Chapter 929: First trial: Test of Strength! (3)
The small, four-winged bird had already taken to the skies above the timeworn coliseum, circling above the ancient arena at a frightening speed. Sparks of crimson lightning continued to gather around its four wings with every passing second, painting the ancient sky a vivid shade of red. The 'Red Lightning sparrow' didn't seem to have paid any attention to the death of the 'Ravenous Earth lizard', nor to the fact that it had left behind a top-grade spirit stone upon its death. Instead, its small beady eyes were focused on the blue-robed young man fiddling with that same spirit stone, before the crimson lightning around its wings became even more pronounced and deadly.
Sensing Shun Long's gaze that had suddenly shifted towards it, the diminutive sparrow then burst with powerful killing intent, as the crimson lightning around its four wings exploded outwards.
''Caaaaawww!!''
As the bird let out a high-pitched cry, a dazzling crimson thunderstorm enveloped the center of the ancient arena barely a moment later, completely entrapping Shun Long in its lightning confines.
...
Standing inside the cacophony of the lightning storm and hearing the roars of thunder grow stronger and stronger around him, Shun Long allowed the bolts of crimson lightning to batter his body again and again while his gaze was fully focused on the skies above the ancient coliseum.
Although the lightning storm was powerful and could hinder one's vision, it wasn't enough to block out Shun Long's soul sense that had already locked on the 'Red Lightning sparrow's' figure.
Of course, Shun Long was well aware of both the sparrow's abilities, as well as the emaciated lizard's, which was why he had chosen to go after the gigantic lizard first. The 'Ravenous Earth lizard' may have seemed like an easy opponent at first glance, but in reality, it was an extremely powerful peak rank 6 magic beast, one that became increasingly hard to kill as the fight went on.
Not because it was overly sturdy or had extremely strong defenses, but due to its innate ability and its affinity with the 'Dao of Earth'. Shun Long was well aware that once a 'Ravenous Earth lizard' managed to dive into the earth and disappear, it would be nearly impossible to track its movements until it came out to attack again.
Even a Sovereign realm expert's soul sense wouldn't be able to track it once it had hidden its traces and disappeared, which was why Shun Long had decided to go after it first!
As for the 'Red-lightning sparrow', although the four-winged bird was an incredibly dangerous opponent for most peak-stage Dao Kings and was very hard to pin down, Shun Long knew that its main strengths were its frightening speed as well as the terrifying crimson lightning around its blood-colored wings.
However, although the sparrow was fast enough to rival even an early-stage Dao Emperor, and its crimson lightning could decimate the defenses of many peak-stage Dao Kings, Shun Long only felt a small tingling sensation as the bolts of red lightning relentlessly crashed on his 'Monarch's Eternal body'!
A moment later, Shun Long's figure vanished from the eye of the crimson thunderstorm, appearing right above the 'Red Lightning sparrow'. At the same time, an illusionary, purple-colored blade materialized in his right hand, before it descended towards the sparrow's lithe body like a guillotine!
The crimson, four-winged bird was startled when it sensed the deathly presence looming above its head, and without any hesitation, it dove down towards the arena avoiding the unexpected attack.
How could a magic beast that could almost rival early-stage Dao Emperors get caught so easily? With a single flap of its crimson wings, the tiny sparrow disappeared from the space it was occupying, appearing on the other end of the arena before staring coldly at the blue-robed young man in the sky!
And yet, Shun Long didn't seem discouraged in the slightest after seeing the sparrow dodging his attack. Instead, his figure turned into a blur as he disappeared from his spot barely a moment later, appearing just a few meters away from the four-winged magic beast! He wasn't planning on using his 'Dao of Time' to deal with the crimson sparrow and was only going to rely on his 'Dao of Space', as well as his peak sixth stage bodily cultivation.
...
Like this, the ancient arena soon turned into a battlefield of crimson lightning and purple-colored spatial rifts, as Shun Long chased after the tiny sparrow who continued to rain down bolts of red lightning at him! The scene of a peak sixth-stage body refiner keeping up with the lightning sparrow would have seemed simply mind-boggling to any Dao King who could lay eyes on this.
Clearly, the level between the blue-robed young man and the small sparrow had already exceeded that of mere peak-stage Dao Kings and was rapidly approaching even early-stage Dao Emperors!
Although the man and beast were still far from being a match for genuine Dao Emperors, at least in terms of speed, the blue-robed youth and the sparrow wouldn't fall that far behind!
Eventually though, the four-winged beast failed to fully dodge a swing from Shun Long's purple blade and had one of its crimson wings severed in return. With three wings creating a sense of imbalance, its speed fell drastically as a result, and only a couple of exchanges later, the terrifying crimson bird finally perished in the ancient arena, its body turning into motes of light and wisps of immortal qi before dispersing in the air.
Looking at the small, radiant white stone that was left behind after the sparrow's death, Shun Long could only shake his head before he bent down to grab it. A single top-grade spirit stone may not have been much, but it was still a treasure at the end of the day.
However, just as his left hand touched the small white stone, the entire arena suddenly began to tremble before the air around Shun Long quickly began to change. The atmosphere inside the coliseum became heavy and oppressive, making even the air around him hard to breathe.
A moment later, the immortal qi in the air began to coalesce together, turning into the familiar figures of four magic beasts! ...
Staring at the pairs of 'Ravenous Earth lizards' and the 'Red Lightning sparrows' that were being formed once more, even Shun Long couldn't help but feel startled for a moment!