A sharp whistling sound suddenly cut through the air!
Several azure feathers, like arrows shot from a powerful bow, tore through the morning mist and flew straight for Shen Xiuhan's face.
So fast!
Shen Xiuhan's pupils contracted. Without a second thought, he swung the fish basket from his back to his front.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
The newly woven bamboo strips had been soaked in water and were incredibly resilient.
Though the tail feathers flew with the force of arrows, they only penetrated halfway before getting stuck in the basket, their ends still vibrating with a low hum.
Having missed its mark, the Blue-Spire Chicken let out a sharp, high-pitched screech.
Spreading its wings wide, it dived from the air like a goshawk swooping down on its prey, its hooked talons aiming straight for Shen Xiuhan's face!
“Good timing!”
Instead of retreating, Shen Xiuhan lunged forward.
Blood qi surged into his right leg. Drawing it back like a fully drawn bow, he tensed his instep and kicked out with explosive force!
Bang!
A stone shot into the air like a cannonball, hurtling straight toward the Blue-Spire Chicken!
The beast's reactions were swift. It ducked midair, barely evading the stone.
However, this dodge caused it to momentarily lose its balance and wobble. At the same time, it let out a pained and anxious cry:
“Cluck, cluck, cluck...”
Shen Xiuhan narrowed his eyes to get a closer look.
As the beast flapped its wings, large drops of bright red blood splattered from its left wing.
Its injury has worsened!
A cold light flashed in Shen Xiuhan's eyes!
The blood qi throughout his body erupted like boiling water, instantly coursing into his arms.
With a flick of his wrist, the three stones concealed in his palm shot out in a triangular formation.
Like gray bolts of lightning, they tore through the morning mist!
One high and two low, the three stones completely cut off all its avenues of escape.
The Blue-Spire Chicken panicked visibly, flapping its injured wing even more frantically, but it was already too late to dodge.
Thud, thud, thud!
The three stones struck the Blue-Spire Chicken squarely, kicking up a spray of blood!
“Squawk!”
The Blue-Spire Chicken let out a shrill screech and crashed heavily to the ground.
Blood pooled around it, staining the withered grass red.
Yet the beast's ferocity had not faded. Even with its injured wing broken, it still thrashed and spun on the ground in vain, its dark yellow slit pupils staring fixedly at Shen Xiuhan.
Any ordinary hunter would have relaxed upon seeing their prey collapse so heavily, ready to step forward and finish it off.
But Shen Xiuhan had known all along that there were two Blue-Spire Chickens here.
His gaze shifted slightly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the other Blue-Spire Chicken, which had been biding its time. It had crept behind a small earthen mound dozens of paces away, holding its breath and crouching, ready to spring.
What a clever beast... As expected of a creature that has absorbed the essence of heaven and earth...
Shen Xiuhan felt a chill in his heart, but his face remained completely expressionless.
Pretending to be completely oblivious, he strode toward the injured one.
One step, two steps, three steps.
The hidden Blue-Spire Chicken remained perfectly still, displaying immense patience.
Just as Shen Xiuhan came within three paces of its hiding spot, it finally lost its patience!
Flap, flap, flap!
The Blue-Spire Chicken suddenly erupted from its cover. Flapping its wings violently, its tail quivered as it prepared to launch its sharpest azure feathers at Shen Xiuhan right from the start.
Unfortunately for it, Brother Shen had a literal cheat code.
Every single move the Blue-Spire Chicken made was completely laid bare before his eyes.
He halted his steps and flung his hand forward!
Whoosh!
A massive cloud of lime powder rained down right over its head, instantly enveloping the airborne Blue-Spire Chicken!
“Cluck, cluck, cluck...”
This noticeably smaller Blue-Spire Chicken let out a shrill screech.
Blinded and burning from the lime, its eyes couldn't open, and its body fell straight out of the air.
“Now's my chance!”
Shen Xiuhan's eyes lit up, and Xu Chuan's words suddenly flashed through his mind:
“If an enemy lunges at you from the air, never shrink back. You must strike second but land first, turning the tables from below!”
『Cloud-Seizing, Heaven-Intercepting』!
He splayed his fingers and channeled his blood qi. Reaching out like a literal eagle's claw, he precisely clamped onto the Blue-Spire Chicken's slender neck!
