Chapter 59 Time Has Passed

“Could it be… that Cui family member?” the maid exclaimed in a low voice.

She knew that her young lady had lived in a famous city for four years and had met some very powerful people there.

Nearby, two men in golden armor also showed surprise upon hearing the name Cui, their eyes gleaming as they gazed at Jinji Ridge under the night sky.

“We can’t be sure it’s him yet, after all, it’s been more than two years since we last saw him. He rode the Purple Lightning Beast and rushed past here. The eyes and nose exposed under the face shield are indeed very similar, as are the habitual movements of riding a beast, grabbing the beast’s mane with one hand, and using the knife as a whip…”

“Miss, you’re really amazing! The night was so dark, and in just a quick glance, I thought he was very blurry, but you could see him so clearly. Is this the ability of someone from another world?” The maid chattered excitedly.

She even muttered to herself, asking if Cui Chonghe was an acquaintance, close friend, or someone she was very close to, and whether they would recognize each other later.

The young woman, dressed in a feathered robe, with flowing black hair and bright, sparkling eyes, murmured, “If it is him, why would he be here? Time has passed, and it is not advisable to meet him again. Let’s wait in the dense forest. I just want to confirm if it is indeed that old friend.”

“It’s not advisable to meet him. Is there… a problem with him?” The maid opened her mouth, looking surprised.

A man in golden armor spoke up: “Miss, we should go further. Lord Meng has gone deep into the mountains to retrieve the remaining branches of the Black and White Ancient Tree for you. What if the negotiations break down…”

…

On the back of Jinji Ridge, Qin Ming rode on the back of the Purple Lightning Beast and saw a large grove of sycamore trees, as well as a large bird’s nest. Inside the nest was a strange bird, not particularly large, about three meters long, quietly lying in the nest.

The nest, built with paulownia branches, was on the ground. The strange bird had only a few golden feathers on its body, with large areas of it bald. It was very thin and looked quite old.

“Take a feel for it, is this a ferocious bird that has mutated five times?” Qin Ming patted the Purple Lightning Beast’s head with his spear.

When it comes to sensitivity to different species, mutated creatures know each other best. He asked the Purple Lightning Beast to confirm.

This purple lightning beast was very intelligent and could understand his words completely. Although it was very reluctant to tell him, it finally yielded and nodded.

“So this is the essence of Golden Rooster Ridge? No wonder it’s called that. There’s an old golden rooster that has mutated five times.” Qin Ming looked surprised. The old bird didn’t seem to be in good condition; it was losing almost all its feathers.

The four bandits who had escaped earlier were right next to the Wutong Nest. They were very nervous, even trembling, when they faced the old golden rooster.

The surviving bandit stood in front of the Wutong Nest and said, “Although you warned us, senior, not to allow anyone to disturb us, our lives are at stake. Jinji Ridge is about to be destroyed, so we have no choice but to come here for help.”

You could tell his body was tense, afraid that the old rooster would target him.

Because this ferocious bird is old and completely out of control, it no longer listens to them, so there’s no point in them offering “tribute”.

It is now determined to emulate the legendary Phoenix Blood Bird’s Nirvana and make one last attempt here. If it succeeds, it will transform into a creature that has undergone six mutations; if it fails, it will die a miserable death here.

The bandit leader of Golden Rooster Ridge knew he was doomed to fail. He knew nothing of the Nirvana Method, and his meager phoenix blood was simply insufficient to sustain him any further.

The old golden rooster glared fiercely at the bandit leader, then looked violently at the man and horse in front of it, its few remaining golden feathers standing on end.

No matter who tries to prevent its “rebirth,” they will be torn apart. It has little chance of success, and its last glimmer of hope is being disturbed, causing it to erupt with rage.

“Are you laying eggs in the burrow?” Qin Ming asked in a hoarse voice.

He quickly whispered to the Purple Lightning Beast, “If I can’t beat it, can you outrun it?”

Inside the phoenix tree nest, the old golden rooster flew into a rage, its skin literally covered in goosebumps. It stood up abruptly and let out a loud, clear crowing.

“You’re just waiting to die. Senior is a male phoenix. How dare you insult it like this…” One of the few remaining bandits spoke up, clearly trying to curry favor with the old golden rooster.

However, this flattery backfired, and the fierce bird in the phoenix nest is now capricious and taking its anger out on everyone.

After it charged out, it stood on one leg, while its other strong leg kicked out to the side, sending four bandits flying with a series of thuds.

This was no simple side kick; the sharp claws immediately pierced through the four men, leaving them covered in blood. Some had their bellies ripped open, while others clutched their chests, their chests riddled with holes. They collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony, and yet another bandit died on the spot.

