Chapter 5: Giant Golden Eagle
A dazzling golden sun was nestled in the clear blue sky. Apart from a single white cloud floating in the sky like a lone sail in a blue sea, the sky was completely clear.
At this moment…
In the depths of a secluded canyon, an enigmatic mountain mist was rising, shrouding the surroundings in a mystical veil. Delicately and gracefully, it painted a picturesque landscape. Faintly, it was exuding a primal essence, giving the impression of the untamed spirit of wilderness.
No, not faintly.
The canyon was filled with towering trees reaching high into the clouds, their canopy covering the sky completely. And the occasional howls and growls of wild beasts reverberating in the canyon seemed to be coming from the distant past.
Perhaps, this secluded canyon had truly stepped into the prehistoric era at some point.
*Screech~!*
Suddenly, an ear-piercing screech instantly echoed across the canyon, shaking the clouds and almost shattering the rocks. Surprisingly, this screech belonged to a Golden Eagle that was swishing through the sky at this moment.
This was still not the scary part. The actual scary part was the wingspan of the Golden Eagle.
Generally, a Golden Eagle's wingspan would only be about two or three meters. But the one's wingspan was about five meters. In particular its two, long golden like feathers covering sprouting from near it's head, which looked as if they were carved from pure gold. One could not help but be shaken up at the sight of it.
Could such a beast really exist in the world?
"Is it coming again?"
Amidst the subtle air of solemnity, a strange creature, standing tall at tens of meters, was swaying while gently fidgeting.
In terms of battle power alone, this Golden Eagle was truly terrifying. Had he not been here, Xuan Wu had no doubt that after many years, a predator would have been born in this canyon that was truly at the top of the food chain.
It has to be known that the Golden Eagle was already known as the King of Raptors, and a trained Golden Eagle could even chase wolves across the grass plains.
It even held a terrifying record of catching fifteen wolves in succession.
This was a proof in itself of how terrifying a raptor the Golden Eagle was.
Whereas this Golden Eagle had gone through several evolutions. Who knows how fearsome it was now?
According to Xuan Wu's guess, had he not been radiating a terrifying aura, this Golden Eagle would have pounced on him long ago.
…
Indeed, Xuan Wu's guess was correct.
As a predator at the top of the food chain, the Golden Eagle had been the rightful overlord of this canyon. Furthermore, it had gained its current bearing because it had gained a little sentience. Be that as it may, when it looked at the strange creature on the ground, even if it was already so strong, it could not help but flinch, becoming wary.
In its eyes, Xuan Wu was different from other prey.
Aura, or what one might call a kind of intimidating pressure. Whether it was plants or animals, more or less, everyone possessed it.
With the restoration of Spiritual Energy, it allowed one to evolve by leaps and bounds, this kind of aura which was invisible to the naked eye had become even more terrifying.
Like its prey, some of which had an aura that could reach as far as one meter or more, there were some whose aura could reach as far as two to three meters even.
But Xuan Wu was different.
His monstrous aura had reached as far as ten meters!
It could even be said that everything within ten meters of him was completely enveloped in his aura.
It was precisely because the Golden Eagle could detect his aura, that it had been hovering in the sky and following him for half a month.
Given its intelligence, although it could not understand the oddity of the creature, it still understood the instinct of avoiding harm and seeking gains. Even so, the faint fragrance wafting from afar still prevented it from leaving.
It kept waiting and watching.
As a predator, the Golden Eagle had ample patience to keep an eye on this unknown prey that stirred its blood, until it found an opportunity to kill it in one strike.
"Not coming down yet!?" Calmly looking at the prowling Golden Eagle in the sky, Xuan Wu muttered in his heart.
There was no denying that it was really discomforting to be watched on by a predator that was at the top of the food chain. So much so that whenever he sensed the Golden Eagle, Xuan Wu would be instinctively on guard, and poised his tendrils to attack at a moment's notice.
Not only him, in the nest under Xuan Wu's canopy (Tree)…
*Screech! Screech! Screech!* Sharp and continuous screeches kept ringing, tightening Xuan Wu's nerves further.
Peregrine Falcons!
They were quite frightening raptors.
At this moment, the Peregrine Falcons inside the basin-sized nest were also going crazy, screaming and jumping. They too were obviously nervous.
Compared to the Golden Eagle, they were ultimately a bit behind. If Xuan Wu had to categorize them into some kind of level, they'd be at least a whole four levels behind the Golden Eagle.
Perhaps, the difference in their levels could be made up in other ways.
