I cultivate the Chaos Technique

Chapter 42 The Fierce Bird Guhuo

Zhang Yifan traversed the Black Forest at breakneck speed, the cries for help from his second senior sister, Lin Qingzhu, echoing in his ears. The voice, intermittent and seemingly a final plea for help, ignited a fire within Zhang Yifan's heart. He rapidly scanned his surroundings with his spiritual sense, attempting to locate the source of the sound as quickly as possible.

"Senior sister, hold on!" He gritted his teeth, his spiritual energy circulated rapidly, and his speed suddenly increased, turning into a blur as he passed through the dense forest.

Lin Qingzhu's voice grew weaker and weaker, as if it might disappear at any moment, which made Zhang Yifan's anxiety reach its peak. He tried his best and finally rushed to the place where the voice came from, but stopped abruptly. The scene before him made him frown.

The clearing was silent, with no sign of Lin Qingzhu. The surrounding trees were ancient and drooping, and a musty smell filled the air. The deathly silence made Zhang Yifan wary.

"What's going on? Am I too late?" Zhang Yifan's heart tightened, and he spread his spiritual sense again to carefully search for the surrounding movements.

Just then, Lin Qingzhu's voice came again. However, this time, Zhang Yifan clearly felt that the voice had a strange hollowness, as if it was not a human voice, but an imitation of some kind of demonic beast.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze locking onto a gigantic ancient tree. Perched on that tree was a colossal demonic bird. Its entire body was covered in dark green feathers, and its wingspan was a full ten zhang (approximately 33 meters). Its size was enormous. But most bizarrely, beneath its massive beak was a grotesque human face! Lin Qingzhu's voice emanated from this face.

Zhang Yifan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that he had fallen into the monster's trap. The demonic bird before him was definitely not an ordinary monster.

Just then, Li Taixu's voice came from Zhang Yifan's sea of ​​consciousness: "Be careful, this is the ferocious beast Guhuoniao."

"The Guhuoniao?" Zhang Yifan was startled, his eyes fixed on the demonic bird, and he asked in a low voice, "Senior, what is the origin of this Guhuoniao? Why can it make such a strange sound?"

Li Taixu's voice carried a hint of solemnity: "*Guhuoniao, one of the ten ancient ferocious beasts, is a great demon among the demon race, extremely skilled in illusion and deception. It feeds exclusively on the souls of humans, and is most adept at imitating human voices, especially fond of making cries for help to lure cultivators into its trap. Once enveloped by its demonic aura, one will fall into an illusion, gradually lose one's spirit, and ultimately have one's soul scattered, becoming its food."

Upon hearing this explanation, Zhang Yifan felt a chill run down his spine: "So that's how it is. The cry for help was just an illusion it made."

“That’s right.” Li Taixu continued, “The Guhuoniao you see now was a being comparable to a demon emperor in ancient times! It is said that the Guhuoniao once destroyed a large army of cultivators by itself. Even demon emperors and immortal emperors were unable to extricate themselves from its illusions and eventually died under its claws.”

Zhang Yifan was greatly shocked; he hadn't expected this demonic bird to have such a terrifying origin. He stared coldly at the Guhuoniao before him, his longsword slightly raised, his vigilance reaching its peak.

"Fortunately, this Guhuoniao in front of us is obviously just a remnant soul and can no longer regain its former strength, otherwise even I wouldn't be able to protect you." Li Taixu said in a low voice, "Even so, its strength is still not to be underestimated. Even the level eight demon beast Dark Swamp Poisonous Dragon Python that we killed before probably wouldn't last more than a few rounds against it."

Zhang Yifan frowned slightly: "But even if it's a remnant soul, why is its strength still so great?"

Li Taixu slowly said, "As one of the ancient ferocious beasts, even if the Guhuoniao is just a remnant soul, it still has the strength of an eighth-level demon beast. Although the remnant soul is incomplete, its demonic energy is far stronger than that of common demon beasts, making it extremely dangerous. Moreover, its illusions and ability to manipulate people's minds are its most terrifying weapons."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yifan became even more vigilant. He gripped his longsword tightly, his spiritual energy rapidly circulating within him. The demonic aura emanating from the Guhuoniao enveloped the surrounding air, subtly exuding a chilling sense of oppression.

