Chapter 152: Join Us
Su Yizhao pursued relentlessly.
Crossing countless towns, he ventured deep into the forest.
While the hawk-beast was naturally fast, its disembodied soul proved even faster.
Through his spiritual sense, seventy or eighty miles away, the miniature hawk actually executed sporadic spatial teleports!
A single teleport covered over ten miles!
On several occasions, he almost lost its trail.
For four days and three nights, they penetrated a million miles deep.
Suddenly.
The miniature hawk came to a halt!
Could it be out of energy?
Su Yizhao was overjoyed. His figure flickered continuously, and within four or five breaths, he crossed thirty or forty miles.
At a distance of fifty to sixty miles, his spells were already within striking range!
Yet the miniature hawk made no attempt to flee!
Just then, the miniature hawk took a deep breath, opened its beak, and shrieked, "Screech!"
The piercing cry echoed across a radius of a hundred miles!
Su Yizhao inwardly cursed.
Throughout the flight, his spiritual sense had barely detected any formidable demonic beasts.
I grew careless!
He thought to himself.
His top priority was to prevent it from summoning reinforcements!
With that thought, within his Niwan Palace, the towering soul giant more than ten zhang tall moved its hands in frantic incantations.
Gray soul energy continuously converged across the giant's form.
"Sacrifice!"
A soul-condensed flying sword instantly surged out of his Niwan Palace.
"Screech—"
Seeming to sense danger, the miniature hawk shrieked even louder.
Su Yizhao flashed forward, and the soul flying sword vanished into the void!
"You destroyed my physical body! You shall die! Azure Dragon Commandery must pay in blood!" The miniature hawk suddenly twisted its head and declared to him.
At that exact moment, the void before the miniature hawk's face tore open, and the flying sword thrust out instantaneously.
Su Yizhao was ecstatic!
An out-of-body soul was typically fragile—how could it possibly withstand this?
Just as the flying sword was about to strike, a soft sound of "whoosh" rang out, and the soul flying sword met with massive resistance, instantly shattering into dust!
A human figure materialized out of thin air beside the hawk.
Su Yizhao shuddered and stared intently!
The cultivator wore a furry Daoist robe, his eyes gleaming like stars, and he was examining Su Yizhao closely.
Damn it!
What kind of cultivation realm was this?
Su Yizhao fixed his gaze on the man's right hand.
Just a moment ago, a flick of that right index finger across the empty air had instantly shattered his soul flying sword.
Such strength!
It was overwhelmingly, unexpectedly formidable!
Soul attacks were naturally countered most effectively by soul power.
To shatter one using other forces required absolute, overwhelming suppression!
Clearly, this cultivator had achieved just that!
"Ancestor, kill him! He destroyed my physical body!" the miniature hawk demanded viciously.
Su Yizhao hastily raised his guard.
"Brat! You've got some nerve!" the cultivator spoke. "You must be Su Yizhao?"
Su Yizhao was utterly stunned!
Damn it!
Am I really that famous?
Every random demonic beast I run into knows me!
"Ancestor, forget who he is! Kill him, I want revenge!"
The miniature hawk was completely bewildered!
Why was the Ancestor, who had always shown zero mercy to human cultivators, talking so much today?
"Shut up!" the cultivator rebuked softly. "Surpassing your opponent by a major realm, yet getting your physical body destroyed and running around naked as a mere soul—aren't you ashamed to call yourself a hawk?"
The miniature hawk froze in disbelief!
No!
There had to be a hidden reason!
Weren't they supposed to wipe him out first and lecture him later?
Besides, as long as they killed him, any shame the hawk suffered would be well worth it!
Su Yizhao was equally baffled!
He wanted to seize the chance to flee, but he felt an invisible aura locking onto him, warning him that the slightest movement would invite a fatal blow.
He couldn't escape!
Just then, a red figure streaked through the air from behind!
The newcomer was none other than Qin Hongyi.
She had just arrived, only to instantly realize the atmosphere was entirely wrong!
Daring not to speak, she tightly pressed herself behind Su Yizhao!
"Screech—"
"Screech—"
Suddenly, from the distance, wave after wave of piercing hawk cries rang out.
Gales whipped up as dense black dots rapidly approached from afar.
Su Yizhao's heart sank.
Hawks!
Countless hawks!
Each one was ten zhang in size, and none had transformed into human form!
They were in their true demonic beast states!
Within mere breaths, over a hundred hawks surrounded the two of them!
Ten zhang in size!
These were Ninth Void Realm existences!
Su Yizhao and Qin Hongyi didn't even dare to breathe loudly!
Trapped in the heart of a hawk's nest!
Damn it!
How were they supposed to break through this?
Seeing this, the miniature hawk was overjoyed and shouted, "Fellow clansmen, kill him! Tear him to pieces and leave not even his soul behind!"
The complexions of Su Yizhao and Qin Hongyi underwent a drastic change!
Yet, to their astonishment, not a single hawk responded!
Over a hundred hawks fixed their sharp, brilliant eyes entirely on Su Yizhao!
Suffocating!
Su Yizhao felt an immense, suffocating pressure!
This was equivalent to facing a hundred Ninth Void Realm cultivators!
Forget fighting!
Even escaping was a pipe dream!
"What is the meaning of this, everyone? Kill him and avenge me!"
The miniature hawk was utterly perplexed!
"Shut your beak!" the cultivator commanded. "Another realm-defying prodigy has emerged among humans! It's you, isn't it?"
Su Yizhao was dumbfounded!
How could these demonic beasts be so well-informed?
Despite his terror, he still cupped his fists and said, "Senior flatters me!"
Since the other party had called him out by name, it would be impolite not to respond!
Even as enemies, basic courtesy had to be maintained!
The cultivator seemed rather appreciative of his manners and smiled. "A realm-defying prodigy! How about joining us instead?"
Qin Hongyi's delicate body trembled violently!
The miniature hawk froze!
The entire sky plunged into a dead silence!
Su Yizhao's face stiffened in utter disbelief!
Were realm-defying prodigies really this arrogant?
He had just killed one of their clansmen, yet he didn't even have to face consequences?
The real question was, how could he possibly join them?
Would that even work?
"Hhehaha! A human has already joined us in the deep sea, so you can certainly join us as well!" The cultivator seemed to read his thoughts.
Su Yizhao shook his head.
He still had his principles!
Joining them—what would that make him?
A traitor?
A turncoat?
That would ruin his reputation!
"Join us, and all the resources of this entire forest will be yours to take! Otherwise...!"
The cultivator paused, the threat in his words crystal clear.
Su Yizhao was deeply tempted!
The resources of an entire forest!
That was far more generous than the Profound Heaven Sect!
Mystic stones! Heavenly treasures! Even ten-thousand-year-old divine wood roots!
With such resources piled up, he was confident he could skyrocket his realm to an unimaginable height in a short time!
However!
He still shook his head. "Otherwise what?"
The cultivator sighed. "Otherwise, the top three of our hawk clan's younger generation will join forces to eliminate you!"
Su Yizhao was instantly startled!
Damn it!
Did they really need to go through all that trouble?
Couldn't you just flick your finger and finish me off?
"A realm-defying prodigy, once matured, will benefit the entire Pure Wind Continent, so I won't make a move, and anyone above the Tenth Void Realm is forbidden from interfering! But proper tempering is necessary. If you can't survive it, you die!"
Su Yizhao understood!
A realm-defying prodigy was likely meant to represent the Pure Wind Continent in competitions against other continents, which was why such rules existed between the factions!
That worked for him!
He let out a bold laugh and said, "Senior, please return!"
The cultivator sighed softly, picked up the miniature hawk beside him, turned around, and vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye!
"Screech—"
"Screech—"
Piercing hawk cries echoed, and the dense swarm of giant hawks began to depart one by one.
In an instant, only three giant hawks remained in the sky!
Su Yizhao pulled Qin Hongyi behind him!
Were these three the top trio of the younger hawk generation?
Su Yizhao raised his voice and asked, "Three fellow daoists, can this companion of mine leave now?"
He pointed to Qin Hongyi behind him.
Qin Hongyi pressed her soft body closer against his back!
"Screech—" One of the hawks raised its head and screeched, "She must die too! Furthermore, you are forbidden from fleeing. If you run, we will slaughter Azure Dragon Commandery to the last soul!"
Su Yizhao shuddered violently!
What kind of logic was this?
No wait!
Did these creatures even understand logic?