leonardwarren Chapter 46 Leopard-headed Buzzard
Chapter 46 Leopard-headed Buzzard
After Xi'er and Yun'er finished their cultivation, they transformed back into human form and returned to the ground.
Cai Xuan was awakened by the noise caused by the eight golden gourds. Seeing that Xi'er and Yun'er had returned to normal, he was about to speak when he suddenly smelled a pungent odor and frowned. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the odor was coming from his own body.
Looking down, I saw that my skin was covered with a layer of black, greasy grime, like mud or ointment, sticking to my body and emitting a nauseating stench.
"This is..." Cai Xuan was taken aback.
Suddenly, he remembered the records in the Marrow-Mending Technique: "On the day of completion, one will cleanse the marrow and return from the acquired to the innate state, undergoing further transformation." This cleansing of the marrow and removing of the hair is to expel the accumulated impurities from the body, so as to achieve a pure and immaculate innate body.
He had only ever seen this kind of plot in novels before, but he never expected it to happen to him in real life today!
"Brother, you smell awful!"
Xi'er pinched her nose and took two steps back. Although Yun'er didn't say anything, she also took a step back without making a sound.
Cai Xuan's face darkened, and without a word, he turned and ran to the bathroom. Once there, he quickly took off his clothes, stood under the showerhead, and began washing off the grime. However, the grime was greasy and required soap to clean thoroughly, and it was very difficult to scrub.
Cai Xuan rubbed hard for a long time before he could remove a small piece.
"How long will this take to wash..."
Cai Xuan gave a wry smile, having no other choice but to start kneading earnestly.
Not long after he entered the bathroom, a flock of leopard-headed buzzards followed the trail left by the disappearing light. They were enormous, with wingspans easily exceeding two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), their feathers as black as ink, gleaming with a cold, eerie sheen in the moonlight. Their heads resembled those of ferocious leopards, their fangs bared, their eyes bloodshot, radiating a bloodthirsty ferocity.
Its claws are like hooks, each about half a foot long, enough to tear apart any enemy.
They circled in the air a few times, their gazes quickly locking onto the thick golden gourd vine and the six smaller golden gourds hanging under the wooden frame. Although the smaller gourds had already dimmed their light, the extraordinary vine and jade-like leaves of the large golden gourd vine could not be concealed.
"roar"
The lead leopard-headed buzzard let out a roar and swooped down from the sky. The rest of the leopard-headed buzzards followed closely behind, like thick, dark clouds pressing down from the sky, rushing towards the large golden gourd vine and the six small golden gourds!
"Haa"
Xi'er pushed off the platform with both feet, and her whole body flew into the air, swinging her long axe in mid-air. A sharp axe blade flew out and, with a whooshing sound, slammed into the lead leopard-headed buzzard.
"puff"
The axe flashed, and blood splattered!
The lead leopard-headed buzzard was instantly cleaved in two and fell from the sky. The roots of the giant golden gourd vine instantly emerged from the soil, wrapped around the two halves of the corpse, and dragged them into the ground. Not even a drop of blood was wasted; it absorbed them all.
Yun'er's divine eyes suddenly opened, and blazing lightning shot out, like a giant electric net, enveloping the few leopard-headed buzzards charging at the front.
"Crackling sound—"
Lightning exploded on the leopard-headed buzzards, and electric currents leaped among their feathers. Several leopard-headed buzzards were struck, their feathers charred black, white smoke billowing from their mouths, before plummeting to the ground, convulsing a few times, and dying.
The fourth golden melon was not to be outdone; a flash of fire appeared on its surface.
A burst of blazing flame erupted, transforming into a fire dragon that soared towards the flock of leopard-headed buzzards. Wherever the flames passed, the buzzards' feathers turned to ash, and their flesh sizzled and crackled. Several buzzards, unable to dodge in time, were caught in the flames and fell to their deaths with screams.
A faint light swept across the sixth golden gourd, and an invisible ripple spread outwards.
The leopard-headed buzzards that were struck stiffened, their eyes glazed over, and their wings drooped limply, plummeting from the sky like kites with broken strings. They had no wounds on their bodies, yet they were no longer breathing, as if their souls had been taken away by that eerie light.
The third golden gourd sprayed out streams of water, each one shooting out like a sharp arrow, making a "whoosh" sound.
Unfortunately, the leopard buzzard is large and has thick skin, so the water jets only leave a wet mark on its feathers and cannot penetrate its skin. However, the impact of the water jets still makes them unsteady, swaying in the air and flapping their wings to maintain their balance.
The other small golden gourds swayed on the wooden frame, as if cheering on their sisters.
Cai Xuan was focused on scrubbing the greasy dirt off his body in the bathroom. The thick wooden walls and the sound of running water blocked out the noise outside, so he didn't hear anything happening outside and just took a good shower.
Xi'er leaped and darted across the platform, wielding her long axe with impenetrable force.
With each axe strike, a beam of light shot out, and a leopard-headed buzzard fell to the ground. Her figure moved so fast that she was just a blur; wherever the axe light passed, leopard-headed buzzards fell like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Yun'er stood under the wooden frame, lightning flashing continuously between her brows, shooting one after another towards the leopard-headed buzzard in the air.
Her lightning magic was incredibly precise; every bolt of lightning struck a leopard-headed buzzard without fail. Sometimes, the lightning bolts would combine to form a net in the air, and any leopard-headed buzzard caught in the net would fall to the ground charred black.
Two heads, five heads, ten heads, twenty heads...
With the combined efforts of Xi'er, Yun'er, and the other little golden gourds, the leopard-headed buzzards in the air died one after another. In no time, more than half of the dark mass of leopard-headed buzzards were dead. The fallen corpses piled up on the ground, and blood flowed down the slightly tilted platform like a spring.
After so many were killed, the remaining leopard-headed buzzards finally became afraid.
One by one, they let out terrified screams, calling to their companions, flapping their wings, turning around, and flying away in a sorry state. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the vast night sky.
Seeing that the battle was over, the giant golden gourd vine immediately extended its roots from the ground and burrowed into the carcasses of the leopard-headed buzzards, absorbing their blood and flesh essence and transforming it into nutrients for the growth of the smaller golden gourds.
Seeing the leopard-headed buzzard leave, Xi'er slung her long axe over her shoulder, casually tossed her hair, and seemed not to care about anything.
Yun'er's brows and eyes slowly closed, transforming back into a faint, almost invisible mark.
The third golden gourd spat out a jet of water, absorbing the ashes left by the leopard-headed buzzard's corpse from the large golden gourd vine and washing it clean.
Everything returned to calm, and the moonlight shone again on the platform, on the wooden frame, and on the six little golden gourds and Xi'er and Yun'er.
The bathroom door finally opened, and Cai Xuan emerged, his body still damp from being scrubbed. His skin was red from being scrubbed, but clean and refreshed, exuding the pleasant scent of soap. He walked towards the platform while drying his hair with a cloth.
"Brother, you've been washing for so long!" Xi'er looked up at him.
"That filth is so hard to wash off, it almost rubbed my skin raw."
As Cai Xuan was speaking, he suddenly noticed a leopard-headed buzzard feather left on the platform and frowned involuntarily: "Has something been here just now?"
"We chased away a few big birds," Xi'er said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Thank you for your hard work." Cai Xuan reached out and patted Xi'er and Yun'er's heads, speaking softly.
"It's alright," Xi'er said confidently.
Yun'er smiled slightly to the side, while the other six little golden gourds swayed leisurely under the wooden frame, clearly not taking what had just happened to heart.