Chapter 433 : The Hunter Behind the Hunter
433: The Hunter Behind the Hunter
Daggers are short weapons which, for mortals, require close combat and carry considerable risk. Cultivators, however, had fewer concerns—any magical artifact, once refined, could be controlled at will, and controlling objects was a basic skill for cultivators.
Just as Jiang Mo immediately recognized that the arrows Yun Qingyue offered were crafted from phoenix feathers, Yun Qingyue could sense the intense sharp metal energy emanating from these two daggers. Moreover, since these daggers were personally offered by the White Tiger, their original material was self-evident—both were divine beasts, but the White Tiger belonged to a battle-loving lineage, with attack power far exceeding that of the Swan Goose.
Yun Qingyue hesitated only briefly before her bow and arrows suddenly dissipated, and she accepted the daggers.
Newly acquired weapons typically needed to be refined before use, yet strangely, the moment these daggers touched her hands, Yun Qingyue felt an immediate spiritual connection. She hadn't even injected the slightest spiritual energy into them before feeling the daggers' joyful response.
Such a phenomenon could only have one explanation—these magical artifacts had been custom-made specifically for her!
Yun Qingyue cast a surprised glance at Jiang Mo, who slightly averted her gaze, too embarrassed to admit she had long harbored the intention of giving her teeth to her Senior Sister as a token of affection.
Fortunately, there was no time for the two to dwell on personal matters. From Yun Qingyue giving the feathered arrows to Sect Leader Zhu, to preparing her own bow and arrows for attack, to switching to daggers while suppressing her surprise—all had transpired within two or three breaths. During this brief interval, Sect Leader Zhu had already mercilessly fired all those phoenix feather arrows, not one missing its mark.
The blood fiend beast, newly emerged and suffering this severe attack, had its initially formidable presence reduced by half. With several arrows protruding from its back, the red liquid dripping to the ground—whether its blood or something else—was uncertain, and even the luster of its scales had noticeably dimmed.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue felt quite satisfied—her collection of feathers hadn't been in vain.
Of course, while the blood fiend beast was still reeling, Yun Qingyue had no intention of letting it recover—she tossed the daggers into the air, formed a seal with her fingers, and the two daggers transformed into streaks of light shooting toward the beast.
The White Tiger governed slaughter, and though these were merely shed milk teeth, the killing energy they carried was sufficient to alarm the blood fiend beast.
Having just suffered greatly, the beast reacted with extreme swiftness this time. The moment the daggers approached, it leaped into the air as if its tail were on fire. The ferocious beast possessed considerable strength, jumping high into the air, instantly closing much of the distance between them.
Jiang Mo was startled, instinctively wanting to pull her Senior Sister back to a safe distance. But before she could act, she saw that the beast's leap wasn't to attack them—instead, it turned and fled...
From beginning to end, Jiang Mo hadn't even had a chance to strike.
Watching the beast's fleeing figure with arrows protruding from its back, she fell silent for a moment: "Wasn't it said that blood fiend beasts lack rationality and are extremely savage?"
Yet it didn't seem so to her. Looking at that panicked silhouette with a back full of arrows, it resembled nothing so much as a pitiful creature, fresh out into the world, immediately beaten down by harsh reality and forced to flee. For a moment, she even felt a twinge of compassion for it.
Clearly, however, Jiang Mo's compassion was unnecessary, as she herself knew. Therefore, after voicing this question, the newly confident little tiger immediately moved to intercept the fleeing blood fiend beast—compared to the pair of daggers she had given her Senior Sister, the little tiger naturally possessed more items. For instance, her shed milk teeth couldn't have been limited to just two; besides these, she had claws, tiger fur, and other items, useful or not, all carefully preserved.
Now she deployed everything useful at once. The frantically fleeing blood fiend beast, sensing the familiar killing energy, immediately faltered in its escape. Seizing this opportunity, the two daggers that had pursued it mercilessly struck at the beast's tail.
The blood fiend beast's tail resembled that of an ox, raised high as it fled. As the two daggers struck simultaneously, one severed the "ox tail" completely. The severed tail fell from midair, dissipating into red smoke before even touching the ground. The other dagger didn't miss either, stabbing directly into the beast's rear—the wound wasn't serious, but the beast certainly wouldn't find it comfortable.
The discomfort wasn't limited to the blood fiend beast, however, but extended to Jiang Mo as well—those had once been her teeth, now biting into the rear of a ferocious beast...
No, she couldn't think about it, mustn't think about it!
Hearing the blood fiend beast's agonized howl, Jiang Mo turned away, pretending not to see.
Zhu Baiyi and Yun Qingyue's attention, however, focused more on the beast's severed tail. Their expressions immediately grew serious, and Zhu Baiyi warned: "Be careful of that blood-qi—once separated from the blood fiend beast, it will disperse into the air."
