Chapter 98: Pride

"So fast!"

Chen Qi was momentarily stunned, but his expression quickly shifted to one of gratitude. He had not expected Yun Tianxin’s attack to be so swift and timely. He had only just uttered his plea for help when an attack of such intensity arrived in less than a heartbeat. This could only mean one thing: Yun Tianxin had been observing the battle with her full attention.

"Even though Senior Sister was fierce to me just now, she still cares about me."

Chen Qi wore a silly grin. Watching the Purple Thunder Eagle, which had been blasted into a large boulder nearby, he performed an imposing flourish with his long blade. Regardless of whether the eagle was in the mood to listen, he said in the nonchalant tone of a master:

"Third exchange!"

A crack nearly a meter deep had appeared in the large rock. Inside the crevice, the purple-black beast still struggled slightly, and the faint sound of electric currents crackled now and then, signaling the eagle's dwindling vitality.

The Purple Thunder Eagle was covered in wounds; a deep palm print remained on its belly, and its beautiful feathers were mostly stained with bright red blood. A pool of blood had even formed, constantly dripping into the stone fissures and spreading a thick, pungent stench.

Chen Qi was long accustomed to this smell. By now, the numbness in his left arm had finally faded, and he was back to his peak state.

Using the perspective granted by the "Budding Space," Chen Qi saw that the Purple Thunder Eagle’s health was at 7% and slowly declining.

Even so, Chen Qi did not dare to be careless. He raised his blade and approached slowly, pausing every three steps, ready to strike with a fierce blow at any moment.

A weak eagle cry emanated from the crevice. Though quiet, the sound was filled with twists and turns, conveying the Purple Thunder Eagle’s utter unwillingness to accept defeat.

Chen Qi listened intently. This was certainly not the time to enjoy the fruits of victory. He tried his best to see if he could discern the eagle’s inner thoughts, much like Sima Yi listening to the melodies of Zhuge Liang’s zither.

After listening for a few seconds, Chen Qi shook his head repeatedly. The imagined feeling of man and beast becoming kindred spirits did not materialize; to be precise, he understood nothing at all—except for a sense of overflowing grief and indignation pouring out from the rapid, crow-like cries.

Maintaining his defensive stance, Chen Qi continued to observe.

His memory was filled with the scene of the Purple Thunder Eagle feigning injury and then striking him with a powerful ultimate move. He could afford to make mistakes, but he would not make the same one twice.

After a moment of thought, he provocatively tested it: "I’m waiting for reinforcements; what are you waiting for?"

The Purple Thunder Eagle in the rock crevice did not react.

Chen Qi stepped forward cautiously, continuing his probe: "Are you waiting to die?"

Still, there was no movement in the crevice, only the rhythmic sound of deep, accelerated, ragged breathing.

Chen Qi took another step, then stopped abruptly. He spat a mouthful of pungent, dark, bloody phlegm, which arched through the air and struck the crevice.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

In an instant, a massive collision erupted from the rocks. The Purple Thunder Eagle’s ferocity flared; electric arcs shot out from within, scorching the surrounding stone surfaces and leaving them pitted and charred.

Chen Qi carefully dodged a few stray bolts of electricity and took another small step forward. Regardless of whether the eagle understood, he clamored:

"For dinner, I’m having roasted eagle eggs! They say you are what you eat, and I happen to need that!"

Having said this, as if worried the eagle wouldn't understand, Chen Qi tilted his blade and pointed toward the eagle's nest in the cliff crevice.

The Purple Thunder Eagle understood!

"Bang!"

In an instant, the eagle lunged out, its high-speed movement shattering the rocks in its path. Looking at its unstoppable momentum, there was no trace of its previous critical injury.

Chen Qi did not strike immediately; instead, he held his breath and gathered his strength where he stood.

He looked at the eagle with a strange expression. No, it should be called a Blood Thunder Eagle now!

Its body was dyed crimson with blood, and streams of it sprayed toward the ground. Its health was down to a mere 3%, looking as if it could drop dead at any moment.

Yet, its expression held no wilting or cowardice. It held its head high, surveying Chen Qi with the proud gaze peculiar to a noble eagle, as if it were the victor of the battle.

Seeing this, Chen Qi dared not approach; the long blade in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

His opponent was a massive, lightning-wielding eagle, the likes of which he could never have imagined on Earth, and the strongest opponent he had faced to date. Chen Qi was terrified that the eagle might still be able to detonate a burst of thunder energy and drag him down into a mutual demise.

After all, many beasts in novels possessed such a move.

