"Kiiikiiikiiiiiiiikkk.....

The chicken felt the pain and immediately went berserk. A flurry of wing bashes, claws,  and beak strikes made Heng dizzy,  but fortunately someone came to his aid. A soldier whose name he didn't know and Qiao stabbed the chicken's from two sides, their spears hitting the chicken's wing and side, but those dammed feathers made it hard to penetrate its flesh. 

"Brother Heng.....are you okay?! Agghrrr....

"I'm...okay...." tiredly answered Heng as he finally had time to breathe. He somewhat regained his footing and breathing now that two others were dealing with the chicken, but he didn't have time to rest. The nameless soldiers was easily blown away by a swipe of the chicken,  and then got crushed as the chicken jumped on him. The sound of bones breaking was heard even through the battle was still raging on, but that just passed through Heng's mind for just a second whose whole attention was on the chicken's head.

He had abandoned his ragged shield and his spear,  now holding his Jian tightly. With a couple of big strides he was one meter away from the chicken, so with another Qi Ignition to empower his feet,  he jumped....and swung. The sound of the sword cutting through the neck of the chicken was strange,  even a spark was seen at the moment of impact,  but the thing he was set to accomplish had been done.

*Pshhhhhh....

Blood gushed out like a gyzer from the now headless chicken, drenching all near with its sticky blood. It was a gross but rewarding shower as the chicken was now dead. Comically, as it was a chicken,  the loss of its head gave it a boost and its headless body disappeared into the bamboo forest.

............

"Hah...hah...hah....shit.....

Heng struggled to regain his breathing, and to try to not feel the searing pain from the constant use of Qi Ignition. It was a double edged sword,  but ortunately for him besides keeping his life he had gained something else. He glanced at it quickly.

The notification made his smile bitterly,  but he didn't have time to rest as they all rushed to help the others. The fighting was now over , but they hadn't come put unscathed.

.................

Lai Sen frowned as he saw the condition of his men and inwardly shook his head. Three of them had been wounded, two quite heavily,  and one of them had died from the beak of one of the chicken's. Quite a gruesome sight that was.

"It seems that this place is more dangerous than we expected." whispered Lai Sen to his sister.

"Indeed.....this place is definitely dangerous, but its also full of opportunities.  Only staying in this place seems to be pushing my  cultivation forward as this place is filled with elemental qi, and not to mention our gains already."

"I know.....but...

"Brother! Stop feeling sorry for everyone you see. They are soldiers and knew the consequences before coming here."

"But they didn't have a choice...not unlike us." said Lai Sen as he looked at the corpse of one of the soldiers, guilt welling inside him. His sister on the other hand didn't seem that bothered by it.

"Hmph.....you're to soft for your own good. We may be in a better position compared to them, but compared to other children of the noble families,  we're nowhere near the top. This Secret Realm is a heaven given opportunity for us, we should use it without complaints....as its still accessible that is.

"..........

Lai Sen nodded in understanding,  but din't speak as he turned his gaze towards the bamboo forest. Its stillness made wary, and for good reason. As soon as they stepped foot in the place they were attacked by these ' Black Fowl ' , a quiet species that rarely attacked humans even in the wild, but in here they seemed to think of them as prey. Fortunately for them the opposite happened and now chicken was on the menu.

.....................

The innitial panic hap passed,  but the soldiers were still shaking from the adrenaline. They couldn't calm down physically,  but it was like a cold bucket of water was thrown at them. The death of one of them this fast it clearer that this was truly a dangerous place.

A hand was extended towards Wu Tao who was nursing his wounded shoulder, and lightly touched it."Hey Tao , how are you doing? I hope that thing didn't ruffle much of your feathers." 

"Haha, funny Heng.  If I also was at the Qi Ignition Realm ugh.....I would have killed all of them by myself."

"Unlikely, you are underestimating their power in numbers. Even two of you wouldn't have been able to put much of a fight." said Hai as he stole glances at the siblings. He seemed to want to discern what they were talking about.

"You...you,  why do you have to be such a killer of joy. I'm just trying to lighten the mood,  but no you....

"Tao, that's enough....."

Tao stopped talking as he heard Heng's word,  but he clearly was displeased. He brushed off some nonexistent dust from his bottom and headed towards Qiao who was looking at the dead chicken's with intensity. Heng on the other had had a little conversation with Yin Hai.

"Hey,  did you figure out anything of what they are talking about? They seem to be talking much."

"Unfortunately......I haven't,  but I don't think they would turn back so soon. They will most likely push forward,  but I don't know from where." Hai turned his head and saw the road split in two, one left and one right. Both of them headed straight into the bamboo forest the chicken's came from , and both carried with them the unknown.

"So, you're saying we should just pray they don't give some stupid order that could get us killed,  is that it? Great!"

"I already did.....

Heng sighed as he looked at the blonde. He looked to be lost in his own world and not really concerned with what was currently happening,  but not for long. They were quickly ordered to dissect the chicken's,  and with much effort they finally managed to do it.  It was a bloody mess as none of them were butchers,  so much of the meat was wasted,  but two fully formed 30 cm tall and 20cm wide fully black eggs were found inside them. 

*ting...ting...

Heng tapped them with his nails,  and found the exterior was like metal, even the colour was off-putting, but the eyes of the siblings shone as they looked at the two eggs. It seemed that they were truly a treasure. 

Beside the fully formed eggs they were also ones without  a shell, these quickly  cooked  on a small fire the soldiers built. The eggs tasted very good and they provided a huge deal of Vital Qi,  but as someone had died over them, it was kind of awkward. Maybe for most of them as Cao Qiao was gobbling them up. Heng also was eating much of the eggs, but in a more calm manner.

Their Vital Qi was quickly processed and absorbed by his body,  quickly turning into a highly concentrated form of it in his heart,  and then spread through his meridians. It was like having a warm internal shower as his muscles healed and his fatigue expelled. 

' Hahh, if I have this kind of meal everyday then I can improve by leaps and bounds. Still, it seems that I should also try practicing some of the external Qi skills of the 'Roaring Tiger ' technique like  Tiger Leap, Tiger Paw, or even Tigers Roar. Tiger Leap would definitely come in handy,  but having no shoes to perform it is a big detriment. Tigers Roar is somewhat different,  but its so damn hard!

It's like using a muscle I've never used before.'