The overjoyed Chu Chen howled at the sky. A tender squawk of an eagle cut through the air, lingering for a time.
That discovery was truly too full of surprises. He could not resist flapping his little wings and howled as he danced around. However, the next moment, a tragedy followed. The overjoyed Chu Chen felt himself trip over, missing a step, and lost his balance, falling down immediately.
It turned out that while he was overjoyed at the edge of the nest, he accidentally fell out of the nest. Sudden weightlessness washed over him as his world started spinning.
'Sh*t! I'm just a hatchling. If I hit a rock falling down, wouldn't that turn me into a pancake?! This time my joy really begot sadness! Could this be the end of my fate with this mountain filled with treasures?'
Just as the thought occurred in his mind, he felt a jolt of pain in his head. He slammed forcefully onto a limestone, causing him to be disoriented and dizzy.
The strong impact force was sufficient to have him bounce off the limestone, spin a few rounds in the air, and roll off the tall tomb.
Whimper…
He felt dizzy. What surprised Chu Chen was that he fell from the roof of the tomb that was several hundred feet tall, yet he only felt some pain instead of turning into a pancake as he had imagined! As he clumsily climbed on his feet, he stretched and flapped his wings several times, feeling nothing wrong with his body.
'What kind of eagle is this? Just a hatchling and I can remain unscathed after slamming to the ground like a meteorite. If I grew up, wouldn't I be invincible?!'
'That gave me quite a scare,' Chu Chen sighed in his heart.
After falling, his instincts sensed great danger. A cold feeling washed over him causing his down to all stand on end!
Danger! Extreme danger!
A wave of cold, overt killing intent washed over him, causing his body to freeze up for a moment.
Turning around slowly, Chu Chen's eyes immediately narrowed.
Before him was a pitch-black venomous snake with a triangular head and a pair of blood-red eyes. On its forehead was a silver half-moon pattern.
Tss…
The black snake's cold, bloody red eyes gave off an unconcealed killing intent.
It stared at Chu Chen for a moment. Its head moved suddenly, as though a black colored blade. With a swooshing sound, it pounced at him. The air was filled with a strong scent of blood. The strong feeling of imminent death almost caused Chu Chen to suffocate!
'I'm going to die!'
Chu Chen was terrified. He was only a hatchling that could not even stand firmly. When faced with an attack by a black snake-like that, he was truly helpless and could only wait for death. He had no means to fight back.
The only thing he could do was to have the little beady eyes of the hatchling to give off a death glare!
'I'm no match for you, but my gaze won't lose to you. Who's afraid of you!?'
The silver moon black snake's eyes similarly gave off a cold and ruthless gleam. It raised its head high and prepared for a fatal blow.
Whoosh!
A sharp gleam of a sword flashed, followed by a black snakehead turning into a fountain of blood. It then spun and landed on the ground with a dull thud.
The next moment, a slender, fair, and supple hand grabbed Chu Chen.
His world spun once more. When Chu Chen finally came to, he saw the charming cheek of a stunning young woman coming within three inches from him. 'This is way too close. Is she trying to kiss me?'
A pair of cold and approving eyes stared at Chu Chen.
"Little thing, you're quite brave."
The young woman in black clothes looked just like a fairy, but the icy expression on her face seemed to have come from h*ll.
'Could she be thinking of keeping me as a pet?'
That was Chu Chen's only thought.
The young woman before him had an icy expression. Her black sleeves flapped as it danced in the wind.
She looked like a young goddess of death that was about to destroy and collect the lives of all living beings, yet her hands carried Chu Chen with the utmost care.
While she was observing Chu Chen, his eyes were brazenly examining all corners of her body.
'Although she's cold, her chests...they're huge!'
Chu Chen's face turned red in an instant. However, realizing that he was just a hatchling, others would not be able to see him blush. With that, he continued to admire the beauty before him without care. 'Such long legs. Too bad her buttocks are out of sight, but it must surely be supple.'
'Wait a minute. I'm not that kind of a person. Why am I peeping at a woman so brazenly after turning into a bird? Could it be that my mindset is turning into an animal as I transform into one myself?'
After finding an excuse, Chu Chen once more felt at ease. At that moment, he was a bird. These were benefits that a bird should have.
Chu Chen suddenly noticed that the young woman had a skull-shaped hairpin on the left side of her head. The eyes of the small skull even had two shiny green gems in them, faintly exuding a terrible aura.
Chu Chen's heart immediately sank.
In the world of cultivators, no female disciples from the good factions would use this type of skull-shaped accessories that carried an ominous aura with them. Those who took the path of cultivation focused on breaking free from the material world.
That was why most female disciples would prefer using accessories in the shape of the qilin, phoenix, blue phoenix, flame crows, and other auspicious creatures.
Only those female disciples in the demonic sects of the evil factions would use such skull-shaped accessories due to their love of killing, violence, and death to help them with their cultivation of demonic techniques.
'This young woman...is a witch?'
'So what if she's a witch? She's still my savior. I still owe her my life.'
The young woman in black was oblivious to Chu Chen's inner thoughts.
