Cultivation is Creation [World-Hopping & Plant-Based Xianxia]

Chapter 193 - 188: Overclock

The massive bird dropped out of the night sky like death with wings. Its talons were longer than my arm, curved like scimitars and probably just as sharp. The spiritual pressure it emanated was enough to make the air feel thick, like trying to breathe underwater.

I didn't even have time to complete a thought before those talons descended towards my head.

Then something green blurred through my peripheral vision.

Yggy materialized from my inner world in an instant, its vine-like body expanding to wrap as its tendrils coiled around wings and talons, trying to redirect the beast's momentum.

Unfortunately, while Yggy was incredibly versatile, raw power wasn't exactly its strong suit. Trying to completely stop a Stage 8 beast would be like trying to catch a falling mountain with a fishing net.

But Yggy didn't need to stop it completely.

Just change its trajectory by a few crucial degrees.

The eagle's strike, instead of removing my head from my shoulders, plowed straight into the Stage 7 wolf that had been trying to take a chunk out of my throat.

The impact was... messy.

The wolf's lightning armor, which had been giving me so much trouble, might as well have been morning dew for all the good it did against the eagle's attack.

It didn't even get a chance to yelp.

One moment it was there, the next it was in several very distinct pieces, its spiritual core shattered into fragments.

"Master," Azure called out, "the eagle appears to be a Stormwing Raptor, a variant native to high-altitude mountain ranges. Their spiritual energy is concentrated in their wings and talons, allowing for powerful diving attacks. However, they're notably less maneuverable at close range, and their defensive capabilities are primarily focused on their forward-facing areas."

I nodded, already moving before the eagle could recover from its impromptu wolf-demolition exercise. Blink Step carried me directly in front of the beast, my fist already wrapped in layers of strengthening techniques.

This wasn't going to be my usual careful, measured strike.

The Shroud rune stayed inactive, its 20% power reduction too costly for what I had planned.

Instead, I drew on both the red and blue suns' energy simultaneously, feeling my spiritual essence spike by 50 units as their powers combined. The blue sun's energy masked the true nature of my attack just as effectively as the Shroud rune would have, though using it came with its own risks.

I'd been hesitant to tap into the blue sun's power ever since learning about that mysterious being who might be

My eyes widened as I understood the eagle's strategy.

It wasn't just being clever – it was being cruel.

Either I'd be forced to abandon my defensive fighting style to protect my teammate, or I'd have to watch Yan Ziheng die horribly.

A classic "heads I win, tails you lose" scenario.

The eagle moved with devastating speed, crossing the distance to the Symphony Shield faster than most cultivators could blink. I activated Blink Step instantly, but even as I teleported, I knew I wouldn't make it in time.

The beast's strike hit the formation like a meteor impact.

The Symphony Shield, for all its innovative design and careful construction, shattered like glass under the concentrated power of a Stage 8 beast's full attack.

Yan Ziheng had just enough time to look up, his eyes widening in horror, before the backlash of the broken formation sent him flying backward.

He hit the ground hard, blood spraying from his mouth. His robes were torn, revealing ugly bruises already forming across his chest. The impact had probably broken several ribs, and the qi fluctuations in his meridians suggested internal injuries as well.

I appeared behind the eagle, my scorpion tail and Phantom Strike launching simultaneously.

The beast managed to twist away from my punch, its spiritual armor deflecting most of the force, but my tail slipped through its defenses just enough to deliver a cut along its neck.

Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to deliver a strong dose of neurotoxin.

The eagle's movements became slightly sluggish as it retreated, its qi flaring as it tried to burn away the poison. It wouldn't be enough to stop a Stage 8 beast, but it would slow it down. Buy me the time I needed.

"Master," Azure called out. "Yggy has completed the rune."

I smiled as I sensed the new pattern stabilizing in my inner world.

Finally.

It was time to end this.