This was certainly not beneficial but a form of contamination that would unconsciously affect one's mind.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
An artificially cultivated ferocious beast ultimately lacked the ferocity of one naturally formed.
Though Zhu Baiyi and the others had initially approached it as a major threat, in the end, dispatching this blood fiend beast proved remarkably easy—after Zhu Baiyi found a way to control the spreading blood-qi, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue joined forces, almost casually slaughtering the blood fiend beast.
With a final agonized howl, the blood fiend beast, not even an hour into its existence, collapsed heavily, covered in wounds.
Jiang Mo delivered several more attacks to the beast's body, but seeing it remain motionless, she assumed it was dead. After waiting a moment, she prepared to approach and confirm its death, but had taken only one step before Yun Qingyue stopped her: "No need to check. Blood fiend beasts rarely play dead, and their bodies dissipate quickly—let's just wait and watch from here."
As Yun Qingyue spoke, Zhu Baiyi had already retrieved a sealed jade bottle, waiting for the blood fiend beast to dissipate so she could gather and seal the blood-qi. Afterward, they would find a way to send this sealed blood-qi to the Buddha Sect, whose monks could purify such energy.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo abandoned her intention to inspect the beast, staying with her Senior Sister and the Sect Leader to wait.
Yun Qingyue was correct—this newly emerged blood fiend beast was still immature, lacking both sufficient power and cunning. Its collapse with a howl truly signified its death, and moments later, wisps of red mist began rising from its body. Simultaneously, the beast's originally grotesque, robust form began to dissolve, likely to completely disappear before long.
Zhu Baiyi acted quickly. The moment the first streak of red mist appeared, she formed a hand seal, guiding the mist into the jade bottle. As more followed, light red deepening to dark red, not a single trace of the blood-qi dissipating from the beast's body escaped her, all being collected into the bottle.
Among the three, Zhu Baiyi possessed the highest cultivation and broadest experience, so Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue naturally trusted her with the important task of gathering the blood-qi.
Jiang Mo relaxed, completely shifting her attention from the blood fiend beast, turning to Yun Qingyue with a sigh: "When I first saw that blood fiend beast's imposing presence, I thought it would be a formidable, troublesome opponent. Who would have thought it would be so easily dealt with?"
Her tone was rather dismissive, clearly not holding the blood fiend beast in high regard.
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue disapproved, raising her hand to lightly tap Jiang Mo's forehead: "Don't be smug. From the sect records I've read before, blood fiend beasts aren't so easily handled. Whenever they emerge, they invariably bring devastation to all living things, requiring the combined strength of various sects to eradicate them." After a pause, she added: "This one was indeed too weak, perhaps due to being artificially cultivated and inherently deficient, but that's no reason for you to underestimate blood fiend beasts."
While warning Jiang Mo, Yun Qingyue's tone was extremely serious. However, contrasting with her severe words, the tap on Jiang Mo's forehead was exceedingly gentle, resembling an intimate reminder more than a warning.
Jiang Mo touched her forehead, obediently accepting the advice: "Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong. I won't dare do it again."
Hearing the smile in her voice, Yun Qingyue wasn't sure if she had truly taken it to heart or was merely humoring her. Momentarily caught between exasperation and indignation, she gave Jiang Mo a few annoyed glances, unwilling to engage further.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo immediately approached, tugging pleadingly at Yun Qingyue's sleeve, trying to appease her.
Nearby, Sect Leader Zhu, diligently completing her task, overheard the interaction between the two. Finding it somewhat cloying, she quickly lost interest in eavesdropping and concentrated on gathering the blood-qi.
As Yun Qingyue had mentioned, this blood fiend beast was inherently deficient due to being artificially cultivated, certainly weak among its kind. Yet even so, its size was considerable, with its collapsed body several times larger than a house. However, following its death, the dissolution of its body proceeded rapidly—starting with thin wisps, later becoming large plumes of smoke.
After roughly half an hour, the beast's once-massive corpse had nearly vanished. When Zhu Baiyi collected the last wisp of red smoke into the jade bottle, only a red pearl remained where the body had been.
Zhu Baiyi recognized the pearl as the one previously embedded in the blood fiend beast's head, quite conspicuous.
Clearly, this pearl was also part of the blood fiend beast. Zhu Baiyi had initially assumed it would dissipate along with the beast's body. Unexpectedly, after the entire beast had vanished, this pearl still remained.
She was somewhat surprised but dared not casually touch anything from the blood fiend beast. Having completed sealing the blood-qi in the jade bottle, she was about to envelop the pearl with spiritual energy to seal it as well, planning to send it along with the jade bottle to the Buddha Sect for handling. Yet at that moment, a human figure suddenly darted out from the side.
The figure appeared and vanished with extreme speed. By the time Zhu Baiyi focused her gaze, the pearl on the ground had disappeared.