Chapter 2043: Bird Hunting Pt.2

In the dark nebula, the rank seven bird emperor, relying on its prior familiarity with the area and its extreme speed, shuttled around the large Star Ship that had barged in. As it weaved around rapidly, bolts of lightning and threads of star fire emerged from the surrounding murky nebula and rained down in an unending barrage upon the ship’s protection barrier, battering it until it reeled and rocked. The Star Ship started to sway with it, as if it might shatter completely the next instant.

In such a situation, the cultivators on the Star Ship had already considered fighting back. However, because the rank seven bird emperor was just too fast, whenever the cultivators on the ship launched a counterattack, it had already left its original position. They could not even catch its afterimage.

The cultivators had also considered locking onto the rank seven bird emperor via its aura, but because of its prior arrangements, its aura had spread through the entire nebula. Even the divine souls of high-level True Immortals couldn’t precisely detect its location.

Under such conditions, although the large Star Ship could still hold for a moment under the rank seven bird emperor’s assault, it had completely fallen into a passive, one-sided beating. They wouldn’t be able to last long.

While seemingly holding all the initiative, the rank seven bird emperor did not dare to be the least bit careless. It continued to move at high speed through the nebula around the ship, leaving countless afterimages and lingering traces of its aura to further confuse the judgment of the expert on board who made it wary.

The rank seven bird emperor’s true concern was naturally Shang Xia, and it had already sensed the high-level Sage’s aura on board.

Although the other party was doing everything possible to suppress and conceal his aura, how could the rank seven bird emperor be so easily deceived? Although its true goal was to break through the blockade head-on and shake off pursuit, before the other party’s high-level Sage made a move, it absolutely could not allow the enemy to see its real intent! It even had to make the enemy truly believe that it meant to destroy the Star Ship and fight him to the death.

Thus, the solo encirclement the rank seven bird emperor launched against the large Star Ship grew ever more ferocious. Amid the rampage of flowing fire and lightning, waves of scorching wind rose.

Even though the huge cloud had been lurking in the void for a long time, the murky nebula started to rotate, driven by the rank seven bird emperor’s extreme speed.

A horrifying void tornado formed around the ship, and as the affected range grew larger, it even showed signs of forming a nebular vortex.

By then, the large Star Ship’s protection barrier could no longer fully block the rank seven bird emperor’s offensive. Not only did cracks and rents frequently open in the barrier, but lines of fire, serpents of lightning, and formless, shapeless gale seeped through.

The hull of the large Star Ship began to show damage, and it was steadily worsening.

What was more, cultivators who had been carrying out their duties inside the ship began to suffer injuries out of nowhere, and their numbers only grew, with their wounds becoming more severe.

Cai Zhuifeng, who was the commander of the ship, had no choice but to order all cultivators whose cultivation was below the fourth element of the Martial Dipper Realm to withdraw into the cabins and not expose themselves. In addition, he ordered that all cultivators aboard, regardless of cultivation or strength, were strictly forbidden to attempt any further counterattacks against the rank seven bird emperor hidden in the nebula. Instead, they had to devote all their strength to the Star Ship’s defenses.

That also meant that the large Star Ship was completely abandoning any counterattack, becoming a tortoise shell that only took blows without striking back.

The Star Ship’s response once again ran counter to the rank seven bird emperor’s expectations.

Before its eyes, the massive hull began to sway in midair under the influence of the ever-accelerating nebular vortex, even starting to spin from bow to stern. The next moment, the entire ship seemed on the verge of being capsized by the chaotic currents. Even so, their Sage who was supposedly on board still didn’t act.

Was the enemy still holding on because they had another plan, or was it because...

The best opportunity to break out had arrived, yet the rank seven bird emperor hesitated.

In such a situation, if that high-level Sage could still hold back... That meant that the other side was waiting for it to attempt an escape!

Was the other side waiting for it to rush out of the nebula?!

Why would they want that?

Could there be another helpers waiting to ambush it while it made its escape?

That was entirely possible.

After all... It had only crossed blows with the high-level Sage at a distance. It was the first time they were truly facing each other.

If that was the case, then it might as well destroy the Star Ship first and see whether the enemy could continue to endure!

Having made up its mind, the rank seven bird emperor temporarily abandoned the idea of breaking out and continued launching even fiercer attacks on the Star Ship that was already difficult to control.

