The Eternal Sin-Chapter 43: Life Hanging by a Feather

The sky was a vast, pitiless ocean of azure, and Jiang Chen was but a piece of bait dangling from a hook.

The wind at this altitude had lost all gentleness. It felt like a legion of invisible knives flaying his skin and pouring into his lungs. Each beat of the Sky Rupturing Owl’s wings sent a jolt of agony through his shoulders, where diamond hard talons had sunk deep into his flesh like curved sickles. Blood flowed warm along his shoulders before being scattered into red mist by the rushing air.

Looking down, the Earthly Spirit Bamboo Mountain, which had once been towering green peaks, had now shrunk into a mere patch of moss upon the earth’s distant skin.

’How could I be so careless!? Fuck!’ Jiang Chen’s expression was ugly.

The Sky Rupturing Owl was a Rank One peak grade demonic beast, its wingspan wide enough to blot out the sun like a storm cloud. Its feathers were edged with a metallic sheen, and its large triangular eyes flickered with cruelty.

Worse still, it was not alone. Nine of its kin circled nearby, their shrill, haunting cries spreading across the sky.

Jiang Chen’s spiritual essence was critically low, with barely thirty percent remaining. His shoulders were nearly torn apart. If he allowed the beast to ascend any further, then even if he escaped its claws, he would shatter upon the earth like a rotten tomato.

He tried to move his hands upward toward the beast’s legs, but the movement caused the talons to twist within his flesh. A fresh wave of agony burst through his shoulders.

He immediately stopped, his face pale.

’If I struggle blindly, these talons will rip my shoulders through and through. I must find another way.’

As if sensing his thoughts, the Sky Rupturing Owl tilted its massive head. Its golden triangular eyes locked onto his, and its throat began to vibrate.

No sound reached his ears.

But Jiang Chen felt as though a spear of lightning had been driven through his temples. His eardrums ruptured and his thoughts momentarily scattered. Twin trails of heat trickled down his neck as blood leaked from his ears.

The Sky Rupturing Owl released an arrogant cry of beastly delight.

Grasping at the tatters of his sanity, Jiang Chen bit his tongue until the copper taste of blood filled his mouth, the pain anchoring his mind. If he allowed his consciousness to collapse now, he would die without even knowing how.

’Immortality lies ahead. How can I fall here? I have clawed my way from the gutter. I have endured failure and slaughter. A mere beast dares to shake my mind. I won’t allow it!’

His spiritual sea trembled. A figure slipped from his body like a reflection peeling away from water. The clone reached out, grasped Jiang Chen’s swaying legs like a branch, and used the momentum to swing its body toward the owl’s neck. Once perched upon the beast’s back, the clone did not hesitate.

Its fists erupted with the golden light of the Heavenly Tiger Fist, raining blows upon the creature’s skull like a blacksmith hammering iron.

The owl shrieked, its flight path wavering as blood welled from its head.

Seeing its kin attacked, another owl dove from the flank, its beak snapping at the clone. The clone leaped away with the agility of a mountain cat, landed squarely on the back of the newcomer, and continued its frantic assault.

The owl holding Jiang Chen felt its grip loosen as its consciousness flickered from the blows to its head.

This was the opening.

’Now!’ Jiang Chen’s hands shot up, seizing the beast’s scaly legs. With a guttural roar, he heaved his body upward, his boots delivering a bone shattering kick to the creature’s soft underbelly.

The owl convulsed, and Jiang Chen scrambled onto its broad feathered back. He dug his fingers into the raw flesh at the base of its neck, his brute strength forcing the bird’s head downward.

"Down! You will go down, or we will both find death together!"

The owl fought in fury, but its skull had already been battered by the clone. Its descent began in an uneven spiral.

A shadow flashed in Jiang Chen’s vision.

Another Sky Rupturing Owl surged from the side, its beak lunging toward his face like a black spear.

Jiang Chen twisted and met the charge with a glowing golden fist, the impact shattering the bird’s beak into a shower of black shards. The beast screamed and tumbled away, trailing blood.

Jiang Chen did not rejoice.

His heart grew heavier. The spiritual essence in his dantian was draining rapidly. The clone in the distance still battled and could not directly help him, and the ground was still a ridiculously great distance away.

