Chapter 480: Seal Script

"Ah, ah, ah!"

A noisy, unpleasant screeching came from overhead.

The Great Crane was quite vengeful; ever since he had plucked a few of its feathers, it had completely latched onto Zhou You.

Don't let its magnificent appearance—slender build and ink-colored feathers—fool you; its cry was worse than a crow's, as it was tone-deaf by nature.

It locked onto Zhou You's position, circling back and forth overhead, screeching in provocation.

Zhou You barely managed to patch up his Iron Feather battle robe, draped it over himself, and weighed it; hmm, it had become heavier.

The Great Crane's beak was hard and sharp; being poked by it was very painful, like being struck by a large iron chisel. If not for the protection of the Iron Feather battle robe, it could pierce flesh and gore internal organs in a single strike.

This thieving bird was truly gifted; a martial artist's body was like paper before it—it couldn't defend against it, simply couldn't defend against it.

If not for Zhou You realizing it feared water and hiding beside a pool, the vengeful Great Crane would have long since swooped down.

"You thieving bird, do you really think I can't do anything to you?"

Zhou You was angered; he gripped the wooden stick in his hand and swung it at the sky a few times.

Seeing this, the Great Crane retreated a few meters, but seeing Zhou You didn't jump up, it cheekily crept closer again, its unpleasant voice full of mockery and arrogance.

A look of contempt actually appeared in the corners of its eyes.

Zhou You knew it was provoking him; the sky was a raptor's battlefield, where it held an absolute advantage.

This Great Crane's entire body was as if cast from steel, impervious to blades and spears; its pair of sharp talons could pierce like drills, and the feathers on its wings vibrated like thousands of tiny sharp knives; every part of its body rivaled a Qi-blood divine weapon.

He had to fight in the air, relying on his battle robe and the Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step, while this big bird treated the air like it was strolling in its own backyard—they were simply not on the same level.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!"

The Great Crane was still outputting wildly to draw aggro, trying to enrage Zhou You into fighting it.

Zhou You didn't fall for it; going up to fight was just serving himself on a platter, and he wouldn't fall into the Great Crane's trap.

The Great Crane circled for a long while, and seeing Zhou You never took the bait, it flapped its wings and left in a huff.

A moment later, it returned carrying a shaman, its two talons piercing the chest and hooking into the skeleton, its long beak dancing with elegant, graceful movements; like eating a honey peach, it tore open the skin to enjoy the flesh, finally splitting the chest to eat the internal organs.

Finally, the hollowed-out corpse fell from the sky, smashing into the water pool, sending mud and sewage splashing everywhere.

This was going too far; this thieving bird was definitely provoking him on purpose.

It even knew how to use a goading tactic; this intelligence was far beyond that of an ordinary bird—the Great Crane was eerily demonic.

Zhou You took a deep breath, held the wooden stick in a defensive stance, and raised a pinky finger at the Great Crane. "If you've got the guts, come down."

The Great Crane was puffed up with anger; it opened its beak and spat out a cold light, the sound of it piercing the air sharp and shrill.

The stick knocked the cold light into two pieces; when they hit the ground, they were two scraps of iron—a Qi-blood divine weapon the Great Crane had been hiding in its mouth.

Suddenly, the wind roared; it turned out that because the Great Crane saw Zhou You cowering on the ground, it abruptly folded its wings and plummeted downward in a shuttle shape, intending to take Zhou You out in one swoop.

Don't let its massive size fool you; it moved as fast as lightning, and the gale was suffocating.

Zhou You's reaction was not slow; he stepped with the Feather-Stepping Sky-Ascending Step, spiraling his body to swing his stick technique.

Clang! Clang! The bird's beak and the wooden stick collided and scraped; the nearby air rapidly heated up, tongues of fire darted about, and sparks flew everywhere.

"No wonder the Golden Crane Mountain originally observed crane flocks to refine their fist techniques."