For instance, the Peregrine Falcons could take down a land animal of a higher level than them. However, they would never be able to take down the Master of the Sky – the Eagle.
After all, as raptors, the Peregrine Falcons' air superiority and terrifying speed would be nothing before the Golden Eagle's.
As for Red Fox, it was not even in the picture.
Although it had always remained by Xuan Wu's side, its body could not stop trembling, looking at the hovering Golden Eagle in the sky.
The Fox too was just one of Golden Eagle's prey, after all.
"Since that's the case…" Watching the huge Golden Eagle hovering a hundred meters up in the sky, hesitating to come down, the last thread of Xuan Wu's patience also broke.
Xuan Wu might no longer have the body of a human, but he could not endure such a long period of mental strain. As such, he had decided to make the move first.
Be that as it may, the prerequisite for making the move first was to make this huge Golden Eagle come down.
As this thought crossed his mind, a flurry of ideas began to flash through Xuan Wu's mind.
"Why is the Golden Eagle not coming down? Since it's not coming down, then why is it reluctant to leave even after so long? "One after another, questions began to pop up in his mind.
Not long after, Xuan Wu suddenly sneered as if he had thought of something.
"It should be fear. It might have evolved, but as an animal, its intelligence should not be that high. So, the only thing that can make it spy secretly and prevent it from pressing forward is fear."
"It's afraid… as for the object of its fear, it's certainly not the Peregrine Falcons, and the Red Fox is highly unlikely, then it can only be me."
"But why me, I haven't revealed anything unusual in front of it…"
As Xuan Wu murmured this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Because at this point, he was struck with another possibility.
Aura! The aura of the strong! The aura emanating from me must be so strong that it's deterring it.
…
As this thought crossed his mind, Xuan Wu started cooking up a plan.
[Parts That Can Be Strengthened:
Enhanced Mutated Tongue: 0/12
Eyes: 2/2
Mutable Solution: 1/1
Bone Shard: 0/1 ]
[Evolution Points: 1.2]
Seeing this panel Xuan Wu decided to enhance his Tongue as he needed all the strength he could muster if he wanted to take the Golden Eagle down correctly.
He hadn't had a good harvest yet so he didn't have many points at the moment, but the solution to that problem was right in front of him!
If he could successfully overwhelm the Eagle with might, he'd reap many rewards!
[Ding! Please Confirm Whether to Consume 1 Evolution Points to Enhance Mutated Tongue. ]
"Confirmed!"
Having given his confirmation, Xuan Wu became a little excited.
Compared to last time the Mutated Tongues which require just 0.1 points to upgrade one tongue, upgrading a single tongue now requires a whole 1 point.
Moreover, Xuan Wu was also expecting that after this upgrade, he would be able to sweep away all the obstacles in his path!
And right at that moment, Xuan Wu's mind was suddenly assaulted with excruciating pain. He felt as if some energy had surged into one of his tendrils, and before he could even digest this surging energy, it had already broken through the shackles of Xuan Wu's limb.
Followed by a 'CRACK' sound, Xuan Wu felt as if his limb had shattered as an excruciating pain was transmitted deep into his body. The bout of pain was agonizing that Xuan Wu's limb were shaking non-stop, as if they were trembling.
He recalled the time he had strengthened his slime solution, though this time he could control his limbs so as not to go crazy.
Looking at him, both the birds and fox looked worried and frightened, thinking of the scene similar to last time.
And a short while after this…
*Rumble* The old tendril of Xuan Wu suddenly sprouted as a ten or so meter long root came into view.
"My goodness…"
Looking at the root, which under his control had completely transformed into a Python and controlled it like his arm, Xuan Wu could not help but be dumbfounded.
'So this is the power of Evolution Points!'
This limb was longer and a bit thicker compared to the other limbs, almost like a tree root! its muscles also looked to be stronger and denser, with its main difference being the strange vein like white tissue that wrapped around the muscle like some sort of thin bone armor!
Xuan Wu noted its similarities to connective tissues that a human would have.
But it did not inhibit his movement at all, in fact he felt a much stronger power dwelling within this limb!
With this stage one is complete!
"Now onto the next part.."
*Haaaaa…* As he exhaled a long, deep breath, Xuan Wu's microscopic pores slowly expanded.
Almost all living organisms need to breathe. Xuan Wu was no exception to this.
Though he had no lungs, he knew that somehow his body was taking in the surrounding air through his skin, somewhat like those of amphibians, he remarked.
