Roar!
In the serene forest, a cry sent the birds scrambling away. A flaming winged beast with huge eyes darted out of the forest in panic and fear.
It was shaking from head to toe, frantic in flapping its wings even through the dozens of trees to get out.
"Stop right there, I said! Now, before you make it worse!" A childish voice came from behind, yet oddly overbearing.
Sweating all over, the spiritual beast wheezed, its wings going faster. It believed the angelic voice was that of a reaper, coming to drag him back to hell.
[Stop? Are you touched in the head? That's asking for me to sit still as you cut me up!]
Whoosh!
A red flash came from behind, smacking him so hard, he folded.
Its eyes turned white as it hit the ground in a hundred-meter-wide crater.
As the dust settled, the spiritual beasts nearby scattered in panic.
Only the large beast remained, out cold and battered, as a small figure landed on top.
Gu Santong's only reaction to the pitiful back-broken spiritual beast was, "You just don't know when to quit. I told you to stop but no, you just had to make me do it. How dumb, I don't want your life."
Gu Santong walked onto its back, grabbed the wings and tore them off.
Blood gushed like a waterfall, but the spiritual beast only jerked, still out cold.
Which was probably for the best. Seeing so much blood bubbling out of it would've left it crying.
[Sweet Jesus Christ, you don't want my life, but my wings! How is a flying spiritual beast without its wings any different from a cripple?]
[And you still ask me to stop? Who the hell makes those kinds of demands like it's the order of the day?]
What could it do? The strong worked in savage and cruel ways.
With the wings in his ring, Gu Santong counted on his fingers, [Including this 4th level spiritual beast's wings, that should add up to eighty. I wonder how's dad doing. ]
Gu Santong jumped up in the air and was gone. Only the crippled spiritual beast was left, its eyes rolled up in their sockets and blood flowing down its back like a river. It wasn't long for this world, that's for sure…
Meanwhile, in a clearing, three 5th level spiritual beasts were shivering from fear. Zhuo Fan strolled towards them, his eyes cold and a faint azure flame flickering on his forehead.
Sure they'd fear Zhuo Fan just the same, even without that gimmick, but not enough to lose even their fight or flight instinct.
"You three, turn around." Zhuo Fan's eyes flashed.
The spiritual beasts looked at each other through tears and turned.
How could a man have such power to rob them of the will to even flee? The air around him was obviously from a big boss of theirs!
Zhuo Fan snickered, touching the azure flame.
Without this baby here, he'd be out there wasting time chasing these beasts to and fro. Now he could even order them to die and they'd line up on the precipice, plunging to their doom like second nature.
Going behind one spiritual beast, Zhuo Fan's mouth twisted in a smile touching its wings.
The victim trembled and sweated. What came next was a tearing sound, a pain so excruciating, it wailed in tears. All while the blood on its back gushed freely.
"Now beat it!" Zhuo Fan snapped.
The spiritual beast dragged its pitiful and gimp body in remorse deeper into the woods, leaving a thick trail of blood.
As for the other two spiritual beasts, seeing their buddy's woeful fate, they were shivering harder, pleading Zhuo Fan with their big puppy eyes.
They were majestic 5th level spiritual beasts, pack leaders in the Allbeast Mountain Range.
But now their wings were plucked off by a mere human. Oh, the humanity! What could they do? This guy had that wavy blue thing making them docile as puppies.
Rip~
With another two ripping sounds, the mournful cries of the spiritual beasts echoed out into the blue sky with Zhuo Fan behind them waving them off.
The spiritual beasts went on the same road as their brother, weeping and deflated in their slow steps into the forest. Only the horrifying trail of blood was testament to the gruesome torture.
Zhuo Fan put the wings away.
He was one step closer to his goal.
On his way to resume the harvest, a red flash came in the form of Gu Santong.
"Dad, I got around eighty pairs. What about you?" Gu Santong stuck out his flushed face.
Zhuo Fan smiled, his brows going up and down, "Around the same, 235."
"So many?" Gu Santong sulked, "Dad, you're so mean. I have to chase those spiritual beasts each time while you just use that azure flame to have them sit still. How am I supposed to win like this?"
Gu Santong pouted and stomped.
This game has been going on for three months now. What he thought to be a search for herbs, turned into plucking wings and in him losing all interest.
Zhuo Fan made it a challenge, saying he'd give him ten 8th grade ingredients if he gathered a thousand pairs of wings first. That had him going around the mountains in excitement.
But when the race started, he found out that Zhuo Fan had a secret weapon, making the entire mountain range's spiritual beasts listen to his orders.
In the first two weeks alone, Zhuo Fan had already overtaken him. His hopes of winning were dashed.
He had the strength, but Zhuo Fan had the azure flame which could line up the beasts for the culling.
Zhuo Fan saw through him and smiled, "Young Sanzi, how about this? I still need to get a thousand but you win if you can get 300 before me."
"Really?" Gu Santong's eyes sparkled, "Better keep your word. I'm going!"
But then he came right back in the next moment, asking coyly, "Dad, what do you need all these wings for? Did you get bored of yours and want to switch them up every day? You're like the maids in the imperial palace. They switch jewelry just like you."
"I am no woman to have that vice." Zhuo Fan's face twitched, "Now go do your thing. You'll find out in the evening."
"Alright!" Gu Santong left shrugging.
He only cared about the prize anyway. He had no curiosity to know what Zhuo Fan's use of the wings was.
Hu~
But before he could give more chase, a hurricane blew over them.
Sand and rocks blew away as a black cloud loomed over Allbeast Mountain Range. The next moment, a three hundred meter long, three-headed black bird swooped in.
Its powerful wings sending sharp winds, able to crush even stone.
Zhuo Fan cried, "9th level spiritual beast, Three-headed Crow! What's it doing here? This is only the 6th level spiritual beast's domain."
"Dad, can we use its wings? Why don't we pull them off?" Gu Santong proposed.
Zhuo Fan disposed, "Young Sanzi, behave. This spiritual beast is powerful enough to go on a rampage in the Sacred Domain. Us two are no match for it."
Zhuo Fan's heart shook and he gulped.
He never dreamed that mortal domain could have such a spiritual beast.
He knew Allbeast Mountain Range went deeper still, having areas the 6th level spiritual beasts didn't dare cross, that those areas were holding a terrible being.
Not even he thought of exploring it. Allbeast Mountain Range was a bottomless treasure vault which he wouldn't dare open before he had the power to do so.
But the guardian of that treasury had caught him with his pants down.
"Dad, can't your azure flame do the trick?" Gu Santong reminded him.
Zhuo Fan recovered at last, [How the hell did I forget?] And deployed his trick.
The instant that flame came out into the open, the Three-headed Crow stopped, with all its heads fixated on him, "There you are!"
Each head had an azure flame too.
Zhuo Fan was rendered speechless.