Chapter 277: Silver-winged Thunderbird

This address is only used within the Heavenly Secret Pavilion and its nine subordinate sects.

Outside of these, disciples of the nine sects would never address outsiders in this manner.

So why did Ji Ruyue address Jiang Fan as "Junior Brother"?

Ji Ruyue wondered, "Junior Brother Jiang comes from the Azure Cloud Sect."

"Is it wrong for me to call him Junior Brother Jiang?"

Yue Mingzhu was astonished, "Where did he come from?"

"The Azure Cloud Sect?"

"You're not deceiving me, are you?"

Someone with such monstrous martial arts talent, medical skills that turn decay into wonder, an understanding as sharp as a demon's, incredible physical cultivation, and mastery of movement techniques — a truly heaven-defying individual.

Could he actually be a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect, the lowest-ranked among the nine sects?

How is that possible?

Ji Ruyue was surprised, "Hasn't the Sect Master heard of Jiang Fan from the Azure Cloud Sect?"

"I thought everyone in the nine sects knew about him."

Wait!

Yue Mingzhu was startled again, "What did you say? He's *that* Jiang Fan, the spiritless-root disciple from the Azure Cloud Sect?"

Ji Ruyue nodded, "Yes, that's him."

Yue Mingzhu felt her head spin.

She couldn't reconcile the two images in her mind.

She had even ridiculed Liu Wenchen when she learned he took in a disciple without spirit roots.

Who would have thought that this young man would turn out to be a prodigy comparable to a disciple from an extraterrestrial divine sect!

Thinking of this, her chest felt constricted, making her extremely uncomfortable.

"That dog Liu Wenchen, his ancestral grave must be spewing several yards of green smoke for him to pick up such a disciple!"

"This is more painful than killing me!"

Xie Liushu's feelings were complicated.

Although he was the chief disciple of the Joyous Union Sect and highly valued by the Sect Master,

it was impossible for her to show such regretful emotions for him.

Sigh, both are geniuses, yet the gap between him and Jiang Fan is so vast.

"No! I must snatch him!"

Yue Mingzhu gritted her teeth.

The Joyous Union Sect cultivates the mind.

If one cannot act as they please and have their thoughts clear, what is the point of cultivating the mind?

However,

when she chased in the direction of Jiang Fan and the others, their shadows were nowhere to be seen.

"Go find him, all of you! You must find him!" Yue Mingzhu commanded.

The disciples exchanged bewildered glances.

Ji Ruyue reminded her, "Sect Master, there's no need to search."

"Because Junior Brother Jiang's mission is to escort the Thousand-Mile Vultures to our Joyous Union Sect."

Yue Mingzhu was surprised.

After a moment of thought, her eyes twinkled, and she said,

"Is that so?"

"Then I'll go to the Joyous Union Sect first and wait for him."

"I'll have a good time with him!"

She smiled slyly, her voice like a silver bell.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan.

After descending the snowy mountain and confirming the path ahead was clear, he handed over the lookout duty to the three women.

He then began to ponder the Earth-grade mid-tier leg technique that was etched with soul power.

"'Three Pure Lightning Shadow Art.'"

"First layer, Lightning Dragon Electro-Leg."

"When cultivated to mastery, it can break through supreme-grade defensive artifacts."

Upon reading this, Jiang Fan was greatly surprised.

He possessed a supreme-grade defensive artifact himself, capable of withstanding a single blow from a Core Formation Stage Level 5 cultivator.

Yet, the first layer of the 'Three Pure Lightning Shadow Art' had the power to penetrate a supreme-grade defensive artifact!

Didn't that mean,

once this art was successfully cultivated, it could harm a Core Formation Stage Level 5 cultivator?

He immediately felt his mouth go dry and read on carefully.

However, when he saw the cultivation requirements, he couldn't help but freeze.

"To cultivate this art, one must draw lightning into the body."

Jiang Fan's face immediately darkened.

"Are you kidding me? There's a hidden requirement?"

It was bad enough that it required mastery of movement techniques, but now the actual cultivation content included an even stricter condition.

