Stellar Transformations

B4C16: Hanging by a thread

This vast area of the prairie unexpectedly has no demonic beasts but it has a nameless oppressive air about it. The deeper Qin Yu and Xiao Hei go in it, the more careful they become. They have expanded their holy senses to the utmost. Both of them can feel the existence of an invisible source of danger here.

"Xiao Hei, there's a small mountain over there." Qin Yu stares ahead several kilometers, but he feels that there is something strange about his small mountain.

The dominant features of this vast prairie are small lakes and grasslands, but a small mountain has unexpectedly appeared up ahead so Qin Yu, who is already tense, naturally becomes cautious. Xiao Hei also focuses his eyes on it then says using his holy sense: "Big brother, let's go around that small mountain!"

At this moment, even the aloof and proud Xiao Hei is being careful as well.

"Alright, let's go around it!"

Both Qin Yu and Xiao Hei cannot help speeding up, trying to bypass that small mountain in the distance to fly west. That mountain has a dark red color. Its rocks form a regular pattern. When they are halfway to going around it, suddenly --

"Human, little black eagle."

A voice rises in Qin Yu's and Xiao Hei's minds through holy sense communication.

"Xiao Hei, run!"

Disregarding everything else, Qin Yu immediately tells Xiao Hei via his holy sense. At the same time he starts to fly at his top speed. He certainly can guess that there must be an exceptionally formidable demonic beast in this strange grassland, one that even his holy sense cannot detect.

"Want to run?"

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure shoots out from the distance and totally affects Qin Yu's and Xiao Hei's bodies. This pressure is even much greater than those exerted by the 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation's thunderbolts. Qin Yu and Xiao Hei can only feel the continual thumping of their hearts in their ears.

"Big brother, it's such a terrifying pressure!" Xiao Hei cannot help looking back at the source of the pressure.

Qin Yu also looks back.

They only see that the sky is being covered by a huge black cloud, which afterwards lands in front of them like a flash. It is so fast that both of them are totally dumbfounded by it. Obviously this monster is faster than them.

"Human, little black eagle, having come into my territory, you still think about escaping?"

The voice of the monster before Qin Yu and Xiao Hei rises in their minds.

Looking at the monster in front of him, Qin Yu cannot help taking a cold breath. This monster is dark red from head to toe, over 100 m long and several tens meters tall. Its entire body is covered in a suit of armor that looks like dark red rock. This monster even has 6 thick sharp spines on its neck and a golden horn on its forehead.

"A Dragon Rocky lion divine beast!"

Qin Yu feels his throat drying. He has read many introductions to demonic beasts in some Xiuzhen secret books in the study of Lei Mountain House so he knows that Dragon Rocky lions have huge bodies and, according to legend, they are born when dragons mate with Fiery Rocky lions, both of which are divine beasts.

A divine beast, no less!

Demonic beasts are divided into many classes and the ones with the highest status are divine beasts, which are very formidable and whose real power basically cannot be judged by their power levels. A Yuanying divine beast is even more formidable than a Dongxu stage Xiuzhenist.

In the eyes of Xiuzhenists, divine beasts are synonymous with power overwhelming.

A divine beast that has overcome the 9-from-9th Heaven Tribulation and reached the Dacheng stage can cope with 10 Dacheng Xiuzhenists at the same time. The gap in power between divine beasts and humans is really too big.

"Big brother, his aura's so strong. Even that Golden Flame eagle's aura didn't make me feel so uncomfortable." By now Xiao Hei has also noticed the tremendous pressure given off by the monster.

Xiao Hei and Qin Yu simply stop flying. Just now they already saw the speed of this Dragon Rocky lion so they know that it is more than twice as fast as even their top speeds. So, there is basically no hope for them.

The Dragon Rocky lion stares at Qin Yu and Xiao Hei then says laughingly using holy sense communication: "You unexpectedly came into my forbidden territory. Looks like you are outsiders and just don't know about this rule."

Qin Yu knows that a divine beast is not less intelligent than humans so he says respectfully at once: "I am Qin Yu. My 2nd brother Hei Yu and I want to run back to the human world on the Qian Long continent. We have never been to this prairie before so we didn't know about this rule. Could you please let the 2 of us go, Senior?"

He understands that beggars cannot be choosers.

"Senior, may I ask what level you have reached? I feel that you're much more formidable than that Yuanying stage Golden Flame eagle." For some reason, Xiao Hei unexpectedly asks the Dragon Rocky lion this question at this moment.

The Dragon Rocky lion gives Xiao Hei a stare then unexpectedly replies: "Yuanying stage Golden Flame eagle? It's the yellow eagle 70,000 li to the east from here, right? Even though he and I are both at the Yuanying stage, Golden Flame eagles are just a type of small bird, I can easily handle even 10 of them!"

The Dragon Rocky lion sends out a pressure then looks at Xiao Hei, saying with a distinctive interest: "Little black eagle, you seem to have an aura that attracts me. I feel that … I'll benefit greatly by eating you."