Just as the large Star Ship began to spin from bow to stern, it started to sway more and more violently. When it seemed it would completely capsize in the next instant, the rank seven bird emperor suddenly sensed that the nebular vortex it had stirred up had also been infiltrated by some subtle, foreign energy.

Moreover, the strange energy did not immediately try to halt the spinning, but attempted to ride the rotation to further expand its own penetration.

So, the enemy did have help!

The rank seven bird emperor’s heart tightened, but its battle spirit only burned brighter.

For it, the unseen opponent was the one to fear. An exposed foe, no matter how strong, was still one it dared to fight. Therefore, when it realized the enemy’s true intent was to secretly fill the nebular vortex with power and, at the critical moment, seize control of it, then combine their forces to launch an attack from the inside and out, the rank seven bird emperor did not hesitate to detonate the nearly formed nebular maelstrom!

Under such circumstances, even if the invading force calmed the turbulent void and the raging energy, the remaining power would still suffice to capsize the Star Ship at the vortex’s center.

Even if merely overturning it in the void was not enough to destroy the entire ship, with such a violent impact, the Star Ship, already on the verge of losing control, would inevitably suffer grievous damage.

The next instant, events once again exceeded its expectations. The outside force that had invaded continued to pacify the chaotic nebula and void. At the same time, the sound of clattering filled the air. A series of long chains that were connected to anchors burst through the torn void from different directions.

Because of the severe turbulence, those chains that shot through the void from various directions were somewhat disturbed and deviated slightly from their original courses. Even so, it was still clear that their intended target had been that large Star Ship teetering on the brink of capsizing.

Seeing that these chains were about to miss their mark, at the critical moment, the large Star Ship on the verge of flipping over, also released their anchor.

The rattle of the chain sent ripples of clanging metal through the void, sounds that even the void distortion could not smother.

The next moment, the anchor chain from the large Star Ship traced a perfect arc through the void, gathering those around it and tying them tightly into a single knot.

Once they hooked together, a super fleet battle formation suddenly took shape within the nebula, and the large Star Ship, previously on the verge of losing control and capsizing, stood firmly in the void. No matter how strongly the nebular currents battered it, it stood still in place.

Though the process sounded lengthy, it actually occurred in the briefest instant.

Even within that fleeting moment, the rank seven bird emperor had not stood idle. In fact, the instant those chains pierced the roiling void, it had instinctively sensed trouble and. Without thinking, it sent bolts of lightning, streaks of star fire, and the omnipresent winds of the void to bombard a certain direction.

It didn’t think of stopping the chains from forming the battle formation, nor did it continued to smash at the large Star Ship. Its first reaction was, surprisingly, to flee!

It randomly chose a direction and blasted forward with all its might, forcing open a path of escape.

It had to be said, the rank seven bird emperor’s reflexes and survival instinct were formidable. It could well have slipped out of the battle formation in the split second before the chains joined and the battle formation locked into place.

Yet at that moment, the aura that it had been monitoring which never acted earlier, moved!

The aura it had felt to be restrained and concealed did not surge at the moment of action. Instead, it still seemed calm and unhurried.

Whatever it was, the rank seven bird emperor had no time to ponder the reason, nor did it need to. In the next instant, as the layers of void above pressed downward and a roar rang in its mind, a gigantic stone rod smashed through the compressed space and came crashing down toward the rank seven bird emperor’s body.

With its wings spread, the rank seven bird emperor looked like a cloud hanging from the sky.

In that instant, the Giant Ape King finally struck!

There had never been a Sage hidden within the large Star Ship, nor any suppression or concealment of aura. There was no deceit at all! From beginning to end, the aura the rank seven bird emperor sensed as Shang Xia had come from the stone rod that was bestowed onto the Giant Ape King!

However, the Giant Ape King was, in the end, not the Giant Ape Emperor. Even though its sudden, all-out strike could harm a rank seven beast emperor, the gap in strength was still immense. It did not possess the ability to truly harm the bird emperor.

The marvel lay in the timing of the Giant Ape King’s blow. It fell at the precise instant before the rank seven bird emperor could slip past the battle formation and escape. Though his strike could not truly wound it, it was enough to cut off its chance of flight and force it back into the fully deployed battle formation.