Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Yang Guo lightly touched the ground with his toes and soared towards the direction of the Divine Condor.

He planned to use his speed to get there first and snatch the Bosphorus serpent from under the eagle's claws.

His serpentine, acrobatic movements unfolded at the bottom of the valley, his body gliding along the ground at incredible speed. His right hand's One-Finger Divine Skill was fully charged, golden energy condensing at its tip.

His target was not the Divine Eagle, but the Golden Serpent.

As soon as you get the snake gall, run away.

But he underestimated the ugly bird's reaction speed.

Before Yang Guo had even reached within three zhang (approximately 10 meters), the giant eagle, taller than him, turned its neck and fixed its large, yellowish-brown eyes on him.

Immediately afterwards, an incredibly thick claw rose from the rock and slammed straight down towards Yang Guo's chest.

The claw was as big as a pot lid, with three toes spread out, each as long as a dagger.

Yang Guo quickly rolled to his right.

"Bang!"

The claw grazed his shoulder and slammed into the ground, shattering the flagstones into a spiderweb-like pattern. Pebbles flew everywhere.

Yang Guo cursed under his breath.

The force of that claw is not much less than Guo Jing's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms! Damn it, is this a bird or a bulldozer?

Before he could even stand firmly, the eagle's other claw had already caught up.

This ugly bird didn't follow any rules or techniques; it just relied on brute force. Its speed and power were perfectly coordinated, and every strike blocked Yang Guo's escape route.

Yang Guo tumbled three times before his back slammed against the stone wall.

"Aww!"

A sharp pain shot through his back, and he grimaced as he sprang away from the stone wall.

The eagle caught up, its flat, large head bobbing in front of him before its sharp, hook-like beak hurtling straight at his face.

Yang Guo was so frightened that he turned his head away with all his might.

A lip grazed his ear, and with a "hiss," a tear appeared on the right shoulder of his Taoist robe.

"Get lost!" Yang Guo shouted, pointing his One-Finger Divine Skill at the Condor Heroes' chest.

The golden aura struck the eagle's chest, producing a muffled thud.

The Divine Eagle looked down at its chest.

Not a single feather fell out.

It tilted its head, its brown eyes revealing an expression of extreme contempt.

Yang Guo understood that look in her eyes; it could be summed up in two words: "That's it?"

Yang Guo was furious.

"I am the dignified leader of the Quanzhen Sect, a fifth-grade master of the One-Finger Divine Skill, and you, a mere bird, didn't even react?"

Damn it, in his past life he saw those "Hello, big brother; goodbye, big brother" videos online and thought they were pretty funny. Now that he's acting out that scene himself, he can't laugh.

Despite the cursing, his feet never stopped moving. The snake-like fox stretched out to its limit, dodging and weaving left and right at the bottom of the valley.

The eagle chased after him at a leisurely pace.

Its two thick legs didn't move fast, but each step covered more than ten feet. Even if Yang Guo ran for his life, it could keep up at a leisurely pace.

This is a classic case of the top of the food chain crushing the middle of it.

"Bang!"

It slapped Yang Guo on the back with its claws.

Yang Guo was sent flying five or six zhang into the air, crashing into a pile of withered leaves. The taste of blood in his mouth rushed to his head.

"Cough cough..."

He crawled out of the pile of dead leaves, clutching his back with his left hand. Five claw marks were now on his clothes, the skin torn and burning with pain.

"This bird is incredibly strong..."

Yang Guo muttered something, but before he could even stand up straight, the Condor's iron beak pecked at him again.

This time, it was aimed directly at his forehead.

Yang Guo exerted force with both legs and flipped himself to the side.

"Bang!"

The eagle's beak pecked at the ground, creating a crater the size of a bowl on the stone.

If it pecks hard, the head will be split open.

Yang Guo was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were about to burst.

He took off running.

