Chapter 74: Unrivaled in Close Combat Among Peers

In short, Yu Yan felt she had truly gained something. The ability to guide the wind blades held extraordinary significance for her—especially at this very moment!

As soon as the seven wind blades neared the fire crane’s nest, they instantly split into two groups. Six of them continued straight for the heart of the great fire crane, while the last one angled downward at forty-five degrees, making a sudden assault on the two fledgling fire cranes hidden beneath.

No matter which one was struck, it would be enough to enrage the fiercely protective parent.

A piercing screech rang out, just as Yu Yan had hoped. The great fire crane, thoroughly provoked, spread its chestnut-red wings wide, shielding the two young ones beneath. The five wind blades struck uselessly, rebounding from the iron-hard feathers without leaving so much as a scratch, not even loosening a single plume.

Such was the gulf between the fourth and fifth ranks! A difference of a single rank, but in strength, it was an unbridgeable chasm.

Yet the final wind blade did not behave as the fire crane had expected. It had carefully predicted the attack, folding its wings and tail to shield the young, certain the blade would strike there. But at the very last instant, the blade curved with subtle dexterity and, slipping past the guarded tail, slashed at the fledgling below.

A shrill cry erupted as the wind blade pierced it. One of the young fire cranes screamed in pain.

The great fire crane was momentarily dumbfounded. This human was insufferable! First darting about like a flea, evading every attack, and now injuring its precious chick. At last, the great fire crane could bear it no longer. After soothing the wounded fledgling with a few anxious chirps, it launched itself directly at Yu Yan.

Yu Yan’s speed in flight was no match for the fire crane, nor did her rank or strength compare, but she possessed her own advantages: the agility of human legs, a keen and cunning mind, and the Windstride Talisman, which allowed her to soar through the air, disguise her presence at will, and conjure illusions. The high-grade spiritual materials within her spatial trove gave her the means to harm monsters of a rank above her own.

Yu Yan was resourceful to the extreme!

The fire crane was closing in, its razor beak and talons ready to tear her apart. But suddenly, Yu Yan vanished, utterly and completely, from before its eyes.

Again, the same trick! She had dodged its attacks several times already, leaving it unable to pinpoint her position.

The fire crane hesitated for a heartbeat, an intense sense of danger surging through it. Instinctively, it tried to take flight.

But it was already too late.

Had there been a dungeon monster of earth grade or a seventh-rank enhancer present, they would have seen wind energy swirling about Yu Yan. In the instant the fire crane was left bewildered, she pressed close to its wing and flipped nimbly onto its back with astonishing speed and finesse.

So skillful was her maneuver that not a single feather was disturbed, not even the soft down beneath its wings. The fire crane sensed nothing amiss until Yu Yan produced a razor-sharp tip of grade-nine feathered banyan leaf. In that moment, every feather on the fire crane’s body, even the down beneath its wings, bristled in alarm.

A spray of blood rained down as the fire crane let out a grievous cry, its eyes clouded with confusion.

What had just happened?

Even in death, the great fire crane’s eyes refused to close. How could a mere fourth-rank pest escape the keen senses of a fifth-rank spirit beast? And worse, how could that thing in her hand cut through its neck? True, as a bird, its neck was its most vulnerable spot apart from its belly—but this human was only fourth rank, wasn’t she? And how had she managed to leap onto its back without alerting it?

Perhaps the lightning eagle that had fallen to Yu Yan not long ago could have answered these questions. It had taken her a full day and night to bring down that vigilant, notoriously difficult creature, with attacks too numerous to count. Its senses had been pushed to their limits after its mate was wounded and it realized Yu Yan was present. In the beginning, it dodged seven or eight out of every ten surprise attacks, and the few that landed barely grazed its flesh. Gradually, Yu Yan’s assaults began to draw blood, and eventually, she dealt the fatal blow.

That final, deadly strike owed much to luck. Worn down by repeated ambushes, the eagle was weakened and its senses dulled. Yu Yan, meanwhile, could gnaw on a healing fruit whenever she needed to regain her strength and spirit energy. But in truth, it was this hard-fought, close-quarters battle with the lightning eagle that had honed her combat skills so drastically.

In her previous life, she had relied on the bloodthirsty vine or fire abilities to clear her way—none of which required her to fight up close. Melee was her weakest area by far. Yet this time around, one monster after another had forced her to adapt, rendering her ranged attacks all but useless.

Her supply of fire rhino horns was running low and would eventually be exhausted. She had no choice but to train herself in close combat.

The combination of illusions, Windstride, and the grade-nine feathered banyan leaf had made her almost invincible in melee within her grade. She had already realized this when she sliced through the slender neck of the lightning eagle. The fire crane’s death only confirmed it.

From now on, unless a dungeon monster exceeded the sixth rank or advanced to earth grade, and unless it was foolish enough to approach her, Yu Yan had nothing to fear—unless the monster launched a suicidal, mutually destructive attack, burning its own skills just to take her down with it. Otherwise, she was entirely unconcerned.

Of course, she remained cautious around monsters renowned for their keen senses, but even then she was confident in her abilities.

Having slain the fire crane, Yu Yan didn’t even lift an eyebrow as she stored its corpse in her lotus-root space. She walked over to Zuo Changyu. “Still not finished over here?”

Her tone held a faint note of ridicule, and Zuo Changyu’s face turned scarlet. “Almost—almost done!” The confidence he had boasted not long ago now seemed like a colossal joke, and he felt as if his face were being slapped over and over.

It wasn’t that he was weaker than the two fledgling fire cranes. They were both newly hatched, one specialized in melee, the other in ranged attacks. Neither had reached the third rank; the melee one was barely at that level, while the ranged one, already wounded by Yu Yan’s wind blade, was only second rank, its tender wings still oozing blood.

Zuo Changyu’s trouble was entirely his own doing.

He had never expected that one day, his body would betray him.

That’s right—betray him. He had kicked out at the fire crane, but the target shifted slightly and he struck nothing but air. That wasn’t the problem. The real problem was that he couldn’t pull his leg back! The foot he’d kicked with became stuck deep in the nest behind the fledgling, a nest made of some mysterious, incredibly tough material. He struggled for ages but couldn’t free himself.

The melee-type fledgling, still full of spirit, took advantage of his predicament and launched a series of sly, winged attacks.

How did it feel? Pain wasn’t really the issue—the humiliation was far worse.