Sitting on the Beaked Eagle’s broad back, he looked down from high in the sky, his right hand gripping a Long Spear and a Bow slung across his back.

The thin mist over the sea had not yet completely dissipated.

The indigo waves of the sea surged violently. Suddenly, Qin Ziwen’s gaze sharpened.

He saw it, diagonally below him.

A massive, indistinct shadow skimmed across the surface of the water before quickly diving back into the depths.

Judging by its silhouette, it was quite streamlined, long, and thin, like a chopstick stuck in a potato. The shape was easy to recognize.

In this stretch of sea, a creature with that shape was most likely a Snake-necked Dragon. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Based on his recent experience surveying the area from the back of the Beaked Eagle, it had to be at least twenty meters long.

’Is that the Sea Beast that capsized the boat last night?’

Qin Ziwen wondered, but the Beaked Eagle was flying so fast that they had already reached the airspace above the island.

...

They circled around from the sea and descended on the far side of the largest island.

From the sky, Qin Ziwen saw the tall, remarkably conspicuous office building in the middle of the forest.

Its glass windows reflected the sunlight like an array of mirrors.

The surrounding trees looked somewhat short in comparison, not even reaching its midpoint.

The entire building was hidden behind a small hill, invisible from the direction of the reef.

The Beaked Eagle circled once before landing near a secluded beach.

Perhaps the commotion from their landing had startled the native inhabitants near the beach.

The nearby bushes rustled, and then, two of the "shrubs" actually stood up.

"Elephant Birds!?" Qin Ziwen was surprised. He hadn’t expected to run into two Level 1 Task targets right after arriving.

According to Wang Yun, the Elephant Bird was the largest bird species to have ever existed on Earth. It weighed three times as much as a modern ostrich and could stand up to three meters tall.

Not only was it large, but its eggs were also the biggest of any known bird on Earth.

These two Elephant Birds before him stood nearly four meters tall, their huge beaks like a pair of ridiculously oversized scimitars.

The feathers on their heads and necks were sparse, and their legs were extremely long.

Their scarlet eyes were fixed on the Beaked Eagle.

[Image: Elephant Bird]

As for Qin Ziwen, standing on the Beaked Eagle’s back, he was completely ignored by the two Elephant Birds.

"KRAAW!"

The Elephant Bird let out a cry. It didn’t attack right away, but instead hopped in place, its powerful legs stomping on the sand and kicking up clouds of dust as it performed some kind of mysterious dance.

Its long-devolved pair of wings were held high to maintain balance.

Qin Ziwen could see that it was trying to intimidate them, to scare them away.

He sized up the two Elephant Birds, then shook his head.

’These two Elephant Birds are too weak. They aren’t even worthy of having their abilities plundered by my Meteoric Inheritance.’

"Let me give it a try."

Qin Ziwen jumped down from the Beaked Eagle’s back.

He stretched his neck. After breaking through to the Extraordinary realm and becoming a Master, Qin Ziwen had formed a Spirit Contract with both the Beaked Eagle and Black.

This Spirit Contract wasn’t actually that dramatic. It was more of a conceptual effect, easily established once both parties’ intentions were aligned.

According to the effect of Feeding Spirit and Absorbing Radiance, once the contract was successful...

...he could inherit a suitable ability from his partner, and the inherited ability would undergo a certain adaptive change based on his own constitution.

The ability he acquired from the Beaked Eagle was Air Flow Manipulation.

After mutating, it became the Aerodynamic Sensory Network.

Unlike the Beaked Eagle, which could directly manipulate air currents, Qin Ziwen felt that the air flow around him formed an invisible sensory network.

Within its range, the air currents seemed to become an extension of his skin. The manifestation of any attack would disturb the air flow. Therefore, as long as it was within a certain radius, the currents stirred by any moving object would form a clear outline in his perception.

After obtaining this ability, it had become something akin to a passive effect.

He didn’t have to consciously manipulate air currents to fight; instead, it became a supportive, passive effect.

Then there was the ability inherited from Black.

The ability inherited from Black was simple and crude—Giant Strength.

For a giant creature that would weigh eighty tons as an adult, there was no talent more fitting than its raw, brute strength.

Especially since Black hadn’t yet broken through to the Extraordinary realm, the only thing it could currently rely on was its formidable physical power.

After inheriting Giant Strength, he could feel that he was now much stronger than before.

But he lacked an intuitive understanding of just how much stronger he had become.

Now, he had two suitable targets.

As the targets of a Level 1 Task, especially the notoriously difficult Elephant Birds, they were perfect.

Seeing no sign of retreat from the bird and the man before them, the two Elephant Birds advanced, their necks swaying from side to side.

Like two springs.

Qin Ziwen gripped his Long Spear and thrust forward.

Power is explosive force, and explosive force is speed.

In an instant, a hole was punched through the neck of the Elephant Bird on the left.

The Elephant Bird on the right sensed that something was wrong and hastily retreated.

But it was a step too late.

Pulling out his Long Spear, Qin Ziwen chased after the one on the right.

He thrust his spear. Sensing the shift in the air currents, Qin Ziwen anticipated its next move.

He changed the thrust to a smash, and the Elephant Bird’s neck bent sharply.

It staggered, nearly falling over.

On the left, the Elephant Bird whose neck had been pierced stumbled a few steps, blood spraying wildly from the hole in its neck.

It spun around twice in place as if it had drunk cheap liquor, then fell heavily to the ground with a THUD, its lungs and chest still heaving violently.

Qin Ziwen caught up to the Elephant Bird he had almost knocked down.

This Elephant Bird had size but not much fighting spirit. Its first instinct after being injured wasn’t to fight to the death, but to run.

He stabbed it several times in its fleshy hindquarters. Pushed into a corner, the Elephant Bird twisted its head around to peck at Qin Ziwen.

But its movements were too wide.

The resulting air currents were exceptionally clear in Qin Ziwen’s perception. He took half a step back, dodging the attack, then used the reach of his Long Spear to thrust out again.

This time, he pierced its neck. A moment later, the Elephant Bird collapsed.

Qin Ziwen had discovered the Elephant Birds’ weakness.

Their necks were long and muscular, but also dense with blood vessels. Any injury there was extremely fatal.

"Weaklings." Qin Ziwen retracted his Long Spear and glanced at the two Elephant Bird corpses on the ground. Each one weighed no less than a ton and a half.

But he had no way to deal with them right now. Summoning a Node here would be a waste, as it had a seven-day cooldown.

Just as he was about to leave, the Beaked Eagle suddenly called out to him, "SKREE."

After crying out twice, the Beaked Eagle grabbed one of the Elephant Birds. Its wings beat furiously, whipping up a gale around it. With great effort, it slowly took flight and finally managed to wedge the Elephant Bird’s corpse in the fork of a nearby tree. It repeated the process until both corpses were hanging from the tree. Having done all this, the Beaked Eagle elegantly preened its feathers.

After this little test, Qin Ziwen had a much clearer idea of his current combat prowess.

He had no problem dealing with two or three Level 1 hunting targets on his own.

But if there were any more than that, it would be troublesome.

Afterwards, Qin Ziwen moved through the dense forest with his Long Spear in hand, while the Beaked Eagle spread its wings and glided just above the canopy.

Half an hour later, on the summit of the island’s only small hill, he had a perfect view of the office building below.

Outside the office building, a large number of residents were busy felling trees and gathering wood.

Log after log was carried into a courtyard in the Urban Village behind it. From a distance, he could see thick smoke billowing up from above the courtyard.

...

...