Chapter 8

After practicing all night, the group continued their journey after eating breakfast the next morning.

Seeing that Ye Shang had started meditating again, Qin Zhen also continued to meditate. He, like Ye Shang, had an intense desire for cultivation. In the past, he couldn't cultivate, but now that he could, his thirst for power was no less than Ye Shang's.

The next two days were relatively quiet. Some beasts that blocked their path were eliminated by the guard team. Every evening when they rested, Ye Shang would go out to hunt some game. He would share some with the guards and also give some to Qin Zhen.

Qin Zhen accepted the food Ye Shang gave him and didn't refuse the wine, but as usual, there was little verbal communication between the two.

After setting off again, Ye Shang noticed that Qin Zhen was taking a Pei Yuan Pill to cultivate, and he was slightly moved. What else could pills be used for if not to enhance one's strength? Taking pills to boost one's strength was the best way to maximize benefits.

Realizing this, Ye Shang also took a pill to cultivate. At this point, his cultivation was already close to the third level of the Qi Condensation stage.

Just as Ye Shang and the others were diligently cultivating, a beast's roar echoed, followed by a violent shaking of the carriage.

The team leader, Qiu Zhen, changed his expression. "Don't move." He then opened the carriage door and led the guards out.

The two guards protecting Qin Zhen also changed their expressions. They could tell from the roar that the attacking beast was unusual. Otherwise, the Wind Tiger, a second-stage peak tamed beast, wouldn't have caused such a disturbance. The carriage tilting was the result of the Wind Tiger lying down.

The battle began, and the carriage flipped over. Ye Shang grabbed the window frame to avoid falling like the others. However, only the two young men in the carriage were thrown around, while Qin Zhen was held back by his guards.

"Bad! This is a Blue-Winged Eagle, with the bloodline of the ancient Blue-Winged Peng." One of Qin Zhen's guards growled through the window.

"Can't the guards kill it?" Qin Zhen frowned and asked.

"I can't tell its cultivation level. Perhaps only the team leader can hold it off, but it will be difficult to kill it," one of Qin Zhen's guards replied.

Leaning against the window, Ye Shang could see the situation outside. The Blue-Winged Eagle was already engaged in battle with the guards.

The Blue-Winged Eagle's wings spanned five to six zhang wide, and its sharp claws gleamed like blades.

As Ye Shang watched, the Blue-Winged Eagle swung its head, breaking a guard's long sword with its beak and flinging the guard away. The guard's chest caved in, and he spat blood, clearly on the verge of death.

"Attack its outer thighs," Qiu Zhen shouted.

It was a sharp observation. Ye Shang also noticed that the Blue-Winged Eagle's sharp claws could only attack front and back, and its outer thighs were out of reach. Although its wings could also attack, the threat was smaller and wouldn't be fatal.

Qiu Zhen faced the Blue-Winged Eagle head-on, moving so quickly that Ye Shang could hardly see his movements.

One by one, the guards were thrown back by the Blue-Winged Eagle's wings, but the beast couldn't withstand their relentless attacks. In a short time, several cuts appeared on its wings and legs, some of them deep.

"At this moment, if someone attacks its cloaca, the effect would be better," Ye Shang said after observing.

Qin Zhen's two guards were startled and turned to look at Ye Shang. Then the one with the long face spoke, "Li Song, you protect the young master. I'll go help. If we fail, none of us will be safe."

"Alright! Be careful, Guan Xiong," Li Song nodded.

Qin Zhen's long-faced guard, Guan Xiong, pushed open the carriage door and dashed toward the Blue-Winged Eagle's tail.

The cloaca Ye Shang mentioned was located below the Blue-Winged Eagle's tail, where it defecated.

Guan Xiong caught the Blue-Winged Eagle off guard and struck with his long sword, which sank entirely into the cloaca.

The Blue-Winged Eagle roared and pressed down with its tail, trying to sweep Guan Xiong away, but Guan Xiong held onto the sword and wouldn't let go.

The Blue-Winged Eagle roared, yes, roared! This was the difference between the Blue-Winged Eagle and other bird beasts—it roared, not chirped.

The Blue-Winged Eagle's body was massive, and the wound to its cloaca was superficial, but Guan Xiong's shaking caused it intense pain. Meanwhile, Qiu Zhen intercepted its head, preventing it from attacking Guan Xiong.

After several attempts to shake Guan Xiong off, the Blue-Winged Eagle endured a few more attacks and then spread its wings to take off. At this moment, Guan Xiong quickly let go, as the Blue-Winged Eagle's cloaca clamped down, making it impossible to pull the sword out.

The Blue-Winged Eagle fled, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The injured were bandaged, and those who were not injured worked together to right the carriage.

"Brother Guan, thank you this time. If you hadn't acted, we would have been wiped out," Qiu Zhen said, his face grim. Several guards were injured, and earlier, the Blue-Winged Eagle's beak and claws had claimed the lives of two guards.

"Captain Qiu, you can't just thank me. It was Ye Shang who identified the Blue-Winged Eagle's weakness," Guan Xiong said without bowing.

"Ye Shang? You... have a keen eye," Qiu Zhen said, looking at Ye Shang with some surprise.

"I used to hunt. When fighting beasts, it's important to leverage strengths and avoid weaknesses. If someone with speed had attacked its cloaca and held on, we could have driven it away without casualties," Ye Shang explained.

"You're right. This beast is already at the pseudo-core stage. If it were at the Core Formation stage, we would have been in real trouble," Qiu Zhen said, still feeling a bit scared. This was his first time encountering such a dangerous situation on his way to Dan Ding City.

After the attack by the Blue-Winged Eagle, the team suffered heavy losses. Two guards were dead, and the three Wind Tigers pulling the first carriage were killed. They had to unload one Wind Tiger from the second and third carriages, so each carriage was now pulled by two beasts.

After burying the two guards, the team continued their journey.

Sharing a carriage with Ye Shang, Qiu Zhen and the other guards became much friendlier to him.

Witnessing the power of the Blue-Winged Eagle, Ye Shang was shaken. They had only been out for a few days, and the road ahead was unknown. If he had joined a merchant caravan, the danger would have been even greater, as the strength of the merchant guild's guards was far inferior to that of the city lord's guards.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey was relatively smooth. Ye Shang also witnessed the skills of Qiu Zhen and the others, including the use of steel crossbows, poisons, and other tactics. When they encountered powerful beasts, Qiu Zhen and the others didn't engage in a direct fight. The Blue-Winged Eagle was an exception, as it was a powerful flying beast that caught them off guard.

After another rest, Qiu Zhen informed everyone that they were three days away from Dan Ding City, which meant they were almost safe. There were no beast attacks near Dan Ding City, and the distance from Dan Ding City to Medicine Valley was not far.

"Captain Qiu, the distance between Chi Yan City and Dan Ding City is so great. It's really difficult to travel back and forth, especially for those with insufficient cultivation," Ye Shang said with a sigh.

"This time we have more people. If it were just a few, we could have used flying tamed beasts," Qiu Zhen said with a smile.

Hearing this, Ye Shang was startled. Yes, there were tamed leopards, lions, and Wind Tigers, so flying beasts could also be tamed.

"Really a bumpkin. If it weren't for my uncle's care, you wouldn't even be able to come to Dan Ding City," Qin Hai said sarcastically, seeing Ye Shang's surprised expression.