The Guhuoniao seemed to sense Zhang Yifan's hostility, its eerie green eyes fixed on him. Its human face opened slightly, emitting a strange chewing sound, and a heavy stench of blood filled the air, as if the surrounding atmosphere had been polluted by its demonic aura.

Zhang Yifan frowned, his heart filled with apprehension. He knew that although the Guhuoniao was not as powerful as it had been in its prime, it was still extremely dangerous, especially its illusions; if one fell for one's illusions, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"I can't delay any longer," Zhang Yifan thought to himself, deciding to end the battle as soon as possible. He pushed off with his feet and rushed towards the Guhuoniao like lightning, his longsword flashing out, the sword energy striking the Guhuoniao's sharp claws like lightning.

"clang!"

The sword energy clashed with the Guhuoniao's sharp claws, producing a piercing metallic clang. Zhang Yifan felt an immense force surge from the sword, his wrist tingling slightly. He was astonished; even as a remnant soul, this demonic beast possessed such formidable physical strength.

The Guhuoniao let out a sharp cry, its wings suddenly flapped, creating a gust of wind, and countless dark green wind blades swept towards Zhang Yifan like a tidal wave.

Zhang Yifan snorted coldly, swung his longsword, and sword energy swirled in the air, forming a storm that shattered all the wind blades. However, the Guhuoniao's attacks grew increasingly fierce, with wind blades appearing endlessly.

"We can't delay any longer." Zhang Yifan's eyes turned cold, and he decided to use the Chaos Divine Fire to completely eliminate this ferocious bird.

He waved his hands, his spiritual energy rapidly circulating within him, instantly activating the Chaos Technique. Grayish-white flames erupted from his palms, transforming into a fire dragon that roared and lunged at the Guhuoniao. The fire dragon carried an intense aura of destruction, filling the air with suffocating heat wherever it passed.

"hiss--!"

The Guhuoniao let out a shrill scream, frantically flapping its wings in an attempt to escape the fire dragon's attack. However, the Chaos Divine Fire was one of the most domineering flames in the world, instantly devouring the Guhuoniao's demonic energy. Then, the fire dragon pounced and engulfed the Guhuoniao's body in an instant.

Flames burned wildly on the Guhuoniao's body, the intense heat distorting the air itself. The Guhuoniao struggled and roared in the flames, but its remnant soul power was no match for such powerful fire, and it ultimately turned to ashes.

Zhang Yifan stood still, coldly watching as the corpse of the Guhuoniao was completely incinerated by the Chaos Divine Fire. Without the slightest hesitation, he once again activated the Chaos Technique with both hands, and the Chaos Divine Fire swiftly refined the corpse and remnant soul of the Guhuoniao, transforming the demonic energy into streams of pure spiritual power that surged into his body.

As demonic energy surged in, Zhang Yifan felt his cultivation level break through once again. His spiritual power grew stronger and stronger, and he broke through from the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm to the late-stage of the Golden Core realm in one fell swoop.

"As expected, refining the remnant souls of demonic beasts is faster than ordinary cultivation," Zhang Yifan thought to himself.

Li Taixu's voice rang out again: "Although this Guhuoniao is a remnant soul, it still possesses extremely high demonic power. However, you must remember that Guhuoniao should not have appeared in the human realm. This secret realm is likely a fragment of the demon realm. The demon realm collapsed during the ancient war between immortals and demons, and fragments of the world scattered and fell into the human realm. This secret realm is one of them."

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan was deeply shocked: "So that's how it is. No wonder the monsters here are so powerful."

"The existence of fragments of the demon realm means that the demon beasts here may all come from ancient times and are extremely powerful," Li Taixu warned. "You need to be even more careful from now on; the dangers in the secret realm are far greater than you imagine."

Zhang Yifan nodded, took a deep breath, and continued speeding deeper into the secret realm. After this encounter, he was more vigilant about the dangers within, and filled with both anticipation and caution for the challenges to come.