Chapter 30

*Screech!*

Amidst the mournful cry of the eagle, it echoed through the cave. The majestic head of the thunder eagle lowered, and its beak, once a lethal weapon, gently caressed the body of its mate.

*Plop!*

Instantly, it raised its head and fiercely plunged its beak into the chest cavity, blood spurted out, and in its beak was a crystal-clear sphere, about the size of a baby's fist, with golden arcs flickering.

*Demon Core!*

It was clearly a demon core, something only a fourth-stage demon beast could produce!

As is well known, first to second-stage demon beasts have only irregular, pitted demon cores. Third-stage demon beasts have relatively smooth demon cores, but they are still irregular. Only fourth-stage demon beasts have such lustrous demon cores.

In other words, these two thunder eagles were fourth-stage demon beasts.

The thunder eagle, holding the demon core, moved shakily to the nest and gently placed the demon core inside. It caressed the small, grayish head poking out of the nest, a fierce light flashing in its eyes.

*Plop!*

With a sound, it lowered its head and plunged its beak into its own chest, its massive body collapsing to the ground, still holding another equally lustrous demon core in its mouth.

Its bright, single eye was filled with reluctance as it watched the chick crawl shakily closer, tears streaming down its face before it dimmed.

*Chirp!*

The chick, seemingly still blind, kept rubbing against its mother. No matter how it cried, it only received a gradually cooling response.

No one noticed, or perhaps there was no one in the cave, that the wounds on the two thunder eagles' bodies were oozing blood with a faint golden hue, spreading out.

But strangely, the blood was flowing towards Li Chen, who lay motionless on the ground.

*Buzz!*

Suddenly, a blood glow burst from Li Chen's face, or rather, from the scar on his left cheek, emitting the same light as when he had swallowed the demon core that night.

Faint golden runes and a strange dark red shadow appeared almost simultaneously, trying to break free but were tightly bound by the runes.

The surrounding blood seemed to be drawn to the shadow, converging on it invisibly.

*Screech!*

A deep, powerful cry filled with reluctance and defiance echoed, and before the blood could reach it, it was abruptly pulled back into the scar by the runes and disappeared.

But strangely, as it re-entered the scar, a thread of it, intertwined with golden light, suddenly shot into the thunder eagle's nest.

*Chirp!*

A sharp cry instantly sounded, but then there was silence.

*Hiss!*

The blood boiled strangely, emitting a grayish mist that gathered around Li Chen, seeping into his body through his broken limbs and mouth and nose.

“Ugh... Oh!”

Faintly, the unconscious Li Chen let out a groan, a mix of pain and comfort.

...

“What is this? How can it have such a powerful aura?”

“What kind of treasure is this? Why does it have the aura of our demon race?”

“What pure demon energy, far more powerful than mine!”

As Li Chen's body displayed this strange phenomenon, countless voices of doubt echoed across the vast Gu Cang Mountains and even further.

This was the second time such doubt had arisen in the past few months.

Then, multiple powerful auras swept across the sky, patrolling back and forth. Whenever they encountered others on patrol, they tacitly avoided each other.

But to their disappointment, no matter how they searched, they could not find the source of the aura that made them salivate.

Because the aura came and went quickly!

In the end, after searching for many days, they gave up, just as they had the last time.

...

“Huh? It’s back?”

In the Li family of Luo Huang City, Li Mingyun, who was arranging for medicinal slaves to test drugs, suddenly turned and darted out of the room.

His ghostly figure left the medicinal slaves stunned, but they dared not ask.

“This time, it’s in the Ancient Cang Mountains? Could it be that an old demon has obtained it? No wonder I couldn’t find it in the Xuan Yun Sect last time, and almost got caught by that junior!”

Li Mingyun's face was gloomy, his eyes twitching, his hand clenching and unclenching, showing his reluctance.

“Damn it, with my current strength, I can’t even handle those shape-shifted old demons, let alone the powerful fourth-stage demon beasts. After hiding for so many years, do I really have to take that step?”

Staring at the direction of the Ancient Cang Mountains for a while, Li Mingyun's face twisted in a sinister manner as he returned to the room. He looked at the medicinal slaves writhing in pain in the drug barrels, his eyes flashing with cold light, and with a wave of his hand.

Several bright blue lights entered the heads of the medicinal slaves, and their screams abruptly stopped.

“Useless trash, unable to endure such a little pain. I must say, I do miss that special boy. If it weren’t for his innate waste body, he would have been an excellent choice!”

Li Mingyun smiled sinisterly and left, his sleeves fluttering.

As for the dead medicinal slaves, servants would clean up, and no one would suspect him. The mortality rate of medicinal slaves was already extremely high.

Not to mention, no one cared about the lives of medicinal slaves. The Li family only cared if the pills were successful.

...

“Ah!”

A scream suddenly echoed from the cave deep in the clouds, a mournful howl as if a piece of flesh had been torn off.

*Thud!*

A dull sound, Li Chen suddenly jumped up, knocking away the small creature that had been pecking at his buttock. But the pain that had contorted his face turned to shock as he withdrew his hand, covered in blood. “Didn’t I die? Why do I feel pain?”

*Crack!*

Subconsciously, he clenched his fist, feeling an indescribable strength. Li Chen felt his body was several times stronger than before, and the internal energy in his meridians had strangely reached the eighth layer.

*Chirp!*

The joy of surviving a near-death experience made him throw back his head in a long laugh, but before the laughter could escape, a weak, crisp cry made him shiver.

Although he was alive, he was still in the nest of the giant eagle that had terrified him and brought him here.

Stiffly turning his head, Li Chen's pupils constricted. In that moment, his legs trembled uncontrollably, and his whole body shook.

Seeing the massive figure, even he, who usually considered himself brave, was frozen in fear.

But what shocked him even more was that the giant figure looked gray and lifeless, lacking the majesty it once had. Although its aura was still present, it gave him a sense of decay.

Gathering his courage, he took a few steps forward and, with the help of the outside light, saw that the terrifying giant eagle was dead, its mottled body a testament to the fierce battle it had fought.

Turning his head to the cave entrance, he saw another giant eagle's body lying there.

“Eat me, eat me!”

His tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and Li Chen, in a state of hysteria, kicked the giant eagle's corpse, his face streaked with tears. A life of loneliness and hardship had given him a glimmer of hope, only to nearly end in the eagle's mouth. How could he not vent his frustration?

But what he didn’t expect was that his kick felt like hitting a rotten leather, and he immediately fell to the ground, sprawling.

“What’s going on?”

Rubbing his head as he got up, Li Chen looked at the giant eagle's corpse, which he had kicked a hole in.

Such a powerful demon beast, even in death, should not decay so quickly. Even if it did, it shouldn’t be as fragile as tofu, let alone with feathers tougher than steel.