Chapter 31: Spirit Bone

"Screech!"

Sensing the sudden surge of killing intent, the Gale Bird immediately flapped its wings violently, instantly whipping up a powerful gust within the Gale Canyon. Under the influence of this gale, the massive wind blades launched by Mo Hui and Pidgey slowed significantly, their trajectories shifting slightly off course. In the end, the Gale Bird managed to avoid a fatal blow from the "Air Blade: Eight-in-One" at the cost of a minor injury to its wing.

"Screech!!!"

After being wounded, the Gale Bird grew even more ferocious. The cyan glow on its wings intensified, and with a rapid beating of its wings, it unleashed a cyan tornado toward Mo Hui. The force of the wind was so intense that Mo Hui had to exert all his soul power just to remain standing. The turbulent winds lashed at his body, carving wound after wound into his skin, giving him a visceral understanding of what it meant for wind to cut like a blade.

"I can't afford to trade blows like this!"

In an instant, Mo Hui realized the danger. His soul power was draining rapidly as he struggled against the gale; he had to eliminate the creature before his energy ran dry. Mo Hui’s first soul ring flashed, and both he and Pidgey simultaneously fired eight wind blades, which quickly merged into two massive, three-meter-long cyan blades that slashed toward the Gale Bird.

"Pidgey!"

At the same time, Pidgey transformed into a streak of cyan light, cutting through the storm and following close behind the massive blades toward the Gale Bird. The creature noticed the incoming attack and immediately soared upward, hoping to evade the blades. However, the Eight-in-One technique was not so easily avoided. Despite the interference of the cyan tornado, the blades reached the Gale Bird in a split second.

The bird was no pushover; it tucked its wings and performed a rapid aerial flip, narrowly slipping between the two massive blades. Yet, before it could rejoice, a streak of cyan light slammed into its abdomen at high speed.

"Screech!!"

The immense pain forced a cry of agony from the Gale Bird. To make matters worse, Pidgey’s assault did not stop there.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several cyan arcs slashed across the Gale Bird’s body. Feeling pain erupt from every part of its frame, the creature was overwhelmed with misery. Seeing this, a flicker of fear crossed the bird's eyes. It gave its wings a forceful shake, blowing away Pidgey—who had just emerged from his "Quick Attack"—and turned to dive toward the lower depths of the canyon.

"Hmph! Trying to escape?"

Mo Hui let out a cold snort. Over a dozen semi-circular cyan wind blades appeared in his hands, rapidly coalescing into a cyan light wheel nearly a meter in diameter.

"Cutting Wind Wheel, go!"

Mo Hui was no longer the novice he once was; his former ultimate move was now cast with effortless precision, flying straight toward the fleeing bird. The Gale Bird suddenly felt a shroud of deathly fear and glanced back, only to see the massive cyan wheel chasing it down. Cold sweat broke out across its body.

Facing the threat of death, the Gale Bird pushed its agility to the limit. With a desperate beat of its wings, it gained several meters of lift, dodging the Cutting Wind Wheel by mere milliseconds. But Mo Hui’s killing blow was not so easily evaded. With a slight flick of his right hand, the wheel—which had been dodged—suddenly swerved. The high-speed, rotating wind blades sliced through the Gale Bird’s defenses like a hot knife through butter, piercing its body instantly.

"Screech!!!"

Following a final, mournful cry, the Gale Bird’s consciousness flickered out, and its body plummeted to the ground. At that moment, a streak of cyan light cut through the storm, caught the falling body, and slowly flew back toward Mo Hui.

"Thud!"

Pidgey dropped the Gale Bird onto the stone platform. Pale purple motes of light drifted from the carcass, coalescing into a faint purple soul ring. Mo Hui did not immediately begin absorption; instead, he drew a dagger from his spirit storage device and began harvesting materials from the bird. As a rare soul beast, its remains were quite valuable, especially the tail feathers, which were not only excellent wind-attribute materials but also highly prized by the nobility.

"Hm? What is this..."

As he plucked a tail feather, Mo Hui noticed something glowing faintly within the wound caused by the wind wheel. He parted the feathers and his pupils constricted sharply.

"This—this is a soul bone!"

As he extracted the bone from the Gale Bird’s remains, Mo Hui’s breathing grew ragged. The drop rate for soul bones was less than one in a thousand, and the lower the age of the soul beast, the lower the chance of finding one.

Finding a soul bone inside a two-thousand-year-old Gale Bird was nothing short of a miracle. After a moment of stunned silence, Mo Hui quickly tucked the bone away into his storage device; such a treasure could not be exposed, or it might bring him lethal trouble.

Shortly after securing the bone and the feathers, two figures in cyan robes appeared on the stone platform. They were shocked to see the Gale Bird before Mo Hui. "A Gale Bird? How did this creature appear here?"

The two men were Feng Yan and his younger brother, Feng Yu, both of whom were level-50-plus Spirit Kings. Having sensed the disturbance in the canyon, they had rushed over as quickly as they could, only to find they were a step too late.

"Kid, did you kill this Gale Bird?" Feng Yan asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

Mo Hui nodded and drew the purple soul ring toward himself, beginning the absorption process. He was in such a rush because he feared these two might recognize the bird's age, which would lead to awkward questions. He was, in fact, overthinking it; there was little difference in appearance between thousand-year-old Gale Birds, and with the tail feathers already stored away, it would be nearly impossible for anyone but an expert to distinguish its exact age.

Beside them, Feng Yu looked at the absorbing Mo Hui with a touch of envy. "Truly lucky. To find a thousand-year-old Gale Bird for a third soul ring." The Gale Bird was one of the most ideal soul beasts for wind-attribute beast spirits, especially avian types. He himself had spent years looking for one to no avail.

Suddenly, Feng Yu frowned in confusion. "But if he's absorbing his third soul ring, he shouldn't have had a third soul skill yet. How did he manage to defeat a thousand-year-old Gale Bird?"

Although a Spirit Master at the third-ring stage is technically matched against thousand-year-old beasts, most struggle to defeat them, let alone someone who hadn't even obtained their third ring yet. Feng Yan shared the same sentiment, staring at Mo Hui with a puzzled expression.

To kill a thousand-year-old beast while still a Great Spirit Master—could this boy be a combat prodigy?