Chapter 416: Unwelcome Guests

When the crag eagles saw Zhang Lie, their eyes widened before they all began to laugh. They had expected that someone whom a rock giant would address as a lord would be magnificent indeed—but it turned out that he was a lifeform far smaller than the rock giant!

The disparity between their expectation and reality made the crag eagles unable to resist laughing.

The black-winged crag eagle, still smiling, asked, "Little one, for what reason have you come to Mt. Wanren?" His smile wasn't friendly; it was mocking and taunting.

"Size is hardly a reliable measure of strength." Zhang Lie frowned. He hated how the crag eagles were looking down on him, how supercilious they were being. It took him a concerted effort to avoid sending them all crashing down onto the ground.

"I'm here for the starcloud fruit!" Based on his research, the starcloud fruit would be an important ingredient for Potion #4.

The black-winged crag eagle narrowed his eyes. "Where did you hear that we were in possession of such an herb?"

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"You don't need to know. Simply tell me: do you have the herb, or do you not?"

The black-winged crag eagle narrowed his eyes. "We have no such thing."

Zhang Lie snorted. "You've already exposed yourself. If the crag eagles truly weren't in possession of this herb, you should have been far more confused about what it was—but instead of asking me about this fruit, you asked me how I heard of the information!"

The black-winged crag eagle hadn't expected his deception to be seen through so easily.

Yu Huantian interjected, "So what if we do, and so what if we don't? We won't hand anything to the companion of a rock monster! If not for these rock monsters, Mt. Wanren wouldn't have been left in such a state!"

Zhang Lie twisted his head and asked once more, "Did the rock spirits really do nothing lasting to the crag eagles? Look at how angry they are at you!"

Zhang Lie finally realized that letting the leader of the rock spirits accompany him was a terrible mistake.

The rock giant scratched its head again. "What would I know? I don't recall us doing anything special compared to the last few times we fought with the crag eagles."

The rock giant's words drew the wrath of all the crag eagles.

"Damnable rock monster! Everyone, we're destroying this rock monster!"

As the crag eagles all fanned their wings, they formed a gigantic hurricane in mid-air, one filled with feathers whose edge was as sharp as a blade.

The rock spirit and Zhang Lie didn't panic. They were both accustomed to such large-scale attacks, especially Zhang Lie himself.

The rock giant stomped on the ground and raised a few pillars of spiritual rock behind which Zhang Lie and it could hunker down.

Despite the strength of the miniature hurricane, the rock giant received just the tiniest of scratches from the concerted attack.

The black-winged crag eagle was just about to strike again when the tips of the rock pillars suddenly disintegrated, and a strength that warped space headed straight for the flock of crag eagles.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

The attack barrelled through the crag eagles, dispersing their incipient hurricane and sending a large fraction of them crashing toward the ground.

The black-winged crag eagle struck instantly, morphing into a beam of black light. His descent was soundless but filled with killing intent, and so rapid that Zhang Lie had barely unsheathed his sword before he was knocked back by the impact.

The rock spirit leapt high up into the air and caught him with his hands.

Zhang Lie had to admit that this particular crag eagle was extremely fast, so fast that Zhang Lie might not be able to match his speed.

The black-winged crag eagle again struck at Zhang Lie, his body morphing into a beam of black light.

The rock giant waved its fists to deter it, but the crag eagle was so agile that he somersaulted in mid-air and evaded the rock giant's fists before landing on its chest.

A metallic ring echoed in the aftermath of his attack; the rock giant touched its chest and found a claw scratch there.

The image of a dragonturtle again appeared before Zhang Lie as the gravity-augmenting tablet appeared noiselessly behind the crag eagle, causing his body to sink and his speed to slow.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" Zhang Lie struck while his opponent was mired, sword energy gathering into a tall wave that would crash down on his opponent.

The black-winged crag eagle fanned his wings and sent a flurry of feathers shooting toward Zhang Lie, who twisted his body in mid-air and sent the feathers flying with his charged-up attack. The crag eagle's face paled as he tried to defend himself with his claws, but he was knocked back by its immensity. Blood beaded on his claws.

The crag eagles in the sky shouted in terror, "Even Chief Yu Xuanguang was injured!"

"How could a brat like that injure our chief himself? Could that little creature be another manner of rock monster?"

"It's very possible—only the rock monsters have such terrifying strength!"

Zhang Lie's mouth spasmed. Just what had the rock spirits done to engender such hatred from the crag eagles?"

Yu Xuanguan's eyes were piercing as he asked Zhang Lie, "Who are you?"

"I'm Zhang Lie, a human."

Yu Xuanguang's eyes widened. "You're not a rock monster? No, no—I see, you rock monsters must address yourself as humans!"

The rock giant patted its chest. "Exactly right! We're now part of the humans."

"Scram!" Zhang Lie yelled out.

"But isn't it true that we've become part of the humans after joining your city, lord?"

Zhang Lie: ...

He wanted to retort, but found himself incapable of doing so.

Yu Xuanguang narrowed his eyes and reaffirmed his conclusion, "So you rock monsters are called 'humans'."

"No, no! He's a rock spirit, and I'm a human. The rock monsters you refer to are rock spirits, not humans."

Yu Xuanguang harrumphed. "I don't care what race you are. In defense of Mt. Wanren, I can hardly retreat."

Zhang Lie sighed. "I'd intended on resolving this matter peacefully, but it seems like I'll have to slaughter your clan to the last to get what I want."

Just then, a shrill piercing sound echoed in the air, so shrill that the crag eagles were all forced to cover their ears.

"Bad news—that fellow's here!" All the crag eagles began to panic, and even Yu Xuanguang seemed disturbed by the news. The crag eagles hurriedly rushed back to Mt. Wanren, but they were too late. A storm had risen out of nowhere, and large, golden wings blotted out the sun.