Qin Yu and Xiao Hei are startled at once. Just now, because the Dragon Rocky lion talked to them, they still had some hope. However, it has unexpectedly said this.

"Little black eagle, you seem to have some feelings for this human. If you agree to let me eat you, I'll release this human. Eating a human is totally useless to me so I don't feel like eating him. Do you think my offer is good or not? In fact, what I dislike the most is to force other demonic beasts to do something. But … if you resist, I'll be forced to eat both of you." The Dragon Rocky lion's voice rises in Qin Yu's and Xiao Hei's minds.

Feeling that the Dragon Rocky lion's aura is even 10 times more fearsome than the Golden Flame eagle's, Xiao Hei knows that they are simply no match for it. Even a Dongxu stage Xiuzhenist will not necessarily beat this Yuanying stage Dragon Rocky lion, a divine beast, let alone Qin Yu and Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei looks at Qin Yu. His eagle eyes are exuding complex human-like emotions, which Qin Yu can feel very well.

"Big brother …"

"Xiao Hei, don't think too much." Qin Yu's cold voice rises in Xiao Hei's mind. "Xiao Hei, to let you die for me like that without trying my best, even if I lived, I would be tortured by conscience my entire life. Moreover … there's still hope of escaping for us!"

Qin Yu remembers the introduction to Dragon Rocky lions in the Xiuzhen books he has read.

"According to the introduction to Dragon Rocky lions I read, they are divine beasts, unusually powerful and extremely fast. Their protective armor has exceptionally high defense. It's said that their defense is even stronger than dragons'. But nothing is perfect. Because their bodies are too large while lacking in agility, movements such as dodging and turning are their weaknesses. This Dragon Rocky lion is only fast when moving in a straight line."

Hearing Qin Yu say this, Xiao Hei totally understands what he means.

"Big brother …" Xiao Hei is very clear that, even though what Qin Yu said is very reasonable, the Dragon Rocky lion after all is a divine beast. If they are careless a bit, they will be killed by it.

"Say no more. Even if we have to die, we'll die together. It doesn't matter if he's a divine beast or not." Qin Yu has made up his mind.

There is a special pride in his blood vessels, which has been passed down to members of the Qin clan from Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng. Every member of the Qin clan, whether Qin De, Qin Feng, Qin Zheng or Qin Yu, is a person with that kind of pride.

"You 2 brats, what are you talking to each other via the holy sense? Little black eagle, have you thought it over?" the Dragon Rocky lion looks down at the 2 midgets before him. In the eyes of this huge beast, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei are 'midgets' indeed.

"Senior, I agree." Xiao Hei replies using his holy sense.

As soon as the Dragon Rocky lion hears this, he laughs out loud. His laughter resounds though a range of several hundred li. Qin Yu's eyes suddenly brighten. He immediately says via his holy sense: "Xiao Hei, run. Run to the west. Fly in a somewhat flexible, irregular path!"

Xiao Hei uses the Passing Lighning Flashing 9 Times technique at once. With his wings slightly vibrating continuously several times, he soars into the sky extremely fast like a zigzagging thunderbolt.

As for Qin Yu, the high-grade holy weapon Flaming Sword appears under his feet. His light silvery stellar energy spreads throughout his body and the sword. Qin Yu's body now is just like a holy weapon. He and the sword have become one! Standing on the sword, he also flies west.

The 2 of them, one man and one eagle, fly away from either side of the Dragon Rocky lion.

Seeing them flying extremely fast, the Dragon Rocky lion knows at once that he has been fooled. He cannot help getting exasperated and turning his face upwards giving a roar. His voice then rises in the minds of Qin Yu and Xiao Hei: "You 2 midgets have even dared to fool me. I'm going to eat both of you!"

With a movement of his body, the Dragon Rocky lion flies into the sky directly. In an instant, he starts to chase after Qin Yu at an extremely high speed.

Hu!

As if surfing, flying-sword-riding Qin Yu takes a right angle turn and quickly avoids the attack that the Dragon Rocky iron launches at him from behind. The Dragon Rocky iron makes a swaying movement of his body to correct his course then chases Qin Yu again.

"Even with such a large body, he's so agile." Qin Yu takes a cold breath. "Who wrote the introduction to Dragon Rocky lions in that Xiuzhen book? It's ridiculous." Qin Yu is furious inwardly but he has not given up all hope.

The Dragon Rocky lion is fairly agile, but after all his body is too large so he cannot compare with Qin Yu, who is using the Body-Weapon Unification technique, in agility.

"This Dragon Rocky lion can't make use of wind like Black Wind leopards yet." Standing on his flying sword, Qin Yu is floating at will nonstop, easily avoiding the Dragon Rocky lion's attacks one by one. His entire body is like a falling leaf in a fierce wind.

Suddenly --

A flame spurts from the mouth of the Dragon Rocky lion and comes directly at Qin Yu.

"It's over!"

"Big brother!" in the distance, Xiao Hei also becomes anxious.

Qin Yu is terrified. In the blink of an eye he focuses his entire attention on that flame. It is obviously very powerful. The travelling speed of the flame is even faster than the speed of the Dragon Rocky lion himself.

