The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 918 - 365: The Grey Sun God

North of the Giant Frog Marsh, beyond the barren and desolate land uninhabited by humans, across multicolored tribal territories belonging to various alien races, and beyond a well, a sand dune, and a grassland... there lies a place called Parrot Mountain.

It is majestic, steep, towering into the clouds.

At the mountain top, the mid-slopes, and the foothills, colorful parrots spiral up and down, now imitating human speech, now mimicking the roars of wild beasts or the piercing cries of avian creatures, lively both day and night.

Of course, it is not any of the Eight Mountains, but rather one of many normal landscapes in All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds, with no ancient past, no grand history, and not even an abundance of spiritual aura.

No Holy Spirit would wish to reside in such a place; doing so would cut short their life, lead to depression, and present nothing but harm without benefit.

...

On this day, a small, tranquil path at the foot of the mountain, a merchant convoy approached head-on.

They were few in number, roughly eleven or twelve, pitifully small compared to the usual trade groups that numbered dozens or hundreds.

They had wagons, about twenty wooden trailers.

The wagons were piled with the strange corpses of Fond Spirits, mostly adult savage beasts and demon beasts, along with many from the insect race. Except for a very few that were severely damaged, the vast majority were relatively intact.

Clearly, these were to be sold for money; the better the quality, the higher the value.

"Brother, how much farther?"

"Into this journey, we’ve put five years of time, sacrificed so many guards, and finally gathered these rare creature corpses, filling all the storage rings, with a considerable surplus to boot."

"With these, we’ll surely pass the ’Star Chaser’ trial. When that time comes, the entire Wei Family will join the Star Chaser trade alliance. Our family’s annual profits will at least triple or quadruple. Little sister’s illness will have hope for a cure, and perhaps our great-grandfather can even find an elixir for extending life... Hahaha, I’m so excited. After all this hard work, we’re finally going to see the rewards!"

At the forefront of the wagons, on the second guard vehicle, a middle-aged man carrying bow and arrows laughed heartily.

"Shh, quiet down a bit."

"This is Parrot Mountain, much more dangerous than our hometown Tri-Star Spring. To get through this place, we’ll need at least three months..."

"Ah, little brother... The closer we get to success, the more we can’t afford to be careless; otherwise, all our years of efforts would be in vain. Wouldn’t that be regrettable?"

On the guard vehicle, another middle-aged man holding a magic wand appeared somewhat gaunt and more refined.

He frowned, glancing towards the sky from time to time. Every time he saw those flocks of parrots, the worry in his eyes deepened.

"I have a bad feeling..."

"Looks like it’s going to rain. If it really rains, parrots below the Jade Infant stage will hide away, and there will be Life Wheel or even Annihilation Rank parrots causing trouble. It will be very troublesome..."

"Brother, we have Uncle Bin, just be careful and we’ll be fine!"

The man with the bow and arrow was named Wei Liu, who patted his brother Wei Nan on the shoulder, offering reassurance.

"No, the sky is changing, and rain clouds are coming..."

"Iron Bull! Tong Zhu! Stop right there, we need to find a shelter from the rain, to hide from the storm!"

"Miss An, please activate the water shield on the wagon, don’t let the rain soak the corpses. If they rot, their value will be halved..."

"Ms. Huang, please be on alert. You’re a hunter and have better perception than me. Watch the direction of the sky. As soon as you see a parrot with especially vibrant feathers, activate the Illusion Ring immediately to hide our location..."

"Ga! Humans! Bad guys!"

"Ga! Bad guys! Humans! Eat them all!"

Two voices, like those of drake ducks, suddenly sounded from above.

Wei Nan and Wei Liu’s faces changed drastically.

Following the direction of the sound, they locked onto the targets, and their heads felt as heavy as bulls’ as cold sweat poured down.

"Mouth Artillery Parrots! How is this possible!"

"Aren’t they supposed to live at the top of Parrot Mountain? Why would they fly down here? It’s the Heaven and Earth Stage... Uncle Bin can’t handle them, one could overturn all of us, let alone two..."

"Iron Bull! Tong Zhu! Throw out the explosive birds to attract their attention!"

"Everyone else! Abandon the wagons, dive into the dense vines! Don’t be greedy! Life is more important than money! Survive first, then we’ll talk!"

At the command, the closely coordinated merchant squad scattered at once.

Some with earth-type Contracted Spirits were responsible for digging holes, while powerful ape-type Contracted Spirits threw huge stones to block the Mouth Artillery Parrots’ dive attacks.

"Humans! Eat them! Eat them all!"

The two silver-bodied Mouth Artillery Parrots circled halfway, activated some speed-boosting skill, and in an instant swooped from the air to the ground.

One of them bit forward and easily tore a limb from a Big Ape with its hook-shaped beak that could crush metal.

"Young masters, you go! I’ll hold them back!"

Uncle Bin, the old guard, suddenly drew his steel knife, leaped onto the ape’s back, and almost merged with it.

"Roar!"

The armless Big Ape struggled fiercely, leaping tens of meters, almost reaching the Mouth Artillery Parrot’s feet.

"Annoying! Go away!"

The harassed Mouth Artillery Parrot, mumbling complaints, delivered a Wing Strike, severing the Ape’s other arm.

The Big Ape screamed deafeningly, causing parrots of all colors perched on branches within thousands of meters, who were getting ready to hide from the rain, to either duck their heads or flap their wings and take flight, creating an even more chaotic scene.

"Rip!!"

On the third dive, the slightly larger Mouth Artillery Parrot cut the Big Ape’s waist in half, spilling gory contents all over the place.

Uncle Bin died, his steel knife not even having touched the enemy before darkness fell before his eyes, and the world grew dim.