all but nil.
This thought left Su Jingxing rather vexed. He returned to his original spot, sat down, and meditated for a while before regaining his composure.
Ultimately, the spirit bird was a chance encounter; what mattered was making the most of what he already had. With that in mind, Su Jingxing relaxed and resumed his efforts to develop night vision.
The night passed swiftly.
At dawn the next day, Su Jingxing swallowed a Vitality Pill, approached the cliff’s edge, opened his backpack, and donned his gear—a pair of steel claws.
Their purpose was simple: to use their sharpness to climb the sheer cliff face.
Su Jingxing had no intention of following the online informant’s suggestion to leap off the cliff, wade through the river, and enter the valley via an underground waterway. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe everything he read online.
His reasons for coming to find the “Muyan Flower” were twofold: to complete the transaction, and to become more familiar with the “Eight-Step Soaring Dragon” technique.
Taking the river route was far too dangerous, especially since it meant navigating underground streams, the contents of which were unknown.
But the cliff presented no such problem. Su Jingxing was confident in himself. The “Eight-Step Soaring Dragon” lightness technique, even without true qi, enabled him to cling to the cliff face like a gecko.
Indeed, one could say he was living the dream—scaling walls and leaping over eaves for real, on a genuine precipice!
The steel claws were simply a precaution, allowing him to brace himself if necessary. Should he run out of strength, he had a backup plan: the True Qi Card. If he activated it, he could soar skyward in an instant.
He had considered all possible dangers before coming here. Last night was not the right time, but now that it was daylight, there was no problem.
Fully equipped, Su Jingxing performed the “Eight-Step Soaring Dragon,” racing obliquely along the cliffside. The cliff rose straight from the earth, and Su Jingxing darted left and right across its face, his body almost parallel to the ground.
Whenever he felt his strength waning, he would use the steel claws to grip a protrusion and take a brief rest. After recovering, he would resume his rapid ascent, moving even faster than a gecko.
From above, he looked like a streak racing along the cliff, following the river below as he ventured ever deeper into the Qingyun Mountains.
He kept going until the river below disappeared underground, leaving him unable to follow any farther.
Ahead of him now rose a sheer cliff, over a thousand meters high and stretching an unknown distance.
What was he to do next?