Chapter 115: Celestial Winged Beings

Chapter 115: Celestial Winged Beings

High in the sky, Ji Xinghuo rode atop a Silver-winged Pegasus, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings and the land below as he felt the rushing wind by his side.

The Silver-winged Pegasus's speed wasn't particularly fast, but it excelled in stability.

After flying for over an hour, he had completely mastered the skill of riding the winged steed. While the experience certainly paled in comparison to that of an airplane, the freedom of soaring through the skies and gazing down upon the earth below held a unique allure.

Four hours later.

Ji Xinghuo noticed the flying steed's speed beginning to drop, its stamina seemingly waning. He directed it to descend to a lower altitude. Only after confirming through magnetic field sensing that the area below posed no danger did he land on the bank of a small river. The lush grasses and abundant water here would allow the winged horse to drink and feed.

Once on the ground, the Pegasus panted heavily, its coat damp and showing signs of fatigue. After several large gulps of water, its energy levels recovered somewhat, and it then made its way towards the grassy riverbank.

While the Silver-winged Pegasus had its preferred feed, it wasn't picky when hungry, and could eat a variety of plants.

After all, it was a creature from the Stellar World, far superior to the horses of Earth.

After only a little over half an hour of rest, the Silver-winged Pegasus was full of vigor once more. However, Ji Xinghuo didn't rush to continue their journey. Instead, he allowed it to continue resting and feeding, occasionally stroking its mane gently to build a closer bond. It wasn't until an hour later, when the winged steed's energy had fully recovered, that he mounted it and took off once more.

The Silver-winged Pegasus soared into the sky, continuing its flight towards the northwest.

Not long after, Ji Xinghuo spotted a city in the distance—a massive one. A quick glance was all it took for him to recognize it as 'Hela Brisk', the most important city of the New Roman Empire in the Stellar World, with a permanent population of over four million, guarding the northwestern border of the human realm.

Ji Xinghuo didn't descend into the city, instead choosing to fly around it at a distance.

Continuing on their way, they soon left the human realm behind.

Theoretically, they had now entered the domain of the Celestial Feather Court, but like the Absolute Peak Valley, it was a place rarely trodden by humans.

The rulers of the Thousand Peak Abyssal Forest were the Celestial Feather Court, and whenever a stargate to another alien race's world opened, they would designate the area around the stargate as a restricted zone.

Sometimes, it was also referred to as a 'Stargate Sanctuary'.

While the Celestial Feather Court wouldn't interfere in the affairs within the restricted zone, the alien races were also not allowed to expand beyond its boundaries.

Races affiliated with the Celestial Feather Court, such as the Forest Patrol, the Wastes, the Highlanders, and the Headhunters, had to relocate their cities and tribes outside the stargate restricted zones as well.

As a result, there were no other races within the human realm.

However, the Celestial Feather Court permitted individuals and groups from alien races to venture out of the stargate restricted zones and explore freely.

The Absolute Peak Valley was located outside the stargate restricted zone of Earth, but as it was an inhospitable place, it was rarely visited. Along the journey from Freedom City to the Absolute Peak Valley, there were only a handful of settlements belonging to alien races from the Stellar World, such as that tribe of the Forest Patrol who revered the Red Emperor.

But the situation was different in the northwestern direction.

After flying for several dozen kilometers atop the Silver-winged Pegasus, Ji Xinghuo came across a large tribe of Wastes, numbering at least two hundred thousand.

Due to convergent evolution, the Stellar World was home to a multitude of human races.

However, the unique environment of the Stellar World caused species to evolve at a rate millions of times faster than on Earth, giving rise to countless human branches.

The Wastes were one such branch of the human race in the Stellar World.

Their appearance resembled that of Earth humans, walking upright, but their skin was coarse and dull, their hair thick, and their civilization more primitive. Yet, they possessed formidable combat prowess.

Almost every Waste possessed the "Resilience" talent, enabling them to adapt to all manner of harsh environments, and they favored dwelling in the wilderness, hence their name.

This particular Waste tribe had cleared a vast area in the forest, building a fortified settlement that appeared well-organized.

Ji Xinghuo, flying high above, spotted the Waste tribe.

Simultaneously, members of the Waste tribe had also noticed him, and several winged dragons took flight from the tribe, approaching him.

Unwilling to engage with them and risk a conflict, Ji Xinghuo directed the Silver-winged Pegasus to change course. However, the Wastes persistently gave chase, even urging their winged dragons to burst forth with speed, gradually closing the distance. They shouted something in a hostile tone, but Ji Xinghuo couldn't understand their language.

Yet, he had a way to make them understand him.

He slowed the Silver-winged Pegasus and raised the Invisible Thorn, nocking an arrow and taking aim at the pursuing winged dragons.

The Wastes riding the winged dragons paid him no heed when they saw him draw his bow.

With a distance of nearly seven hundred meters between them, there was no apparent threat.

Whoosh!

Ji Xinghuo released his arrow, sending the titanium-aluminum alloy projectile soaring into the sky. But to the eyes of the Wastes, the arrow was invisible. Two seconds later, the leading winged dragon suddenly let out a painful cry.

An arrow materialized, protruding from its head, though it hadn't penetrated deeply.

This arrow wasn't a fatal strike, but the winged dragon's pain caused it to fly erratically, and the Waste riding it struggled to maintain control of their mount.

The other Wastes on the winged dragons were startled as well.

They immediately realized that the person ahead was not to be trifled with, and that this arrow was a warning. Hastily, they turned around and headed back to their tribe.

Soon, the Silver-winged Pegasus's figure disappeared from view.

