Breaking the Day

The Grim Stork leaped from the side of the cliff. Although it took all sorts of heavy attacks, it was unscathed. Instead the attacks seem to anger it, for now it was on a rampage. It spotted the man and released an ear-splitting shriek. Using its powerful hind legs, it leaped and hurled itself towards the man like a speeding cannonball.

Almost simultaneously, the man leaped towards the Grim Stork and into the groves of the cliff. He landed in front of the stork, and before the stork could raise its front claw, he struck its beak with a powerful punch.

The punch sent the stork falling to the ground. Without giving it a chance to recover, the man sent a punch hurtling towards the stork’s face, between its eyes. The stork shrieked in agony.

The stork whipped its tail towards the man. This attack moves fast like lightning; it is both stealthy and deadly. It was this very move which caused Chengfeng to lose his fight against the stork.

Chengfeng was about to warn the man, but he was quicker. He grabbed onto the tail before it could cause any harm. His moves were quick and agile, but they were just as powerful. Had the man not intercepted the tail, Chengfeng suspected that tail would have taken both of them out.

The man grabbed onto the tail with both arms, and with a shout, he hurled the stork towards the sky like a sack of cloth. Before the stork could descend from the hurl, the man jumped towards the stork, preparing to launch a mid-air attack. He appeared mid-air, and sent the stork crashing to the ground with a powerful punch.

Prior to this, Chengfeng had never seen a beast like the stork be beaten to a pulp by a mere human. The man had wasted little energy, but the stork was lying on the ground, brutalised and groaning in pain.

Chengfeng was awestruck. Had he used magic to defeat the stork, it would’ve been somewhat reasonable and expected. However, the man had used merely his fists and martial arts, which was on a whole different level.

A warrior who has trained to attain the highest level of physicality and martial arts proficiency. Who is this man?

The wise, all-knowing Su Yuehan, knew that there is only one man who trained to attain this level of power and technique in his martial arts.

Furthermore, this man had also trained alongside Chengfeng roughly ten years ago, it was the legendary warrior of the human realm: Zhang Zaijun!

After Zaijun pummeled the stork, he glared at it. The stork seemed to be twitching from the pain and its injuries. It didn’t have the strength to retaliate. Zaijun walked over to his female companion’s side, and retrieved the snow-white Dachang coat.

But he didn’t put it on. He abruptly turned and passed the coat back to his companion. She seemed to quickly understand the situation, and took a few quick steps to the back.

Chengfeng couldn’t quite grasp the situation, but he saw the stork struggle to stand. It was bleeding profusely, and pieces of its flesh fell from its body, revealing its messy, mashed wounds. From its wounds, something was squirming in its flesh, as if trying to grow from the stork’s body.

“My son! Are you alright?” Madam Xie yelled. As the beast was defeated and fell from the cliff, everyone else cheered and rushed down.

Chengfeng, who saw Madam Xie running towards him, quickly yelled out in fear of danger, “Mother! Don’t come over!”

However, nothing can stop a mother’s love for their child. Madam Xie rushed towards Chengfeng with tears in her eyes. She was afraid to hug him as she didn’t want to aggravate his wounds.

Madam Xie wept, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Where’s Father? Is he alright?”

Madam Xie wiped her tears away and said, “He’s sustained some internal injuries, but they’re not critical. Son, we should leave now when there’s still time!”

“My saviour is still here, how could I leave him?”

“You’re already injured, you can’t fight anymore. If you don’t leave, you’ll just be a liability to the battle!”

“Guys, look!” Green Bead yelled, her voice quaking with fear.

Chengfeng turned to see what Green Bead was looking at, and witnessed a sight that shook everyone nearby.

Where the stork’s mashed, gaping wounds were, a gigantic pair of wings protruded. But these wings were not your typical bird wings, they were composed of many tiny, conjoined pieces of bone. Each time the bones moved, it emitted a high-pitched noise. It was a grotesque sight.

Asperta quivered and screamed, “It’s a flying demon! Sun God, please save us!”

Zaijun observed the beast’s grotesque transformation. He suddenly dashed towards the stork and lifted his leg, which was as powerful as steel.

But before Zaijun’s kick could connect with the stork’s body, it used its wings to shield itself from Zaijun. The kick landed on the wings, sending the stork sliding a few metres back. It used its claws to anchor itself into the ground to prevent itself from being sent flying backwards. Now with an impenetrable set of wings, the stork gained itself a new form of defence!

Zaijun furrowed his brows and calculated his next move. His eyes flickered towards the stork’s front. He thought of infiltrating the stork’s personal space, past it’s wings, and attacking it via close-range combat. But the stork demonstrated a degree of intelligence. The minute it saw Zaijun’s move, it spread its wings and flew upwards. It hovered mid-air, a safe distance away from Zaijun’s reach.

Zaijun crouched slightly to position himself for a leap towards the stork. But suddenly, the stork spread its wings and every bone on its wings started to erect. The stork slowly rotated mid-air, and to the horror of everyone, the bones were released from the wings. A rain of sharp bones rained down from the sky like spears.

Zaijun remained at his position. He turned and saw a girl not too far from him. They both locked eyes and as if through unspoken understanding, the girl dashed towards Zaijun.

Zaijun stomped the ground, which caused a horizontal crevice to appear. He stuck his hand down and reached for a carpet of some sort. He pulled a thick layer of dirt and soil over him and the girl, which became a shield.

Chengfeng gawked at Zaijun. For once, he felt outperformed. It seemed that his magic and skills were not really that magnificent.

How was he going to defend himself from a literal rain of bones from the sky?

Chengfeng gripped Madam Xie’s arm and yelled, “You’re right, we should run!”

The four of them rushed to climb uphill. But after just two steps, he heard an ear-piercing scream. Instinctively, Chengfeng used his arms to shield Madam Xie and Su Yuehan.

He lifted his head and not even one metre in front of him, a bone had stuck itself firmly into the mountain. The bone struck with so much power, the mountain was torn apart. He felt the rock beneath his feet give out and he fell.

He felt his soul leave his body!