Even the last remaining bandit’s expression changed drastically, and he retreated quickly, but it was too late. The old golden rooster arrived, and the phoenix spread its wings. Its bare fleshy wings glowed, and although they did not hit him solidly, they still tore open his armor, leaving a large bloody gash on his chest.

The old golden rooster is known for its brutality; it will kill anyone who prevents it from enjoying its old age or disrupts its rebirth.

It moved with lightning speed, delivering another swift claw strike to the bandit, sending him flying seven or eight meters away. The claw pierced his thigh, leaving it a bloody mess, and even broke one of his bones.

The main reason is that Da Kou had been severely injured by Qin Ming earlier, otherwise he wouldn’t have been taken down so quickly.

Qin Ming stared wide-eyed. How could this old golden rooster seem like a “martial arts expert”? Its moves were swift and precise, showing great skill and technique, as if it were proficient in human combat methods.

The bandit was furious, but he lay on the ground and dared not utter a word. Unless the gold thief himself came, this old rooster would not listen to anyone.

The next moment, the old golden rooster took a long stride, its claws cracking the rocks in the snow. With a fierce wind and swirling snowflakes, it pounced on Qin Ming, almost teleporting, and arrived right in front of him.

Even the Purple Lightning Beast got nervous and almost turned to run away.

Qin Ming gripped his spear and thrust it out, creating dozens of spear shadows, like a coiled dragon spinning and clawing, ready to tear apart the ferocious bird in front of him.

With a clang, the old golden rooster’s large, golden beak caught the spearhead, and then it violently shook its head, snapping the spear tip off with a snap.

At the same time, it swung its bare, fleshy wing down at the man and the rider, as if a human were performing a splitting palm strike.

Without hesitation, the Purple Lightning Beast carried Qin Ming upwards, using him as a cushion to protect itself. It was very wary of the Old Golden Rooster and did not want to be struck.

Qin Ming originally intended to block the old golden rooster’s fleshy wing to gauge its strength, but the purple lightning beast used him as a shield, which enraged him. He slapped the purple lightning beast on the back, causing it to scream in pain and become listless. He then used his other hand to meet the fleshy wing.

Both Qin Ming’s palm and the old golden rooster’s fleshy wing were flowing with heavenly light. Suddenly, with a loud bang, when the two came into contact, it was as if two giant beasts had collided.

Unable to withstand such immense force, the Purple Lightning Beast crashed into a giant ancient tree, then staggered, its body swaying violently.

Qin Ming jumped off it and threatened, “See this? I’m keeping this broken gun for you. If you dare to run, I guarantee I can throw it accurately and stab you in the body.”

He looked across and saw a bloodstain on the old golden rooster’s wing, from which blood seeped.

Qin Ming had a plan in mind; he could fight Old Golden Rooster.

Generally speaking, excluding rare anomalies, a normal creature that has mutated five times is roughly as strong as a human that has been reborn five times.

Old Jinji has a strength of over 3,000 jin, similar to Qin Ming’s strength.

The bandit leader lying on the ground and the other three bandits who were about to die were all very surprised. This mysterious man who seemed to be still very young actually had the ability to fight against the old Golden Rooster!

After a featherless wing bled, the old golden rooster flew into a rage, striding forward with its long legs and raising its pair of fleshy wings like two large knives, pouncing towards Qin Ming.

“You really have practiced!” Qin Ming confirmed.

The big bandit lying on the ground knew very well that Old Golden Rooster had been taught by a gold thief and possessed considerable skills and fighting techniques.

In an instant, the old golden rooster flapped its fleshy wings, emitting a brilliant radiance that cleaved through the air and produced bursts of wind and thunder.

Qin Ming remained calm, unleashing his Heavenly Light Force to directly confront the knife-like fleshy wings.

Both being two-legged creatures, they were both waving their upper limbs, and the old golden rooster truly demonstrated the fighting techniques taught to it by the Golden Thief to the fullest extent; it was very impressive.

But it was ultimately an anomaly; the celestial light it emitted, based on its racial characteristics, could not withstand the combined celestial light energy of Qin Ming.

With a soft “plop,” Qin Ming’s nail-like force pierced a hole in its fleshy wing, leaving it covered in blood.

Then, Qin Ming used the fused intercepting force, his palm slicing like a blade, severing a section of the large claw that it was kicking at him, trying to launch a sneak attack.

The old golden rooster crowed and then made a series of random nodding motions, another practical combat technique. Its golden beak pecked at Qin Ming’s forehead. If an ordinary person were pecked like that, their forehead bone would surely explode and their head would be shattered.

Qin Ming was protected by the Heavenly Light Force, but he didn’t want an old golden rooster pecking at his head. His right palm blocked like lightning, his five fingers glowing. The fused Radiance Force and Nail Force erupted, and with a clang, five finger holes appeared on the old golden rooster’s beak.

Then, he used his sticky strength and with a snap, he ripped off half of the old golden rooster’s beak.