That day, Ji Xinghuo flew for a full thirty hours straight, resting six times in between to allow the Silver-winged Pegasus to recover its stamina. It was only in the latter half of the night that he found a safe place to set up camp.

Even with the Silver-winged Pegasus's remarkable endurance, flying continuously for such a prolonged period had left it somewhat listless.

Within the interface of the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil, the arrow pointing northwest had grown larger again.

With a full day's travel, he had covered approximately two thousand kilometers. At this rate, it would take only six Star Realm days to reach Yunxiao City.

The thing that had reached out to him hadn't made any further moves today.

Evidently, it was still in Yunxiao City.

"I hope I can make it in time," Ji Xinghuo murmured before closing his eyes to sleep. Beside him, Qinghong opened her eyes and kept watch through the night.

At daybreak, Ji Xinghuo quickly packed up the tent and stored it in his Dimensional Pouch. He then prepared some food to fill their stomachs.

After half a night's rest, the Silver-winged Pegasus had regained its spirit and energy, and it took off once more.

Along the way, they detoured around several cities and tribes of alien races. Around noon, a massive shadow appeared on the horizon ahead.

As they drew closer, Ji Xinghuo could make out that it was a city floating high in the sky.

The Skyfeather Court's floating city!

He had passed by several such floating cities yesterday, but none compared to the one before him now.

With the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil, Ji Xinghuo could see the distant sight clearly. From over twenty kilometers away, he could make out the details of the massive floating city ahead. The entire floating city had a diameter of over ten kilometers and was formed by connecting multiple floating mountains. It hovered three to four kilometers above the ground, and one could vaguely see the exquisite architecture and numerous flying figures coming in and out of the city.

"This should be Bloodthorn City."

Ji Xinghuo checked the map and confirmed his guess.

Bloodthorn City was one of the largest floating cities of the Skyfeather Court, ruled by the 'Blade of Nothingness' family. The matriarch of this family was named Bloodthorn, and she held an extremely high position in the Skyfeather Court, being one of Queen Ayaki's most trusted subjects, akin to her left and right hands.

Within a three-thousand-kilometer radius of Bloodthorn City were over twenty floating cities, all of which belonged to Matriarch Bloodthorn's domain.

This included the Earth humans and the Beiluosimen tribe.

Thus, Matriarch Bloodthorn was the landlord of both tribes, and on Earth, anyone who had studied history would have heard of her name.

In the 21st century, it was Matriarch Bloodthorn who presided over the ceremony when Earth and Beiluosimen signed the peace agreement.

And the place where the agreement was signed was Bloodthorn City!

However, for some unknown reason, Matriarch Bloodthorn's attitude towards Earth humans had changed over the years, shifting from her initial neutral stance to one that was subtly hostile.

Or even outright antagonistic!

During a large-scale conflict between the two tribes over a decade ago, Matriarch Bloodthorn had almost unabashedly sided with Beiluosimen.

This was a puzzling conundrum.

Perhaps the higher-ups in Earth's governments knew some inside information, but as an ordinary citizen, Ji Xinghuo was unaware of the details.

All he knew was that he should stay away from Matriarch Bloodthorn and Bloodthorn City.

The Silver-winged Pegasus flew far around Bloodthorn City to avoid it.

After more than an hour, Ji Xinghuo had detoured over a hundred kilometers, leaving Bloodthorn City far behind. Moreover, he intentionally lowered his altitude to just over a hundred meters above the ground, almost skimming the surface as he didn't want to attract the attention of the winged people of Bloodthorn City.

However, the more one wanted to avoid something, the more likely it was to happen.

Ji Xinghuo detected a winged village ahead and altered his course, but after flying just a few kilometers, a winged patrol team suddenly approached from the high skies.

The distance between them was still quite far, about five to six kilometers.

The winged people naturally had hawk-like vision, and with their height of a thousand meters, Ji Xinghuo didn't have time to hide. The Silver-winged Pegasus was a large creature, so they were easily spotted.

Ji Xinghuo pretended that everything was normal and continued on his way, but the winged patrol team quickly closed in.

The Silver-winged Pegasus was far slower than the winged people.

In no time, the distance between them was only a few hundred meters. Ji Xinghuo observed the patrol team; there were eight winged people in total, and their appearance matched the descriptions in his textbooks exactly.

The Sky Tribe was a general term for intelligent, winged races, and among them were numerous branches.

The Winged People were the most numerous branch.

Most members of the Skyfeather Court were Winged People. Their physiques were slightly smaller than humans, with an average male height of about 1.65 meters and an average female height of around 1.5 meters.

However, their wings were broad and large, often exceeding their height, with some reaching over two meters.

Usually, the larger the wings, the stronger the individual.

The Winged People were further divided into different clans based on the color and shape of their wings. The eight winged people before Ji Xinghuo had bright red wings, indicating that they were from the Redfeather Clan.

From their physiques, it seemed to be four males and four females.

They wore light leather armor and carried bows and arrows, with additional weapons at their waists. They had four fingers, each tipped with sharp claws, and instead of shoes, they had a pair of sturdy, clawed feet. Feathers grew on their legs and necks, and their facial features were very similar to those of humans.

The most significant difference in their facial features was their noses; the Winged People had tiny nostrils that looked like thin slits, and their nose tips lacked flesh, exposing the bone underneath.

Their eyes were large and sharp, with huge pupils, and their vision far surpassed that of humans.

They flew swiftly, their broad wings agile and powerful, easily catching up to the Silver-winged Pegasus. After getting a clear look at Ji Xinghuo's appearance, they exclaimed in surprise.

"An alien!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end