Forget about snake gallbladders, saving your life is the most important thing! No matter how fast a keyboard warrior types in his past life, he still needed to be alive to type.

"Awoo!"

The Divine Condor roared, flapping its two bare wings and creating a gust of air that knocked Yang Guo to the ground again.

He rolled twice on the rock, then hit the back of his head on a sharp stone, which made him see stars from the pain.

At the entrance of the cave.

Lu Wushuang covered her mouth with both hands, her face turning pale.

"Husband!" she cried out, her legs trembling as she tried to rush out.

Cheng Ying grabbed her arm.

"You'll only cause him trouble if you go out," Cheng Ying said.

She leaned against the cave wall, her pale green long dress clinging to her body in the morning breeze, outlining her slender waist. Her hair was loosely tied back, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears. When she looked at people, her eyelids were slightly raised, her lips pursed, giving her an indifferent expression.

In fact, she had been standing at the cave entrance watching for quite some time. From the moment Yang Guo was sent flying by the first claw to the moment he was chased and rolled on the ground, she had seen it all without missing a single moment.

It was quite enjoyable to watch.

Last night in this cave, he used his mark to control me and forced me to call him "master." That humiliation has been stuck in my chest ever since.

Now, seeing him being chased by an ugly bird and running around in a panic, Cheng Ying thought to herself, "What goes around comes around, and retribution is inevitable."

"Cousin, why aren't you in a hurry?" Lu Wushuang stamped her foot anxiously.

Cheng Ying's lips twitched.

"He's a master at the early stage of the Innate Realm, that beast won't really bite him to death."

"At most, I'll suffer some physical pain; it's nothing."

As she spoke, her eyes were fixed on the figure leaping up and down in the valley, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

Valley bottom.

Yang Guo was hit by another claw.

This time, I slapped him on the butt.

He was slapped so hard he was lying face down on the ground, his face pressed against the gravel.

Wow, this is amazing! If I'd known this bird was this strong, I would never have gone up there to feed it. It's the same as when he encountered a boosting service in an internet cafe in his past life—he thought it was a bronze player, but it turned out the booster was a master.

Before he could even utter a curse, the Divine Eagle lowered its head and its iron beak caught his belt.

With a flick of the wrist.

Yang Guo drew an arc in mid-air and fell into the shallow pool at the bottom of the valley with a "plop".

The icy spring water poured over his head and face.

"Pfft! Cough!"

He emerged from the water, his hair plastered to his face, his Taoist robe soaked through, and the claw marks on his back throbbed in pain from the cold water.

The eagle stood by the pool, tilting its head to look at him.

His expression was almost as if he were looking at an insect.

Yang Guo squatted in the water, looking disheveled.

He wiped the water off his face, brushed aside the hair that was blocking his view, and mentally cursed the ugly bird's ancestors for eight generations.

Even the strongest internal energy at the peak of the early stage of the Innate Realm is like a tickle. A fifth-grade One Yang Finger strike on this bird's chest wouldn't even leave a white mark.

What exactly is its skin and flesh made of? Is it like the salted meat that the old village chief has pickled for thirty years, getting harder the longer it's soaked?

Lu Wushuang's anxious shouts came from the cave entrance:

"Husband! Are you alright?"

Yang Guo looked up at the direction of the cave entrance. Two women stood there, one stamping her feet anxiously, the other leaning against the stone wall, her posture as relaxed as if she were watching two village dogs fight.

He swore he saw Cheng Ying's lips curl up slightly.

"Cheng Ying, are you laughing?" Yang Guo shouted towards the cave entrance.

Cheng Ying's voice floated down from above, her tone as indifferent as plain water.

"no."

"I was just thinking that if word got out that the leader of the Quanzhen Sect was chased and rolled around on the ground by an eagle, Lü Wende probably wouldn't need to pay any attention to the Quanzhen Sect anymore."

Yang Guo was so angry he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

This woman has a really sharp tongue. More venomous than any of the trolls he encountered in the comments section in his past life.

