Yu Ye, however, became excited. “A fledgling bird that’s just learning to fly is bound to stumble—especially since I don’t have wings yet; naturally, I fell quite hard,” he thought, and immediately began practicing intensively. After three days of such effort, he finally managed to fly using his qi. Although his speed was slow, it was enough to astonish those monkeys.
“Phew… I’m so tired!” After flying for half an hour, Ye Yu landed weakly. Several more days had passed, and the day when Master Xuan would emerge from his seclusion was drawing near. He decided to first dive into the water in search of the lost black blade.
After a night of breath control training, Ye Yu felt his strength at its peak. Full of confidence, he made his way to the pond, plunged into the water with a splash, and began diving beneath the surface.
This time, he had remained hidden at a depth of twenty-five zhang (approximately 76 meters). The underwater pressure was immense, but fortunately, his profound martial prowess enabled him to withstand it barely.
The bottom of the pond measures merely about three zhang (approximately 9 meters) in width, yet it glows brightly beneath. At its center lies a large rock that emits a red light, illuminating the entire water surface with crystal clarity.
“Haha, there it is—the precious blade!” Ye Yu immediately spotted the black knife leaning against the stone wall, along with a dark hole nearby. He picked up the blade and approached the opening out of curiosity, only to be startled by a pair of fist-sized eyes within it.
“A monster!” Nightfeather thought and quickly stepped back.
A massive crocodile emerged slowly from the pool. Measuring three zhang in length, its head and tail touched the stone walls at the bottom; its body was covered with black, hard scales, and it emitted a continuous gurgling sound from its throat.
Yu Ye drew his black blade; as soon as it was drawn, a bluish light radiated from it. Bold as he was, he paid no heed to the crocodile—especially since the space was extremely narrow and the creature’s massive size made turning around utterly difficult.
“Gurgle, gurgle!” the crocodile murmured to him. Nightfeather couldn’t make sounds like that from beneath the water; he tried patting its head instead. “Does it even know who I am?” he wondered.
The crocodile suddenly opened its mouth and bit down, “Last time I let you escape—that was bad enough; now you actually came looking for me!” it thought. Although Nightfeather emitted a peculiar aura, it didn’t bother to dwell on it further.
“Ah! I thought it was a friend!” Ye Yu hurriedly stepped back and swung his blade. Although the crocodile was covered in hard armor, Ye Yu’s blade was formidable; it pierced deeply into its body, causing the creature to writhe in agony and thrash about wildly at the bottom of the narrow pond.
“This guy is so stupid—he keeps crashing into stones. Well, I originally wanted to be friends with you, but who knew you wouldn’t appreciate it? That’s why I’m not afraid of you,” Ye Yu thought. Yet he didn’t stop his knife; instead, he carved one incision after another into the crocodile’s body.
The crocodile roared, but it couldn’t reach the little creature at all—the area was too cramped. With no choice, it swam toward the open space and waited there.
Yu Ye had no idea what was going on; “Where are you trying to run? I could make several pieces of clothing from your skin!” he said as he caught up with him.
The area here was vast; although the crocodile was massive in size, its speed was astonishingly fast. Nightfeather couldn’t evade in time—when it lightly collided with him, a tremendous force surged forth, nearly shattering his entire body.
Night Yu exclaimed in alarm and, in a panic, swallowed several mouthfuls of water. “Damn it,” he thought, “I’ll challenge you right on the shore—if you’re up to it, come after me!” He then swam upstream.
The crocodile wouldn’t let go; it opened its mouth wide and chased after him.
As Nightfeather emerged from the water, he struggled to climb onto the shore, utterly unable to fly due to his urgent need for air. The crocodile surfaced but refused to come ashore; it kept thrashing in the water, opening its massive mouth as a threat to Nightfeather while emitting continuous “whoosh! whoosh!” sounds.
“Go ahead if you dare,” Ye Yu shouted. He now dared not enter the water; had it not been for his caution regarding the knife in his hand, he would have been caught up by the crocodile long ago. On three occasions, he had repelled it by releasing combat energy, leaving him utterly exhausted.
After much persuasion, he refused to enter the water, and the crocodile would not dive either. At that moment, a deep howl came from the distance. Upon listening carefully, Ye Yu was overjoyed; he couldn’t wait any longer for the crocodile and immediately ran away.
