Chapter 29: 29 The deadly strike disperses the crane king and its flock; gains and losses reveal a new phenomenon.
In the misty pine forest, calm has been restored.
The intense battle between the siblings of the Shangguan family and the heron flock had long since ended.
The Shangguan siblings, in perfect coordination, used the same tactics to slay three Thousand Beast Kings among the thousands of herons, eventually confronting the Ten Thousand Beast King.
Let's rewind to a few days ago.
Using the same strategy, Shangguan Baihong used four light barrier insects to trap the Iron Feather Flying Heron, the Ten Thousand Beast King.
At the same time, Shangguan Shenhou, having accumulated enough energy in battle, unleashed the power of three King Kong monkeys, his body glowing golden and accompanied by three strange beast shadows, attacking the Ten Thousand Beast King.
Unexpectedly, as he got closer, a sudden change occurred.
"Ah! Brother! I can't hold on any longer!"
With Shangguan Baihong's scream, the Iron Feather Ten Thousand Heron King broke free from the confinement, flapping its massive iron-feathered wings.
Even a normal Iron Feather Heron's wing flaps with the force of a wild boar's charge, its claws sharp enough to crack rocks. The wings of the Ten Thousand Beast King were even stronger, comparable to the power of a strange beast.
But Shangguan Baihong was young and inexperienced, unable to make the insect leave its original position in time. Had the wing struck, she would have been severely injured, though not killed.
Shangguan Shenhou, seeing his sister in danger, quickly altered his attack direction and struck the wing that was about to hit her.
The blow landed, damaging the Iron Feather Heron King's wing. However, since he had to change his attack course, he absorbed a lot of the force himself, suffering considerable internal injury.
As a result, the attack that should have severely wounded the Iron Feather Heron King only caused light injuries.
"Brother!" Shangguan Baihong, after realizing the situation, felt pain in her heart and quickly distanced herself from the battle.
At the same time, she joined her hands and slightly opened them.
From her palms, boundless green radiance bloomed, gentle like water.
The green light enveloped Shangguan Shenhou, healing his injuries.
Shangguan Baihong used a rare Four-Turn Spring Light Hundred Miles insect, a healing insect of the light element. It was upgraded from the Three-Turn Spring Light insect, and if further upgraded, it would become the famous Five-Turn Spring Light Infinite insect.
The greatest advantage of this insect was its convenience; it could heal both individuals and groups, and as long as someone was within the green light, they would be healed.
This meant that the healer could treat others from a distance, even while fighting.
At that moment, Shangguan Shenhou continued to battle the Iron Feather Heron King. Though he couldn't unleash his beastly power shadows, he was still in a tough fight.
Fortunately, with Shangguan Baihong's remote healing, Shangguan Shenhou didn't fall behind. Due to his injured wing, and with frequent interruptions from Shangguan Baihong, the Iron Feather Heron King couldn't take advantage of its flying speed.
The strength of the King Kong monkeys had been widely praised in ancient times, and it conserved its true essence. Otherwise, Shangguan Shenhou would have struggled to withstand the energy consumption of the Ten Thousand Herons.
But the weakness of strength also became apparent—attacks often hurt the user as well, much like the Seven Injuries Fist in martial arts, injuring oneself while harming the enemy.
This required strength-based insect masters to modify their bodies. Shangguan Shenhou had used King Kong monkey skin and bone insects to alter his skin and bones, and he further used muscle transformation insects to condense his muscles, giving him a slender waist and strong back.
Despite this, when he fought with all his strength, he still sustained injuries. His healing insect's effects were limited, but fortunately, his teammates were able to help.
On the other hand, strength-based insect masters found it difficult to unleash their full power, often struggling in battle.
Shangguan Shenhou was unable to severely injure the Heron King when he summoned the three beast shadows, which led to a prolonged fight. Unexpectedly, his martial arts skills were outstanding, and he gained the upper hand.
"Monster, take this!" he roared.
King Kong monkey power shadow.
Power insect.
Fist force insect.
Bare fist insect.
Ultimate move—King Kong Monkey Fist.
A massive fist shadow slammed down, and the air pressure surged, creating a misty ripple.
The Iron Feather Heron King's iron armor shattered under the impact, blood and flesh spilling out. The remaining heron flock scattered after the Ten Thousand Beast King died.
One punch, and the results were terrifying.
---
Months later, the night soul land, under the governance of Qi Tian, gradually returned to normal.
In the eastern part of the land, rows of reservoirs stood tall, with thick stone walls rising several meters above the ground, some reaching dozens of meters high, like towering grain silos.
In these reservoirs, fish fry that Qi Tian had introduced with fertile mud and fish eggs a few months ago now swam around.
These fish eggs were collected by the Night Immortal in her lifetime, originally intended to be used after the Eastern flood was controlled to feed the beast populations, but she died in the previous disaster.
Fertile mud fish were the easiest to raise, and in times of hunger, they could even feed on dirt.
During the previous disaster, the reservoirs had become murky, with floating debris and ash at the bottom. Now, with the introduction of these fertile mud fish, the water quality would improve over time, and eventually, it would lay a foundation for introducing aquatic beast herds.
As for the Dark Enchanting Ghost Shadow, Qi Tian had used a celestial insect to eliminate it, so it would no longer pose a threat to the fish.
The southern and northern parts of the land were in similar condition, and although the western section was affected, the situation had largely returned to normal.
The grasslands were dotted with a variety of flowers and grasses, many of which were valuable cultivation resources, and a significant number of them were used for refining insects.
Among them, the Night Light Grass was the most abundant, followed by Ghost Lantern Flowers, with fewer Ghost Scythe Grass, Snake Tongue Grass, Foggy Flowers, and Milk Tea Flowers.
These plants were initially planted by the Night Immortal, who had struggled with cultivating these rare plants due to poor soil and lack of water. However, after several disasters, the environment improved with the addition of wood and water path traces.
Now, although the western region had been transformed into fire carbon stone after the disaster, with dry air and no moisture, it still offered valuable mineral resources.
Qi Tian valued these resources more than the fire carbon stones, as the underground could contain metals, gems, and ores that could bring substantial benefits if properly mined. However, extracting these resources wasn't easy, as there were no stone people in the land.
The lack of stone people meant there was no way to dig deep into the earth to obtain these resources or even build an underground city.
As for the central circular lake, its once full moon shape was now missing a corner, filled in by solidified magma, leaving behind a sickle-shaped crescent. The black lotus in the lake had withered and was barely alive.
At the gap in the lotus, a blue bamboo snake resided, its tail marked with four bamboo-like ridges. This was the Qingzhu snake that Qi Tian had brought from the Southern Wilderness, which had evolved into a Ten Thousand Beast King level after consuming the Bi Kong insect poison.
As for the sky above the land, the thick clouds in the east and west didn't affect the overall situation, so Qi Tian didn't intervene for the time being.