Chapter 92: Black Feather Shield

Chen Mobai, however, no longer had the spare mental energy to pay attention to others. He focused all his attention on the large bird hovering in mid-air.

Whizzing!

As dust rose, six earthen-yellow flying needles shot out from Chen Mobai's sleeve, piercing towards the rapidly approaching large bird.

Clink, clink, clink!

A peak first-tier demonic beast was the strongest opponent Chen Mobai had faced since arriving in the Heavenly River Realm.

When the six flying needles struck the large bird's body, black feathers bristled, forming a spiritual energy shield that deflected the needles.

Its wings could unleash wind blades, its mouth could spit wind arrows, and the feathers covering its entire body had been refined into a defensive shield. Its most probable weaknesses were its eyes and talons.

Although Chen Mobai had limited combat experience, he seemed to possess a unique talent, growing rapidly amidst the intense battle.

He had used the Five Transformations Umbrella to test the strength of the wind blades and the flying needles to trigger the black feather shield. He had essentially gathered data on the large bird's combat abilities and innate divine powers.

"Let's test it out."

Chen Mobai glanced at the black-feathered, red-eyed bird, which was furiously flapping its wings and charging directly towards him. Circulating his spiritual energy, he activated two Wood Shield talismans.

The azure wood shields lasted only a single breath before being shattered by the wind blades. However, the Five Transformations Umbrella had already opened, directly neutralizing these two slightly weakened wind blades, though it consumed a fair amount of spiritual energy.

While using talismans typically consumed little spiritual energy, he had used so many that the total consumption was significant.

By this point in the battle, Chen Mobai had already unleashed nearly twenty talismans.

Furthermore, the Five Transformations Umbrella, a talismans artifact, consumed more spiritual energy than he had anticipated.

No wonder it was sold so cheaply.

Chen Mobai estimated his spiritual energy reserves; less than seventy percent remained. He decided it would be best to use the Five Transformations Umbrella sparingly from now on.

Just then, the Black Plague Demonic Bird ferociously flapped its wings again, charging straight at him.

He immediately flung out an Azure Arrow Talisman and an Entanglement Talisman. Following this, four flying needles shot from his sleeve, creating a sharp whooshing sound as they precisely targeted the bird's eyes and the palms of its talons.

A screech rang out.

The large bird's black feathers bristled all over, and the spiritual energy shield reappeared. However, this time it closed its eyes and curled its talons inward.

The spiritual energy arrow and all the flying needles were blocked by the black feather spiritual energy shield. Only the Entanglement Talisman had an effect: vines erupted from the cliff's soil and rocks, binding the large bird. Yet, in just an instant, the bird flapped its wings and severed them into seven or eight pieces.

Indeed, his judgment was correct.

Seeing this, Chen Mobai's eyes lit up. The Black Plague Demonic Bird was deliberately avoiding attacks on its eyes and the palms of its talons.

These four spots must be the weaknesses of the black feather shield.

Just then, wails reached his ears; it seemed another cultivator had been seriously injured.

Chen Mobai had no choice but to activate the "Nurturing Thought and Forging Spirit Art" to suppress all his unsettling emotions, fully dedicating himself to the battle against the beast before him.

Reaching into his pocket, he opened a bottle of black water, inhaled deeply, and circulated his spiritual energy to the Twelfth Heaven.

The "Ice Art" was poised for activation.

Simultaneously, Chen Mobai unleashed ten Entanglement Talismans and ten Venom Talismans in one go. Ten vine branches were embedded into the cliff's soil and rocks at one end, while the other end coiled around the entire body of the Black Plague Demonic Bird, which was charging in a straight line and whose path was easy to predict.

The large bird was about to flap its wings to sever these restraints again but suddenly felt its bones grow soft and its movements stiff.

The Venom Talisman wasn't actually a poison; rather, it caused an surge of wood energy within the opponent's body, disrupting the balance of their five elemental attributes.

This talisman wasn't fatal; recovery only required a period of meditation and adjustment.

But what Chen Mobai needed was precisely this momentary stiffness.

He opened his mouth and exhaled. The last two flying needles from his needle box landed before him. All the black water converged around the needles, forming two spiraling ice spears. Then, propelled by magnetic repulsion, the needles drove the ice spears forward at maximum speed, piercing into the eyes of the incapacitated large bird.

Screech!!

Even though it had promptly closed its eyes and deployed the black feather shield, under Chen Mobai's full-powered Ice Art, the Black Plague Demonic Bird's eyelids were still pierced by the ice spears, unleashing an unprecedentedly sharp shriek of agony.

The furious demonic energy caused the bird to instantly shatter the ten vines. Its wings flapped continuously, and in a flash, dozens of wind blades erupted in all directions, pulverizing the incoming Azure Arrow Talismans.

Whoosh!

Faced with such a wide-ranging attack, Chen Mobai had no choice but to open the Five Transformations Umbrella again. After deflecting one of the wind blades directly in front of him, he risked depleting his spiritual energy to use the "Water Control Art" to revert the ice spears back into black water.

Then, the ten flying needles that had been scattered across the cliff by the black feather shield were drawn by the needle box's magnetic force and returned to his front.

Whoosh!

The "Ice Art" was activated once more. Ten slightly smaller, but even thinner and sharper ice spears, humming softly, pierced into various parts of the Black Plague Demonic Bird, whose eyes had now become bloody holes.

The large bird had already exhausted its spiritual energy in its previous burst. Faced with this wave of attacks, it could no longer deploy its black feather shield.

It shrieked miserably as it was pierced by the ten ice spears, falling from mid-air onto the cliff.

However, just before its death, the large bird unleashed a sonic attack similar to that of the deceased bird king, causing all the cultivators on the cliff to tremble involuntarily.

It was finally over!

Chen Mobai suppressed the dizziness caused by the sonic attack. Feeling less than half a percent of spiritual energy left in his dantian, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh before immediately activating a "Recovery Talisman."

In an instant, all the negative physical effects caused by the sonic wave vanished. Furthermore, the spiritual energy in his dantian began to flow out little by little, like water from a spring.

Chen Mobai estimated that he could recover about ten percent of his spiritual energy per minute, meaning he would be fully recovered in approximately ten minutes.

This was his first time using a "Recovery Talisman," and the sensation of his dantian, empty moments before, being refilled was quite novel.

At this point, he finally had the leisure to observe the other ongoing battles.

Wang Yuanwu was fighting three opponents. Besides his crimson flying sword, he had also brought out a top-tier first-grade black armor shield. He had already slain one large bird, but completely resolving the situation would likely still require some effort.

Gao Tuo and his two companions, however, were embroiled in a tough fight.

But Chen Mobai merely glanced before diverting his attention. Not far away, three cultivators' corpses lay on the cliff. One team was on the verge of collapsing.

Yet, another team had achieved splendid results, having jointly slain two large birds. A late-stage Qi Cultivation realm cultivator from that team now had free hands.

Chen Mobai met his gaze, nodded, and simultaneously moved to assist the team that had already lost three cultivators.

Rumble!

And just then, on both the southern and northern shores of Qingguang Island, eight divine lights of Heavenly Wood erupted simultaneously!

Dull, thunder-like sounds, accompanied by astonishing surges of demonic energy, indicated that an unknown number of demonic beasts had arrived.

Chen Mobai's face paled!

He had never imagined that the island defense battle would escalate to its most intense state on the very first day.