With a *thud*, the Hurricane Giant Axe was shattered by Ning Beichen's sword. Before the Ruthless Iron Old Demon could react, Ning Beichen unleashed the Dimensional Slash upon him.
*Swish*, a sword mark appeared on the Ruthless Iron Old Demon's abdomen, and blood flowed out. If the Ruthless Iron Old Demon hadn't sensed the danger and dodged back in time, Ning Beichen's sword would have ripped him open.
"Saint Skill! Who are you?" The Ruthless Iron Old Demon, having dodged, looked at Ning Beichen in shock and asked.
"It's none of your business who I am. Iron Old Demon, hand over my friend if you're wise, or I'll make you pay her the ultimate price if anything happens to her!" Ning Beichen threatened him without courtesy.
"Arrogant brat, eat my axe!" The Ruthless Iron Old Demon swung his twin axes fiercely at Ning Beichen.
With a rumbling sound, the ground was littered with large pits he had carved with his axes. Ning Beichen, with his agile movements, didn't engage in a direct confrontation. When the axe swung towards him for the last time, Ning Beichen took a step back and slashed horizontally at his Xuanhua long axe.
*Clang!* The Xuanhua axe was cleaved in half by the ancient bronze sword, leaving the Ruthless Iron Old Demon dumbfounded. His two Xuanhua axes were forged from the hardest iron ore and could cleave mountains and split rocks without sustaining any damage.
Ning Beichen, however, ignored his reaction. He flicked the ancient bronze sword in his hand, and a sword dragon descended upon the Ruthless Iron Old Demon. The Ruthless Iron Old Demon let out a pained cry, his legs bent, and he was sent flying backward. Ning Beichen pursued him relentlessly with the ancient bronze sword.
Before the Ruthless Iron Old Demon could escape back to Xu Feng Mountain, Ning Beichen landed a punch on his head. The Ruthless Iron Old Demon's face was covered in blood, his nose bone shattered, and his head reeled. Before he could get up, Ning Beichen hammered his head repeatedly, like a pile driver, each punch after another, causing the Ruthless Iron Old Demon to scream incessantly, his entire face mangled.
However, the Ruthless Iron Old Demon was, after all, a cultivator at the Transcendent stage. As long as his soul wasn't scattered and his body wasn't destroyed, even severe injuries wouldn't be fatal, unless his entire head was severed. With his head nearly caved in by Ning Beichen, the Ruthless Iron Old Demon let out a sharp cry, and a large bird descended from Xu Feng Mountain.
"Ning Beichen, be careful! It's a bird demon!" Haitang and Liu Yilin exclaimed in unison.
Ning Beichen also sensed the bird demon diving towards him. He looked up, but a terrifying sword energy was hurtling towards him from above. Ning Beichen, unable to attend to the Ruthless Iron Old Demon, quickly rolled backward, dodging the incoming sword energy. He saw a large bird's claw binding a sword more than ten meters long with chains. Many human skulls were strung along the chain, and the terrifying sword energy had been released by this bird demon with the long sword.
At this moment, the bird demon descended from the sky and landed beside the Ruthless Iron Old Demon. The Ruthless Iron Old Demon scrambled onto the bird demon's back, and the bird demon carried him high into the sky. As Ning Beichen was about to pursue, the bird demon waved its clawed sword again, and a sword energy, more than ten meters long, blasted towards him. Ning Beichen dodged quickly. The sword energy hit the ground, carving out a long trench. The bird demon, being exceptionally clever, didn't linger to fight. Instead, it flew into Xu Feng Mountain with the Ruthless Iron Old Demon, enraging Ning Beichen, who stomped his feet on the spot. He regretted not capturing the Ruthless Iron Old Demon directly earlier instead of tormenting him. But there was no medicine for regret in this world, and no matter how angry or vexed Ning Beichen was, he could do nothing.
The Ruthless Iron Old Demon was not difficult to deal with; Ning Beichen's strength was enough to suppress him. However, the bird demon was a different matter. It wasn't that the bird demon was exceptionally powerful, but rather that it was in the sky while Ning Beichen was on the ground. The bird demon wouldn't come down, and Ning Beichen couldn't go up. The bird demon could attack Ning Beichen with sword energy from the sky, which was enough to give Ning Beichen a headache.
"Before I learn to fly, I lack ranged weapons." Ning Beichen felt his disadvantage. Without the ability to fly, dealing with flying enemies was troublesome.
"Ning Beichen, don't be angry. They're inside Xu Feng Mountain anyway, they can't escape," Haitang and Liu Yilin came to comfort him.
"That bird demon is hard to deal with. It's a pity I don't have ranged weapons. If only I could fly," Ning Beichen said with some reluctance.
Upon hearing this, Haitang and Liu Yilin fell silent. This was indeed the truth. If this problem wasn't solved, it would be useless even if they entered Xu Feng Mountain. Although Haitang had a small bow and arrows, their maximum attack range was only a hundred meters, and beyond that, they were ineffective. The bird demon could hover in the air at will, making Haitang's small bow and arrows completely incapable of attacking it.
"Ning Beichen, how about... trying sword flying?" Liu Yilin suddenly said to Ning Beichen.
Ning Beichen blinked, then said helplessly, "I'd love to fly with my sword, but I don't have the secret technique for sword flying."
"Perhaps I have a way," Liu Yilin told him.
"Yilin, you have a way to make me fly with my sword?" Ning Beichen's eyes lit up.
"I only have some immature ideas, but I don't know if they will succeed," Liu Yilin said, thinking uncertainly.
"Yilin, tell me quickly." Ning Beichen said with surprise and delight, knowing that Liu Yilin often had unexpected ideas.
"Sword flying, in my opinion, isn't a difficult thing, especially with your current cultivation level. You can refer to the principles of airplane flight..." Liu Yilin explained her idea.
As Ning Beichen listened, he was filled with shock. Although Liu Yilin's combat experience was far inferior to his, in some aspects, especially in terms of ideas, she was much better than him. While Ning Beichen could conceive of some things, like sword flying, he couldn't put them into practice. Liu Yilin, on the other hand, was always able to turn some wildly imaginative ideas into successful realities.
"I'll try," Ning Beichen said after hearing Liu Yilin's idea, feeling that the possibility of success was increasingly high. The greatest desire of any cultivator was to fly with their sword, and Ning Beichen was no exception. If he could fly with his sword, his strength would increase by at least several times. However, Ning Beichen had never found a secret technique for sword flying, neither in his previous world, nor here, nor in any of the blessed lands.