Sky Battle: The Donkey and His Lovers

After leaving the mountain region in the northeast, the trio was now high in the sky to witness a realm of flying beasts while moving southwest toward Changyan.

"Kill what you can, Big Bird. If you fail to impress me, I'll kick your ass back to Hongmen peak," said Huang Dawei.

Arrhhhhhh!

Big Bird let out a war cry and a familiar force rippled from its body that the trio identified instantly, however, it wasn't a complete comprehension and they assumed it was because Big Bird lacked battle experience.

Big Bird was like an arrow in the sky, starting with the weak and working its way to the top, the beast shredded everything it passed.

Until finally it encountered a half-step Wuzong iron feather eagle.

"Take your time. I want to see your aerial maneuvers." Huang Dawei spoke.

Big Bird got the message as it attacked. The two beasts collide and Big Bird kicked back, somersaulted, and caws, as qi formed feathers fired off.

The Iron feather eagle flapped its wings and barely manage to block. Big Bird moved like its master in a zig-zag pattern and then struck hard, taking it to high heaven.

"Good speed and unique movement patterns" Huang Dawei commented.

The trio held on as Big Bird ascended with great speed in a spinning motion. When it finally stopped, it spread its wings with the sun as its backdrop and the iron feather eagle fall from heaven in three separate pieces.

"Now it begins." said Xiao Ya, "We're in a new level of the sky. And a level 5 thunderbird has Big Birds sent. It's coming fast from the west."

Qin Yuechi grabbed Huang Dawei and the trio floated into the sky as Big Bird prepared for battle.

The sky darkened and storm clouds rolled in. Like the Golden Peng was the overlord of the area around Hongmen Peak, this Thunderbird world over this area in the Great Zhao Kingdom. And as it arrived with bolts of purple-blue lightning and rolling thunder, the trio witnessed its greatness in the form of beautiful feathers and two seals upon its wings.

"Its sentience is high." said Huang Dawei, "It's tapping into its bloodline abilities."

"Will Big Bird be able to win?" Xiao Ya asked.

Huang Dawei was careful of his words. Big Bird could hear him.

"If it loses, it dies. Then I'll capture the thunderbird before it can feed on Big Bird and break through to another level." Huang Dawei replied.

Big Bird's small sentience kicked itself into overdrive. It was do or die and its master would actually let it die. Big Bird wasn't surprised. Huang Dawei was an evil and violent man with two powerful women. What use did he have for a beast that couldn't become a war mount?

And like the thunderbird, Big Bird released its power and shallow comprehension of slaughter.

'Come on Big Bird. Discover who you are. I took you from Hongmen Peak for a reason. I could have chosen any mount. But I choose you. Prove me right!' Huang Dawei growled in his mind. He didn't show it, but he was anxious.

Despite his fragmented legacy memories, this was his first life. And he could be wrong about the Golden Peng but he hoped he wasn't.

Kacha!

The collision rippled across a thousand miles. Attracting the old ghosts in the Great Zhao Kingdom that were already sensitive after the disturbance of the Dao Bell's rings.

Kacha!

Caawww!

Big Bird and the Thunderbird went at it. Shattering each other's techniques. Twisting and turning in the sky. An aerial battle that Huang Dawei respected in the depths of his soul.

Kahca!

This time qi explode and many birds fell dead from the sky.

Unable to ignore, four Wuzong presences appeared in the heavens to witness the great match. Xiao Ya and Qin Yuechi took note.

Qin Yuechi then rose higher as her cultivation flexed and a seven-colored 18-petal lotus manifested under her like a throne to carry her and Huang Dawei. If that wasn't enough she pulled out her Guqing and played three notes that formed a barrier around the fighting beasts.

The Wuzong guest stepped back under the pressure of her power. But one peak Wuzong appeared from the Zhao Kingdoms Royal Palace.

"You dare cause trouble…"

Before the old man could finish, Xiao Ya Soul's manifestation of a great Vermillion Bird ascended and its cry shook the old man's mind causing him to sweat profusely.

"We dare! And these beasts belong to us!" Xiao Ya's voice rippled across the sky.

The Thunderbird and Big Bird sense this power and decree. Their fight intensified. Xiao Ya's Vermillion Bird was like a fable descending upon them. To win was to attain higher achievements at the side of that trio.

But it was Big Bird who knew from listening to their conversations, that Huang Dawei was the one who gave her that technique and promised techniques even stronger.

In the battle area, Big Bird and the thunderbird were bloody and ferocious. Finally parted, the thunderbird screeched as the seals on its wings hummed with power. Qi fluctuates around it and a great thunder sword manifested and launched at Big Bird.

Big Bird felt real danger and puts its life on the line. In a moment, its cultivation jumped to peak Wuzong as the space around rippled and merged with its slaughter force.

