176: Chapter 176 Someone will pay the price for this.

"Caw caw caw—"

"Caw! Caw!!"

A dense black mass of crows surged from the crevices of every stone pillar and darted out from every shadow. The sound of their flapping wings merged into a dull roar, like muffled thunder before a storm.

Inky-purple feathers fluttered in the fog, and pairs of blood-red pupils lit up in the darkness, densely packed and blotting out the sky.

The outskirts of the Stone Forest.

Zhao Ping, a Disciple of the Xuanyi Sect, paused in his tracks.

He was the leader of this group of Qi Refining Disciples. At the ninth level of Qi Refining, he was considered a figure of some standing in the Xuanyi Sect's Outer Sect.

Leading the team into the mountain this time was solely to claim the top credit and show his face before the Outer Sect Elders.

But at this moment, his expression was rather grim.

"There are so many crows here."

Behind him, a Disciple wearing a gray Daoist robe looked up at the Crow Flock circling in the sky, his tone carrying a hint of disgust.

There were simply too many crows, a massive black cloud covering half of the grayish-white sky. Their noisy, screeching caws were so grating they made one's head throb.

Another Disciple chimed in, his voice filled with disdain.

"What terrible luck. If this place is full of nothing but these trashy crows, there definitely won't be any treasures. Why don't we leave and try somewhere else?"

He turned to leave as he spoke.

Zhao Ping did not budge.

His eyes were fixed on the stone pillars ahead, his brow furrowed deeply.

"The cawing of these crows doesn't sound right."

"Everyone, on guard! These crows are no ordinary crows!"

Before Zhao Ping's voice could fade, the sky above went dark.

The Crow Flock descended.

The dense black Crow Flock dived from the tops of the stone pillars, wings tucked and talons forward, like an inky waterfall hanging inverted from the Nine Heavens.

"Caw caw caw!!!"

Sharp, piercing sounds of rushing air rang out as thousands of crows swooped down upon the crowd simultaneously.

"Xuantian Shield Seal!"

Zhao Ping reacted the fastest. Forming a hand seal with his left hand, a pale golden light shield materialized before him, blocking three crows that lunged head-on.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

Their talons clashed against the light shield, sending ripples through it. The crows were knocked back, tumbling in the air before flapping their wings and lunging right back.

"Attack, quickly!!"

"Swish!"

He swung the longsword in his right hand.

"Wind-Cleaving Slash!"

A green arc of Sword Qi shot out from the blade. Wherever the crescent-shaped Sword Qi passed, crows were sliced in half, their feathers and blood exploding into the air.

"Scatter! Don't bunch up!"

The Disciple in the gray Daoist robe was named Sun Yuan, at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Hearing Zhao Ping's shout, he shifted his footing and flashed to the left. At the same time, his right hand pulled a yellow Talisman from his sleeve. As spiritual energy poured into it, the Talisman spontaneously combusted.

"Die, you damned beasts!"

"Blazing Fire Talisman!"

A fireball the size of a human head erupted from the Talisman, crashing into the densest part of the Crow Flock.

With a loud boom, the flames exploded. The feathers of several crows caught fire, and they fell screeching from midair, rolling and thrashing on the ground. The sparks ignited the dry grass, sending up billows of thick smoke.

But there were simply too many crows.

As soon as one was burned to death, dozens more would pounce.

Just as Sun Yuan's fireball finished exploding, a crow had already lunged in front of him, its talons aiming straight for his face.

He had no time to draw another Talisman. In his panic, he raised his left arm to block, and the talons left three deep, bloody gashes on his forearm.

"Ah!"

Sun Yuan shrieked in pain, retreating several steps while swinging the sword in his right hand wildly.

Zhao Ping rushed in from the side, piercing the crow's chest with his sword, and pulled Sun Yuan behind him with his backhand.

"Spiritual Rain Technique!"

A female Disciple in a blue Daoist robe within the crowd chanted a spell while forming hand seals, drawing a circle in front of her with both hands.

