The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 426 - 301: Needle in the Eye

Chapter 426: Chapter 301: Needle in the Eye

"Boom!"

A loud explosion echoed in the sky as the golden spacecraft exploded into countless fragments.

Li Yi rapidly descended from the sky, his robust Gang Qi protecting his entire body, falling into the dense forest beneath. He miraculously returned to the ground safely without meeting a fatal end. Had it been anyone else, they would’ve likely faced a grimmer fate.

"Those two were trying to hunt mythical creatures, why drag me into this? I’m still young, I don’t want to die so senselessly. Now the ship has exploded, and those two have disappeared, leaving me in this godforsaken place."

Li Yi wanted to curse out loud.

He knew he couldn’t stay here much longer.

Currently deep within a dangerous area, traces of Extraordinary Creatures loomed everywhere. If luck wasn’t on his side and he ran into another mythical creature, his death was all but ensured.

Li Yi took out his phone, trying to pinpoint his location.

However, the influence of the mythical creatures caused severe magnetic interference, leaving him without any signal. He was clueless about his exact location, forced to rely only on the sun to determine directions—east, west, north, south. Although he had spotted some structures in the distance as he fell through the sky, those were all relics from before Sky Tipping, now abandoned and devoid of any inhabitants.

"Either way, I need to get as far away from that mythical creature’s vicinity as possible."

Li Yi looked around, then decided to head in the direction whence the creature had attacked, believing it likely that Extraordinary Creatures in that direction had been cleared out or scared off, making it the safest choice.

Having chosen his direction, he burst forth at full speed, not stopping or hesitating for a moment as he dashed through the dense forest. His body surged with Heavenly Gang Qi, shattering any obstacles in his path, like trees or undergrowth.

Thus, he blazed a trail through the mountains and forests.

Though it was somewhat of an energy drain, it couldn’t be helped.

After Sky Tipping, the explosion of cosmic energy nourished the flora abundantly, causing rapid growth; in just a few years, ordinary forests transformed into primordial ones with towering, robust trees and myriad unusual creatures. Some trees even evolved to bloom and bear fruit with exceptional medicinal properties.

Empowered by his Heavenly Gang Qi, Li Yi traversed dense forests and crossed mountain streams with ease. Wherever he couldn’t cross, he would utilize Gang Qi to fly over.

In just a short time, he had covered ten kilometers from the scene of the incident.

But this distance was still far from sufficient.

According to Li Yi’s estimation, a minimum distance of fifty kilometers was necessary to fully evade the crisis. Although the mythical creature wasn’t likely to attack him directly, its presence would inevitably draw other dangers too close for comfort.

As he covered a few more kilometers...

At that moment...

His Spiritual Sense triggered an alarm.

Li Yi abruptly stopped, his eyes narrowing at once, transforming into vertical pupils.

The next moment...

His eyes captured a dark shadow dashing out from the woods ahead at an incredible speed, apparently having lain in wait there for him, ready to pounce on its prey.

"Roar!" A roar that vibrated through the air echoed through the forest.

Li Yi’s Protective Gang Qi was shattered in an instant by this lethal attack, but luckily, he reacted swiftly by leaping backward, narrowly avoiding danger.

He then saw the shadow land on the ground, morphing into a tiger-like Extraordinary Creature with wings on its back, though the wings were small and unable to support the tiger in flight.

Seeing this, Li Yi thought of the phrase, "like adding wings to a tiger."

The tiger had embarked on an evolutionary path, growing wings on its back to make up for its deficiencies. This tiger’s level of evolution was high; its recent strike exhibited power far surpassing the limits of the Spiritual Realm, unlocking the physical constraints and stepping towards the Soul Realm.

If an Extraordinary Creature advanced to the Soul Realm and unlocked its bodily constraints, the level of threat it posed would exponentially increase.

"In a dangerous area like this, any creature that survives is far from ordinary; the weak have long been preyed upon and consumed, only the elite remain," Li Yi didn’t dare to let down his guard, not even entertaining the thought of engaging in direct combat with this formidable tiger.

Should he sustain injuries or bleed here, escaping from this dense forest would be impossible.

Considering this, Li Yi calmly retrieved an old, cracked short stick.

This was a mystical weapon brought from the 36th world, capable of subduing a fierce ghost for a dozen seconds with a single strike. While primarily used against fierce ghosts, its effect on other beings was astonishing too, albeit at the cost of life span.

However, Li Yi had recently regained a hundred years of life span, allowing him some leeway to use it.

"One strike to determine victory."

Instead of retreating, Li Yi surged forward, his Gang Qi bursting forth as he skimmed the ground, charging. His hand seemed to condense the air into an invisible blade.

This was Hundred Refinement Gang Qi, shaping the Gang Qi into any of a hundred weapons.

Li Yi swung his blade, the air buzzing as it split open instantly.

However, the winged tiger was undaunted, roaring as it leapt forward. Its hefty paws swung with such force, like a matchless Martial Artist, launching a shockwave akin to a sonic boom that shattered the Sword Gang initiated by Li Yi’s blade.

"Is its strength that terrifying?" Li Yi’s eyes widened with a mix of shock and anger.

