Chapter 51

A dilapidated mountain range stretches for a thousand miles, occasionally trembling, with rocks rolling down and cracks appearing everywhere. Fissures spew out scorching lava, enveloped by choking white fumes. The flowing lava ignites the nearby grass and trees, sending up red flames. In the sky, countless black, ghostly birds circle, gathering in groups like dark clouds, constantly emitting harsh, unpleasant cries. This mountain range is shrouded in an aura of destruction!

In an inconspicuous valley within this mountain range, a monstrous creature with short, thick limbs and a massive body, resembling a wild bull, continuously extends its tongue to gather grass and put it into its mouth. Suddenly, the creature seems to sense something, stops chewing, and raises its head to look at a nearby large rock, its eyes filled with a wary expression. It feels a dangerous aura behind the rock. Without hesitation, the creature immediately twists its fat body and flees, letting out a panicked roar.

At the moment the creature turns, a black light shoots out from behind the rock, as swift as lightning, instantly piercing through its body. With a desperate bellow, the creature is thrust forward by the black light, crashing to the ground with a loud thud, raising a cloud of dust!

In the dust, a black figure quickly dashes from behind the rock toward the fallen creature, moving so fast that only a blur can be seen. At the same time, almost as soon as the creature falls, the gathered birds in the sky emit excited cries, flapping their huge wings and diving toward the valley.

The black figure glances at the rapidly approaching birds, cursing fiercely, "Damn it, coming to snatch food from me again, this meat is all mine!"

While cursing, the black figure runs even faster, reaching the creature's corpse in a blink. He grabs one of the creature's hind legs and pulls out a knife from inside the creature. The knife is entirely black, exuding a fierce aura, and as the black figure wields it, a string of blood droplets rolls off the blade.

The knife is completely free of blood!

The black figure quickly scrapes the creature's belly a few times with the knife. Despite the creature's thick skin and tough flesh, the black knife easily cuts through, showing its incredible sharpness!

The cries of the birds grow closer, and they are already hovering above the valley. The black figure smirks, "Hmph, scavengers, coming so fast." He grabs the creature's hind leg with one hand and holds the black knife with the other, slicing off the hind leg in one swift motion.

The black figure then quickly pulls out several bright red fruits from his pocket, crushes them, and spreads the juice all over the creature's body. After doing this, he quickly picks up the creature's hind leg and hides behind the large rock. Just as he ducks behind the rock, the birds swoop down to the creature's corpse.

From behind the rock, the black figure can see clearly that there are about dozens of these birds, each as large as a human, with shiny feathers, iron-like beaks, and sharp claws. Their eyes are piercing, and they exude an air of invincibility!

As soon as the birds reach the creature, they start pecking at its flesh. Despite the creature's incredibly tough skin, it only holds up for a moment before being torn to shreds by the birds' sharp claws and beaks. The fresh, red flesh is ripped into strips and swallowed by the birds.

As the scent of blood from the creature's corpse spreads, more birds are attracted, descending from the sky. Soon, the creature's corpse is surrounded by layers of birds. This once large creature is now not enough to feed them all. To fight for food, the birds begin to peck and fight each other, causing a chaotic scene with black feathers flying and continuous cries.

Suddenly, the circle of birds disperses, and the outer birds flap their wings and retreat. Three birds, each twice the size of the others, with a tuft of golden feathers on their heads, dig their sharp claws deep into the creature's flesh and bones, dragging the half-eaten corpse through the circle and flying away. Despite being half-eaten, the creature still weighs over a hundred pounds, showing the incredible strength of these birds.

Seeing their food being taken, the remaining birds become agitated, emitting shrill cries, and chase after the three golden-feathered birds. The birds in the sky, seeing this, also turn and fly toward the three birds with the food, causing the entire sky to erupt in chaos!

The black figure watches this scene, cursing, "Damn, just because you're bigger, you think you can eat alone? You're not the leader, and you deserve to be attacked. Sigh, what a waste of my medicinal fruits!" While cursing, he cuts a piece of meat from the creature's hind leg and chews it, the bloody taste almost making him vomit. But he tightly closes his mouth, chews quickly, and swallows the raw meat, then cuts another piece.

