Chapter 547: The Black Roc Beast
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
This battlefield was seeing quite a bit of action.
There was a magnificent beast the size of a small mountain. It looked like a creature from the legends.
On its back was an inn-like building. It was, in fact, the Black Roc Beast that Fang Yuan had ridden on once before.
However, the Black Roc Beast now was in a terrible state. One of its wings was broken and it was unable to fly away. It could only thrash about on the ground as it defended itself against a large group of armed men.
"Black Roc! You won't escape this time!"
"If you surrender now, we might let you keep your wretched life!"
...
Profane taunts and jeers filled the air.
"Pui!"
Black Roc's exasperated voice floated out from the inn.
"I'd rather die than fall into your dirty little hands!"
'It's really him!'
Fang Yuan smiled lightly as he had recognised the voice of the specialised provider of long-distance flights.
'Although the most powerful man surrounding the Black Roc Beast was but a low-level Elemental Opening spiritual knight, the Beast was outnumbered and Black Roc's status as a former master of the illusionary divine stage was of no help. It was all thanks to the resistance of the Black Roc Beast that they were still alive!'
However, the Black Roc Beast was a flight carrier, not a war animal.
Still, it made use of the sheer size of its body to keep the bunch of spiritual knights and Wu Zong on their toes. They all scurried about like terrified rats.
"It's a pity that the Black Roc Beast has injured its wing or it would have escaped easily! But now, it is defending itself on the ground and will surely be overrun in time. There is something about the bird though..."
Fang Yuan shook his head as he saw the attackers rush up the back of the Black Roc Beast and into the inn.
Size equates to strength but would lead to clumsy movements. Now that the attackers had taken their chances, the Black Roc Beast was rendered helpless and could not oppose them.
"Wood of the heavens, wooden dragon! Go!"
The leader of the spiritual knights recited a magical formula which caused green light to surge from his body. Vines surfaced from the ground and twisted around each other to form a colossal green dragon that smashed its tail towards the inn.
"Crash!"
A deafening sound rang out as the windows of the inn were broken into pieces. Wooden splinters flew up into the air and large cracks swam across the walls. Still, the inn held on as it was protected by an array.
"Haha... Black Roc, let's see what other cards you have up your sleeve!"
The spiritual knights were gleeful instead of feeling frustrated. They knew that their opponent had nearly reached the end of his line. The leader signalled for his underlings to lunge forward.
"Charge! Tear this crappy inn down to the ground!"
"Xue Jing, you are too much!"
Black Roc's fat physique appeared at the door to the Inn, his dark face clouded with anger.
"We have no beef with each other. Why are you forcing me to a corner?"
"The dream masters are scourges of the world and deserve to be eliminated!"
Xu Jing waved a hand.
"Back when you dream masters wielded power, we were treated like scum. We will now return the favour ten times over. This is the karmic cycle. If you have any grievances, you will have to take them to the grave!"
"So you think you can do whatever you want as long as you are powerful?"
Black Roc took note of Xu Jing's words and he smiled deviously as the men advanced up the back of his Black Roc Beast.
"In that case...all of you shall die! Beastie!"
"Chirp!"
The Black Roc Beast, previously looking spent, suddenly let out a thunderous caw that threatened to split the skies.
A blood-red glow covered the Black Roc Beast's body and the texture of its tough feathers became soft like mud. The huge bird was swallowing up the attackers through its skin.
The reddish light illuminated the terrified faces of the Wu Zongs.
"Haha...did you think that my last line of defence was simply the array I placed on the Inn? My real weapon is the Black Roc Beast!"
Black Roc laughed devilishly.
"You are all going to become food for my Black Roc Beast."
As the attackers were melted away by the reddish light, the Black Roc Beast let out a satisfied call. The Black Roc was happy as well.
His Black Roc Beast had undergone an evolution earlier and had developed several bizarre abilities as a result.
The reddish glow was a protective layer around the Black Roc Beast's body that broke through defences and struck fear into hearts. It created swirls on the surface of its body that sucked in any live being that came into contact with it.
After this discovery, Black Roc put in much effort into training his beast secretly and turned it into his trump card.
Now that this ability of his beast was activated, Black Roc saw for himself how effective it really was.
"It's a pity that Beastie's ability requires prolonged contact on its body before it can be activated, or I wouldn't have to try so hard to lure the attackers up its back to the inn…"
Black Roc spat out a mouthful of blood and began to clear up the mess.
"Sigh...the Da Qian now is no longer the Da Qian of old. Perhaps I should move elsewhere. There will definitely be a place in the world for me to settle down in!"
Fang Yuan had watched the entire proceedings with much interest.
In a short time, the tables had turned. Black Roc had played his cards well and had put on a great act to crush his enemies.
"Who's there?"
Black Roc called out cautiously and looked towards where Fang Yuan was hidden in the bushes.
