Chapter 278: Eating a Loss

That wasn't a mountain! It was the Silverwing Thunderfinch, and it had returned!

Jiang Fan's pupils constricted, and he froze on horseback for a moment. He had never imagined the Silverwing Thunderfinch could be so cunning! It had already spotted them in the dense woods. Unable to hunt effectively in the thick foliage, it feigned a retreat. In reality, it had stealthily disguised itself in the open, intending to lure them out and capture them all.

The Silverwing Thunderfinch's massive talons pressed into the ground as it slowly turned around. A dull thud echoed across the desolate snowfield, like a war drum, making their hearts tremble.

Yi Lianxing's lips trembled, and her hand gripping the reins shook uncontrollably. She shrieked, "Run... run! Scatter!" Before a Beast King at the fifth layer of the Core Formation realm, any resistance was futile. Their only hope was to scatter and perhaps save one or two.

Qin Caihe and Chu Xingmeng also snapped out of their immense fear. Their bodies clumsily dismounted, refusing to obey, and then each fled in a different direction.

Jiang Fan also instinctively wanted to flee, but then he had a change of heart and stopped himself in time. Where could he run to? The Silverwing Thunderfinch could cover hundreds of feet in an instant, and this area was an open plain, far from the woods. Even if the four of them scattered, the Silverwing Thunderfinch would catch them one by one in a short time. But if he didn't run, was he just waiting to die?

Suddenly, Jiang Fan looked at the Silverwing Thunderfinch, which was slowly spreading its wings, its eyes filled with a cruel, mocking gaze. A daring thought burst into his mind. Just as the Red-scaled Evil Flood Dragon's power was greatly reduced out of water, the Silverwing Thunderfinch's greatest advantage was its unmatched speed in the air. If it was on the ground, its combat strength would be significantly diminished! To save his life, he had to make a desperate gamble before it took flight!

"Beast!" Jiang Fan growled, gripping the hilt of the Purple Sword, which he hadn't drawn in a long time. Spiritual energy vibrated in his palm, shattering all the cloth strips wrapped around it. The Silverwing Thunderfinch looked at Jiang Fan with a mocking gaze, as if watching a small rabbit attempting to bite it back, completely overestimating itself.

It had hunted its entire life and naturally encountered prey that retaliated when cornered. Especially when it was on the ground, some prey, which should have been on its menu, would develop the illusion that they could fight back. But prey was still prey. The food chain dictated that even on the ground, it remained a king capable of crushing its foes through sheer bloodline. Moreover, it had already calculated the distance. It was enough for it to spread its wings and take flight. Then, with just one dive, its sharp talons could easily tear the humans in front of it into shreds, without any effort at all.

However, the mockery in its eyes suddenly vanished. Gripping the Purple Sword, Jiang Fan channeled spiritual energy through his feet, executing his movement technique to its limit. In an instant, he covered a distance of tens of feet.

The Silverwing Thunderfinch was startled and quickly flapped its wings faster, attempting to take flight before Jiang Fan could reach it. But Jiang Fan's speed was extreme; in just ten breaths, he covered hundreds of feet!

At this moment, the Silverwing Thunderfinch's body had just barely lifted off the ground, leaving no time to dive. Jiang Fan, however, was already upon it! Astonishment and fury flashed in the Silverwing Thunderfinch's eyes as its hideous black talons lashed out violently at Jiang Fan.

The talons, as tall as two men, were like reapers' scythes! Their speed was like lightning, almost impossible for the naked eye to catch. The Silverwing Thunderfinch predicted that Jiang Fan, along with the sword in his hand, would be torn into pieces!

But the next moment, as Jiang Fan laboriously raised the Purple Sword and slashed through the air, its talon silently broke off! Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through its abdomen! A piece of skin, along with a few feathers, was sliced off!

What had happened? The Silverwing Thunderfinch was stunned. The human youth in front of it had merely slashed a sword through the air, yet its indestructible talon was broken and its abdomen cut open?