The more Zhou You fought, the clearer his mind became; the Great Crane's beak poked and prodded, yet it fought his prized stick technique to a standstill, using pure hunting and killing instinct to match the weapon arts Zhou You had painstakingly honed.

The legends were true; fist arts were modeled after the movement trajectories of all things in nature, staying close to the primitive and natural. Zhou You had only traded blows with the Great Crane a few times, and his stick technique had already improved by a large margin; if...

A thought popped into his mind: why not subdue this big bird, keep it by his side, and observe it to refine his Crane Fist? It would also have the benefit of analogy for the future "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."

Zhou You's mind suddenly cleared; in the current chaotic world, powerful giant beasts in the wild were emerging one after another, and the coexistence of martial artists and giant beasts would be a trend in the future.

It was said that Dayin Mountain raised a large number of tigers, and the sect's Disciples observed the tigers fighting and hunting day and night to hone their fist arts.

The Great Crane he had stumbled upon was a rare find, and he could not let it slip away.

The Great Crane did not know Zhou You's internal thought process; it only felt that this person was getting weaker the more they fought, retreating step by step.

It was extremely proud, thinking it could finally take revenge; it flapped its wings and pressed the attack more urgently, its steel-like beak dancing in a blur, never leaving Zhou You's vitals.

Zhou You feigned weakness, fighting and retreating step by step, locked in a fierce battle with the Great Crane around the water pool.

Seeing that it was about to capture its prey, the Great Crane accelerated its attack rhythm; its beak like a long spear, wings like shields, and feet like steel forks, attacking in alternating turns.

Under the airtight, frantic assault, Zhou You appeared to be running out of stamina, and the force of his wooden stick began to wane.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!"

The Great Crane was even more excited; spotting an opportunity, it leaped over the water pool, its two talons in front clawing toward Zhou You's collarbone, intending to take his body up to a high altitude.

It knew Zhou You was wearing a battle robe, but his neck had no protection, so it specifically targeted his weakness.

Just as the Great Crane flew over the water pool, the previously calm water surface suddenly broke, and a black shadow shot out.

The Baile Tianluo, hidden deep at the bottom of the water, used the silt as cover to be launched at the critical moment.

Driven by the Hunger talent, the large net unfolded against the wind, and a strong suction force enveloped the Great Crane from head to toe.

The Great Crane's graceful posture suddenly stalled, and it briefly experienced signs of weightlessness; it didn't understand why, and its heart grew increasingly panicked.

The large net flowed and spread like running water from the corners of the Great Crane's body, wrapping around its massive frame in a breath or two, then tightening.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

The Great Crane's cry turned into a wail; it struggled and tore frantically, its body expanding and contracting, but the net wrapped around its surface remained stuck tight, not even a sheet of paper could be inserted.

The Baile Tianluo, whose main material was the hair of a strong martial artist, how could a Great Crane break free? The Great Crane writhed and rammed frantically, sometimes jumping three zhang high, causing the earth to shake when it landed, and sometimes dragging its claws on the ground, gouging out messy, deep, long trenches.

All its struggles were in vain, and its strength was rapidly waning as time passed.

"Control."

Zhou You seized the opportunity; Qi-blood seeped from the fingers of both his hands, and he quickly traced a Seal Script: "Control."

The Seal Script reflected in the Great Crane's pupils, immediately producing a magical effect; the Great Crane, which had been struggling desperately, was pacified and became docile.

Accompanied by Zhou You pushing his palms forward with force, the Seal Script written in Qi-blood finally attached itself to the Great Crane's feathers.

Qi and blood were driven into the hollow structure inside the feather, causing the black and white colors on the surface to circulate, just like ink rapidly forming the tip of a brush.

In an instant, the black and white ink colors on the great crane's wings and back became distinct, finally fixing into a giant Seal Character 'Control'.

With this, this unruly great bird had been completely tamed by Zhou You.

The thieving bird had become a well-behaved bird.

(End of this chapter)