Chapter 1161 - Beast Horde Begins

The moment Liu Wuxie landed on the Astral Moon Bird's back, he clamped his legs around its body and gripped its feathers, refusing to let go no matter how violently it bucked and twisted.

The bird's long beak couldn't reach its own back, so it thrashed and jerked, trying to throw him off. It beat its wings hard, soaring into the sky and rolling through the air in wild, frantic maneuvers.

In the end, it dove straight down from the clouds.

Time dragged on as Liu Wuxie held fast. The bird's fury mounted until it decided that it would rather die than submit to a human. That stubbornness was in its nature.

"Damn it!" Liu Wuxie growled. He hadn't expected that the Astral Moon Bird was

this

unyielding.

If they hit the bottom of a cliff, they would die. Even Transcendent Realm cultivators couldn't fly, let alone someone at the Heaven Profound Realm. Even if he survived the fall, he would be trapped forever.

Looking at the situation, taming the bird by ordinary means was hopeless. He tried communicating through divine sense and even beast language, but each attempt was met with outright rejection.

Forcing it would only drive it to choose mutual destruction.

If he couldn't tame a lesser astral beast, how could he possibly subdue the Astral Moon Bird's king to escape Anlu Star?

The teleportation array was inside the castle, inaccessible without Yu Wentai's order. With Yu Wentai's high Origin Conversion Realm strength, Liu Wuxie stood no chance against him. In fact, even the bird king fell short against him. Otherwise, the camp could have survived the yearly beast horde with only minor losses of some stones and slaves.

"Ghost Eye—Soul Capture Art!" Liu Wuxie made his choice. The risk was high; he had just strengthened the Ghost Eye, so reckless use could injure his soul sea.

If he could perform the Conversion Art, taming the bird would be effortless.

An invisible wave of soul energy shot from his Ghost Eye, burrowing into the bird's mind. His divine sense followed, forcing its way into the creature's soul sea. He couldn't devour its soul, but altering its will was enough.

He poured faith energy into the bird's soul sea, eroding its hostility. It reeled under a dizzying, alien sensation that it couldn't understand.

The cliff's edge rushed toward them. Wind howled in Liu Wuxie's ears as the walls blurred past. If he couldn't tame it before they reached the bottom, they would die together.

A hundred meters. Fifty. Twenty. Ten...

The bird's body twisted sharply upward.

Liu Wuxie bracing for death with his eyes shut felt the sudden shift in its soul sea.

The faith energy had taken hold.

"Thankfully, I gathered enough faith energy from the altar, or I would have died just now," he muttered, cold sweat beading on his brows. He hadn't tamed it entirely, but its hostility had eased.

The bird climbed skyward, riding the astral wind. Liu Wuxie patted its neck, guiding it toward the barren wasteland.

They circled for an entire day before he steered it toward the camp. What usually took a day's journey passed in an hour.

Seeing the camp lights, his chest tightened with emotion. Just twenty days ago, he nearly died here. Now, he was riding an Astral Moon Bird over its walls.

Tens of thousands of slaves rested below, unaware of the shadow passing overhead. Even the guards had returned to the castle. At night, the astral wind weakened here, but danger lingered, as this was hunting time for the birds.

"I'll be back soon," he murmured, circling once more, eyes locked on the warehouse of astral stones—his true goal. He suspected the birds would attack in a few days to seize them.

By the time he returned to the Northern Foothill Mines, it was already late. He Yingwu waited anxiously.

A gust of wind swept through as the massive bird landed inside the tunnel. He Yingwu snatched up his iron pick, ready to strike.

"Big Brother He, it's me,"Liu Wuxie said, jumping down.

"Wuxie?" He Yingwu blinked, stunned. In over a decade on Anlu Star, he had rarely seen anyone successfully tame an Astral Moon Bird.

Liu Wuxie patted the bird's neck, sending it off to rest.

"Big Brother He, only five days are left before the beast horde. We need to push our cultivation as far as we can," Liu Wuxie said. He didn't explain the taming process, and He Yingwu didn't ask as well.

Their primary focus was the impending beast horde in five days.

"Indeed. But without a weapon, my strength will be severely limited," He Yingwu admitted. For now, he still needed to rely on weapons unless he comprehended a mythical art.

"Take a look at this." Liu Wuxie handed him an interspatial ring.

He Yingwu's divine sense swept inside, and his eyes went wide.

"Where did you get this?" he asked in shock. Interspatial rings were rare here.

"The birds have eaten many humans over the years. They can't digest rings, so they spit them out. I found this one in a crack in the wasteland," Liu Wuxie said. Many guards had met that fate during past hordes.

"I see." Inside, He Yingwu found astral stones and several longswords, perfect for him.

Over the past few days, Liu Wuxie had collected more than ten such rings, though none held many stones; the guards here were far from wealthy. They likely assigned anyone with no backing to Anlu Star.

They spent the remaining days in cultivation. With a sword in hand for the first time in a decade, He Yingwu trained relentlessly. His excitement was beyond words, as he was holding a weapon for the first time in a decade.

On the final day, astral beasts began to gather—Astral Moon Birds, Silverthunder Ant Beasts, and more.

"Wuxie, what's the plan?" He Yingwu asked, his eyes shining. He couldn't stand another day here.

"Wait," Liu Wuxie said. They had mined over ten thousand astral stones in recent days and handed none in; the guard likely assumed them dead.

The sky darkened as though thunderclouds rolled overhead.

"The Astral Moon Birds are attacking. Let's go!" Liu Wuxie bolted for the exit, He Yingwu on his heels.

The wasteland teemed with beasts, cutting off escape through the tunnels. Their only way out was through the main exit.

Dozens of slaves emerged from hiding, picks in hand, all hoping to tame a bird and flee this planet.

"Stop! Anyone who takes another step dies!" The mine's guard blocked the path as more than thirty slaves appeared.

"Fight him to the death!" someone shouted, and the slaves surged forward.

By the time Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu arrived, the fight was already bloody.

The guard, a sixth-level Transcendent Realm cultivator, cut them down like wheat. Corpses piled high and blood soaked the ground.

When the last fell, he turned toward Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu.

"Go back, or you'll end up like them!" he warned, his hands dripping red.

The ground shook under the charge of the beasts.

"Kill!" He Yingwu roared, lunging with his longsword.

"You're courting death!" the guard bellowed, swinging his blade. His aura alone, at the sixth Transcendent, kept He Yingwu from closing in.

Steel met steel in a deafening crash, and the impact hurled He Yingwu back.

"You'll both die!" the guard snarled, stepping forward and bringing his blade down.

Liu Wuxie stayed calm. The Heretic Blade appeared in his hand, and its presence made the guard stiffen.

"Origin Blade!" Liu Wuxie's strike was deadly yet straightforward, making the guard's hair stand on end.

In the Astral Domain, it wasn't among the top-tier techniques, but against this guard, it was more than enough.