Chapter 426: The Awakening of an Ancient Spirit

Jier tapped this thing with the tip of his Long Sword, not expecting it to emit the crisp clinking sound that only hard objects make.

"Hey, it's not over yet."

Jier muttered to himself, not daring to touch the thing with his hands, so he used his Long Sword to hook it from the bottom and pry it out from the surrounding remains of flesh and blood.

While doing this, Jier kept his right hand tightly gripping his Magic Dagger, with the tip of the dagger pointed straight at the amber-like object on the ground. If anything went wrong, he would release flames to incinerate it.

Jier nudged the thing slightly away from the still-burning avian flesh, also to prevent it from potentially utilizing those unburned corpses later.

Only then did Jier carefully examine the Great Bird Spirit on the ground before him.

"Hey? Are you still alive?"

He asked tentatively in a loud voice.

Unexpectedly, the eyes of the small wooden bird within the amber-like substance 'lit up'. This so-called lighting up meant that its eyes were covered by deep shadows, turning pitch black.

"Oh, you are still alive?" Jier mocked, while aiming the Magic Dagger in his right hand at the Great Bird Spirit on the ground.

The Great Bird Spirit did not retort, but simply stared at Jier with its pitch-black eyes, wondering what it was thinking; Jier also stared back at it without the slightest fear.

The two sides stared straight at each other like this; Jier had just defeated this has-been Spirit and did not fear it at all, his aura directly overwhelming the seemingly weak Great Bird Spirit.

Crack—crack, crack—

The amber-like substance began to shatter and evaporate on the spot, turning into thin, shadowy Divine Power. Just seeing this, Jier felt that the Great Bird Spirit's strength had likely plummeted significantly.

Even when it was in dire straits before, its shadowy Divine Power had been pitch black and looked to have endless uses. But now, not only was the shadow no longer dim and pitch black, appearing gray as if diluted with water, but the small amount of shadowy Divine Power could not even maintain itself in the real world; once it lost control, it would directly evaporate and dissipate.

Jier just watched as these amber-like substances protecting the wooden bird dissipated one by one; in the end, only a small wooden bird with a broken wing remained on the ground.

"Is it really worth it?"

Jier asked the Great Bird Spirit on the ground.

"Caw... what is worth it or not?"

The Great Bird Spirit responded, its voice tiny; if not for Jier's sharp ears, he would have almost missed the response.

Jier squatted down, moving closer to the wooden bird on the ground, but his right hand still gripped the Magic Dagger pointed at it, and his finger remained pressed against the magic Gems.

"Just because I was disrespectful to you in my words and actions, you fought me such a big battle? And the result? Both you and I ended up like this."

Jier stuck his Long Sword into the ground with his left hand, then used his finger to point at the surrounding mess, as well as the large patches of damaged armor on his own body and the body beneath the armor that was still in pain.

Besides that, the entire forest clearing had been ruined by their series of fights.

The forest clearing had previously been a peaceful and serene place, but at this moment, the surrounding turf had been ripped up, exposing the soil beneath. The surrounding large trees were also mostly damaged, with branches broken and leaves blown off, and the ground was covered with the corpses of various pitiful birds; furthermore, there were two piles of corpses still burning, emitting thick black smoke and a foul stench.

"I am a Spirit, revered and respected by people; isn't that a very normal thing? Caw?"

The Great Bird Spirit instead questioned Jier with the tone that it was Jier who was abnormal.

Jier paused, but then he said: "Regardless of whether I respect you or not, you wanting to use my warhorse as a sacrifice is simply not happening. Tianxuecao is my battle partner; if you take it as a sacrifice, you are provoking me, and I will definitely have to fight you."

"But I have always done this in the past, I have always done it this way... caw."

After the Great Bird Spirit finished speaking, it suddenly froze. Don't ask Jier how he could tell the expression on a wooden bird's face; he just sensed that the Great Bird Spirit had frozen at this moment.

"But the problem is, by now, no normal Spirit would require humans to perform such ancient sacrificial acts. Let alone using human lives for sacrifice, even warhorses won't do, and my warhorse definitely won't!"

