Chapter 1 Immense Bird

The enormous Peng bird cried shrilly, flying into the sky, truly appearing to blot out the sun. Each flap of its twenty-meter-long golden wings created a hurricane-like wind that swept across the area.

This Peng bird stood over seven meters tall, its form sleek and massive. Every one of its feathers seemed to be crafted from cyan-gold, radiating a brilliant golden light, while also possessing an ancient and rustic aura, as if having endured endless ages.

This was the aura of inheritance. Even though it was only a juvenile Dapeng bird, the ancient divine bird lineage flowed and was passed down within its blood.

"Li!"

Just then, spotting Su Zhou below, Garuda let out an angry cry. The golden-haired girl's humanoid form was merely a body it instinctively transformed into, but its true essence was stored within its pure cyan-glazed heart. That was its true vital point, and neither the human nor bird head was actually critical.

But even so, having one's head exploded was definitely not a pleasant experience. The feeling of the human form being destroyed still lingered in its mind. Just a slight recollection of that sensation of impending death was enough to drive most intelligent beings in this world to fear and madness!

Su Zhou naturally felt no guilt about this. After all, weren't humanity's traditional virtues surprise attacks, ganging up, equipment superiority, and ruthless indifference? Besides, Garuda brought along a fiend beast, while he only brought Bai Canglang.

The fact that this situation occurred only proved one thing: the opponent's fiend beast was not as useful as his Bai Canglang!

Seeing Su Zhou standing still, showing no intention of running or dodging, the furious Garuda stared intently at him, its golden eyes scanning every flaw and detail. Perhaps due to the anger from having its head exploded, its gaze and aura carried a trace of instinctive hunger towards the dragon and serpent kind.

Then, it launched its attack.

At this moment, Garuda, transformed into its demonic true form and exerting its full power, merely had to flap its wings to create a massive gale, turning into countless tornadoes that pressed down on Su Zhou.

Then, it condensed the surrounding spiritual energy around itself, turning its entire body into a dazzling gold, frantically increasing its defensive power.

Just then, Bai Canglang fired another shot, the specially-made sniper bullet cutting through the sky, flying swiftly. But this time, against the golden-winged bird that had deliberately condensed spiritual energy to enhance its defense, the bullet didn't even penetrate a single feather, being directly deflected, which was very embarrassing.

"Well, it seems it's learned its lesson; surprise attacks are useless now."

After all, Bai Canglang only possessed the spiritual power of a peak Awakened, facing a Dapeng golden-winged bird that was practically an entire realm higher than him. Even with the support of top-tier modern weapons, it was not enough to break through its defenses.

Su Zhou was also squinting at this time, using his spiritual vision to observe Garuda's entire body. Garuda in its demonic true form was truly the most supreme divine beast bloodline. With the enhancement of spiritual power, this body's firmness was even comparable to spiritual alloy; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it fine gold.

Even more terrifying was that the Dapeng golden-winged bird's body had no weaknesses in terms of spiritual power. Every corner of its body was protected by naturally-formed bone-microvascular spiritual power meridians, making it as impregnable as a copper wall and iron bastion. Even tank cannons might not be able to penetrate it, and it was only at the Extraordinary level. If it advanced another level, becoming a leading youth, then it would probably be invincible in this world except for nuclear bombs. Even the Rods of God might not be able to injure it.

"Truly beautiful; this is a nearly perfect avian creature."

Casually shattering the incoming wind tornadoes with a lightning spear, Su Zhou gave Garuda a very high evaluation.

And now, this perfect demonic bird was soaring rapidly in the sky, then diving rapidly towards him.

The ear-piercing whistling sound matched the speed of the golden-winged bird's dive. Layers of mist appeared in front of its body, and the ear-splitting shriek of the atmosphere being torn apart rang out. Garuda was now cruising at supersonic speed, carrying the purest and most terrifying kinetic energy as it crashed down. Its sharp beak was aimed directly at Su Zhou's head, clearly intending to let Su Zhou also taste the feeling of having his head exploded and being forced to reveal his true form!

"Oh dear, but I don't have anything like a x-dragon true form. It must be because I haven't cultivated it. I'll ask Yala next time if I can cultivate it too."

Shaking his head slightly, he couldn't allow his head to be exploded, nor would he automatically transform into his true form after having his head exploded. Therefore, Su Zhou also rarely held back, using fifty percent of his strength for the first time in a long while, activating the special ability of the sacred geometry pentagram, 'Enhanced Soul - Bullet Time'!

It felt like entering another world.

With his mind accelerated more than ten times, and his body keeping up as well, Su Zhou felt as if time around him had been paused. Only Garuda was still approaching him at a speed surpassing the world champion of the 100-meter dash. Layers of ring-shaped shockwaves were slowly forming, then stretching backward, and the ear-splitting sonic boom was also stretched many times, making it strangely jarring.

But this speed was pitifully slow for the current Su Zhou. While the opponent was charging over, he even had time to pick out a 'sonic boom grenade', which every exploration team member was equipped with, from the various strange gadgets hanging from his waist.

Then, he turned into a phantom, dodging the golden-winged bird's dive, and incidentally threw the sonic boom grenade next to the opponent's ear and detonated it.

Boom!

A miserable cry could be heard instantly. Although the golden-winged bird's defense was perfect, even able to defend against sonic attacks, the close-range sonic boom grenade was simply too terrifying. Even though Garuda had sensed that Su Zhou had suddenly erupted with several times his previous speed, and was already on guard against being attacked, when the sonic boom actually shook its ear, it couldn't help but lose its flying posture. The entire bird crashed to the ground, dragging out a long ditch.

After all, whether the brain thinks it can withstand it, and whether the body can withstand it, are two different things.

And just as the golden-winged bird hadn't regained its footing and recovered from the ringing in its ears, Su Zhou didn't give it time to rest. He extended the spear in his hand, erupting with lightning magic again, forcing it to gather spiritual energy to prepare to resist Su Zhou's fierce attack.

But as a result, Su Zhou didn't blast lightning like before, nor did he rush up to fight in close combat. This time, he directly used lightning magic to stimulate electric light, creating a dazzling lightning light comparable to, or even surpassing, a blinding flashlight, directly shining it towards Garuda's eyes!

"Li!!!"

Another miserable cry, and the golden-winged bird staggered back a few steps. But if it were only this, with the golden-winged bird's divine eyes, it would probably recover in a few seconds, and after that, this kind of surprise attack would be ineffective.

But what Su Zhou wanted was these few seconds of stalemate. Without any hesitation, he directly threw himself out, his whole body like a missile, directly slamming into the golden-winged bird's neck!

The golden-winged bird's neck wasn't long. It was even different from most birds. This vital spot had layers of overlapping golden down feathers for defense. It was unimaginably sturdy, and could also deflect most of the impact.

For example, Su Zhou's rapid charge, which was enough to bend a steel beam, only made the other party's body retreat a few steps when it hit Garuda's neck, without causing any damage... But Su Zhou never intended to attack the other party with the impact.

In fact, he just skillfully hugged the other party's neck, and then, just like he did with the Beast Taming Demon General, he exerted force with his arms, activating the Dragon-Serpent Strength. At the same time, his entire body fell downwards!

Neck-hugging over-the-shoulder throw!

Su Zhou's strength, plus the Lán Armor, was a full hundred tons of brute force. Although the Dapeng golden-winged bird's wingspan exceeded twenty meters, a bird's wingspan was just a good-looking number. Its body was far from a hundred tons. Being pulled by Su Zhou like this, it instantly lost its balance, and the entire bird was flipped over, blankly being thrown onto the ground by Su Zhou, rolling and rubbing heavily on the ground.

If Garuda hadn't been stiffened by the sonic boom grenade and lightning flash before, it could have unleashed its power and engaged in an evenly matched, or even superior, wrestling match with Su Zhou. But without unleashing spiritual power and physical strength, it simply couldn't prevent the other party from throwing it around like a newly hatched chick based on weight alone.