"An old friend!"
Fang Yuan emerged from his hiding place and leapt up onto the back of the Black Roc Beast smoothly with his hands behind his back.
The reddish glow was activated once more but it surrounded Fang Yuan to no effect.
"Black Roc hereby greets Your Excellency!"
Black Roc had found this person familiar upon first sight but decided to kneel down all the same.
This person was immune to the special ability of the Black Roc Beast, which definitely meant that he was powerful!
The ferociousness on Black Roc's face was replaced by reverence and watchfulness. He could not help but become worried that this person was another member of the anti-dream master faction. It was also a cause for concern that Black Roc could not remember where he had seen this man before even though he had a nagging sense of familiarity.
"An old friend?"
This young man with a confident grin carried himself with the airs of a grandmaster who had established a name for himself.
'I can't help but feel like I've met him before!"
After sifting through his memories, Black Roc finally had an inkling.
"You are...the fellow from the Realm Alliance?"
"That's right. My name is Fang Yuan!"
Fang Yuan replied beaming.
"What?"
The Black Roc had become wide-eyed.
"You are that True Divine from the Realm Alliance?"
Black Roc was actually aware of much more regarding Fang Yuan.
For one, Fang Yuan had played a major role in the battle of the Jade Capital that had routed the dream masters. It was even rumoured that he had killed two sages by himself! He was supposed to be a formidable character, a living demon-king!
Of course, Black Roc had always taken these rumours with a pinch of salt and only half-believed them.
After all, the sages were the elites among dream masters.
Still, as Black Roc gazed at the unfathomable Fang Yuan, he found that he had become more convinced of Fang Yuan's prowess.
"Are you afraid of me?"
Fang Yuan's smile widened.
"I am a lowly person and cannot help but tremble in the presence of such a great man..."
Black Roc tried his best to smile. He had years of experience entertaining guests in his inn and his smile was a convincing one.
Black Roc had given up on all his potential schemes upon learning that Fang Yuan was a True Divine. He had also calmed down for he did not think that Fang Yuan, being a dream master as well, would make things difficult for him.
'Wait...this Fang Yuan has no care in the world. He had dared to kill even sages. What am I to him?'
Black Roc could feel the bitterness in his heart threatening to overwhelm him.
'This must be the worst day of my life. Not only did I have to fend off a whole army of armed men, but I also have to deal with this devil now!'
"Right, who were those men?"
Fang Yuan asked casually.
"You're talking about Xue Jing. He was the leader of a nearby sect. He had recruited many people recently and was a rising force in the region…"
Black Roc grimaced indignantly.
"Even though he claimed to be affiliated with the Heavenly Spirit Association, who could verify that? He had taken the opportunity to ambush me. My poor Black Roc Beast…"
"Enough of that...if you hadn't let the Black Roc Beast pretended that its wing was injured, the men wouldn't have climbed onto its back."
Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.
"Also...you are a bold man for having built the inn on such a precarious spot!"
Even though the Black Roc Beast did not mean anything to him, Fang Yuan got goosebumps thinking about how he had spent nights on the back of such an erratic creature. There were so many ways things could have gone wrong!
"Hehe…"
Black Roc chuckled as beads of perspiration lined his forehead.
"Alright, I had only come to investigate the commotion and have no intention of taking revenge for those people!"
Fang Yuan was serious now.
"It's just as well that I am heading over to the Heavenly Eye Lake in the Jin Region. You can fetch me there!"
It was a command. Fang Yuan did not think that Black Roc would dare to refuse him.
Fang Yuan was right.
"Heavenly Eye Lake in Jin Region? No problem, we shall set off at once!"
Black Roc agreed readily and slapped the Black Roc Beast on its back.
"Chirp!"
The colossal bird flapped its wings. A reddish glow fell over the injury on its wing and it began to heal immediately.
'An ability that absorbs life force and saves it for self-regeneration...not bad at all!"
Fang Yuan nodded in approval and watched the world rush by as the Black Roc Beast shot up into the skies.
"It isn't every day that I get to meet a dream master. Go prepare some dishes and we shall have a good chat over a meal!"
Fang Yuan did not bother to stand on ceremony.
"No problem!"
Black Roc gave his trademark beam. He was an expert in the art of hospitality and had prepared an entire table's worth of premium dishes in no time. Fang Yuan began to dig in with relish.
"You are a good cook, fatty!"
Fang Yuan said with a wink between mouthfuls of food.
"Are you interested in coming to the Nine Extremes Mountain to become my cook?"
"Nine Extremes Mountain?!"
Black Roc was taken aback.
"So what they say true...Your Excellency is the master of Nine Extremes Mountain!"
"That's right...tell me, what do they say about me?"
Fang Yuan toyed with the wine cup in his hands.
"Do tell...I won't bite!"