Chapter 102: The Earth-Shattering Arrow
Over the course of half a month, Yi Tian and his companions had harvested at least ninety century-old Wind Spirit Trees from the depths of Skywind Gorge, leaving only about half the storage space remaining in their rings. Meanwhile, their tactic of striking quickly and relocating had successfully prevented large-scale attacks from ferocious beasts.
“It’s time for us to venture deeper,” Yi Tian announced to the Reincarnation Squad that day. “If we manage to harvest a few millennia-old Wind Spirit Trees, this expedition will have been worthwhile.”
Yi Feng was eager, barely able to contain his excitement. Yi Shan, Yi Li, and the others had been waiting for this moment as well. Up until now, they had remained on the forest’s periphery, collecting only century-old Wind Spirit Trees, with hardly any three-century-old ones encountered. The difference in value between trees aged by two or three centuries was immense.
Thus, when Yi Tian decided to lead them further into the Wind Spirit Forest, everyone in the squad was thrilled.
Yi Tian led the Reincarnation Squad into the forest’s interior. Although the number of mid-level ferocious beasts was significantly lower than around the edges, their strength was far more formidable. Everywhere they looked, towering Wind Spirit Trees of three to four centuries in age soared one to two hundred zhang tall.
Yi Tian and the others soon found a 150-zhang Wind Spirit Tree that was three centuries old and immediately began felling it, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings to prevent any silent approach from the beasts.
However, as they had nearly finished cutting down this tree, they disturbed a mid-level ferocious beast in the distance. When it charged before them, Yi Tian’s heart sank. This beast had reached mid-stage maturity, its aura far more overwhelming than any mid-level early-stage beast they had previously encountered.
Before them stood a ferocious creature resembling a Tyrannosaurus rex. Its piercing jade-green eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty ferocity. Its entire body was clad in sky-blue scales, standing over ninety zhang tall—like a fortress poised for war, its aura sweeping across the land with overwhelming power.
“Continue chopping. Leave this one to me,” Yi Tian ordered Yi Feng and the others, then stepped forward alone to face the Wind Dragon Beast, infused with a trace of dragon blood.
A furious roar erupted from the Wind Dragon Beast, shaking the earth for a hundred miles. In an instant, it leapt a thousand zhang forward, a metallic claw tearing through the void toward Yi Tian’s position.
With a swift sidestep, Yi Tian evaded the strike.
Where he had stood, the ground was nearly torn apart by the beast’s claw, deep gouges scoring the earth—marks capable of splitting metal and shattering stone.
“So fast!” Yi Tian marveled, surprised that such a massive creature possessed such agility.
“Attack!” Yi Tian summoned the Golden Scale Sword and unleashed the Feather Flight Technique, ghost-like as he darted to the beast’s side. A terrifying, scorching sword qi slashed across the Wind Dragon Beast’s scales, producing a tremendous clang and shockwave.
With a destructive force erupting, Yi Tian was propelled backward.
But he saw that his blade had only left faint cracks on the beast’s scales—imperceptible fractures carved by unparalleled sword qi. A heaviness settled in his heart.
“What terrifying defense!” Yi Tian was stunned by the Wind Dragon Beast’s formidable armor. Despite his full-power strike, it barely left any meaningful damage—merely fine cracks on the scales that posed no real threat.
“Fight!” Yi Tian’s battle spirit surged.
Faced with such a powerful opponent, his blood boiled; this was a worthy adversary.
The beast, enraged by Yi Tian’s assault, roared and charged, engaging in brutal combat across the earth.
Yi Tian’s Golden Scale Sword, refined by the Great Sun True Essence, was indestructible; its strikes against the Wind Dragon Beast’s scales erupted into countless sparks.
The beast’s claws were razor-sharp, gouging deep scars into the earth and Wind Spirit Trees with an eerie silence, as though slicing through soft tofu.
Yi Tian was forced to unleash his full power, frantically employing the Feather Flight Technique to evade continuously across the vast terrain.