With this, he had discovered by some lucky break that he could freely control his breathing. In other words…he could hold his breath just like Humans.
But how would holding his breath help him in this situation?
According to Xuan Wu's speculation, it should help him weaken a bit of aura emanating from him. It was like the Turtle Breathe Technique, a martial art technique from his previous life.
*Suuup…* Taking a deep breath, Xuan Wu decisively held his breath.
Immediately after, his body seemed to almost deflate as his form began to lose its streamlined shape..
In a flash, the slime monster appeared as if it was dead.
…
Meanwhile, high up in the sky…
*Screech~!* A sharp, piercing screech that could pierce through metal and crack the rocks resounded as the huge Golden Eagle fiercely spread its wings.
A hint of Human-like doubt flashed in the depths of its eyes as the huge Golden Eagle slowly approached the tree where Xuan Wu was.
According to its senses, the aura emanating from the creature had become a lot weaker.
Much weaker.
Although it still extended to three to four meters, compared to its aura that could reach up to seven meters, it was simply insignificant.
In other words, the area around the tree's location had already become a place for it to forage.
However, what it couldn't comprehend was the reason behind the sudden weakening of the previous aura.
It was in doubt, but it's doubt was just fleeting.
The huge Golden Eagle did not give it that much of a thought. Its limited intelligence did not grant it that much room to give it a deeper thought.
Compared to Humans, its thoughts were very pure and simple. Food, that was the only thing that occupied its mind and instinct. And now that it was not that dangerous anymore, this location had become its hunting ground.
*Zoom!* Flapping its wings, the giant Golden Eagle dived down like an arrow fired from a bow.
However, the giant Golden Eagle failed to notice that…
*Rumble…*
With slight tremors, the soil beneath Xuan Wu's body began to slowly crack apart. Soon after, long green roots, extending over ten meters in length, started rearing their heads one after another.
Under Xuan Wu's control, these sinuous and twisting roots acted as extension of his arms, completely obedient to his commands.
This was Xuan Wu's plan!
Since his body seemed virtually the same from most sides, he had positioned his mouth at the ground, with all his limbs dug deeply into it, ready to pounce!
"Twist…" Followed by an imperceptible murmur, the green roots started to twist together. Meanwhile, the tips of the limbs slowly contorted and intertwined until they formed a sharp and pointed conical shape.
Looking from above, it resembled a giant lance that was over ten meters long. Except, the giant lance had already twisted and coiled upon itself that it started creaking. It seemed as if it could snap at any moment, splintering into pieces. Furthermore, there was not just one lance.
In order to ensure a sure kill, Xuan Wu had even moved all the other limbs he had. In other words, there were several coiling lances aimed at the eagle!
Right then…
*Boom!* A violent gust of wind suddenly blew over, causing Xuan Wu's entire body to sway uncontrollably.
'The tree that grows tallest in the forest, will always be first to be toppled by the winds' was true in this case.
As the giant Golden Eagle rapidly dived toward Xuan Wu, it brought along a fierce gust of wind. As far as Xuan Wu was concerned, it was really an extremely unpleasant experience.
Be that as it may, it was precisely because of the astonishing momentum of the giant Golden Eagle that it failed to notice the giant lances on the ground that were raring to attack.
*Screech!* With an excited cry, the giant Golden Eagle extended its claws.
Its entire body swooped toward Xuan Wu's true form.
In Xuan Wu's vision, all he saw was a giant black shadow covering the sky.
But at that very moment, Xuan Wu also made a move.
A move that surpassed human imagination speed.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Accompanied by continuous sonic booms, several lances shot up in the sky.
Like tree roots emerging from hell, Xuan Wu's green tendrils that were controlled by the rippling crimson muscles underneath exploded upwards with unimaginable speed!
*Screech!*
Sensing the danger, the Golden Eagle abruptly halted its dive.
Except, given the momentum it had already built, it was impossible for it to come to a sudden stop. With a loud thud, it fluttered its wings, but before it could timely dodge, it was fiercely stabbed by a giant lance.
With a squishing sound and sparks flying everywhere, Xuan Wu's "root" that had the hardness comparable to steel pierced through the wing of the giant Golden Eagle, and this actually ignited a series of sparks.
"Damn, it's so hard!?"
Xuan Wu exclaimed in his heart, feeling a little helpless, he had made sure that his first strike would be with enhanced limb to incapacitate it as much as possible.
It deserved the title of having wings that were as hard as alloy. Its hardness was beyond question.
Nonetheless, with just this, the Golden Eagle's fate was sealed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone