Chapter 5: Golden Spirit

Seeing Zhou Yi finish absorbing the Soul Ring, the Golden Feathered Eagle also flew over.

Watching it fly back, Zhou Yi found it quite amusing and couldn't help but reach out his hand and bow slightly.

"Hey, Brother Eagle, you've come, please, this way~"

The Golden Eagle couldn't help but be stunned, not understanding what the human before it was doing, but this did not delay it from eating the Grass.

Seeing it begin to absorb that Grass, Zhou Yi also rummaged through the corpse of the Green Wind Falcon nearby.

However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find anything.

"Something's not right. Usually in this situation, shouldn't I get an external soul bone in the form of wings like many senior transmigrators? Am I not the protagonist?"

He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

Zhou Yi naturally knew the rarity of external soul bones; usually, even ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts don't easily drop soul bones, let alone external soul bones. Complaining like this was just out of boredom.

Since there was nothing to do, he could only watch the Golden Feathered Eagle digest and fuse with that Grass.

It must be said that although this eagle was a bit of a silly brute, it was also sentient, quite clever, and had a rather high level of attractiveness.

Looking at its sharp gaze and handsome appearance, Zhou Yi was increasingly satisfied.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind: he wanted to raise it.

In his past life, this was a first-class protected animal. Except for the Kazakh people who had the tradition of training eagles, ordinary people couldn't keep such a handsome pet. In this life, he must not let this opportunity slip by.

A few minutes later, the Golden Feathered Eagle finally finished absorbing it. Its claws were sharper and harder, as if they could easily tear through metal and stone; the luster of its feathers was more dazzling, and several circles of golden plumes appeared on its tail and wings, each one appearing like a blade or sword. Moreover, all the injuries on its body were fully healed. Now, it wouldn't even be afraid of a 3,000-year Soul Beast.

It couldn't help but let out a long cry.

"Ying~~"

Good fellow, worthy of being a cute raptor.

"Little Eagle, how about being my little brother? Follow me and you'll have good food and drink in the future." Seeing the Golden Eagle finish absorbing, Zhou Yi spoke up.

"……Ying!"

"Hm? You say you're not convinced, you want to be the boss? Impossible, no matter who comes today, I am the boss! You should know you couldn't even beat that Green Wind Falcon just now."

"Ying! Ying~Ying~Ying!"

"You're saying that even if I hadn't made a move just now, you could have defeated that bird?"

"Ying! Ying!"

"You're quite arrogant, kid. Who gave you the courage? That Grass?"

"Ying!"

"Since that's the case, then let's see what you're made of. If I can't beat you today, I'm not fit to be your boss!"

"Ying!"

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

In an instant, like two streaks of light, the human and the bird collided fiercely in the air.

Zhou Yi had gained the enhancement of flight and wind power from absorbing the Soul Ring, while after the Golden Eagle absorbed that Grass, its strength and speed had both improved significantly. Its physical fitness was comparable to most thousand-year Soul Beasts, and its eagle claws were incomparably hard.

The two guys, similar in size and equal in strength and speed, fought intensely; both sides were clearly enjoying this battle.

"Clang—"

After the Golden Eagle's claws and Zhou Yi's fist collided again, the human and the bird separated.

Two hours had already passed, and both the human and the bird were covered in wounds, drenched in blood, and their stamina was nearing its limit.

"I haven't enjoyed a battle like this in a long time, especially this kind of head-on confrontation. I've set my heart on you; today I must defeat you and earn your recognition."

Zhou Yi's gaze was fiery and firm, and the Golden Eagle watched him just as seriously.

It could be seen that they had developed feelings through the fight, a sense of mutual appreciation for one another.

"You must have gained a new skill after eating that Grass. Use it. I don't have much stamina left either; let's decide the winner in the next move!"

"Ying!"

Fighting spirit ignited in the eyes of both the human and the beast.