She felt around Chu Chen's body and a look of surprise could be seen from her beautiful eyes. This newly hatched eaglet had some very unique bone structure. Under that tender appearance, it carried a faint invulnerable trait.
By the time this little thing fully develops in the future, its achievements would be immeasurable.
This mutated eaglet had barely hatched and was able to give the ferocious silver moon black snake a scare. Half a month later, that snake would probably be at its mercy.
'Such a young eaglet. Its nest must be nearby.'
With that thought, the young woman raised her head and quickly scanned the area. She quickly spotted the nearby tomb that Chu Chen fell from.
Her icy eyes brightened slightly as she suddenly floated up in the air and flew towards that direction at high speed.
Soaring through the sky with just the wind!
Chu Chen was dumbfounded. The young woman flew on the clouds with him. In an instant, a strong wind buffeted against him. Chu Chen felt his body tensed up as the wind blew against him with a suffocating force, almost blowing him off.
However, the next instant, a fair and slender hand shielded him, blocking the immense wind pressure for him.
Chu Chen could not see through the young woman's cultivation, but she was definitely a powerful expert above the Spiritual Droplets Stage.
'I'm saved.'
When the witch in black gently placed Chu Chen back in the next, she could see the eaglet's eyes narrowing as it showed a relaxed expression.
That was a very cute posture that brought a rare warmth into the gaze of the witch's icy eyes.
"Little thing, you must remember that only you can save yourself in the future."
In the witch's beautiful eyes, a disappointed look flitted by. She let out a soft sigh, then looked into the distant Black Fog Valley as her eyebrows formed a frown.
"Master's aura ends here. He...really entered this Black Fog Valley?"
The infamy of the magical fog in Black Fog Valley was widespread. The curse of inevitable death after contact had yet to be broken by anyone. It was obvious that this icy cold witch had also heard of Black Fog Valley's name. In her eyes, one could see a strong sense of trepidation.
"That elder from Clear Sky Sect that I threw in withered away after 30 feet. Is there really no way to resist this magical fog?"
She muttered a few words as she looked increasingly lost.
"Maybe those spiritual herbs growing in the Black Fog Valley can resist it, but I can't even enter Black Fog Valley, let alone collecting the spiritual herbs within."
"Regardless, I need to find my master." The young woman in black suddenly looked towards Chu Chen. "Little guy, you must live on by yourself."
Under the young woman's watchful eyes, Chu Chen could resist nodding. She then ruffled Chu Chen's head and with a single move, shot into the sky, turning into a star in the sky before disappearing fully.
'Sigh…'
He was actually feeling a bit worried about the witch's safety. She was not like him. If she could not stop herself from trespassing Black Fog Valley, it would be death.
'Please do not act rashly. Rashness is the devil!'
However, if he was not rash and came here to collect herbs, things would not have turned out this way.
Thinking of collecting herbs, Chu Chen finally remembered the patch of green spiritual herbs under his nest. It was gone!
He did not know who collected. Did that mean that his herb quota would not be met?
However, he then recalled what the young woman in black said earlier, about Black Fog Valley having spiritual herbs. Since movement was still difficult for him at the moment, he would most likely try exploring Black Fog Valley in two days. He did not dream of getting the ring of the founding ancestor right off the bat. Getting himself some spiritual herbs to meet the quota was his immediate concern.
Suddenly, a loud growl could be heard. Chu Chen was taken aback, then unceremoniously forced a smile.
He was hungry. Ever since he got out of the eggshell, he had not eaten anything. After all that trouble, hunger came at him like a rising tide, immediately filling his mind.
'Damn it! I can't even stand up straight. How am I going to find food?'
Chu Chen's heart sank as he suddenly thought of a question that directly affected his survival. Since he hatched from the shell, he had not seen any eagles fly by. It was hopeless to depend on his parents to feed him. How then would he solve the issue of food?
When Chu Chen glanced over the shattered pieces of the egg shell-strewn all over the nest, his eyes brightened immediately. Those greyish-white shells looked no different compared to ordinary bird eggs. However, its surface was filled with mysterious dark gold patterns. The edges of the shell even had a faint golden glow. At that moment, it was faintly giving off an incomparably delicious and alluring aroma.
'This thing...can it be eaten?'
The great hunger caused his head to spin. Chu Chen could not be bothered anymore. He clumsily ran to the nearest shell fragment that was the size of a bean. His little yellow beak pecked and accurately held the piece of broken shell in his beak.
It was really weird. The eggshell that was strong as iron melted away once he placed it in his mouth. It turned into a warmth that went straight into his stomach. It was as though that it was some food specially prepared for him, greatly reducing his hunger. The piece of shell was only the size of a bean, yet it was able to make him almost full.
Meanwhile, the pieces of broken shells were of various sizes strewn over most of the nest…
It would seem that food would not be a problem for the near future.
Chu Chen let out a sigh of relief. After that much trouble, he felt exhausted. Now that he was fed, a sense of weariness washed over him, causing him to lie on the floor and cover his head with those little wings, falling asleep.