At a high alt.i.tude, a fire-red scorching sun was suspended on high. The world in between was sunny and cloudless.
On a faraway mountain, a sea of clouds rolled, a fog curled about, enshrouding it within a dense white mist. It was extremely odd, for within the rolling clouds, the mist was even thicker. A person practically could not see their hand in front of them inside the vast expanse of whiteness.
There was a sudden surge inside that rolling sea of clouds. Gradually, bright and multi-colored light shot out. An enormous hole was opened up in the clouds, and from inside the hole came the faint sound of something ethereal, making people hear and see clearly, and their minds turn happy. Particularly, when the large hole opened, a concentrated Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi scattered in all directions, cleaning out the entire center radius of a dozen li. A clear scenery revealed itself, one of green mountains and clear waters. Every kind of flower grew on the mountain, cranes flew and the luans called out. The Immortal Deer howled, the Jade Rabbit dashed. This was a fairyland on earth, however, this fairyland on earth with a range of a hundred li was like a mirage, faintly distorting, giving people a sort of feeling of it being unreal.
"This is Evil Smiting Hall?"
Su Xing peered into the distance at that fairyland on earth, gasping in amazement.
Having come to Liangshan for this long, seeing so many odd things, he thought he could have grown accustomed to it, but a pleasant surprise was always continuous. The scene before him could seemingly only appear in a dream world.
An Suwen walked up beside him, dressed in a simple and elegant blue skirt, her eyes showing some joy: "This should be the Fairyland Spirit Platform."1
"Fairyland Spirit Platform?" Su Xing felt An Suwen"s Star Beast was very unordinary upon hearing this name, quite steeped in Immortal Qi: "Could it be that Suwen"s Star Beast lives inside the Fairyland Spirit Platform?"
"Some are so." An Suwen nodded.
Su Xing smiled. That actually was pretty good. A Star General"s Star Beasts were of many sorts and varieties. The Evil Smiting Writ was decided generally according to the environment a Star Beast lived in and was not at all fixed. Although a Star General could seek for a Star Beast based on characteristics, as far as the Su Xing presently racing against time was concerned, since coming to this fairyland, he actually did not save much time.
The Star Beast An Suwen wanted to find in the fairyland was a sort of Immortal Elk named "Good Fortune."2 It was fond of living inside luxuriant jungles, and legend said that those who saw it could receive its fortune and become famous. Furthermore, acting as the Efficacious Star An Suwen"s Star Beast, it could allow An Suwen"s medicine refinement and treatments even more powerful.
The Fire Beacon Chariot flew to the limit of Fairyland Spirit Platform. Wherever their eyes swept, they spotted many Spirit Beasts roaming about inside the Fairyland. Su Xing"s heart itched as he watched, however, the deeper they went into the Fairyland, the more lush it was. Bundled up tight, Su Xing could not see through it clearly.
"Big Brother, let us go down and search." An Suwen said.
Su Xing nodded. Suddenly, he heard a heaven shaking bird cry.
Turning his head to look, he was suddenly greatly startled.
He only saw an enormous Bird Beast fly fiercely from behind. This hawk possessed two heads. The feathers over its whole body were like dragon scales, twinkling with golden light. Its two wings spread open, with a wingspan reaching thirty-four meters, soaring high. It opened its two talons, about to grab Su Xing.
The Fire Beacon Chariot immediately flew downwards.
The hawk"s talons s.n.a.t.c.hed empty air, but this bird of prey was very experienced. Its other talon then extended. Su Xing saw this was bad, and the twelve Langya flashed forth, linking together into a single ma.s.sive sword to block. He felt a burst of blood bubble in his throat. This Hawk Beast"s strength was extremely strong, one talon strike was somewhat unbearable for the Life-cast Flying Swords.
Su Xing instantly made the Fire Beacon Chariot descend into the forest.
The hawk"s cries filled the vast sky.
Langya was struck and dispersed.
He felt a cold wind blow behind him, as if it could get close to him at any time. The wind was like a blade, scratching over his whole body and turning it cold.
Su Xing descended into the forest, yet the double-headed bird did not let them go. Its two sharp talons slashed inside wildly. The ancient trees reaching the firmaments were pulled out by the roots, and every sort of rare beast inside the forest scattered in fright. The Fairyland forest was a wild mess.