Jier explained: "For sacrifices, you can use other animals meant for eating, such as cows, sheep, pigs, or some wild beasts caught by Hunters, and it must be done voluntarily by humans. This is the level of sacrifice that human society can tolerate today. As for most of the time, the Hunting God Church will organize believers to conduct collective Prayer, using the power of Prayer to gather Faith and Divine Power to give back to the Spirits and seek protection. There is no need to perform any rituals like sacrifices."

"So, Jier, caw..."

The Great Bird Spirit said weakly and hesitantly: "So caw, I, no, am I, already appearing outdated, behind the times, uh, obsolete..."

Jier looked at the motionless wooden bird, sighed, and said with regret: "I'm afraid so, ancient Spirit. You have been eliminated by the constantly progressing era; the old ways are no longer viable in this day and age."

"I'm sorry... caw."

After a moment of silence, the Great Bird Spirit apologized. It actually apologized; a Spirit actually apologized to a Human? This was truly bizarre.

Jier was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect that this old guy, this old antique who had always been stubbornly unyielding in words, hopelessly backward and conservative in actions, and who didn't keep promises, would actually offer a verbal apology to a mortal—even if it was a mortal who had defeated it.

Jier fell silent, then decided to talk to it before deciding whether to destroy its anchor of existence.

In the forest clearing, the unpleasant smell of burning feathers drifted everywhere, and the black smoke from the burning corpses rose straight into the sky. If it weren't night, this black smoke would certainly have been seen by the Refugee camp in the nearby Valley and the people of Torito Village.

"After you escaped from the Hunting God Church—no, after they deliberately let you go—did you ever truly try to understand the current era?" Jier asked.

"Humans haven't changed much." The Great Bird Spirit was still a bit stubborn.

Jier immediately retorted: "But human society has changed. Some things could be done before, but cannot be done now. Some things could not be done before, but now they have become possible. Have you noticed these social changes?"

"No..."

The wooden bird that the Great Bird Spirit depended on lay on its back on the muddy ground, and at the base of its broken wing, the shadowy Divine Power that would automatically evaporate was still constantly leaking out.

"So, do I need a period of time to observe this changed world? But those hounds of the Hunting God Church, they have been chasing and hunting me, as well as my newly developed believers and bird flocks..."

Jier sighed: "That is what they want—to constantly pressure you, to put you under immense stress. Under the pressure of life and death, you didn't realize, nor did you have the time to understand, how to properly integrate into modern human society. They didn't give you the chance to learn."

"And you didn't have the intention to learn; you didn't even realize this point, still thinking that the ways from hundreds or thousands of years ago could still be used today."

Jier concluded: "It might sound cruel to say, Buduolibuduolobuyika, you are nothing more than entertainment for a religious event held by the Hunting God and the Hunting God Church."

"If I'm not mistaken, every few decades, they hold such an event, hunting some rare and powerful existence—like an ancient, weak Spirit that doesn't adapt to the times?"

"Caw..."

This time, the Great Bird Spirit didn't argue back; it tacitly acknowledged that it was ancient, unadapted to this era, and a weakling who couldn't even defeat a human mortal even after using all its current abilities.

"Do you know how many existences like you there are in the Hunting God Church?" Jier asked casually, not expecting the Great Bird Spirit to give him an unexpected answer.

"The vault where I was imprisoned—I took a look when I escaped—there were about a dozen or so similar structures. Caw... Jier, I'm really sorry, I couldn't fulfill my promise to you." The Great Bird Spirit said.

Jier felt the various pains in his body, shook his head, pointed at the large patches of bird corpses around, and said: "Don't you understand yet? The one you are truly sorry to is not me, but these countless birds around here that gathered because of your call and died here."

Jier was somewhat angry: "You claim to be the protective Spirit of wings, and yet this is how you protect them? What benefits have you given them? You let them lose their lives at my hands because of this? And I killed so many birds today—although they aren't humans, they were killed by me, sigh, sigh... I don't know if I'll be able to sleep well after this."

The Great Bird Spirit answered Jier's question honestly: "I sent out my messengers a few days ago to proclaim my existence among the nearby bird flocks, promising to protect them, but they had to obey my commands and serve me. It's a pity, caw; I originally thought that with such a large number, I would definitely be able to defeat you..."