At this life-or-death moment, the light silvery stellar energy outside Qin Yu's body suddenly begins to rotate.

The Stellar Field!

In an instant, a huge nebula is formed outside his body. The nebula inside him also starts spinning extremely fast. Immediately, another Qin Yu seems to be created. That, of course, is a phenomenon caused by Qin Yu reaching his top speed.

When his life is hanging on a thread, Qin Yu finally dodges the flame. He can even feel its terrifying heat as it brushes past one side of his body.

Since the range of the Stellar Field is the same as the range of the nebula outside his body, Qin Yu's movements are limited. Moreover, the Stellar Field requires the entire energy of the nebula inside his body. Luckily for him, he has reached the middle phase of the Nebula stage so using this technique for just a moment does not adversely affect him very much.

In the blink of an eye, he stops the Stellar Field then rushes westwards like crazy. His flying path basically follows no regular patterns at all.

"Big brother." At the moment Xiao Hei's voice sounds somewhat excited.

"Don't waste time. Speed up!" Qin Yu has already flown to a high altitude and is currently flashing back and forth through the clouds. The Dragon Rocky lion seems to have become furious. Sometimes he chases after Qin Yu and sometimes he chases after Xiao Hei. However, compared to him, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei are like ants, and because they are too small, they are too agile for him as well.

All of a sudden --

"Xiao Hei, quickly go to the southwest!"

Qin Yu's holy sense has suddenly felt a strong aura in the southwest which is even comparable to that of the Dragon Rocky lion. At the moment he has no time to think much about it. After all, if they keep getting chased like this, they will probably be killed sometime in the future.

In a short while, he and Xiao Hei have already flown southwest several hundred li.

An extremely crystalline cry of a bird rises.

"Dragon Rocky lion, this is my territory. Go the hell back to your den." An enormous holy sense covers the area where Qin Yu and Xiao Hei are. The voice that is transferred through it even rises in their minds. Qin Yu is immediately delighted.

There is a huge red bird which is several tens meters tall up ahead. Its entire body is covered in blazing flames and its stunning crimson feathers radiate a magnificent aura. Qin Yu quickly makes a judgement.

"A Hong Luan divine beast!"

Qin Yu is stupefied. He never thought that he would continuously encounter 2 divine beasts. However, he is extremely pleasantly surprised in an instant and tells Xiao Hei hurriedly via his holy sense: "Xiao Hei, quickly go away from below. Don't provoke this Hong Luan!"

"Ha-ha, I know, to let the 2 of them fight each other, right?!" Xiao Hei cries strangely then immediately dives down. Qin Yu also dives down extremely fast.

The Dragon Rocky lion however simply does not care about them, and nor does the Hong Luan. In the eyes of these 2 large divine beasts, a man and an eagle are merely midgets. To the Dragon Rocky lion, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei are just spice to his life, which is dispensable. But this Hong Luan divine beast is his old rival.

"You actually told me to get the hell away?" He is extremely angry.

The Hong Luan spreads its wings, which are about as long as its height. Hong Luans are innately magnificent so a magnificent aura naturally spreads out from it. The Hong Luan says: "Dragon Rocky lion, this is my territory. Having come here, you still don't want to behave. Are you looking for a fight?"

The Dragon Rocky lion has become furious. Without thinking much, he immediately turns his face upwards and lets out a roar. The air in his entire vicinity starts to vibrate.

……

Boom ~~~

There is a series of explosions behind Qin Yu and Xiao Hei. These explosions are even much more powerful than the 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation. Feeling the air around them vibrating hurriedly, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei cannot help looking aghast at each other. This battle between 2 divine beasts is really too terrifyingly devastating.

"Don't care about them, Xiao Hei. Let's run faster."

Using the Body-Weapon Unification, Qin Yu flies extremely fast westwards. Xiao Hei also uses the Passing Lightning Flashing 9 Times continuously. The 2 of them, one man and one eagle, run west desperately nonstop at their top speeds. They simply do not dare to slow down because who can say the Dragon Rocky lion will not chase them again after fighting?

Given the Dragon Rocky lion's power, they will die if just one of his strikes connects.

They fly this way for 6 hours straight. Qin Yu flies at his fastest speed for 6 entire hours. He has only used the Body-Weapon Unification technique for short periods of time before and has never used it to fly so desperately. After 6 hours, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei suddenly see --

There are houses in the distance. In addition, the density of the Wilderness's holy energy drops sharply.

"Ha-ha, Xiao Hei, we've finally come back!" Qin Yu, who is running like there is no tomorrow, wakes up in an instant. Obviously the crazy run just now has brought him back to the human world of the Qian Long continent directly from the Wilderness. After going through the Wilderness for several months, Qin Yu and Xiao Hei have finally returned alive!

NOTE:

- The lion in this chapter is similar to a Chinese guardian lion:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_guardian_lions

- Luan is a Chinese mythical bird, a descendant of the Phoenix, and Hong means Red:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feilong_(mythology)

End of b4c16.