The Golden Eagle leaped into the air, spread its wings, and let out a long cry. The golden plumes on its tail and wings scattered through the air like meteors.

The number of plumes was vast, like a dense, impenetrable net, and they were extremely fast, sharp, and piercing.

If Zhou Yi were still like he was just now, he certainly wouldn't be able to dodge them all and would definitely be pierced by many sword-feathers. He could only protect his vitals, then fall to the ground heavily injured and lose this match. But…

"Isn't this the Gate of Babylon? I'm no Knight of the Yangtze."

"However, I cannot lose either!"

Thinking this, he continuously condensed water vapor with both hands, compressed it with wind-attribute energy, and blasted it downward. Relying on the propulsion from this method, he continuously accelerated upward, charging toward the Golden Eagle.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The sound of Zhou Yi's explosive acceleration kept coming from the air.

Just as he was about to be hit by the dense sword-feathers!

Zhou Yi twisted his body, turned his hands in two directions, and his body was carried along to rotate. As the rotation speed became faster and faster, a cyan protective Qi formed around his body. The Qi even emitted a buzzing sound like metal tearing as it rubbed against the air.

"Meat! Bun! Top! Bullet!"

In the air at this moment, Zhou Yi transformed into a cyan top, spiraling forward. The surrounding protective Qi deflected the incoming golden sword-feathers, emitting clanging sounds. At the same time, the intense friction produced sparks, and the cyan top was dyed a golden-red.

"Ying!"

Clearly, our Brother Eagle did not expect this human before it to be able to unleash such a skill.

"Boom!"

Before it could recover from its surprise, the golden-red top had already crashed into it. It was completely unable to block it and was carried upward into the sky.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The golden-red spinning top did not lose speed after colliding with the golden eagle, continuing to charge violently upward until it shot into the Cloud.

After their momentum was completely exhausted, the man and the bird began to fall; looking closely, Zhou Yi's head was still pressed against the golden eagle's belly...

On the other side.

"Master, look at the sky!"

"Hmm? With this kind of combat aftermath, it must be a Soul Ancestor fighting over there. Xiao San, we will detour around that direction later."

"Understood." Tang San looked at the golden light shooting into the sky with yearning; so this is a Soul Ancestor, he wondered when he would be able to reach that level.

Evening.

Zhou Yi and the golden eagle were resting, eating the Rabbit they had just caught around a campfire.

Just before, after the two of them fell, he discovered another benefit of Spiritual Power while circulating it to heal his injuries: it accelerated the Recovery of wounds. After realizing this, he immediately fed Spiritual Power to the golden eagle.

Unexpectedly, this golden eagle was very fond of Spiritual Power, and after absorbing it, its eyes gained quite a bit of intelligence.

Of course, after the previous contest, the golden-feathered eagle had now become Zhou Yi's little brother.

"Little brother, how should I address you usually? How about I call you Dio, how's that?"

"Ying!" The golden eagle looked disdainful.

"You don't like it? That's such a good name, but indeed, there is a feeling that one would often get thwarted with a name like that." Zhou Yi felt it was a pity and pondered for a while, pinching his chin.

"Then I'll call you Jin Ling."

"Ying~"

"Haha, it seems you are very satisfied with this name. Rest assured, follow me, and you will be able to eat Spiritual Power every day from now on."

After finishing dinner, he remembered that he had not yet truly used his first soul skill.

"Jin Ling, let's fly into the sky together and take a look; I haven't had a proper flight yet."

Upon hearing this, Jin Ling nodded, then grabbed his shoulders with its talons and looked at him.

Zhou Yi looked into its eyes and understood what it meant.

"It seems we will definitely be an invincible team in the future." Zhou Yi felt happy about their level of tacit understanding; this is what they call becoming friends through fighting.

"Let's soar into the sky!" Zhou Yi's hands erupted with airflow, and at the same time, Jin Ling spread its wings and flew high; under the boost of the cyan wind power, the man and the beast shot toward the sky like a rocket.