Violent struggles immediately surged against his palm.
Two dark, gleaming talons clawed frantically at the back of his hand with a force far exceeding that of the Silverback Fish from before!
A cold glint flashed in Shen Xiuhan's eyes, and he squeezed his fingers with sudden force.
Crack, crack, crack...
The sound of bones snapping echoed.
The Blue-Spire Chicken, which had been struggling for its life just a moment ago, instantly went limp, its neck snapping as its entire body hung lifelessly.
“Coo...”
Not far away, the injured Blue-Spire Chicken let out a low, mournful whimper before slowly falling completely silent as well.
Shen Xiuhan was in no hurry to approach.
With a brief thought, he confirmed that the intelligence representing the "Blue-Spire Chicken" had disappeared.
Only then did he step forward and gather the two Blue-Spire Chickens, placing them side by side.
He hadn't noticed it earlier, but now that the two Precious Beasts lay before him, Shen Xiuhan could immediately feel the abundant blood qi within them.
Though his stomach was far from empty, an inexplicable urge to roast and devour them on the spot welled up inside him.
“What powerful blood qi... As expected of a Precious Beast!”
Shen Xiuhan praised inwardly, barely managing to suppress the urge.
His Second Senior Brother, Xu Chuan, had mentioned before that Precious Fish were creations of heaven and earth. Eating them raw or unprepared would waste most of their medicinal properties; the correct method was to supplement them with herbs and refine them into pills.
Presumably, it was the same for Precious Beasts.
Shen Xiuhan decided to bring them back to the martial arts hall and ask his master if they could be refined into blood qi pills.
If it was possible, he wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources for a while.
But the moment the thought arose, another problem surfaced in his mind.
Just a few days ago, catching a single Silverback Fish had almost cost him his life!
Now, he had quietly caught two Precious Beasts...
These things might be trivial to great families.
But for low-level martial artists who desperately needed blood qi, this was undoubtedly like a toddler walking through a crowded market carrying a gold brick!
In the entire martial arts hall, there were only two or three people Shen Xiuhan could truly trust.
The outer courtyard was crowded and full of prying eyes, filled with both common-born disciples and side-branch descendants of wealthy, influential families.
Shen Xiuhan did not dare to gamble on how they would react if they found out.
Should I... bring them into the city in separate batches, spaced out over a few days?
The moment the thought arose, he dismissed it.
His master had said that once such spiritual creatures died, the blood qi within their bodies would quickly dissipate.
If too much time passed and the medicinal properties faded, they would be no different from ordinary birds.
What should he do then?
After a brief moment, Shen Xiuhan stared at the two Blue-Spire Chickens on the ground, his eyes flickering as a bold idea sprang to mind.
“Why don't I... just start a fire right here and eat one of them?!”
Although eating it this way would waste most of its precious medicinal properties, doing so would allow him to avoid prying eyes and give him a perfectly plausible excuse!
While out fishing, I happened to see a strange, heavily injured bird fall from the sky. I watched it crash into the mountains, followed it, and finished it off from a distance with a stone...
Perfectly reasonable, right?
As for the smaller Blue-Spire Chicken, he would roast it right here.
Even if most of the blood qi went to waste, a significant portion would still remain.
He would eat half of it himself.
The rest would be perfect to bring back and nourish Madam Zheng and Shen Momo's bodies.
Although the mother and daughter didn't have to worry about food and drink these days, their bodies had suffered from years of deprivation, and ordinary food was too slow to restore their health.
The meat of a Precious Beast was rich in blood qi, making it the perfect tonic.
Of course, ordinary people might not be able to handle too much of it, so giving them a leg each would be plenty.
This way, he would kill three birds with one stone, and everyone would be happy!
No sooner said than done.
Shen Xiuhan gathered some dry branches to build a campfire and struck a spark to light it.
He plucked all the azure feathers from the Blue-Spire Chicken, tore open its abdominal cavity with his bare hands to remove the internal organs, skewered it from head to tail with a sharpened wooden stick, and slowly roasted it over the fire.
Within half an hour, a rich, mouthwatering aroma of meat wafted through the air, drifting with the wind.
“Smells amazing!”
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