Hiding far away in the bushes ready to escape at any moment, Jiang Yuan gazed at the mine from a distance. His eyes locked onto a shadow in the sky, where the system's prompt appeared in his vision.
[Ice-winged Eagle: Low-level beast of the fourth layer of Qi Refining, fast flying speed, sharp claws like blades, capable of firing Cold Ice Feather Arrows, fearful of flames, can be tamed as a flying mount]
"This thing can be tamed?" He slowed his breathing while watching from afar, a little excited.
As the Ice-winged Eagles, silent when they spread their blue wings and soared through the air, landed, each standing nearly three meters tall, with wings spread that could launch feathered arrows at any time, they looked incredibly impressive.
They were closer to the primal form of a demon beast, unlike the Flame Rat that dressed up somewhat like a person, its long, robust claws stepping with an imposing momentum, it would definitely be awesome to tame one as a mount!
The brief battle in the mine ended in an overwhelming victory at this moment.
The Flame Rat leader's left arm was broken, seeing the tide turning with its blood-red eyes grit its sharp teeth, it slightly trembled, in disbelief, "Impossible! You've never been my match before, how could you..."
"Hahaha, weren't you just being arrogant by forcefully taking Lushan with your Heaven-Burning Flame?" The Ice-winged Eagle leader, Yun Mo, laughed skyward, adjusting the nearly transparent cloak on its body, its narrow eyes full of mocking, "With this treasure bought at a high price at the market blocking the Heaven-Burning Flame, what do I have to fear?"
Hearing its sworn enemy so smug, the Flame Rat leader's face turned green.
To think it managed to acquire a treasure to resist the Heaven-Burning Flame from the market beforehand, it's absolutely... outrageous!
It was angry, angry that despite having the upper hand, it fell to such defeat because of a single treasure;
It hated, hated its subordinates for their shortsightedness, clearly having the advantage of time, place, and harmony, possessing so many miners yet colluding to harm strong labor, causing the mining operation to have no progress leading to an inability to save enough Spirit Stone to buy weapons;
It resented, resented the heavens for being unjust!
Why was it only tonight that it found a prodigy like the blind one?
If it had been a day or two earlier, with his assistance and more strong laborers, it would have already bought the desired weapons, attacked and annihilated its sworn enemy, the Ice-winged Eagle. How would it use a treasure to rob its Spirit Stone Mine!
Yun Mo, satisfied from humiliating the defeated party, felt incredibly content.
Within several miles around Lushan, only it and its sworn enemy, the Flame Rat, were equally matched in strength and could occupy this territory at night.
Although its large body could fly and release ice arrows, unfortunately, the opponent's cultivation technique countered it. Despite being evenly matched in strength, during confrontations, it was always suppressed by the Heaven-Burning Flame, unable to defeat the filthy rat.
To compensate for this weakness, it had thought of many ways.
Fortunately, just in time for a market auction, there was a low-level ice attribute magical treasure for sale. To acquire it, even though it did not have enough Spirit Stone, it borrowed quite a bit, and the result was naturally cheerful.
Having taken down the filthy rat gang that quietly occupied the Spirit Stone Vein they had snatched from it, as long as it disarmed its subordinates, removed their sharp claws and fangs, and broke their cultivation to turn them into mining slaves, it wouldn't take long for it to secure its territory, pay off debts, and rely on mining the Spirit Stone Vein to accumulate wealth and rise to become the undisputed overlord needing no hiding even during daylight!
"You lost fair and square, rest in peace!"
With that, it swung its wings, bursting out blue ice arrows shooting straight towards the Flame Rat leader.
The opponent squinted its mouse eyes, at the critical moment, orange flames rose from under its feet to envelop itself, simultaneously detonating into dozens of fireballs that exploded everywhere, the rumbling sound was dizzying, turning the entire mine into a sea of fire.
While releasing its long-prepared ultimate move, the Flame Rat leader, with ice arrows embedded in its body, swiftly fled on the flames!
"Chase! Quickly catch that filthy rat for me!" Yun Mo clearly did not expect the opponent to still have strength, as it extinguished the incoming fireballs while flapping its wings, furiously shouting.
Jiang Yuan glanced at the map, sneaking past the mine along the cliff to pursue in the direction the Flame Rat leader was escaping.
Earlier he saw clearly, the big rat had used up its health bar to unleash its ultimate move, now its health bar was left with just a sliver and it was severely injured. If he could seize this opportunity, he could level up to 1 and justify all the effort he'd put in through the exhausting night.
Dawn was about to break, the lush wild forest was enveloped in deep blue sky light, with most nocturnal animals already hiding away, making the mountainous forest appear even more tranquil.
"Huff! Huff!"
Above, the Ice-winged Eagle occasionally circled, while beneath, the Flame Rat leader, who had traded life for a deadly strike to create an opportunity to escape, hid cautiously in the bushes, even breathing heavily with great care.
Its injuries were severe, almost unable to move, but as long as it grit its teeth a bit longer and lasted till leaving the barren land of the wilderness, as the spiritual energy in the air grew denser and the Ice-winged Eagle had to hide obediently, it could then breathe and absorb spiritual energy, cultivate, and gradually recover.
As the saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge after ten years. It shall certainly return the humiliation it suffered tonight severalfold another day!
"What a pity for my Spirit Stone Mine and so many miners..." It felt heartbroken at the thought. After finally having a wise blind one to assist, just when it began to taste success, its plans were thwarted.
Now the mine was lost, its lackeys gone, even captured humans were bound to switch loyalties to the new master.
If only it could encounter a lone human, it could restore its energy faster. Lying in the bushes, feeling the cold feather arrows sapping its heat and physical strength, it prayed silently for a weak human to feast upon.
After all, in its current feeble state, aside from helpless, yet delicious, humans with rich life energy, it didn't have the strength to hunt other food.
"Heaven bless, give me something to eat. Even if it's a scrawny child, with one satisfying meal, I'd have a better chance to overcome hardship and quickly regain power to rise again!"
Squinting to secretly check if there were any shadows of the Ice-winged Eagle still in the sky, the Flame Rat leader daydreamed.
"Rustle rustle rustle!" A series of rustling sounds came from the bushes, something small seemed to be coming towards its hiding place, its heart immediately leaped.
Oh no!
Could it be the Ice-winged Eagle chasing after it?
Dawn was almost here; it could also be another creature out early for food.
The Flame Rat leader couldn't help but tremble, it was too weak, even the tiniest crawling demon beast it usually despised could now kill it!
Lying in the bushes, its face turned ashen, its mouse eyes full of fear as it stared at the shrub's continuous movement getting closer.
"What kind of vine is this, it's too clingy..." Jiang Yuan muttered softly, tearing away at the vines wrapped around his leg, using a jujube wood stick to push aside the dense foliage, finally spotting the heavily wounded Flame Rat leader not far away.
He had almost lost track, but fortunately, he found that the map had a target marking function, so by marking and tracking the Flame Rat leader from the conversation list as a highlight, however hidden, he could see the light point representing its location flashing on the map.
Dodging the Ice-winged Eagle while approaching his target in the dawn light, as Jiang Yuan appeared in his blind guise to lower his opponent's guard, the Flame Rat leader's small eyes instantly sparkled with delighted light!
"Fantastic!" Both human and rat had heartfelt exclamations simultaneously, both feeling greatly fortunate.