Eventually, the Wind Dragon Beast revealed its trump card: a wind energy orb the size of a millstone suddenly appeared before Yi Tian as if by teleportation.
Danger!
Without hesitation, Yi Tian activated the Secret Skill of Divine Shift.
A tremendous explosion thundered across a hundred-mile radius. Where Yi Tian had stood, a hundred zhang around, every Wind Spirit Tree was obliterated, leaving a pit hundreds of zhang deep.
When Yi Tian reappeared several hundred zhang away, he was immediately struck by a terrifying force.
He raised his Yuan Gang shield just in time, engulfed in a violent wave of destructive energy.
At thirteen hundred zhang distance, Yi Tian finally stabilized himself.
He gazed at the huge crater caused by the Wind Dragon Beast’s attack, shuddering inwardly. Had he been struck directly, not even a trace of him would remain.
His gaze then fell upon the beast. Despite its relentless assault, Yi Tian’s sword had only left subtle cracks on its scales. Some fractures had widened under repeated blows, but the beast’s scale defense held firm.
“Captain, we should retreat,” Yi Shan’s voice came from a distance.
Yi Tian breathed a sigh of relief. This mid-stage Wind Dragon Beast was immensely powerful; even with his strength, heavily wounding it would be difficult. Of course, if he had a low-grade artifact at hand, that would be different. With the artifact’s power, he could tear through the beast’s formidable defense and inflict serious damage.
Just then, Yi Shan’s voice caught the Wind Dragon Beast’s attention.
It spotted a tree stump exposed on the ground and roared furiously.
To these wind-element beasts, the Wind Spirit Trees were their best refuge, their treasured private territory. Seeing Yi Shan and the others cutting down its trees enraged the Wind Dragon Beast.
Abandoning Yi Tian, it charged toward Yi Shan and his group.
“Danger!” Yi Tian shouted as the beast prepared to unleash another wind energy orb.
Its attack covered hundreds of zhang. Yi Feng, Yi Shan, and the others could only teleport a hundred or two zhang with their Divine Shift technique—insufficient to evade the strike.
If caught, they would either perish or suffer grievous injuries. Yi Tian could not allow this.
In the next moment, a great bow appeared in Yi Tian’s hands, radiating with treasure light and brilliance—the low-grade artifact Void-Breaker Bow he had won at the Tianfang Auction.
Holding the bow, a heavy, solid, and powerful sensation coursed through Yi Tian’s heart.
He fully activated the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Skill.
The bow suddenly blazed with intense radiance.
Twenty-seven thousand Ling Acupuncture Points’ worth of true essence surged into the Void-Breaker Bow, forming a colossal divine bow phantom that harnessed the power of heaven and earth.
Yi Tian drew the bowstring taut, and at that moment, the divine bow phantom manifested a true essence arrow, shining with unprecedented brilliance.
“Shoot!” Yi Tian cried, unleashing the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Skill at full strength for the first time.
Boom!
The arrow radiated a blinding divine light, piercing through the void in an instant and appearing behind the Wind Dragon Beast. Without any hindrance, it pierced through the beast’s monstrous head.
The Wind Dragon Beast charged for a short while before collapsing with a tremendous crash. A massive bloodshot wound pierced its skull, extinguishing all signs of life.
“Captain!” Yi Li and the others rushed to Yi Tian’s side.
They had understood the situation—they clearly owed their survival to Yi Tian’s intervention. The Wind Dragon Beast’s singular strike had carved a crater hundreds of zhang wide; they had no confidence in withstanding such power.
“We must leave this place,” Yi Tian declared, his expression shifting.
He sensed several ferocious beasts approaching from afar. They, too, had detected the absence of the Wind Dragon Beast’s aura and were rushing forth to contest its flesh and territory.
Yi Tian barely had time to gather the essence pills and crystallized cores from the fallen beast before leading the Reincarnation Squad to withdraw.
Within moments after their departure, dozens of mid-level early-stage ferocious beasts flooded into the Wind Dragon Beast’s domain, igniting a massive battle.