Well, to be precise, considering the inhuman combat prowess of Zhao Fan, it should be counted as one of his strongest opponents.

Ignoring these details, Chen Qi watched the blood still gushing from the eagle and waited for it to die on its own.

But instead of weakening, the eagle seemed to grow more spirited as it bled. It cast a look of disdain at Chen Qi, then suddenly increased its altitude, ignoring the fact that forcing itself to move would only cause it to bleed faster.

"Is this a final flare of life? What is it doing?" Suddenly, Chen Qi saw the Purple Thunder Eagle flying toward its own nest, and his heart sank.

Chen Qi accelerated at full speed, reaching the cliff base in just two breaths, then began to climb, leaping through cracks and fissures.

He had already guessed what the eagle intended to do, so he raced against time, even bursting with blood qi to climb faster.

Sure enough, the Purple Thunder Eagle entered the nest and, after only a moment, poked its head out, its blood-stained claws each gripping a large eagle egg.

"No!"

Chen Qi howled in agony. The victor's gaze shifted suddenly to one of pleading. He looked at the Purple Thunder Eagle pitifully, hoping it would show mercy—or rather, mercy to the eggs.

Chen Qi’s pitiful gaze did not stir the eagle's remaining maternal instincts. It let out a miserable laugh and loosened its claws.

The two eggs, covered in extraordinary thunder patterns, instantly began their free fall, plummeting past Chen Qi and smashing heavily onto the large rocks below.

Not only that, but a surge of purple thunder energy was attached to the eggs, which exploded the moment they hit. The eggs, originally the size of small watermelons, were obliterated, leaving not even a scrap behind.

It didn't even leave Chen Qi a chance to make them for lunch.

"You beast!"

Chen Qi roared in heartbreak, his temples bulging with rage, his clear eyes suffused with red.

In his simple value system, these were the spoils of war he deserved as the victor. How dared the eagle do this? This was a naked, hooligan-like act. Besides, he wouldn't have actually eaten these eggs; he would have cherished them, perhaps even sold them—how could he have the heart to eat them?

"Wretched creature, you are not fit to be a mother!"

Chen Qi cursed wildly in his panic, disregarding the chaotic logic of his words.

The Purple Thunder Eagle ignored him. It could feel that it could not maintain this state for much longer; even its gaze was beginning to dim rapidly.

Trembling, it used its damaged beak to pick up the largest and final egg.

A look of reminiscence flashed through the eagle’s rapidly darkening eyes. This was the first egg it had ever laid, its most precious child, destined to be the eldest offspring.

Yet now, it, the mother, was about to crush this life with its own hands! What a monumental irony!

The pride on the Purple Thunder Eagle’s face vanished. Finally, it let out a long, mournful cry—a sound more sorrowful than the blood-spitting cuckoo or the wailing monkeys on the riverbanks. Even Chen Qi, who was climbing with all his might, felt a wave of grief invade his heart, causing his movements to falter.

"Don't! I can raise it!"

Chen Qi continued his loud pleas, attempting to sway this heartless mother. If the Purple Thunder Eagle could understand human speech, it would have easily seen the sincerity in his expression and the earnestness in his words. Had his hands not been occupied with climbing, Chen Qi might even have raised them to swear an oath.

The Purple Thunder Eagle, holding the last egg in its beak, saw a final flicker of hesitation and struggle in its nearly extinguished eyes. Its proudest descendant was right there; should it take a step back?

Just one step back?

But soon, its eyes were once again flooded with coldness, which instantly turned into a look of determination.

It was a Purple Thunder Eagle! The king of the sky! Its descendants would always soar freely in the heavens! Better to die than to live without freedom!

The Purple Thunder Eagle quickly loosened its grip, watching the egg fall. Without hesitation, its body dove downward, head-first, intending to end its own life there.

A noble eagle would not die at the hands of an enemy, but would fall into the earth itself.

Born of the sky, buried in the earth—this was the fate of the Purple Thunder Eagle clan.

The Purple Thunder Eagle closed its imposing eyes. A distant memory flashed through its mind:

When it was just born, it hadn't even grown its feathers. Because of a struggle for food, it had gone to great lengths to kill its own brother, pushing it off the nest to be smashed into a bloody pulp.

It had expected its mother to punish it, perhaps even push it off as well. But its mother did not; she only said one sentence:

"A weak Purple Thunder Eagle is not my offspring. Every living Purple Thunder Eagle is the strongest of its generation!"

Seemingly recalling something else, its mother’s fierce gaze lit up, and she added:

(Allow me to be mischievous and end the chapter here ^_^)