"Lightning is nature's most tyrannical destructive force. Who would dare easily let lightning enter their body?"

Even legendary Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't dare face the power of lightning head-on.

Only the Orthodox Thunder Sect among the nine sects, who cultivated special techniques,

could barely borrow some heavenly thunder for their own use.

But that was only borrowing.

They would never dare to let lightning enter their bodies.

He held the paper, feeling dejected.

It seemed he had gotten excited for nothing.

Just then,

the Thousand-Mile Vultures being escorted suddenly flapped their wings restlessly, trying to break free from their leg chains.

Their mouths also emitted anxious and sharp cries.

Jiang Fan was startled.

Even when the Red-Scaled Dragon appeared earlier, the Thousand-Mile Vultures hadn't reacted like this.

Were they sensing some danger?

Although he didn't understand, he reacted extremely quickly.

He immediately looked around and spotted a snow-covered forest not far away.

He instantly said, "Quick, hide in the forest!"

Yi Lianxing and the others also sensed trouble and immediately galloped their horses.

Soon, they entered the forest and calmed the Thousand-Mile Vultures.

Jiang Fan and the others stared intently at their surroundings.

They dared not make a sound.

Whoosh—

Suddenly,

a powerful gust of wind roared, causing the entire forest to sway violently.

From above, the forest looked like waves of wheat in the wind.

Such was the strength of the wind!

Immediately after, the area above Jiang Fan and the others darkened.

Looking up, they gasped.

They saw a colossal silver bird, twenty zhang wide, slowly gliding over their heads.

Its pitch-black talons were as tall as two men, each one sharp as a scythe.

A single squeeze of its talons could easily crush a small hill into powder!

The terrifying aura emanating from it

sent shivers down their spines.

Jiang Fan recognized it, his pupils contracting, "A Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle!"

"A mature beast king, reaching Core Formation Stage Level 5!"

He secretly drew in a sharp breath.

According to records,

the Red-Scaled Dragon beast king they had encountered earlier was merely a favorite prey of the Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle!

If it discovered them,

none of them would escape!

Even without Jiang Fan's reminder, the terrifying aura radiating from the Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle rendered them motionless with fear.

Not until it disappeared over the horizon

did the three women desperately gasp for breath.

Yi Lianxing's face was pale, "What was that? Such a terrifying giant bird!"

Jiang Fan said solemnly, "It's a beast king at Core Formation Stage Level 5!"

"Fortunately, the Thousand-Mile Vultures were alert in time, otherwise, we would have likely been doomed."

He looked gratefully at the flock of Thousand-Mile Vultures.

As fellow sky-dwelling birds, their sense for aerial predators like the Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle was far superior to that of humans.

If it hadn't been for them,

it would have been too late by the time Jiang Fan detected the danger.

Learning of the Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle's formidable nature, the others gasped.

Qin Caihe trembled slightly, finally experiencing firsthand the horror of a beast tide.

She urgently asked, "Why would such a fierce beast, at the top of the food chain, appear within the territory of the Joyous Union Sect?"

Jiang Fan's expression was grim.

It seemed the rumors of restless demonic beasts on the Joyous Union Sect's border were true.

This Silver-Winged Thunder Eagle was most likely surveying the Joyous Union Sect's territory, preparing for a beast tide.

"We must immediately proceed to the Joyous Union Sect and report this information."

Jiang Fan's heart was filled with dread.

They exited the forest and continued along their original path.

Suddenly,

Chu Xingmeng looked with surprise towards a snow-covered hill diagonally to their right.

She asked with some doubt, "Was there a mountain there just now?"

"I remember that area being flat?"

Everyone looked in that direction.

Qin Caihe chuckled, "Junior Sister Chu, you're not scared silly, are you?"

Yi Lianxing retorted, "Don't scare yourself!"

Only Jiang Fan stared at the hill, his expression doubtful. He said, "Indeed, there was no mountain here just now..."

Suddenly, the hairs on his entire body stood on end!

Because he discovered!

This mountain moved!

The top of the hill was slowly twisting,

revealing a bird's head with eyes gleaming with amusement!