Huang Dawei's eyes widened as he stepped forth with anticipation.

"It's burning its blood and controlling the space element." A Wuzong guest gasped in shock.

"Do it!" Huang Dawei growled, " You fucking do it!"

Big Bird flapped its wing with all its might and a force shattered the thunder sword and Big Bird vanished. The area went still and silent. A great fear seeped into the heart of the thunderbird. Its body went cold. Finally, it felt all the weight of Big Bird on its back.

"The only rule of bird beasts. Never stop and never let them take your back." Xiao Ya spoke as she remember Huang Dawei teaching her the Vermillion Sky Tracing Tactic on the Huang Training Grounds.

"It's over." Huang Dawei spoke with a large smile of approval.

In the battle area, Big Bird flapped its wings as it pushed its feet down. The great crack and tear were heard by all as the thunderbird's head was separated from its body. Big Bird then threw the bird's head up and swallowed it in two bits.

It then cawed and dispersed the storm clouds as the sun bathed it in victory.

Off to the side, the Wuzong martial artists looked greedy for the thunderbird's corpse and the battle-worn Golden Peng which they knew had some ability to control space.

"Haha! Friends! I am the Old Emperor Ying Feizi of the Great Zhao State" the old man of peak Wuzong spoke.

The Trio looked over then ignored him as they went to Big Bird's side. Huang Dawei then pulled out the half-formation plat and pulled the body of the thunderbird inside. Drawing even more envy from the spectating Zhao State Wuzong experts.

Huang Dawei rubbed the head of Big Bird and it made low bird sounds accepting Huang Dawei's praise.

"Yeah, you did real good. Here eat this." Huang Dawei quickly put the pill in Big Bird's mouth before the guests could identify it.

All the while a vein began to protrude on Ying Feizi's forehead.

"Friends!' he said again, "If you look below, your two birds caused quite a mess in my Zhao State."

"So what," said Qin Yuechi, and the Wuzong guests were taken aback as they received not an ounce of respect from the trio.

Despite the power the ladies showed, it was only two of them, a beaten bird, and a boy of the qi condensation level. Yang Feizi took this into account and pressed on.

"I believe some sort of compensation is due." said Ying Feizi," Do you think you can just run rampant as you please!"

"Hahaha!" Huang Dawei laughed with his head tilted back and a hand on his chest.

"These old bags wouldn't dare claim these skies if the thunderbird was still alive. Don't you little emperors love to say everything under the skies? Trying to claim the heavens now is ridiculous and embarrassing."

Huang Dawei scolded the man and he turned red in the face.

"Look. Just piss off and we will be on our way," said Huang Dawei, he really wasn't sure how a battle with five Wuzongs would go.

Huang Dawei climbed on Big Bird's back as it slowly healed due to the pill. He then tagged a simple array that accelerated healing on Big Bird's back while it recuperated its qi.

"Haa. Leave?" another man spoke, "If let that happen, I wouldn't be Marshal Jin!"

The man in Zhao State military robes released his power and he was firmly at the peak of early stage Wuzong.

"Aish. And what about you three?" Xiao Ya asked.

The three ghosts looked at Marshal Jin and Old Emperor Ying Feizi.

Ying Feizi then stepped forward and said, " Di Ma, Madame Gu, and Xia Gui. Help me detain these invaders and I'll use my contacts in the Shang Dynasty to refine the thunderbird into pills to help us all."

Di Ma was a hunched-back old man and the weakest among them. He had been stuck at the early stage of Wuzong since he broke through nearly two decades ago. After causing problems in Qi state, he was chased off by the Dowager and took refuge in Zhao State under strict restrictions.

"Old Ying, you've been good to this little one for so many years. I, Di Ma, will repay your kindness today."

"Haa! Old Pervert, I was a deacon when the dowager chased you away. To think you managed to break through Wuzong. You'll definitely fetch a good price greater than my weight in gold. Didn't you take Prince Kang's first daughter as well?" Xiao Ya spoke.

"You! It's impossible, the Qi State only has three Wuzong. Two of which are in the palace and the other never leaves the Evergreen Star Pond." Di Ma was so shocked he began to spill secrets. Secrets that were detrimental to the health of the Qi State.

"Ah, I didn't know about the second or the third. They hide so deep. Give me the name and background of the expert in the Royal Palace and I'll let you live. If not, I'll fight you myself." said Huang Dawei.

This time he wasn't playing pig. He exuded confidence and the intent to fight. It wasn't a game but information crucial to plans he had in motion.

"Hahaha, you're not even at the human level and you want to face me? Fuck off, little punk!" Di Ma spat.

"Oh, he's mine" Huang Dawei spoke with a chill in his voice.

Huang Dawei served as a provocation. To think an ant would face them and two Wuzongs dare take on five. It was idiotic. laughable even. And now that the five Wuzongs believed the trio was from the Qi state, they become more confident.