Immediately afterwards, without giving Garuda time to react, Su Zhou flipped over, pressing the other party's head into the dirt. At the same time, he straddled the other party's neck, his whole body flashing with arcs of lightning, and began to discharge electricity frantically!

Dong dong dong dong! Crackle!

The speed of the Thunderous Heart's beating was already twice Su Zhou's usual speed, and so was the lightning released. He shouted loudly, his arms shook, exerting force in his hands, and the cyan-blue lightning fluctuations rotated rapidly, like two electric drills, continuously bombarding the sensitive vital points around Garuda's neck!

Boom boom boom boom! A series of violent spiritual power explosions rang out. Su Zhou's arm movements were truly at their limit, even causing sonic booms in the air in front of his arms. Although Su Zhou was far from being able to break the sound barrier, it was not surprising that his punch speed was supersonic. In the violent storm of the fists, only sparks ignited by the lightning explosions, and countless afterimages could be seen!

"Li!"

Golden down feathers were extraordinary materials that easily conducted energy, and were the best shield for defending against spiritual power attacks. But after the spiritual power stored within was offset by Su Zhou with spiritual power as well, this best shield turned into the best power conductor instead. Garuda was almost knocked unconscious by Su Zhou's series of continuous attacks that had probably been planned long ago, its head dazed from the concussion. But how could a divine bird's body be so easily defeated?

In the next moment, the furious golden-winged bird shook its spine, intending to throw Su Zhou off. Then, it flapped its wings, and the explosive airflow stirred up a gale. While blowing away all the surrounding soil and stone fragments, extremely sharp golden qi also condensed on the few feathers behind the golden-winged bird. Under the urging of spiritual power, they flew towards Su Zhou's back like blades and bullets!

"So you also have metal attributes. It seems that this is the power you obtained in Kunlun Mountain? It's not surprising, after all, the Great Heavenly Venerate, the Western Mother of the Northwest Kunlun, is the Great Heavenly Venerate in charge of the power of the five metals, punishments, disasters, and calamities."

Before the attack landed on his body, Su Zhou had already calmly gotten up and jumped away, dodging this counterattack. He still remembered Yala's teachings: some attacks could be tanked, but there was no need to.

At this time, Garuda, having been beaten up by Su Zhou and feeling that its entire neck was not flexible, had awakened from its previous rage of having its human form's head exploded. It took a deep breath, calming its almost trembling body.

In its inherited memories, when the golden-winged Dapeng bird fought against the dragon and serpent kind, it either completely won, or the two sides exchanged divine power from afar, deadlocked, seeing who had more spiritual power. Because most dragons and serpents would have their spiritual pressure suppressed when they met it, they avoided close combat and bombarded from a distance.

But the scent of Su Zhou's dragon blood was so strong that it was like perfume baked in a secret room. If the golden-winged bird swore that the other party was not a dragon or serpent, it would go around the way when it encountered a dragon or serpent in this lifetime. But the other party was not afraid of its aura at all, and was unlike all the dragons and serpents in the inheritance.

In fact, not only Garuda, but even Bai Canglang was feeling confused at this time. Wasn't Garuda supposed to be the bane of dragons? Why did it feel like the opposite was true when he watched this battle from afar?

More than just puzzled, Garuda almost gritted his teeth and said: "You, aren't you a dragon? Why aren't you afraid of my aura at all, and even dare to take the initiative to fight at close range?! And you still don't show your true form, how much do you look down on me?!"

The golden-winged bird's voice was extremely sharp at this time, like metal rubbing together, and accompanied by this sharp cry, a soul-breaking sonic wave that attacked secretly also followed.

"To be honest, I don't actually have a true form."

Su Zhou nodded. This soul-breaking sonic wave felt about the same as the Soul-Breaking Spiritual Sound of the Shepherd. For him, who had become more than a notch stronger, it felt like bathing in the autumn breeze.

Seeing Garuda's unbelieving expression and its intention to continue attacking, Su Zhou could only helplessly raise his spear again: "Some people always think I'm a dragon, but I'm actually just an ordinary human with good luck."