Chapter 164: Chapter 164: No Emperor Sect
The Cold Pool Bird is a demon beast that lives in frozen regions. Its habitat is quite specific; they can’t be found on First Mountain.
You have to go to the true demon beast territory in Demon Cave Valley to find them.
It can spit out icy breath to freeze humans or Cultivators, which is how it got its name.
However, the reason Shuitan didn’t recognize it at first was that Cold Pool Birds are supposed to look like mangled zombies, covered in pustules and rotting flesh.
Shuitan had only ever read about them in records. He had never encountered a Cold Pool Bird on his expeditions, never seen a real one.
But the pterosaur-like demon beast before him looked too normal, which was all the more reason he didn’t recognize it immediately.
It was just too normal!
It had pale green skin, a shape like a pterosaur, and bone spurs dotted its outstretched wings. The whole thing just looked incredibly cool.
It wasn’t until it spat a stream of icy breath several meters long straight at Shuitan that he remembered its attack was identical to the method described for a Cold Pool Bird in the records.
"This is a Cold Pool Bird?"
Shuitan’s tone was strange due to his surprise.
Because this bird had sharp, pterosaur-like claws and enormous wings. Aside from its frighteningly large size...
...it could almost be called majestic. It didn’t have the disgusting appearance of the Yunzhou Continent’s demon beasts at all.
’It’s sort of like a normal version of the Cold Pool Bird.’
If Cold Pool Birds actually looked like this, players would have long since listed them as a must-capture mount.
The system also noticed what had surprised Shuitan. "It is a bit strange."
But the Cold Pool Bird didn’t care what Shuitan was surprised about. Its massive body was unhindered in the dense forest as it unleashed a flurry of attacks on him. Its killing intent was just as potent as a real demon beast’s.
It was, indeed, a demon beast.
Shuitan pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused on dealing with the Cold Pool Bird before him.
Before, a Third-stage Demon Beast would have been a formidable opponent for him. But now that he had reached the Late-stage Qi Refining and joined the Sea View Sect, dealing with a Third-stage Demon Beast wasn’t so strenuous for Shuitan.
He quickly dispatched the Cold Pool Bird that was right in his face.
The Cold Pool Bird was killed by several of his Palm Thunder strikes.
In the end, Palm Thunder was still the most effective.
After all, this Cultivation Technique suppressed most demons and monsters, and it was especially lethal against demon beasts.
Its only downside was that it was expensive.
’Thank goodness the Sect provides it for free.’
BOOM—
The Cold Pool Bird’s massive body collapsed limply, crushing the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees. In this dense forest, slivers of light could still just barely filter through.
Aside from this Cold Pool Bird, there seemed to be no other demonic creatures around.
Its body bore the scorched marks from the Palm Thunder, and it would occasionally twitch.
Shuitan walked over. Just as he was about to ask the system if the bird could be collected, he saw the Cold Pool Bird’s body suddenly start to dissolve into faint motes of light that scattered into the air.
He frowned and muttered, "Is this a Secret Realm? Does that mean I can’t take the demon beast’s corpse out?"
Just as he had this thought, he saw that the motes of light didn’t disappear but instead began to swirl together.
A few seconds later, a lively and vigorous Cold Pool Bird reappeared from within the vortex.
It let out a piercing shriek and spat a blast of icy breath directly at Shuitan.
Shuitan: "Shit!"
’How can something be this shameless!’
’It can actually resurrect!’
’How am I supposed to fight this?’
No matter how skilled Shuitan was, he couldn’t afford a war of attrition. He immediately started to flee.
While running, he demanded of the system, "What is this monster? Does it have infinite respawns?"
System: "This is a Secret Realm. Anything is possible."
Shuitan: "..."
’If you don’t know, just say so. It’s not like I can curse you out.’
The system then turned and told Song Jiulai about the strange situation Shuitan had encountered.
"A demon beast that looks exactly like a Cold Pool Bird? And it can resurrect after being killed?"
Song Jiulai was also stunned. The system was more advanced now; it could even transmit a video clip for Song Jiu to watch.
Song Jiu saw the massive Cold Pool Bird in the video and was shocked as well. "Holy shit, how can a demon beast be this good-looking?"
Aside from looking a bit fierce, its appearance blew the native demon beasts of the Yunzhou Continent out of the water.
Just imagine how awesome it would be if players could ride a demon beast like that!
"Is that a Cold Pool Bird? It looks different from the ones I’ve seen!"
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Song Jiulai recalled that the Cold Pool Birds of the Yunzhou Continent did indeed have the same build as this thing. The main similarity was their overall shape.
But in terms of appearance, the Yunzhou Continent’s version was just a pale imitation.
The system said, "It is indeed a bit strange."
There was still too little data. And the fact that the demon beast could resurrect couldn’t rule out the possibility that other factors were at play.
The small world Shuitan had encountered was rather odd, and there was no other information. After all, with only five players scattered across five or six small worlds, they couldn’t possibly explore all the small worlds within the Moonlight Secret Realm.
With Shuitan constantly being chased by the demon beast, Song Jiulai, who was blending in with a crowd of mortals searching for information about a bride and groom, seemed far too idle.
In comparison, however, the Spiritual Body that Mu Qiu had encountered provided the most information.
Besides telling Mu Qiu that this was the site of the Ten Thousand Seas Abyss, it had also revealed other important information.
"The No Emperor Sect. You haven’t heard of this Sect?"
After they finished talking about the Ten Thousand Seas Abyss, the entity asked Mu Qiu how the No Emperor Sect was doing in the outside world.
In response, Mu Qiu, with a completely bewildered expression, told her she had no idea what the No Emperor Sect was.
Only then did the woman reveal a look of astonishment.
"How could you possibly not have heard of the No Emperor Sect?"
She muttered this, as if finding the reality unacceptable.
After a long moment, as if she had finally accepted some truth, her previous teasing demeanor vanished. Even her Spiritual Body seemed to become somewhat dejected. "I knew it. I knew it... None of the Cultivators who came from Yunzhou ever mentioned the No Emperor Sect. I should have known..."
Mu Qiu couldn’t help but ask, "Senior, what should you have known? What kind of sect is the No Emperor Sect? It’s normal for me not to know. The Yunzhou Continent alone has several super Major Sects, not to mention the innumerable Major Sects and small sects. I’m just a Sect Disciple from a small sect in a remote area. It’s perfectly normal for me not to have heard of the No Emperor Sect..."
"Of course it’s not normal!" the woman interrupted her. "Even if you weren’t from the Yunzhou Continent, even if you were a Demon Cultivator or one of those legendary beings, it would be impossible for you not to know of the No Emperor Sect! That is..."
She seemed about to say something, but quickly fell silent.
"Perhaps... Perhaps she really..."
’Perhaps what?’
Mu Qiu and the system roared together in her mind: ’Just say it already!’
’Riddlers can get the hell out of the Yunzhou Continent!’
Unfortunately, the girl and her system didn’t dare to ask anything. The woman’s next sentence was, "Forget it. If you don’t know, it means it would do you no good to find out."
Mu Qiu felt like she was watching a TV show that had reached a critical moment, only for it to cut to a commercial with a "to be continued next week" message.
She suppressed her frustration and said, "It’s alright, Senior. Even if there’s no benefit, I still want to know."
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