Dragon Tamer
Chapter 1129 - Chapter 1129 Chapter 1133 Hunting the Mysterious Eagle

Chapter 1129: Chapter 1133: Hunting the Mysterious Eagle Chapter 1129: Chapter 1133: Hunting the Mysterious Eagle …

Zhu Minglang returned to the Whirlpool Forest.

There was no longer a need to deliberately discern the direction; by hunting in the Whirlpool Forest, Zhu Minglang would inevitably catch sight of the majestic Heavenly Forest Mountain Range.

Not only the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch resided on the Heavenly Forest Mountain Range, but atop the Sunward Tree Crown, there also dwelt a divine bird, presumably an existence of even higher cultivation base. However, it seldom showed itself, and Zhu Minglang only realized after re-entering this area with Xuanlong that the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch was just the second-in-command.

Zhu Minglang entered the lair where the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch nested; silence loomed both inside and outside the nest.

He continued to tread lightly, but soon enough, his movements roused the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch.

Or perhaps ‘roused’ was not the right word, for the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch was standing there, a pair of sharp Hawk God’s Eyes staring intently at Zhu Minglang, as if he already was a part of the carcasses and skeletons scattered on the ground.

“Little thief, you could have taken the path to the Heavenly Court but did not; you found no door to hell, yet you barged in!” the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch issued a shrill cry, and immediately, Zhu Minglang understood the underlying meaning of this expression.

Seeing the aggressive Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch, Zhu Minglang couldn’t help but laugh.

Old monster, once I pluck out your proud feathers, let’s see if you dare speak to me with that attitude.

“Xuan Sa, hit it with all you’ve got, aim for its left wing and the back of its neck where it’s injured,” Zhu Minglang instructed Xuanlong.

Xuanlong emerged from the Spirit Realm, its silver-red eyes glittering with an even more incisive radiance as it sized up the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch. This scrutiny was not to measure its strength but to search for its weaknesses and observe the subtle movements that revealed the extent of its injuries.

After its growth and transformation, Xuanlong’s pair of silver-red eyes could see much more, reaching a new level of detail, including the discernment of weaknesses.

The Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch’s Hawk God’s Eyes bulged like toads. After the battle with Wei Huan and others, the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch noticed that something was missing from its lair and precisely captured the Ancient Bat Demon Immortal, who after severe torture, revealed that a human had stolen its Crystal Dew of Abundant Dew.

The Ancient Bat Demon Immortal claimed it had done its utmost to thwart Zhu Minglang, but alas, it was slightly less powerful and was outwitted by the human.

Naturally, the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch perceived the strength of this human thief to be on the same level as the Ancient Bat Demon Immortal, never anticipating that the Xuanlong summoned by his opponent had a cultivation base on par with its own!

As an old Demonic Immortal that had lived on Ghost Mark Star for tens of thousands of years, how could the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch be unaware of the Dragon Clan’s might? In terms of physical attributes alone, the Dragon Clan held various advantages, and when it came to Profound Arts and Spells, there was also a considerable gap between other members of the Demon Race and the Dragon Clan!

The Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch was daunted before the battle even began.

It seemed to want to initiate a more conciliatory conversation with Zhu Minglang, even accepting to move out of the den it had dominated for many years if necessary.

But Zhu Minglang’s purpose for being here was very clear.

He was hungry.

He wanted meat!

Having recently undergone transformation, Xuanlong was in dire need of high-quality meat to replenish the energy expended by its body. Therefore, to the pair of silver-red eyes of Xuanlong, the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch was not so much a formidable adversary as it was its next meal–a meal that it must take down with all its might. It was not sufficient just to beat it; it had to kill it!

Xuanlong rarely showed the ferocity that lay beyond its noble demeanor as a Heavenly Court Immortal Dragon; it charged toward the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch, forgoing any spells and began to tear at it directly, like a majestic lion spotting a wild hawk gliding at low altitude…

The Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch also knew it couldn’t unleash its full power inside the cave dwelling; it retreated toward the outside of the nest as its first move.

It used its tough feathers to whip up blood-red demonic winds in an attempt to repel Xuanlong, who pressed on relentlessly, closing the distance and overpowering it. The agile yet muscular dragon pinned the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch down several times, its claws raking across its body.

While frantically counterattacking, the monarch flew backwards in a disheveled retreat, always trying to soar higher but constantly being dragged viciously back to low altitudes.

Finally, the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch reached the canopy above, with its radiant plumage strewn about like chicken feathers. Several wounds bled profusely. Determined not to tangle with Xuanlong, the monarch fled upward at the first opportunity, not knowing that Xuanlong, with its emerald green dragon wings spread, was just as adept at aerial combat as those of the Feathered Monster Clan!

Soaring into the sky, swift as the cold lightning, Xuanlong once again fiercely dragged the Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch, who had barely managed to take flight, back into the sea of tree crowns. Just as Xuanlong lifted its wings, huge wind compasses spread out and whirled through the vast sea of leaves, slicing through the canopy and leaving residue leaves flying in a torrential outpour similar to stormy waves. Likewise, the defensive feathers on the Immortal Monarch shed like those leaves, losing half in an instant!

The Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch was utterly defeated; it now hated not being something like a golden cicada or an old python, so it could escape by shedding its skin…

Although the Demonic Immortals had long diverged from the most primitive category of wild beasts and raptors, at their core, they remained those very creatures. When facing beings of equivalent cultivation base, they often fell into the predator-prey dynamic.

What is the natural enemy of a hawk?

Isn’t it a stronger dragon!

In the skies where eagles dare not soar without cultivation, there often resides a dragon!

So this relationship hasn’t changed, despite the countless millennia of cultivation to become a Demonic Immortal or Immortal Monarch.

The Xuan Hawk Immortal Monarch started to feel regret.

It regretted provoking those humans earlier to assert its dominance.

It could have let them pass, but now it was hurt from the skirmish with that human Sword Immortal.

Had it been uninjured, the Immortal Monarch felt it would at least have had a chance to escape, instead of being unable to fight or flee like now. All the spells it had cultivated over the eons to differentiate itself from wild fowl only meant that its death would be slower, but the pain was undiminished.

The law of the jungle had not spared the Immortal Monarch either.

…

After all, it was an Immortal Monarch.

The difficulty was not just one level higher than dealing with the Heavenly Stick Arhat Lin Ying.

Zhu Minglang had seldom seen Xuanlong hunt and kill with such absolute focus. He also saw how different the dragon was when it had hunted solo during its wandering phase compared to its usual Heavenly Court Immortal Dragon demeanor, resembling the cheetahs and tigers of the jungle, or the lions of the plains…

In fact, all creatures must avoid one thing while hunting: injury.

Even a lion, when facing a deer, cannot afford to let the animal’s antlers pierce its belly due to the prey’s weakness.

An injured lion signifies vulnerability. When weak, it may find that there are more natural enemies than expected, with once-fearful gray wolves trailing it in packs, greedily eyeing it.

Xuanlong was avoiding injury, for above in the Sunward Tree Crown, another Hegemonic Divine Bird was waiting for something.