Jier scolded: "The vast majority were suffocated or crushed to death inside the monster because you gathered them together to form it. You don't respect their lives; you don't respect the lives of the believers you protect. You have never placed them in your eyes or your heart! Birds are not smart, so they are too easy to believe your promises; things that come easily are naturally not cherished!"

The Great Bird Spirit froze again, then said: "So that's how it is, caw. Thank you, Jier. Your sleep, and your previous agreement, I will fulfill, caw. In the future—if there is a future—I will properly protect the bird flocks, and I will also learn to adapt to this era. If I am not extinguished in the hunting of the Hunting God Church, I will also strive to be a Spirit that keeps its promises."

Jier squinted at the strange wooden bird on the ground, feeling that this guy spoke a bit strangely.

The next moment, the wooden bird on the ground split open, shattering into small wooden fragments, and at the very center of these fragments was a pitch-black ball of light the size of a fingernail.

Without the wooden bird it relied on for existence, the moment this thing touched the outside world, the Shadow Divine Power on its surface began to evaporate and dissipate.

Jier raised an eyebrow, not knowing what this fellow was trying to do; was it committing suicide? Or was it going to self-destruct? It had sounded like it was reflecting on itself just a moment ago, so what was it doing now?

"Caw—"

A hoarse crow-like cry rang out, and Jier hurriedly stood up, moving away from the changing pitch-black ball of light on the ground. At the same time, the Magic Dagger in his hand remained aimed, his finger resting on the magic ruby of the dagger; he only needed the command word 【Incinerate Enemy】 to unleash a flame and destroy the enemy.

But he did not act rashly, deciding to observe the situation first.

The pitch-black ball of light on the ground gradually floated up, releasing a large amount of Shadow Divine Power from its surface, and the surroundings gradually turned pitch-black; Shadow Concealment obscured the moonlight and stars in the sky, and the surrounding large trees became shadowy and blurred.

On the bird carcasses still burning not far away, one dim, blurry light-shadow after another gradually emerged; Jier turned his head to look, but could not see them clearly.

At this moment, the Hunting Sword he had stuck into the ground flickered, the counterweight ball at the end of the hilt—the one made of Moonlight Iron—shining, and a ray of light spread and rose from this circular counterweight.

Swept by this circular ball of light, the surroundings changed instantly, leaving Jier shocked.

Because all around him, in places that were previously empty, on the ground and in mid-air, were countless phantom birds.

But their shapes were not those of normal birds; one by one, they were either pressed into pancake shapes, pulled into long strips, or had mangled bodies, or were mottled and festering—they did not look like they did when they were alive, but rather like their corpses after death.

"Are these the Spirits of dead birds? So many?" Jier shouted aloud.

He could not help but be surprised, for there were simply too many dead birds around; it was one thing when he could not see them before, but now that they had been revealed by the Moonlight Iron, the surrounding environment suddenly became crowded.

The pitch-black ball of light began to move, projecting smaller black balls of light one after another toward the bird Spirits scattered around; for every small ball of light it projected, it shrank in size itself.

The pitch-black ball of light, which was only the size of a fingernail to begin with, soon became the size of a glass marble, and as it dispersed further, it was reduced to the size of a grain of wheat.

Finally, it dispersed completely, turning into nearly a hundred small black balls of light. These black balls of light floated beside one bird Spirit after another, and with a slight shake, those listless, wandering bird Spirits were drawn into the black balls of light.

The hundred-plus black balls of light continuously absorbed the dead bird Spirits, causing the bird Spirits that had been everywhere to rapidly decrease.

Jier watched, dumbfounded; he even held his breath, fearing he might disturb the situation and the bird Spirits.

He was not stupid, and connecting this to the last part of what the great bird deity had said earlier, he roughly guessed what was happening now.

It said it wanted to fulfill its agreement with Jier and no longer be a deity that did not keep its word or violated agreements, so what else could this agreement be? Naturally, it was one of the great bird deity's abilities that had been agreed upon with him earlier.

【Shadow Bird】

To be honest, he seemed to have seen similar Shadow Birds in previous battles, and they even contained bird carcasses; it could not be considered powerful, and was even somewhat disgusting. If this was the ability the great bird deity had spoken of, then he was not satisfied.

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