With things having come to this, the bandits on the ground were filled with despair. Even the old golden rooster, which had undergone five mutations, was no match for that mysterious powerhouse, and they were destined to be wiped out.

Da Kou sighed. The old golden rooster was ultimately a “mortal.” Without the powerful race’s method of unleashing heavenly light, even with his accumulated magnificent heavenly light, he was no match for that person.

The old golden rooster did not fight to the death in the end. Instead, it leaped up and returned to its sycamore nest, its whole body bursting with dazzling light and emitting a loud golden rooster crow.

Undeterred, it made one last attempt, its blood boiling as it underwent its sixth mutation, hoping to elevate its life level.

In the end, its last golden feathers burned to ashes, its body shattered, blood gushed out, and it was utterly defeated, dying in the phoenix tree nest.

Qin Ming hadn’t expected it to be so resolute, saying, “Neither human nor beast, even a golden rooster is so fierce.”

However, when he passed by the sycamore nest, he felt no sympathy for the old golden rooster. There was a human arm in the large iron dish where it kept its food, and it hadn’t been eaten yet.

To express his strong approval of it, Qin Ming originally wanted to personally “stomach-bury” it, after all, it was a creature that had mutated five times, and he had never enjoyed such a high-grade ingredient before.

Now he could only beckon the Purple Lightning Beast over and say, “Eat it, consider it a reward. Although the old golden rooster is not a spiritual creature, eating it will still be beneficial to you.”

The Purple Lightning Beast held its head high, looking very proud, with a face full of disdain and contempt, and actually refused to eat.

“Do as you please!” Qin Ming turned around, picked up his broken spear, and, amidst the unwilling roars of the bandits, dealt with them one by one.

“Who exactly are you? Are you someone sent by the new city lord, or a guardian recruited by someone from beyond the world?” At the last moment, the bandit roared with all his might.

Qin Ming did not respond, treating him like dirt, and decapitated him with the tip of his spear, then quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

He was very dissatisfied because he saw a pile of armor, weapons, and bows and arrows in the mountain stronghold’s warehouse, which was obviously prepared for recruiting new members.

This means that Jinjiling spent a lot of money, and these were spoils of war that he couldn’t take with him.

“My precious gold!” Qin Ming sighed.

In the end, he searched the entire place, tidying up the bodies of all the dead, and collected a total of forty-seven gold coins during the day, as well as some silver coins at night.

This was naturally a huge sum of money, far exceeding the wealth found on Wang Nianzhu, Huang Jingde and others, but this was Jinji Ridge, the stronghold of the bandits, so it seemed rather meager.

Fortunately, he found three books here, one of which contained the fruits of the labor of his predecessors, and he sensed a strong emotional fluctuation in it.

Qin Ming immediately smiled; this secret manual was far more valuable than gold!

While he was searching for his spoils on the mountain, two bandits who had returned from drinking and carousing in a nearby town turned pale with fright. They vaguely heard the bandit leader’s roar, which sounded desperate.

The two sobered up immediately and plunged into the dense forest, finding a wooden cabin. There should have been someone guarding it to monitor the movement on the mountain road, but it was severely understaffed and had been empty for several days.

However, people come to feed the birds of prey here every day, and if Jinji Ridge is attacked, they can be released to seek help from outside.

“Sending a message to the bigwigs of the gold thieves would be too late; it’s too far to help them now. Let’s ask the Three-Eyed Sect for help instead!”

Not long after, in Qingsong Town, twenty miles away, the leaders of the Three-Eyed Sect looked grave. Someone had actually launched a night attack on Jinji Ridge, and the people there had asked them for help.

“Something terrible has happened! Get ready quickly!”

They acted swiftly.

Qin Ming lingered on the mountain for a long time, searching every corner, but he couldn’t find anything of value. Only then did he ride the Purple Lightning Beast down the mountain.

“Take me a little further to Qingsong Town!” He figured that since he was already making his move today, he might as well take down the Three-Eyed Cult, which was also a significant threat to the local area.

The main point is that he conquered Jinji Ridge single-handedly without feeling particularly strained.

“I guarantee I’ll let you return to the mountain tonight. Run fast, take that small path, speed is of the essence in war!” Qin Ming had done his homework before coming and studied this area.

However, when he arrived at Qingsong Town, the Three-Eyed Cult’s stronghold was quiet and deserted; all members had left.

In the distant dense forest, some believers were discussing: “I thought we were going to support Jinji Ridge, but I didn’t expect the higher-ups to lead us to run away!”

Disappointed, Qin Ming left Qingsong Town via the main road. At the town’s exit, he saw four people approaching from afar. Two men were wearing golden armor, and one of the two women was wearing a feathered robe, clearly a person from another world.

“Miss!” the maid called out.

“It really seems to be him,” the woman in the feathered robe murmured.