An Suwen turned her head, delicately gestured with her finger, and she released the Child And Mother Linked Hearts Needles.
Silver light jumped about, the five needles simultaneously launched.
The double-headed hawk could not put up a defense and was stuck in its talons by the needles. This Fierce Beast angrily cried, pressed with its claw and nearly grabbed hold of the Fire Beacon Chariot. An Suwen again used the Child And Mother Linked Hearts Needles. Let alone that the might of the Child And Mother Linked Hearts was weak, the place that the Efficacious Star"s attack landed was on an acupuncture point of weakness. When the needle stuck in, even the double-headed hawk would be exceptionally pained. Several blinks of the eye later, the double-headed bird stopped. It soared high, turned around and flew out of the forest.
Feeling that the Fire Beacon Chariot was somewhat not too convenient, Su Xing simply controlled Langya. The flying speed of the Life-cast Flying Swords simply could not be compared.
"The double-headed hawk seems to have left." An Suwen turned her head about and did not see the double-headed bird.
"It didn"t leave!" Su Xing cast a glance. Through the small gaps in the foliage, he could see there was a giant creature of golden light quietly flapping its wings high in the sky. Its two heads and four eyes stared at Su Xing.
This sort of feeling of being stared at was very familiar, rousing Su Xing"s pilot"s instincts.
He had been locked onto!
"Suwen, hold onto me tightly!" Su Xing immediately said.
When An Suwen heard Su Xing"s grave tone, she quickly wrapped her arms around Su Xing"s waist and stuck her graceful body tightly against his. At this time, Su Xing completely did not have the mind to enjoy this sort of luck with women. His hands struck a hand seal, and the Langya"s Immortal Light rippled.
The hawk cried!
An air-breaking whistle.
The double-headed bird suddenly became aggressive, an unstoppable hurricane as it plunged into the forest. Transient, it fell into the forest. An Suwen saw a golden light press down from above, and the forest around her had been uprooted by the powerful whirlwind. The golden rays of light pa.s.sed by her line of sight. Before the Child And Mother Linked Hearts Needles could launch an attack, they were blown away by the gale. A heaven concealing bird claw grabbed from above, about to grab the two.
An Suwen raised one hand to prepare another counterattack, "Just hold on tight to me!" Su Xing seriously said.
"En."
An Suwen hugged Su Xing tightly.
The double-headed bird"s hunting speed this time honestly was too quick. Its bird talons instantly were about to grab them both.
At that last possible second, Su Xing"s body slightly swayed, brushing past the smallest gap between the talons to fly out. The double-headed bird was worthy of being called a Spirit Beast. Its other talon then followed up with another grab, completely without any chance to block it. If it was an ordinary Star Cultivator, successive claws certainly was inescapable misfortune, but Su Xing had foreseen this. All of a sudden, he came to an abrupt stop, luckily missing the sharp talon"s grab.
When the other hawk talon grabbed from behind, the Flying Sword made a ninety degree turn upwards, pa.s.sing right between the twin heads of the double headed hawk.
The double-headed bird raised its wings. Possessing two heads, its reactions were exceptionally quick. The talons were dazzling and covered everything, but Su Xing urged on that serene light of the Flying Sword like a leaf in the middle of the ocean. Undoubtedly, it looked as if he would be overturned at any moment, yet he braved the waves.
An Suwen"s eyes blurred, but everything about Su Xing"s Flying Sword control manner that was as easy as if he was lifting weights brought amazement. The Flying Sword beneath their feet was controlled like an arm, even more nimble than walking. Every sort of complex, high difficulty Flying Sword maneuver was unprecedented to An Suwen, bringing her a sort of completely new experience.
Seeing that excited smile on the corner of Su Xing"s mouth, An Suwen"s heart welled up with a warm feeling.
He flew loops around the double-headed birds surroundings. Su Xing"s ten fingers flicked, continously shooting out purple thunder and purple qi. This was the first time in its life that the double headed bird had been toyed around with by its prey. It angrily cried, and its two bird heads at this time seemed to appear to diverge. Suddenly, each cried. One wanted to go left, the other wanted to go right. The result was that its advance bogged down.
