The purple-golden roc let out a long, despairing howl that echoed across the entire swamp.
Spiritual beasts are also living beings.
The inner core is the essence that they've painstakingly cultivated over countless years. Even though they can't speak, they, just like humans, have basic emotions.
Tears welled up in the purple-golden roc's eyes. It stared in the direction of Zhao Shuning, as if thanking her.
Then, the roc began to tremble violently, and its body quickly sank. Zhao Shuning was helpless. She wanted to stop it, but a spiritual beast determined to die would surely have lost all will to live.
It had been waiting for someone. Now that Zhao Shuning had come, it could finally rest in peace.
In the towering tree, there were still its hungry chicks.
Now, entrusting its chicks to Zhao Shuning, the purple-golden roc could die without regret.
The filthy mud slowly covered the roc's body. In less than a moment, the roc was no longer in sight.
No one noticed that when the roc's body was completely submerged, a golden herb appeared in Zhao Shuning's hand.
The swamp was calm. This life-devouring swamp showed not a single crack. Everything had disappeared without a trace.
A wisp of spiritual energy still lingered on Zhao Shuning's hand.
Looking at the tears in the roc's eyes, Zhao Shuning seemed to recall a long time ago, on the high platform outside the palace in the Eastern Swamp Wilderness. When the phoenix had desperately protected her and fallen to the ground, its eyes had also been filled with tears.
Heaven has its cycles, and justice lies in people's hearts.
If heaven fails to punish the evil, then Zhao Shuning will do it herself.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment. An air of killing intent emanated from Zhao Shuning.
Li Can couldn't help but shiver. That little girl's gaze was so terrifying.
He wanted to say something, but found he couldn't utter a single word.
Beasts are just beasts. Did Zhao Shuning want them to be buried with the dead purple-golden roc?
But Zhao Shuning didn't even look at them and simply turned around and left.
On the way, Zhao Shuning kept thinking about what her master had once said: Heaven is impartial and treats all things as straw dogs.
But now, among all things, humans stand at the top of the food chain. They and the beast realm should complement and respect each other without infringement. So why do some humans always do such cruel things with innocent smiles on their faces?
It's not wrong for a spiritual herb master to want to become stronger, but they shouldn't set their sights on those hardworking spiritual beasts. Everyone is striving for cultivation. If someone forcibly destroys your spiritual root, what would you, as a spiritual herb master, do?
The inner core is the foundation of a spiritual beast.
The spiritual root is the foundation of a spiritual herb master.
Master, you were right. Heaven is impartial, and so are our own kind. We can trust no one but ourselves.
The faces of the hypocrites are always well-hidden.
Master, I still don't believe in human nature. I want to use my own strength to gradually fight against the whole world.
If the world is unjust, then I will reshape it with my own hands.
If humans are not kind, then I will eliminate all the bad people.
At least, I will pave the way with my own sweat and efforts. Even if the path ahead is full of thorns, I will surely face the difficulties head-on. If heaven wants me dead, I will defy it. I will surely rewrite the history of the Eastern Swamp Wilderness.
Zhao Shuning's state of mind was firm. She knew that the path ahead would be full of twists and turns and deep ravines.
Even if she had to climb over mountains and defy heaven, she would change these damned rules.
About three hours after Zhao Shuning left, a man in purple clothes came to the swamp. When Li Can saw him, he immediately perked up and waved at him non-stop.
The man frowned, full of confusion. In the next instant, he rescued the group from the swamp.
Why would the purple-golden roc willingly sink to the bottom of the lake?
It had been struggling desperately before. Zhang Tianyuan had thought that if Zhao Shuning was really as powerful as Li Can had said, she would surely rescue the roc. And once the roc was out of danger and flew back to its nest, he could find the little rocs.
But now, he had already found the traces of the little rocs. After all, the younger the spiritual beast, the easier it was to control when training a spiritual beast almost as powerful as a monster.
But Zhang Tianyuan didn't expect that Zhao Shuning wasn't that capable, or perhaps the roc had simply lost its will to live?
In any case, Zhang Tianyuan was full of doubts at the moment.
"How did you guys end up in such a sorry state?"
Li Can opened his mouth but still couldn't say a word.
Zhang Tianyuan didn't intend to wait for them to speak. He said, "Next time, don't be so reckless. In the swamp, if I hadn't come, you wouldn't have been able to get out. Li Can, remember what you promised me."
Hearing this, Li Can shook his head desperately.
"What? Do you want to go back on your word? Li Can, are you tired of living?"
The man's expression instantly turned gloomy. Li Can quickly waved his hand and pointed into the distance.
"What do you mean?"
Li Can made a gesture, and only then did Zhang Tianyuan understand that Li Can was referring to Zhao Shuning.
"What? She's not dead yet?"
Li Can quickly nodded, relieved that Zhang Tianyuan finally understood his meaning.
"She's not dead, and she even made you guys look like this? Li Can, you're at the late stage of the second rank. How come you can't even deal with a first-rank newbie?"
It seemed that this girl named Zhao Shuning was a tough nut to crack.
"However, you don't have to worry. As long as you don't forget what you promised me."
Li Can nodded firmly. Now, as long as he could kill Zhao Shuning, he didn't mind if all of Du Can Guang's troops were handed over to Tianyuan Que, or even if he had to obey Zhang Tianyuan from now on.
The reason Zhang Tianyuan was able to become the leader of the first major gang wasn't just because of his strength. He was also far more skilled in strategy than ordinary people.
If even a cunning villain like Li Can couldn't deal with Zhao Shuning, then Zhang Tianyuan would have to come up with another way to deal with that girl.
Judging from the situation just now, it seemed that Zhao Shuning had feelings for spiritual beasts. So he would use spiritual beasts as bait. Next time, he would surely get rid of her once and for all.
It was a pity that he had used the purple-golden roc as a host to cultivate a very rare Golden Micro Herb, which was very helpful for spiritual herb masters to advance. But with the drowning of the purple-golden roc, the Golden Micro Herb was also wasted.
In the distance, the setting sun painted the sky. Zhang Tianyuan's figure disappeared into the third altitude.
In his heart, a more vicious plan was quietly taking shape.
He wouldn't be as underestimating as Li Can. Since he was going to deal with Zhao Shuning, he would surely make full preparations.
What method could kill someone without a trace?