He lifted his head, gazing at the greyish-white sea of grass silently rolling in the dense fog before him, and a look of uncontrollable ecstasy burst forth in his eyes.
Magic! Endless magic!
How could this be some ominous death grass? It was clearly a source of magic bestowed upon him by the heavens.
With this almost inexhaustible "ghost grass," his slow magic recovery weakness would no longer exist. A continuous flow of magic meant more sustained combat ability and the ability to use ultimate skills more frequently.
Liu Qian suppressed the restlessness in his heart and decided to replenish his magic first.
He squatted down and pulled up several more ghost grass stalks, each as thick as a wrist. Streams of cold, dead, yet pure energy flowed into his body through his arms. His magic points jumped up steadily: +1, +1, +1.
The ghost grass he held, without exception, quickly lost its luster, became grey and withered, and finally shattered after its magic was drained.
Janice, standing nearby, watched Liu Qian, who looked like a tireless farmer, squatting in the ghost grass patch, quickly "harvesting" one stalk of ghost grass after another. Her small face was filled with confusion.
She didn't understand why this young wizard from the East was so "enthusiastic" about these grasses, which were mainly used for sacrifices in Teria, but she was well-behaved and didn't disturb him. She just stood quietly to the side, vigilantly observing the dense fog around them.
Just then...
Screech!!!
A sharp, high-pitched, terrifying shriek once again exploded from the depths of the gloomy sky.
The sound was clearer and closer than before.
The moment Liu Qian heard the sound, his expression changed drastically.
Janice, beside him, turned even paler, her beautiful left eye filled with uncontrollable fear, and her delicate body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Liu Qian remembered this sound vividly; it was from the hundred-foot-tall, three-headed Purple-haired Monster Bird that had appeared on Dragon Road.
He glanced at the swaying sea of pale ghost grass, a flicker of reluctance in his eyes, but it was immediately replaced by the resolute will to survive. He suddenly bent down, one arm like lightning, scooping up a large bundle of ghost grass, even biting a bunch fiercely with his teeth, regardless of his image.
Liu Qian grabbed Janice's arm with his other hand and roared, "Go!"
He turned without hesitation and sprinted wildly towards the direction of the dead tree forest.
Screech—!!!
The second shriek almost exploded directly overhead!
A huge shadow instantly enveloped a large area, and the dense fog was churned and torn apart by violent air currents.
The figure of the sky-obscuring, three-headed Purple-haired Monster Bird was clearly visible beneath the rolling clouds.
Three pairs of massive eyes, burning with blood-red flames of slaughter, like six stars from hell, were firmly locked onto the tiny figures fleeing on the ground, now within arm's reach.
Liu Qian, his face pale, looked at the boundless shadow on the ground. His arm, like an iron clamp, held Janice's slender waist, lifting her entirely. Then, he unleashed a shocking speed and strength from within his body, like a heavy arrow shot from a bowstring, running nimbly over the twisted deadwood forest and rugged ground.
After running at high speed for a while, the two still hadn't shaken off the Purple-haired Monster Bird's pursuit. The monster bird seemed to have fixated on Liu Qian, trailing him like a kite. If he stopped for even a moment, the monster bird would swoop down and peck his head open.
Liu Qian climbed over a small hill, and the ground beneath his feet gradually became less rugged and more level. It seemed they had arrived in a valley bottom.
But the sight before him made Liu Qian, even in his desperate flight, feel a prickle of dread.
In the huge valley bottom below the small hill, countless charred, charcoal-like giant dead trees lay haphazardly on the ground. Some were still stubbornly burning, emitting crackling wails, and the flickering flames illuminated the ground covered in corpses.
The ground was littered with bodies, but they were not human; they were densely packed corpses of scaly monsters.
There were hundreds of them, all in various shapes and gruesome states of death.
Some were cut in half at the waist, their blood and entrails splattered everywhere.
Some had their heads or hearts pierced through.
Many more were torn apart and scorched by terrifying explosions and flames, reduced to a twisted mess of charcoal on the ground.
The strong smell of blood mixed with the choking stench of burning was nauseating.
This valley seemed to have just experienced an extremely brutal battle.
Seeing this scene, a hint of joy flashed in Liu Qian's eyes. This bloody slaughterhouse was undoubtedly a treasure trove for him.
On the bodies of the recently deceased monsters, wisps of "Dragon Spirit" aura, not yet fully dissipated, were floating.
A heaven-sent opportunity!
Liu Qian was ecstatic. As he ran, he desperately concentrated his mind, his consciousness sweeping over every fresh corpse he could perceive along the way.
Absorb! Absorb! Absorb!
Streams of cold and powerful life energy, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, surged wildly into his body.
He could clearly feel the invisible scale representing "Dragon bloodline purity" within him soaring at an unprecedented speed. Each absorption brought a surge of power.
He roughly estimated that there were hundreds of corpses on this battlefield, and the vast majority had released Dragon Spirit, which could provide him with an unprecedented increase in bloodline purity.
And as he frantically absorbed the Dragon Spirit, the ghost grass in his arms also continuously provided magic, with large sections withering and dying.
Both Dragon Spirit and magic flourished.
Just as Liu Qian was immersed in the pleasure of rapidly increasing power, the shadow of death overhead suddenly descended!
Screech—!!!
The three-headed monster bird's shriek was right by his ears, and violent air currents crashed down.
It had clearly lost its patience, and its massive body began to dive, aiming directly at the two people fleeing for their lives below.
Liu Qian caught sight of the monster bird's movement through the changing shadows on the ground and instantly judged that there was no escape by running in a straight line. He suddenly made a sharp turn, clutching Janice, and sped towards a denser, more gnarled area of dead trees on the right, attempting to use the complex terrain to obstruct the monster bird's pounce.
However, the moment he turned, the enormous shadow of purple-red feathers completely enveloped him.
A reeking wind, carrying the stench of sulfur, like a solid wall, slammed hard against his back.
In his ears was the monster bird's wailing shriek, like a ghost's cry, as it tore through the air during its dive.
It's over! Too close!
An alarm blared in Liu Qian's mind. He suddenly looked back.
He saw that the Purple-haired Monster Bird had already folded its giant wings, which were large enough to obscure the sky, and landed with a crash on the ground less than twenty paces from him.
Its heavy body made the earth tremble violently, and dust mixed with sulfurous fog shot into the sky.
Its three hideous heads, like small battering rams, were all lowered now.
Six blood-red giant eyes, burning with pure destructive desire, stared fixedly at Liu Qian, their gaze filled with the predator's cruelty and mockery.
The three giant beaks of the Purple-haired Monster Bird, lined with serrated fangs, opened simultaneously. In the depths of its throats, a crimson light instantly lit up. The air was instantly heated to the point of twisting and deforming, emitting a sizzling wail.
The intense smell of sulfur was almost suffocating!
Dragon Flame!
It was gathering Dragon Flame!
This three-headed Purple-haired Monster Bird could actually gather Dragon Flame, unique to dragons!
Liu Qian's face grew even more solemn in the furnace-like firelight. Three destructive fireballs, powerful enough to instantly vaporize him, were about to erupt, and he and Janice had nowhere left to hide!