Like them, the five Wuzong believed Xiao Ya and Qin Yuechi's cultivation was big but shallow. It was a hard truth that all powers in the Five Countries accepted –they lacked proper inheritance. It's why the official standing of the five lands capped off at Xuan level and Wuzongs were considered hidden experts. Trying to raise their State rank would only open them up to great trouble without sufficient protection.

"Ying Feizhi! My disciple is in need of the heart-cutting vine. If you hand it over, I, Madame Gu, will assist you."

"Hmm, the heart-cutting vine is very expensive. If used it will seal the five senses, enhance soul perception, and unseal her when the emotions are served…"

"At that time, your Zhao State will have one more Wuzong to protect it from 'invaders'" Madame Gu interrupted, "Shall I add that I, myself am at the cusp of peak Wuzong."

Listening to the old Crone deal, Huang Dawei thought she would be a good elder of his future Huang Dynasty. But too bad, she begged for death.

"So one rides the donkey, while the other fucks the donkey, and I'm assuming that one wants to kiss the donkey." Huang Dawei pointed at each of the old Wuzongs.

Xiao Ya snickered.

"He is indeed a donkey." Qin Yuechi added with a pleasant smile, eyeing the old emperor Ying Feizi.

Huang Dawei chuckled. "I'm glad to see the Honeyedweek has brought us so close."

"Honeyed week. Are you really having a play on words right now?" Xiao Ya asked.

"You can't really call it a honeymoon. That's equivalent to the moon cycle of after-marriage bonding." Huang Dawei explained.

Qin Yuechi snickered this time and then said, "This smart ass."

"Hey!" the man called Xia Gui growled. He was more beast than man. "I'll kill them all and claim the golden bird as mine. If not all of you can piss off."

"Aish! These lunatics. Okay!" Huang Dawei threw his hands up.

He then looked down at Big Bird whose cultivation returned to middle Wuzong. Its injuries weren't healed and it wouldn't be able o display its full strength due to the blood burning, but he had a plan.

"Chi'er, you take the donkey and its handler. Yaya, the crone, and that dog man are all yours. I got the pervert." said Huang Dawei.

Now it was the five Wuzongs' turn to laugh but it didn't last long as Huang Dawei stood tall on Big Bird's back and the Dragon Spine spear appeared in his hand. A moment later, his spear intent cut through the sky like a living spear.

"He is only a child…How?" Ying Feizi's eyes widen at the profundity of Huang Dawei's spear intent.

Huang Dawei then dawns the fire-like black and crimson cloak of his martial intent. The five Wuzong could almost smell the blood and death in the wind.

"Nine Cursed Scion Physique, first ban, open!"

Huang Dawei's voice rolled across the sky and his physical power burst forth like a volcano.

"Second ban, open!"

His physical power doubled and Di Ma could feel the power across the sky.

"Third ban, open!"

His power tripled and his top burst into ash as the heat of his body energy was like an invisible inferno. And all could feel the power of his body was equivalent to middle-stage Xuan level.

"Hey, wake up, Big Bird." Huang Dawei spoke and was like a god speaking into the beast's soul.

Once again Big Bird exuded its martial intent, but the space ability it once used was out of its reach.

Huang Dawei then looked at Di Ma with pitch-black eyes, crimson red flowing hair, and a smile bearing pearl white fangs. A true demon.

Pointing his spear at Di Ma, he said, " You're mine!"

In an instant Big Bird moved and the ladies followed. The sky rippled and the Zhao State looked up to see the battle of Wuzongs in high heaven. When they blinked, Huang Dawei and Big Bird separated Di Ma from the rest. Pushing him south.

Xiao Ya had appeared with flaming palms, corralling Madame Gu and Xia Gui to the east. Finally, Qin Yuechi sent out a small lotus, blowing Ying Feizi and Marshal Jin back, and pushing them north.

In the Royal Palace of Zhao state, all looked out and recognized Marshal Jin and Ying Feizi. A great foreboding feeling entered their heart as Qin Yuechi looked like a goddess of destruction.

Ying Feizi, Marshall Jin, Xia Gui, and Madame Gu all felt even worse as they realized the pseudo-level five battle set that the women wore. The feeling was deepened when Xiao Ya equipped her bow and the Full Arm Slave Royale Princess Bracelet appeared on Qin Yuechi's right arm.

'What the hell is happening in Qi State?' each of them thought. Finally realizing they had kicked Iron.

All the while, Di Ma was in a sad state as the spear in Huang Dawei's hand was actually level 5 and radiated a scorned hostility. Feeling that ferocity and power, Ying Feizi wanted to rip Huang Dawei apart and take the Spear belonging to the fallen Chu family. But first, he had to get passed Qin Yuechi.