Fine, Cheng Ying, you just wait until I'm healed, then I'll see how I deal with you.

The eagle showed no interest in their conversation. It walked back to the boulder, placed a paw on the Bosqu snake, lowered its head, pecked at the snake meat, and crunched it loudly.

They ate with great relish.

Yang Guo felt his heart bleed as he watched the golden snake get a bite taken out of it.

That was his chance to break through his bottleneck. His snake gall.

It was chewed up by a bird as a snack.

He stood up from the pool and walked a few steps toward the shore.

The eagle immediately raised its head, its large eyes glaring at it, and a low warning growl came from its throat.

Yang Guo stopped and raised his hands.

"Okay, okay, you can eat, take your time, it's all yours."

He waded back to the other side of the pool and squatted down under the stone wall.

There wasn't a single good spot on his body. Five claw marks on his back were still bleeding, and the blow to his buttocks was even worse; he almost jumped up when he sat down.

He sat by the pool, circulating the Nine Yin Manual to heal his injuries. The pure Yang internal energy circulated in his meridians, stopping the bleeding from the wound on his back, but the deep bruises would need to heal for a few more days.

Yang Guo watched the Divine Condor in the distance, happily gnawing on a snake, and his mind began to work.

Forcing it wouldn't work. This beast's hide was far thicker than he had imagined; his current skills couldn't penetrate its defenses.

But he noticed something.

After taking a few bites of the snake meat, the eagle tossed the remaining half of the snake's body aside. Then it walked behind another rock, retrieved a pile of herbs, and began to chew them voraciously.

The Bodhi snake is highly venomous. The Divine Eagle uses herbs to detoxify itself after eating the snake; this is a long-standing habit.

In other words, even the Divine Eagle has to be careful with the toxicity of snake gall.

An idea came to mind.

Yang Guo scooped up a few pebbles from the pool and weighed them in his palm.

He's not in a hurry anymore.

There is more than one Boschi snake in this valley. Since the Divine Eagle feeds on it, there must be many more in the valley.

He didn't need to compete with the Divine Eagle for food. He only needed to find the snakes' nest and make his move when the Divine Eagle wasn't around.

If I can't beat you, can't I at least avoid you?

The first lesson I learned from surfing the internet in my past life: If you can't beat someone, join them; if you can't join, find a roundabout way.

Yang Guo stood up and limped toward the cave entrance.

When Lu Wushuang saw him return, she quickly went to meet him and took his arm. She leaned very close, her soft breasts pressing against his arm through his thin shirt.

"My lord, your back is bleeding!"

"I won't die." Yang Guo grinned, leaning on Lu Wushuang's shoulder as they entered the cave. The familiar fragrance of a woman wafted over, easing his tense nerves a little.

Cheng Ying stood at the cave entrance and stepped aside.

The morning light streamed in from behind, illuminating her pale green long gown and clearly outlining her figure. Her waist was so slender that the gown was tied in a knot at her waist, creating a perfectly defined curve.

Yang Guo stopped in his tracks as he passed by her.

The two were very close, so close that Yang Guo could see the curve of her eyelashes.

Cheng Ying didn't move, her face expressionless.

"Have you seen enough?" Yang Guo asked.

"What?"

"Were you happy watching me get swatted away?"

"What does it have to do with me that you got hit?" Cheng Ying turned her head away.

Yang Guo stared at her.

"Miss Cheng, what did you call me last night?"

Cheng Ying's expression changed.

She instinctively took a half step back, bumping into the cave wall. Her back hit the cold stone surface, and she froze there.

Yang Guo didn't say anything more and helped Lu Wushuang into the cave.

Cheng Ying stood still.

She held the jade flute tightly, her knuckles turning white.

The slight pleasure of watching the show vanished from Yang Guo's words.

She knew that once Yang Guo recovered from his injuries, he would definitely hold her accountable.