Chapter 776: Encounter

There was still an adult Red-Tailed Crane left guarding the nest.

Qin Sang climbed silently, approaching the nest.

The Red-Tailed Crane on duty stood at the edge of a crevice, watching the chase unfolding below. Sensing something, it turned its head and looked toward Qin Sang’s hiding spot.

Qin Sang had long been aware of how keen the Red-Tailed Crane’s spiritual senses were. Realizing he had been exposed, he immediately activated the secret talisman and lunged toward the crevice at full speed.

The evasion light rapidly expanded within the Red-Tailed Crane’s eyes.

The Red-Tailed Crane raised its head and let out a sharp cry. Its wings spread wide. Just as it took off from the crevice, a ball of black fire hurtled toward it.

The aura emanating from the fireball filled it with dread.

In a panic, the Red-Tailed Crane whipped its long tail forcefully. The crimson tail flared like a burning fan, trailing a brilliant red glow as it lashed out.

Boom!

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells erupted.

With a miserable shriek, the Red-Tailed Crane was blasted backward. The red glow was torn apart by the devilish flames, and most of the feathers on its beautiful tail were scorched off, leaving it looking like a pitiful bald crane.

Despite its wretched appearance, the Red-Tailed Crane hadn’t suffered any serious injuries. It quickly regained balance and flipped mid-air, ready to intercept Qin Sang again, only to find that the evasion light had already dashed into the nest too fast to stop.

The Red-Tailed Crane shrieked furiously.

On the ground, the Two-Headed Hou was scrambling for its life, conjuring illusionary clones one after another to divert the Red-Tailed Cranes’ attention. Even so, it still bore several claw marks on its back, looking utterly disheveled as it fled.

It finally reached the valley and, without hesitation, leapt into the water.

The Red-Tailed Cranes sensed an intruder had broken into the nest. They flew into a rage and immediately abandoned the Two-Headed Hou, screeching as they rushed back toward the nest.

Qin Sang had just charged into the nest when he sensed this, and a chill crept down his spine.

If he got trapped inside by the Red-Tailed Cranes, even his mastery of evasion techniques would be of no help.

Fortunately, he happened to see that the young Red-Tailed Cranes had been knocked over by the aftermath of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells and were sprawling in disarray. Ignoring them, he blinked several times and arrived at the ancient vine without resistance.

The vine clung to a rock face, with a cluster of fruits hanging from its upper end.

Five of them had turned red, nearly ripe. The rest were still green, clearly lacking any medicinal potency. Without hesitation, Qin Sang quickly took out a jade box and plucked the five red fruits, then turned and fled.

Even the young Red-Tailed Cranes were furious, but their strength was too feeble to stop Qin Sang.

Repeating his earlier tactic, Qin Sang once again unleashed the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, forcing the adult Red-Tailed Crane to retreat. He then darted out of the crevice. As the adult cranes gave chase, he didn’t dare linger and immediately soared off in a streak of evasion light toward the depths of the mountains.

For a while, the cries of the cranes echoed through the mountains, filled with fury.

Qin Sang didn’t look back. A flock of Red-Tailed Cranes pursued him relentlessly, and in a flash, he had already crossed two tall peaks.

The difference in speed became evident. Even the leader of the Red-Tailed Cranes, flapping its wings furiously in pursuit, failed to keep up and was gradually left behind.

Qin Sang had already memorized his escape route. As he passed the third peak and slipped out of their line of sight, he twisted his body and leapt into a mountain ravine, diving underwater and concealing his aura beneath the river’s current.

The Red-Tailed Cranes, having lost sight of their thief, erupted in rage and rampaged through the valley.

By then, Qin Sang had drifted downstream. At a confluence of rivers, he sensed the aura of the Two-Headed Hou.

Splash!

Water sprayed in all directions as Qin Sang surfaced in the center of the river. He saw the Two-Headed Hou crouched on the bank, licking the wounds on its back.