But fortunately, he hadn’t planned to outright fight the tiger to the death and took the opportunity to close in further, holding the cracked stick in his other hand and executing a strike.

He aimed not for power, but for speed.

The imposing Gang Qi blade was merely a feint; the tiger was fooled, its heightened instincts sensing a trace of danger too late. Li Yi’s stick brushed against the forehead of the tiger at that moment.

The power of this stick couldn’t even make a child cry, but something eerie happened.

The fierce tiger became limp in an instant, its head drooped as it fell into a deep sleep, passing out entirely.

"Is it really that powerful?" Li Yi looked at the wooden stick in his hands, somewhat incredulous.

The supernatural power was simply too perverse.

Just a mere touch, having met the triggering condition, and an Extraordinary Creature that had just advanced to the Soul Realm couldn’t withstand it at all and immediately fell unconscious.

Li Yi walked over and kicked the tiger’s body, but it showed no reaction at all. It slept soundly, naturally, and no matter what he did, there was no sign of it waking up, even after more than ten seconds had passed.

Clearly, the duration of unconsciousness of a few seconds was meant for a fierce ghost with supernatural powers, but this Extraordinary Creature didn’t possess the power to resist it, so it was unclear how long it would remain unconscious—perhaps a few days, perhaps a few years... maybe even longer.

"No time to waste, let’s go."

Li Yi didn’t kill the two-winged fierce tiger. He feared the smell of blood might attract other dangers, so he ignored it and moved on.

Along the way, he took the Life Plate out of his backpack to check his own lifespan to see how much life span was consumed by using this supernatural weapon once.

Upon checking,

His life span of one hundred eighty years had now dropped to one hundred seventy.

"Ten years of life span for an attack?" Li Yi fell silent for a moment.

The cost was indeed heavy.

In world number 36 where everyone was just an ordinary human with short lifespans, people could only live up to about ninety years, meaning normally, an average person could only use this supernatural weapon about five or six times before dying suddenly.

Luckily, it was Li Yi who had used this thing, after all, he was an Evolver, with a long lifespan.

But even a long lifespan couldn’t withstand the consumption of ten years at a time.

If it wasn’t for the replenishment of life span available in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, this supernatural weapon would not have been usable by Li Yi.

"Knowing the cost, I’ll be more mindful when using it in the future." Li Yi put away the Life Plate and continued on his journey.

After defeating the fierce tiger, the path became much smoother, and he encountered no further danger.

It was only after he had traveled another ten or so kilometers that suddenly a voice popped into Li Yi’s mind, the lingering presence in the Sword Coin spoke again: "If you go further, you’ll miss a treasure."

"What?" Li Yi’s pace slowed down.

"You cunning young man, just give this old man one Resurrection Pill, and I will guide you to pick up a treasure," the lingering presence in the Sword Coin said.

"What treasure?" Li Yi became suspicious, "You’re not trying to kill me again, are you? You have a history with me, and I remember what you did to me after my memory recovered."

"This old man is not that kind of person. If you don’t want the treasure, then let’s pretend I never said anything," the lingering presence in the Sword Coin huffed.

Li Yi asked, "What treasure, tell me."

"A thorn in the eye, a needle in the target," the lingering presence in the Sword Coin replied.

"You know I’m not well-read, not much of a scholar, can you simplify that?" Li Yi asked.

"....."

The lingering presence in the Sword Coin had no choice but to explain: "Just now, that mythical creature’s eye emitted a divine light, and within that light was a needle, which is now lying around here. If you can find it, and later on embed it into your own eye, you will acquire a Great Spell, a once in a thousand years fortune. Know this, that creature has been severely wounded and no longer possesses the strength to retrieve the needle, you take it and run, it can’t do anything to you."

Hearing this, Li Yi abruptly stopped, his expression changing uncertainly.

Indeed, he had seen a divine light emanating from the massive eye of the mythical creature earlier, although he wasn’t sure if there was a needle in the light, but the certainty with which the lingering presence in the Sword Coin spoke made it seem likely.

"How do you know so much? You even know such details about mythical creatures?" Li Yi asked suspiciously.

"You all can perform the Cross-border Technique with your minor Cultivation, why shouldn’t this old man be able to? If I didn’t know the Cross-border Technique, how could I have confidently taught you to cross borders earlier? Enough talk, one treasure for one Resurrection Pill, you’re making a crazy profit, why hesitate?" the lingering presence in the Sword Coin spoke.

"Fine, I’ll trust you this time. Where is this divine needle now?" Li Yi said, looking around; he couldn’t feel anything unusual.

"To the left, about twenty or so steps away, inside a rock," the lingering presence in the Sword Coin precisely stated the location.

Li Yi was astonished.

Twenty or so steps away, and a lingering presence could sense a needle inside a rock?

How powerful must this old thing have been when it was alive?

Without much thought, Li Yi followed the directions and soon found a slightly cracked boulder, from which he could faintly see some divine light leaking out.

With a raise of his hand, he smashed it open.

The rock shattered.

A strand of divine light converged and did not disperse, quietly floating in mid-air.

Just a glance caused Li Yi’s eyes to ache, as if they were going to be pierced.

He quickly turned his head away and said, "Is this the divine needle shot from the eye of that creature?"