Three more owls were closing in, their formation seemingly perfect. Jiang Chen yanked the neck of his mount, forcing it into a series of impossible turns to evade the crossfire of talons.

The world tilted violently. Wind roared past his ears like a waterfall of knives. But all this was only a temporary solution, because suddenly one of the pursuing owls seized the opportunity.

It streaked from above and slashed at the wings of the mount he rode.

Feathers were sheared off, the wing membrane split open, and the beast beneath Jiang Chen let out a weak croak as it began to tumble.

Jiang Chen sighed and leaped toward the nearest bird, but the creature was cunning. It folded its wings and dropped like a stone to evade his grasp.

Immediately, he found himself falling, his back toward the approaching earth, the wind howling a funeral chant in his injured ears.

He cursed silently before scooping out the last of his spiritual essence. A new clone manifested from his back, its knees bending against his spine before it kicked outward with explosive force.

The recoil sent Jiang Chen shooting upward back into the flock, while the clone fell away into emptiness. He coughed a spray of blood from the internal impact, but his eyes shone with fierce light.

His right hand caught the beak of an owl rushing toward him.

The jaws snapped shut.

His hand turned to pulp.

But Jiang Chen did not even flinch. He ruthlessly drove his left elbow deep into the beast’s golden eye.

The eyeball ruptured under his strike. The owl shrieked in agony and opened its beak reflexively.

Jiang Chen wrenched his mangled hand free and scrambled onto its back.

He wrapped his left arm around the owl’s neck and forced its head downward.

It seemed like he had escaped this encounter with death.

But the heavens were not finished with him. Two owls converged from either side, their throats vibrating in a synchronized, silent shriek. The soundless shockwave hit him like a great hammer, sending his thoughts into chaos and loosening his grip. The owl beneath him twisted violently into a backflip.

Sky and earth reversed. His body whipped through the air. With his right hand a useless mess and his mind reeling, Jiang Chen hung by a few handfuls of feathers.

Two more owls dived, their talons extended to shred his chest.

"If I die, I will not die alone." Jiang Chen released his grip.

He fell through the gap between the two attacking owls. Their momentum was too great, and they slammed headlong into the owl he had just vacated, a tangle of wings, broken beaks, and blood spinning toward the earth below.

Jiang Chen let out a cruel, hacking laugh, but the sound died in his throat.

Another owl was rising from below, its talons positioned to catch him like falling fruit.

Just as the talons were about to close, a dark mass slammed into the side of the rising bird.

BAM!

Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed as he saw his clone standing on the back of a mangled owl it had commandeered.

This was the first clone he had created when he was captured. It had never been destroyed and had continued battling amidst the flock.

The collision sent both birds into a chaotic tumble. The clone steered the owl into the others like a crazed rider charging through cavalry. Screeches filled the air.

Jiang Chen reached out, grabbed a wing of the bird the clone had just struck, pulled himself onto its back, and forced it away from the densest part of the flock.

They left the immediate encirclement, though several owls still trailed at a distance.

Now the problem was no longer the flock but the descent.

The owl beneath him was badly injured. Its wings quivered, and one side bled heavily from the earlier collision.

Jiang Chen stomped on its back to direct it, but its flight path wavered like a drunkard’s.

’If it loses consciousness, I surely fall with it. If I jump, I die.’

He gritted his teeth.

"Land, you useless beast! Land!" Jiang Chen kicked harshly, each blow driving it forward and downward. The creature’s eyes grew dim. Its wings beat with desperation.

Ahead loomed a vast cliff face rising like a wall that separated heaven and earth. It was the same cliff he had previously tried to avoid.

’No other choice. Damn it.’

He drove his heel into the beast’s skull and forced it toward the sheer rock face.

The Sky Rupturing Owl, losing consciousness from blood loss, folded its wings and plummeted headlong into the cliff.

The cliff rushed up to meet them.

The impact was a world shattering roar. The owl’s body burst apart upon impact, becoming a spray of gore and splintered bone upon the cliffside, a grisly sight.

Jiang Chen clung to the owl and felt the full recoil of the crash travel through his body. Ribs cracked and organs churned, and a torrent of blood erupted from his mouth as he was thrown away from the pulverized carcass.

He was falling again.