Before it could understand, Jiang Fan leaped up, raising the Purple Sword high above his head. He aimed a fierce slash at the Silverwing Thunderfinch's neck! At this, the Silverwing Thunderfinch's instincts sensed an immense threat of death. It flapped its wings in terror, soaring upwards while twisting its neck.

Slish— A terrifyingly powerful invisible sword energy grazed its neck. Even so, it tore off a large patch of skin. Dazzling blood splattered down as it soared, dotting the white snow like blooming winter plum blossoms.

"Damn it!" Jiang Fan landed, his face full of regret. The second slash should have taken its life. Unfortunately, the Purple Sword was too heavy, and his swinging motion was too slow, giving the Silverwing Thunderfinch time to react! Now that it had flown high into the sky, it was beyond his reach.

The Silverwing Thunderfinch, meanwhile, was both shocked and enraged. It circled constantly above Jiang Fan's head, emitting angry screeches. It had thought this would be a simple hunt, yet it had lost a talon and sustained two other injuries! This was an absolute humiliation! What angered it even more was Jiang Fan raising the Purple Sword in his hand in a provocative stance. As a top predator of the sky, this was an insult to it! But it controlled its anger. It no longer wanted to experience the power of that Purple Sword for a third time.

Its eyes darted, fixing on the other three human women who had scattered and fled. It emitted a sharp, piercing shriek from its mouth, then flapped its massive wings, tearing away like a silvery-white bolt of lightning.

Jiang Fan's expression changed slightly. He could no longer bother to hide. He decisively took out the jade talisman for a Nascent Soul strike and activated it. No sooner had he taken out this jade talisman than the Silverwing Thunderfinch trembled violently. Its eyes stared in horror at the jade talisman in Jiang Fan's palm. It sensed the terrifying strike contained within the talisman—a force it could never withstand! Seeing Jiang Fan about to detonate it, it didn't even think, but flapped its wings and rushed into the clouds, disappearing from sight.

Jiang Fan tightly gripped the jade talisman, looking around, wary that the cunning bird might play another trick. But after a long while, even as the three women were almost back by his side, the bird did not return. Only then did he put his anxious heart at ease and quickly put the jade talisman away.

"Strange, why did this big bird suddenly run away? It was clearly about to attack me." Yi Lianxing had seen clearly. The Silverwing Thunderfinch had just locked onto her, but it turned and fled before launching its attack, as if startled by something.

Qin Caihe, however, looked at the Purple Sword in Jiang Fan's hand with surprise. "Junior Brother Jiang, what kind of sword is this? It's incredibly powerful!" she exclaimed. "It could even cut off the sharp talon of a fifth-layer Core Formation demonic beast and injure it?"

The other two women hadn't seen it, but Qin Caihe had witnessed the battle firsthand. Jiang Fan nonchalantly found some cloth, re-wrapped the Purple Sword, and slid it back onto his back, offering no reply. Qin Caihe then realized that the sword was a secret and that she had asked something she shouldn't have. She couldn't help but awkwardly stick out her tongue and said, "I... I didn't see anything."

At this moment, Chu Xingmeng also ran over, carrying a sharp talon on her shoulder that was twice as long as herself. "Senior Brother Jiang," she said, "this big bird's talon seems to be of even better quality than the Red-scaled Evil Flood Dragon's teeth."

Jiang Fan took it, and with a touch of his palm, immediately felt a faint chill, as if he were touching a profound iron saber. "It's excellent material," he said. "Take it near the Joyful Union Sect and sell it all together." Jiang Fan tossed it onto the carriage.

Qin Caihe, wanting to atone for her slip, also ran over to look for spoils. But besides the blood splattered all over the ground, there was nothing else...

"Oh!" Qin Caihe suddenly discovered a piece of tissue from the great bird's body amidst the bloodstains on the ground. It seemed to be a small piece of skin from its abdomen. Attached to it was a silvery-white, man-height feather. Its color blended with the snow, making it almost invisible.

"Junior Brother Jiang, look what I found!" Qin Caihe instinctively reached out to grab the feather. Jiang Fan saw it, was slightly startled, then his expression changed drastically, and he cried out, "Stop! Don't touch it!"