Upon seeing Qin Sang, the Two-Headed Hou immediately stood up straight, leaped to the riverbank, and looked at him expectantly, though it didn’t forget to keep a wary eye on the direction from which Qin Sang had come.

"You still don’t trust my evasion speed?"

Qin Sang landed on the shore. A flash of spiritual light evaporated the moisture on him.

This fruit theft had gone surprisingly smoothly.

It helped that there weren’t too many Red-Tailed Cranes, and they weren’t especially fast in flight. More importantly, there were no other ferocious beasts nearby. Otherwise, even with Qin Sang’s superior speed, if he had been chased for too long, the commotion would surely have drawn in other beasts, and he would have been encircled and put in a dangerous situation.

The Two-Headed Hou stared longingly at Qin Sang’s Thousand-Jin Ring.

With a sigh, Qin Sang took out the jade box and pointed at one of the fruits inside. "Stop staring. That one’s yours. If you’re still worried, go ahead and add another barrier."

Unexpectedly, the Two-Headed Hou’s vertical pupils flashed, and it truly did cast a gust of azure wind onto the fruit, forming a ring around it.

"You really dared to..."

Qin Sang glared at it fiercely. The Two-Headed Hou immediately jumped aside, tucking its tail with an awkward grin on its face.

The spiritual fruit lay quietly inside the jade box. Now that it had been removed from the dim stone crevice, more of its details became visible. Within the red skin, faint blood-red threads appeared to run through the center.

Among the five spiritual fruits, some had densely packed blood-like veins, while others were more sparse, clearly indicating different levels of ripeness.

Unfortunately, the fruits gave off no scent whatsoever, perhaps because they had not fully matured.

Qin Sang tried to recall anything from the texts and ancient records he had read before but could not remember any fruit resembling this one. The old vine it grew on was also entirely unheard of.

He had no choice but to take it back and investigate. Before understanding its medicinal properties, he would not dare consume it.

Putting the jade box away, Qin Sang changed direction and continued heading toward Sky Tower.

He had only crossed a few mountain ridges when his body suddenly halted. He frowned, staring toward a valley on the left.

The valley was lush with green grass. The forests on either side had grown so wildly that they nearly covered the entire valley. Qin Sang only noticed the valley now that he was this close.

Within the valley stood several thatched huts, clearly relics from ancient times.

They were protected by a faint light barrier, formed by some kind of spiritual array. Under its shelter, the huts showed no signs of decay.

Two people stood outside the huts, watching Qin Sang warily. Qin Sang met eyes with them.

Qin Sang noticed they were each holding a strange wooden shuttle, seemingly attempting to dismantle the array. Under their efforts, faint ripples were indeed appearing on the barrier.

The changes in the barrier had delighted them, causing a brief lapse in vigilance. They had not expected anyone to appear at that moment. Caught off guard, they exchanged looks, then quickly became highly alert.

Upon seeing Qin Sang’s cultivation, a trace of cold sharpness flashed through their eyes. But the moment they sensed the aura of the Two-Headed Hou, their expressions froze in astonishment.

For someone to command such a powerful demonic beast, is this person concealing his true cultivation?

Clearly, the two mistook Qin Sang for an old monster pretending to be weak.

"One at the late stage of the Core Formation Realm, the other slightly weaker than Cui Ji. Both are formidable opponents."

Qin Sang quickly assessed their strength and keenly noticed the shift in their expressions.

After a moment’s thought, he slowly backed away with the Two-Headed Hou.

If they tried to silence him, he would not let them off easily.

The thatched huts were located in such an obscure place, and who knew how many people had already searched them. Whether there were any treasures left inside remained unknown. He had no intention of starting a fight unnecessarily. Unless he used the Flame Orb, even if he managed to drive them off, it would take considerable time.

The two sides stared at each other like that until they vanished from each other’s line of sight. No one made a move. The battle never happened.