“Heh heh, my assistant has arrived—you’re doomed. Soon, some formidable beings will come to deal with you.” Ye Yu said this, draped the wild buffalo skin over himself, quickly climbed up the nearby peak, and then shouted as loudly as he could toward the west: “Woo!…” “Oh~ Ou! Oh~ Ou!” A deep whistling sound came from the distance; soon a small black dot appeared on the horizon and approached rapidly—a massive creature with a wingspan of five zhang flew toward them.
The group of monkeys was shouting in confusion following Ye Yu when they suddenly spotted a monster approaching—a mere skeletal frame with snow-white bones gleaming in the sunlight. As it drew nearer, an overwhelming aura of death filled the air, filling them with fear.
The monkeys were terrified and fled in search of shelter; before long, the area was completely cleared of them.
“Ha ha, Gaga—it’s you!” Ye Yu exclaimed with delight as the terrifying bone dragon landed before him with a loud “whoosh.”
Night Feather climbed onto its back, where there was a smooth bone specifically designed for sitting. He settled down skillfully, grabbed the protruding bone with his left hand, let out a loud cry, and the Bone Dragon soared into the air with a “whoosh!”
It turns out this bone dragon was named Gaga.
“Haha, we can go home now. Once Master passes the checkpoint, we’ll return to Demon City. After such a long absence, you must miss me terribly!” Ye Yu laughed heartily. “Heh heh, I’ve now become a Sacred Warrior—how impressive!” Only then did the monkeys peek out stealthily; they saw their king soaring into the sky aboard that terrifying creature and heading eastward.
“That guy Divine Eagle has already been captured—how strange. Why is there a forest down there? I remember it was clearly a desert,” Ye Yu said curiously, patting Gagag to signal him to lower his altitude.
With a sharp flap of wings, it descended vertically from great height with a whoosh. As it approached the forest, it suddenly spread its wings wide, poised to fly directly overhead.
“Whoosh!” A massive green vine suddenly shot out from the forest and struck Gaga’s head with a loud thud. With a swift bite, it instantly severed the vine.
“Qingye, if you’re capable, come out and fight me for three hundred rounds!” Ye Yu shouted.
A rhythmic rustling sound echoed through the forest as massive green vines emerged from its depths. These vines grew rapidly in response to the wind, and thousands of them swirled through the air, sweeping toward them.
“Ah! How despicable! Run!” Ye Yu shouted. Such a tactic was utterly terrifying; even Gaca, being an immortal creature, was startled. A foul odor permeated the air above the forest, filling her with intense disgust. She spread her wings, turned around, and flew back immediately, ascending rapidly into the sky.
The green vines surged forward like venomous snakes, moving no slower than their pursuers. As Gagga emerged from the forest canopy, dozens of vines had already caught up with it; they bit and clawed at it, severing four or five vines in succession, yet still managing to entangle its body completely.
“Ah! This… it’s too terrifying!” Ye Yu exclaimed. Before he could finish speaking, more than ten green vines surged forward, tightly wrapping around the massive Gaga, then contracting simultaneously to drag them into the forest.
“Ah! A monster!” Nightfeather cried out. By then, Gagga had already fallen from the air, its sharp claws deeply embedded in the hard rock, before lifting its head and struggling to pull forward.
“Great! Gagag, let them see your power,” Ye Yu said encouragingly. He knew Gagag possessed immense strength, but he hadn’t anticipated that the green vines would exert an even greater contracting force.
“Ah! No way!” As Ye Yu watched Gaga being dragged step by step back into the forest, he was utterly stunned. The bones on Gaga’s body creaked under pressure, and its sharp claws left deep marks on the hard rocks; yet it could not withstand the immense contraction force exerted by dozens of green vines.
The green vines intertwine to form a vast web, as if a terrifying giant within the forest were dragging it relentlessly through the woods—even Gagag could not resist.
Night Yu was greatly alarmed; only then did he realize Qingye’s true power. The demon mage in the Demon City had stated that Gaga was an immortal being—one of its kind in the entire world—yet now he could sense the fear within her heart.
“Don’t panic—I’ll definitely save you!” Ye Yu said as he jumped down from Gaga’s back and raised his black blade, sending a dazzling blue light soaring into the sky.
“Sand, sand, sand!” As a gentle breeze swept through the forest, he seemed to hear its laughter; the entire forest formed a unified whole—a colossal spirit standing between heaven and earth, utterly irresistible.