Just like that, the two ran for over half an hour, growing ever more distant from the forest. They were about to leave the bounds of Xianling Mountain.

Ling Zhenfei's heart was filled with immense joy. That Eagle hadn't appeared for such a long time, which very likely meant that due to last night's heavy rain, the Eagle had already left early.

With his heart filled with happiness, Ling Zhenfei's feet surged with increased Spiritual Power. As long as they could make it out, the Rejuvenation Grass was as good as theirs.

Once they were out of Xianling Mountain's range, that would be enough. Although it was only part of the Rejuvenation Grass, it was sufficient to refine a life-extending elixir. As long as the elixir was successfully concocted, Lu Huanong's illness could be cured.

The more Ling Zhenfei thought about it, the happier he became in his heart, as if the life-extending elixir was already within easy reach.

But just at that moment, Ling Zhenfei suddenly felt a cold wind pass overhead, which was exceptionally chilling in the late autumn air, freshly cleared from rain.

Ling Zhenfei found this wind odd and, while his feet didn't stop moving, his Divine Sense had already spread out. Suddenly, he was stunned to see that a huge Eagle was soaring through the sky above them.

The Eagle was like a small plane, with wings spread wide enough to span three to four meters, its beak like a hook, extraordinarily sharp, and its talons like they were made of iron.

Ling Zhenfei didn't know when exactly the Eagle had gotten behind them, but in that instant, it swooped down, clawing towards Ru Meng.

Ru Meng had been leading the way in front for Ling Zhenfei. At this time, the Eagle lunged directly at Ru Meng.

As a Spiritual Cultivator at the Zhiyi state, Ru Meng had already detected the Eagle's approach and realized it was diving toward her. She turned around and struck back with her palm towards the Eagle.

Ling Zhenfei was shocked. He knew that Ru Meng had reached the Zhiyi state by consuming Spirit Fruit and was still immature in cultivation techniques and combat, especially against opponents far stronger than herself.

Although Ru Meng had exerted all her Spiritual Power in her palm strike against the Eagle, Ling Zhenfei knew it would be difficult to threaten the Eagle with this attack. It could even be fatal for her if the Eagle struck her down.

With this thought, Ling Zhenfei quickly gathered Northern Spiritual Energy in his right hand and thrust the Sky Piercing Finger towards the Eagle in the sky.

The Eagle in the air reached down towards Ru Meng with its claw, which was like two large iron hooks that, if they were to catch someone, would leave several bloody holes.

Ru Meng's palm struck the Eagle, hitting it precisely on its talons.

Ding!

A metallic clang rang out, but the Eagle only paused for a moment before it continued its assault on Ru Meng.

Moreover, the Eagle was clawing towards Ru Meng's head, obviously aiming for a killing blow.

Of course, Ru Meng had realized this too and tried to dodge, but the Eagle's movements were incredibly fast and it was too close. Dodging was easier said than done.

Just then, Ling Zhenfei's Sky Piercing Finger reached its target. With Ling Zhenfei behind and the Eagle in front, the Sky Piercing Finger pierced directly towards the Eagle's back.

The powerful Eagle sensed the formidable strength of the attack and, realizing it was too late to deal with Ru Meng, rolled over to block the Sky Piercing Finger with its talons.

Bang!

The Eagle's talons were hit by the Sky Piercing Finger, and it could be seen from the ground that the Eagle's body was forced back a short distance by the impact, showing the overwhelming power of the Sky Piercing Finger.

But Ling Zhenfei didn't have time to think much of that. He rushed over, grabbed Ru Meng's hand, and the two of them ran forward.

Ru Meng was a little terrified by the eagle's previous attack, and only after Ling Zhenfei grabbed her hand did she come to her senses, hurriedly following him as he ran forward.

Ling Zhenfei knew that his previous attempt had hardly threatened the eagle, and the eagle would still catch up. So even as they ran, he did not idle, and his Northern Spiritual Energy began to condense again.

Leaves on the ground started to float up, trailing behind Ling Zhenfei and Ru Meng. As the Northern Spiritual Energy increased, more leaves gathered until they seemed to form a spherical barrier of leaves behind Ling Zhenfei.

Ru Meng, of course, was aware of what was happening behind her, her eyes full of disbelief, "What are you trying to do?"

While running, Ling Zhenfei explained, "This sphere of leaves won't stop the eagle, but if it can block it even once, that's good enough. Isn't our goal just to escape the range of Xianling Mountain?"

"You have so many cultivation techniques; it's my fault for implicating you," Ru Meng said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't talk like that, you're here to help me this time," he replied.

At that moment, the eagle pursued them again, but the sight of the leaf sphere behind the two made it hesitate slightly, and for a time, it didn't dare to swoop down.

This was one of Ling Zhenfei's clever stratagems, Zhiyi among them. His goal wasn't to defeat the eagle but to buy time to escape from Xianling Mountain. The more the eagle hesitated to swoop down, the more advantageous it was for them.

However, the eagle seemed to have noticed something and let out a long screech before diving towards Ling Zhenfei.

Perhaps sensing that Ru Meng's Spiritual Power was weaker, and despite Ling Zhenfei pulling her along, the eagle targeted Ru Meng. Of course, Ling Zhenfei would not let it succeed, propelling the spherical barrier of leaves towards the eagle.

Thud!

The eagle smashed the leaf sphere to pieces, but it successfully blocked the eagle's dive, buying Ling Zhenfei and Ru Meng time to flee.

Joy filled Ling Zhenfei's heart, proving his strategy was correct. While running, he used the Plucking Leaves and Flying Flowers technique to form another sphere in front of him and Ru Meng.

He hoped to use this method again to block the eagle. After all, an animal is still an animal, not a person; it doesn't have as many tricks as humans. No matter how strong it is, what else can it do?

"What cultivation technique is this? It seems very interesting," Ru Meng said, her face showing envy.

"As long as that beast isn't too smart, we can use this method to escape," Ling Zhenfei said with a smile to Ru Meng.

As if it had heard Ling Zhenfei's words, the eagle let out a roar and dove towards him again, but was once more blocked by the leaves behind him.

The leaf sphere was shattered again, but even so, it succeeded in stopping the eagle's move, preventing the eagle from catching up.

"Haha, excellent, with this method, we can escape from Xianling Mountain."

The two of them sped up and ran forward, but this time the eagle in the sky was clearly furious. It suddenly sped up and flew in front of them, blocking their path.

Eagles usually swoop down from the sky to hunt their prey, but this time the eagle seemed intent on a direct confrontation.

Ling Zhenfei and Ru Meng paused, bringing the leaf sphere from behind to in front of them.

"What should we do, the eagle has gotten smarter," Ru Meng said worriedly.

Indeed, Ling Zhenfei too was slightly fearful at heart. The huge figure of the eagle was right in front of them, its massive body and Spiritual Power were truly intimidating.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.