Chapter 1092: The Bounty

“Damn it all!!”

The Golden Roc King seethed with rage at the sound. The soulbeast that died had been one of his own!

A class seven four-winged roc had died!

“Die!!”

Light far brighter than before formed on the tips of the Golden Roc King’s wings before flying at the Demon-eyed Tiger King!

“Xiao Lan, kill that one!!”

On the other side of the battlefield, Xiao Qi was just turning around to call out to Xiao Lan. He and Xiao Lan had just managed to kill one of the mid-stage class seven rocs a moment ago, freeing up more time and energy for the two of them to strike down the others. There was one late-stage class seven roc Xiao Qi noticed that was a prime target for Xiao Lan to kill right now.

Excluding the Golden Roc King, his clan had only six class seven golden rocs. Two of them were dead now, meaning only two late-stage class sevens, one mid-stage class seven, and one early-stage class seven were left.

The sole mid-stage class seven roc was desperately fighting for his life against Xiao Lan when Xiao Qi killed him a moment later. Xiao Qi was a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast. How could the roc possibly survive when Xiao Qi fought with Xiao Lan? It was already very surprising that the roc lasted that long, to begin with.

Wu Dijian was fighting one of the late-stage class seven rocs while Dan Teng fought the other and also the early-stage class seven roc. And while those four were handling the roc clan, the Yao clan, their familiars, Tang Xinyun, and Xiao Bai were dealing with the nine bloodthirsty wind apes.

That basically left Xiao Qi free to choose his next target; the early-stage class seven roc. Transforming into a beam of green and violet light, he took off in pursuit of his prey!

“Chirp!!!”

A sense of foreboding descended upon the unfortunate roc—he saw how his comrade had been so easily killed by Xiao Qi earlier. Compared to his comrade, what chance did he stand against the bird? Turning around, the roc flapped his wings in an attempt to flee!

“Hah! It’s too late to run!!” Xiao Qi chirped mockingly. Opening his beak, he let out a soulforce infused chirp!

“Chirp!!”

The sound seemed to resonate with the skies almost. Vibrating even the air as it traveled, the sound wave traveled at breakneck speeds before making contact with the retreating roc!

It was a soul attack!

“Cheee!!”

The roc froze up at once, a mournful wail being the only sound it was capable of making. Unable to even flap its wings, the roc began to plummet back down to the ground!

An inevitable outcome. Against someone like Xiao Qi, how could an early-stage class seven soulbeast ever hope to survive?

The roc hadn’t even begun to shake off the pain when three crescent-shaped attacks made themselves known to it!

“Aaaahhhh!!”

Screaming until the spatial edges tore apart its vocal box, the roc watched in horrified despair as the rest of its body fell from the sky like a rain of blood to provide nutrition to the forest below… 

“Next!!”

Xiao Qi’s eyes swiveled to its next target at once. Over there, where Dan Teng was fighting, was the late-stage class seven roc.

“Roarr!!!”

Gathering his energy to him, Long Lan let loose a mighty roar before sending a wave of energy at the roc!

“Boom!!”

Nearly caught off guard by Long Lan, the roc managed to parry the blow in time before letting loose a high-pitched whistle!

“Chiiirrr!!”

The eyes of Dan Teng grew unfocused at once upon the roc’s screech. It was a soul attack!

Wings bundling together, the roc unleashed a storm of sharp blades of light to pepper Dan Teng!

“Chirp!!”

But at the same time as the roc was attacking, Xiao Qi was on the way from behind it to attack it with his own soul attack!

And with how focused it was in trying to kill Dan Teng, the roc was left completely unguarded against Xiao Qi’s soul attack!

“Boom boom boom…”

The rays of light bounced off from Dan Teng’s barrier like droplets of rain onto a reflective surface. Fortunately, Dan Teng wasn’t harmed in the slightest and was able to widen the distance between him and the roc after Xiao Qi attacked.

With Dan Teng retreating and Xiao Qi’s soul attack causing havoc on its soul, the roc took a moment before it could clear its head. But when it did…it saw multiple bolts of lightning and blades of wind come at it from every direction!

It put a hasty guard at once, but Long Lan and Dan Teng’s attacks were already too close to be evaded!

The following assault persisted for a long while. Like a symphony, the elemental attacks echoed and chimed in the world after impact with the roc’s defenses. Under the combined assault of the two soulbeasts and Dan Teng, the four-winged golden roc had no choice but to stand its ground. A counterattack was impossible, it didn’t even have the time to let out a cry of annoyance in fear of being caught off-guard.

It was Xiao Qi who cracked its defenses. With one last soul attack, Xiao Qi managed to force the roc to drop its barrier just long enough before tearing its body apart with a few well-aimed spatial edges.

Thus heralded the end of a mighty late-stage class seven soulbeast. It died not after a prideful battle where it was able to show off its might, but after a one-sided affair without being able to retaliate.

The death of this particular roc meant that Xiao Qi, Dan Teng, and Long Lan could shift their attention elsewhere. Over there fighting Wu Dijian was a roc that looked especially enticing, in fact.

The addition of three more soulbeasts meant for an even more ‘unfair’ battle for the last roc. Its death came quickly and rather horribly… 

“Again! More!!”

Xiao Qi’s eyes glistened with excitement. His lust for battle was as clear as day as he streaked through the skies. Battling without opposition like this was an experience he enjoyed, especially when he was fighting by Bai Yunfei’s side! How many days has it been since their last? He didn’t know, but it was definitely far better than any other time he killed someone strong in the past three years.

In any case, Wu Dijian was now a part of Xiao Qi’s merry band of ‘victors’. Without any rocs left to fight, the group’s target was shifted towards…the class seven apes!

The bloodthirsty wind apes had nine class seven soulbeasts amongst their ranks. But not even a number like this was enough to better their odds in victory. They were encircled the moment Xiao Qi’s group entered the fray and fought sullenly like cornered animals.

The Yao clan had many powerful people, there was no denying that. But a heavy price would have to be paid if they were to try and kill the apes. Therefore, the best solution to avoid any injuries or loss was to simply follow Xiao Qi’s plan to encircle and trap!

None of them fought with the intent to kill. It wouldn’t do to force the apes into a cornered state where they’d fight desperately for their lives. The Yao clan pressed into the apes when needed and retreated when necessary. This was the best way to prolong a battle without issue!

All according to plan. Bai Yunfei’s plan that is. This plan had the best chance of maximizing enemy losses while minimizing friendly casualties!

Any Soul Emperor would be stalled by the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Bai Yunfei. And while the Yao clan stalled their foes, Xiao Qi would take the stage as the star and kill off every single foe one by one!

Aside from Xiao Qi, everyone already had their own designated foes. Xiao Qi was just responsible for going around to kill each and every enemy when possible. Any ally that was originally fighting would then be added into the group so they could continue the momentum elsewhere. Discover. Eliminate. Consolidate. 

Three easy and repeatable steps to utterly destroy the enemy army!

It was clear to see how effective such a plan was, with every single class seven roc dead already!

Ultimately, the wind apes would meet a similar fate as the rocs now that Xiao Qi was here… 

On the other side of the battlefield.

“Aaahhh!! You’ll all die here today!!”

The Golden Roc King exploded with anger upon witnessing the death of the last class seven roc.

To say he had gone crazy was an understatement. Screeching as he delivered a powerful blow onto the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the roc shot straight for Bai Yunfei!

The air in front of the roc’s beak vibrated and rippled—this was a soul attack!

“It’s coming!!”

Imperceptible to everyone, a flicker of glee appeared in Bai Yunfei’s eyes!

He had been waiting for a moment like this!!