At this moment, a voice rings in his mind, "Tang Xiaojiu, don't you feel disgusted? I clearly saw you stab the creature in the anus to kill it!"

This black figure is indeed Tang Xiaojiu, and the voice belongs to Liu Shi, who resides in his mind palace. This mountain range, filled with a destructive aura, is the Duan Ci Mountain, where they have been for over three months.

Tang Xiaojiu continues to cut and eat the creature's hind leg meat, saying indifferently, "Didn't you see me scrape the creature's body twice after pulling out the knife? Besides, I'm not making you eat it, so why are you making a fuss?" As he speaks, he stuffs more raw meat into his mouth, making exaggerated swallowing sounds, and wipes the creature's blood from the corners of his mouth.

Liu Shi sighs, "Tang Xiaojiu, I have to admit, I admire you. I was wrong to say you were afraid of death. You're not afraid of death; you're determined to survive. You've managed to survive in this Duan Ci Mountain... How does the creature's meat feel in terms of replenishing your qi and blood?"

Tang Xiaojiu licks his lips, "Hmph, this Duan Ci Mountain isn't much different from the three streets of Qinglong Temple. You either survive by skill or by wit. Eating this creature's meat doesn't feel like it's doing anything for my qi and blood. It's a herbivore, after all. I've said it before, I need to find a carnivorous creature. Speaking of which, those scavenger birds are the ones that really make me feel something! Using the creature's corpse as bait, I didn't expect those three fools to fly away with it, leaving me with nothing. What a waste, I should have dragged the creature away myself!"

Liu Shi says, "The Mie Meng birds have a trace of ancient bloodline, though they haven't become demons yet. The residual aura in their blood is the most useful for you."

The Mie Meng birds are the strange birds in the sky, unique to Duan Ci Mountain. They reproduce easily and are numerous. These birds are large and extremely fierce. Each chick, upon hatching, pecks its parents to death and feeds on their blood and flesh as its first meal. Once grown, they feed exclusively on flesh. Mie Meng birds are social and have no leader. They gather in groups and, when prey appears, they swarm and fight over the food. The weaker ones often starve and are pecked to death by their hungry companions.

When Tang Xiaojiu first arrived at Duan Ci Mountain, he was caught off guard by a Mie Meng bird that grabbed his shoulders and carried him into the air. The bird was incredibly strong, easily carrying the thin Tang Xiaojiu, and its claws dug into his flesh. Despite his struggles, he was helpless, and his cries only attracted more birds.

Seeing Tang Xiaojiu about to be pecked to death, the bird that had grabbed him suddenly turned and flew away from the flock, diving into a valley and dropping Tang Xiaojiu. It then flew back toward the flock, pecking and clawing several birds, blinding them and tearing out their feathers.

The blinded birds let out piercing cries, alarming the surrounding birds, which quickly retreated, surrounding the crazed bird. With a fierce look in their eyes, they attacked the crazed bird, tearing it to pieces with their beaks and claws, and even eating the blinded birds.

This crazed bird was controlled by Liu Shi's magic, saving Tang Xiaojiu's life. However, Liu Shi had already exhausted his magic, and this forced use left him unconscious for several days before he recovered.

When Liu Shi woke up, he found Tang Xiaojiu covered in injuries and blood, hiding in a secluded cave, trembling and gripping the black knife, his eyes fixed on the cave entrance. Liu Shi called out to him, and Tang Xiaojiu immediately jumped up, shouting and swinging the black knife wildly.

Liu Shi called out several times, "Tang Xiaojiu, it's me! It's me!" before Tang Xiaojiu finally calmed down but then fainted. He had not slept for five days since that incident. When he finally woke up, he found a fruit tree near the cave, ate a few fruits, and slowly regained his strength. Liu Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

Tang Xiaojiu finally couldn't hold back his tears, questioning Liu Shi why he brought him to this hellish place and what he wanted him to do. Liu Shi didn't answer immediately. He waited until Tang Xiaojiu cried himself out, slept for a while, and calmed down before giving an answer that left Tang Xiaojiu speechless: the only thing to do in Duan Ci Mountain was to survive!