Su Xing seized this chance to break away from the double-headed bird.
Su Xing descended towards the sea"s surface. He stored the Flying Swords, and his two arms hugged An Suwen.
An Suwen softly sighed, both her arms wrapping around Su Xing"s neck. She sweetly said: "Big Brother, you truly are reckless."
"It"s been so long since I"ve had this feeling of piloting a dogfighter."3 Su Xing laughed.
"What is a dogfighter?"4 An Suwen blinked her eyes, "Is it a kind of Spirit Beast?"
"A kind of mechanical puppet that can fly."
“Big Brother, your flying movements just now were very strange." An Suwen had never heard of a dogfighter. Su Xing"s Riding Sword Flight at first gave Suwen a profound impression. Moving up and down, three hundred sixty degree turns, straight reverse and other maneuvers honestly were a world apart from Liangshan Continent"s mainstream Riding Sword Flight. Although many Star Cultivators could execute every sort of difficult Riding Sword maneuver, no one would could do this as perfectly as Su Xing could.
What most made An Suwen pay attention was that at the same time her Big Brother was on his riding sword, his other Life-cast Flying Swords still could hover nearby on standby. Not only did this not disturb his Flying Sword maneuvers, on the contrary, there were times they would even execute fatal attacks. He practically seemed brilliant. Otherwise, no one would believe they were able to break away from the double headed golden hawk by just relying on Flying Swords.
How could the Efficacious Star know that Su Xing treated Riding Sword Flight the same as operating a fightercraft, and the other Flying Swords were treated as missiles. As far as these simple maneuvers were concerned, they naturally posed him no difficulty.
It was a pity that although Su Xing could control a flying sword like a jet, he was only limited to confronting this sort of Demon Beast that had inadequate ability, "Was that the Striking Hawk"s5 Star Beast just now?" Su Xing was astonished: "This double-headed hawk is honestly fierce. What if we encounter the Striking Hawk soon?"
The previous two times, he had each encountered Damage Star White Stripe in the Waves Zhang Yuqi, Guard Star Little Restrained Mu Duiying, Skilful Star Jade Armed Craftsman Jin Qiongyu and Black Whirlwind Li Kui. This Evil Smiting Hall was worthy of being called the place where Star Generals became complete. At any time, they could encounter a Star Maiden, and Su Xing was curious what Star General he would encounter next.
An Suwen shook her head: "The Star Beasts inside the Fairyland are all very powerful, especially this kind of flying Star Beast where if she does not have a Star Master, to capture it would be extremely difficult."
Su Xing held the same feelings.
"Never mind, let"s go find your Good Fortune, Little Sister." Su Xing looked around in all directions at the azure sea. At the end of this ocean was another hazy fairyland in Immortal Qi, with strange trees, galaxies flowing about, red-crowned cranes flying back and forth, auspicious clouds and lights all faintly visible.
"Big Brother, set Suwen down, you will get tired." An Suwen tenderly said.
"Suwen, your body is very soft, no weight at all." Su Xing used "Wandering The Clear Skies" to fly over the sea, so as to avoid startling the other flying Star Beasts inside the Fairyland. His tone was gentle and warm: "Let Big Brother hug you."
When An Suwen heard Su Xing"s words, red clouds flew across her fair cheeks. She nodded, allowing Su Xing to embrace her. As far as An Suwen was concerned, the last time Su Xing carried her like this was all the way back when they pa.s.sed through Grindstone Mountain"s mechanism, but at that time, their relationship was still separated with a paperthin layer. An Suwen was only slightly embarra.s.sed. Now, at this time and place, the Efficacious Star"s heart nevertheless flourished with a springwater sweetness.
She liked this, yet she was also somewhat nervous.
An Suwen"s arms wrapped even tighter, and she buried her head into Su Xing"s chest, silent.
- 仙境靈臺 ↩
- 福祿 ↩
- 戰鬥機 ↩
- 戰鬥雞, this is a pun with what Su Xing said. An Suwen doesn"t know what a jet is, so she misinterprets Su Xing"s words as "fighter chicken" rather than "jet fighter." To keep the pun intact, I decided to use "dogfighter." ↩
- 撲天雕 ↩