A ball of aqua-blue spiritual light condensed in her palm and suddenly burst, turning into countless water needles as fine as cow hair that shot out in all directions. The water needles pierced through the crows' wings and bodies, causing blood mist to explode in the air. Over a dozen crows were riddled with holes and rained down onto the ground.

But likewise,

her spiritual energy was heavily depleted. Her face was pale, and she gasped for breath.

"Heavenly Sword Secret Art, Golden Spear Slash!"

A Disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect dropped to one knee, pressed both hands on the hilt of his sword, and plunged it fiercely into the ground.

Several golden arcs of Sword Qi erupted from the ground, shooting forward in a fan shape.

Wherever the Sword Qi passed, deep trenches were plowed into the ground, and several crows that failed to dodge in time were sliced into pieces by the Sword Qi.

"There are too many crows! Fall back! Retreat from the Stone Forest!"

Zhao Ping slashed apart a crow that lunged before him and barked out the order.

His Xuantian Shield had dimmed considerably, and after executing the Wind-Cleaving Slash over a dozen times, more than half of his spiritual energy was spent.

The Disciples behind him retreated while fighting, but the Crow Flock pursued them relentlessly.

A Body Cultivator Disciple roared, his entire body glowing with an earthy-yellow spiritual light.

"Stone Skin Technique!"

His skin hardened instantly, as if covered by a thick layer of rock.

The crows' talons clawed at his body, leaving only a few white marks, and their sharp beaks pecked at him with a "tap-tap" sound, as if pecking on wood.

Grabbing a crow with both hands, he ripped it in half with raw force, drenching himself in blood. Utterly oblivious to it, he lunged at the next one.

The Crow Flock grew larger and larger, surging from every crevice of the stone pillars and darter out from every shadow in the fog.

Zhao Ping gritted his teeth and swung his sword. The Sword Qi swept across, cutting down several more crows, but his spiritual light had already dimmed quite a bit.

Behind him, the glow of the Body Cultivator Disciple's Stone Skin Technique also began to fade. He was tackled to the ground by several crows at once, their talons clawing wildly at his body and their sharp beaks pecking frantically at his face, as fresh blood seeped from the cracks in his stone skin.

In the distance.

At the top of an even taller stone pillar, Hei Yu crouched on the edge with his wings tucked, his inky-purple feathers gleaming coldly in the fog. His pupils reflected the chaotic battlefield below, and his talons lightly tapped the stone surface twice.

Heida crouched beside him, silently watching the Crow Flock below, before finally speaking.

"Too many have died."

The crow species was not a cold, unfeeling one.

Below, the screams, the hum of swords, and the screeching of crows blended together, sawing back and forth across his heart like a dull blade.

He had watched every single one of these crows grow up, from fist-sized chicks to Tier 1 Demonic Beasts capable of flying and killing.

He knew them all; he remembered the temperament of each and every one.

"Someone will pay the price for this."

Hei Yu's voice was as cold as the frost seeping from deep underground. His pupils contracted into vertical slits, his inky-purple feathers stood on end, and the Demon Power surged within his body like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Heida looked at him silently, saying nothing.

...

The scene shifted.

The outskirts of Taiyue Mountain, in a bamboo forest.

Emerald bamboo swayed in the fog, and dewdrops slid off the bamboo leaves, dripping onto the soft soil with soft, faint sounds. Deep within the bamboo forest lay a clearing where several bluestones were scattered about, covered in moss.

Lady Hua sat on the largest bluestone, her pale green gown draped over the stone surface, its hem damp with a few drops of dew.

Her long hair was casually pinned up with a wooden hairpin, with a few strands of dark hair hanging by her ears.

Her bare feet dangled below the stone, the red string around her ankle swaying gently in the breeze. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady, as if she were meditating, or perhaps waiting for something.

At the entrance of the bamboo forest, a gray figure walked in with hurried steps.