After finishing speaking, Jason Sutton turned around and resolutely walked into the newly forged cave dwelling. He sat cross-legged in front of Brian Sutton, his hands naturally resting on his knees, his eyelids lowered, motionless.

Brian Sutton took one look and immediately knew that Jason Sutton had completely shut off his six senses, making it impossible for any disturbance from the outside world to affect him. Normally, such seclusion would not result in total oblivion to the outside world, but Jason Sutton was by nature lazy and carefree. Even after ascending for tens of thousands of years, his cultivation was still insufficient. Once in seclusion, he simply lacked the ability to leave even a trace of divine sense outside his body.

“He has completely closed off his six senses. Should we leave this place for now and wait until I set up a portal?” Behind him, another Daoist, one he had never seen before, held a horsetail whisk and spoke.

Brian Sutton turned around woodenly and walked out of the cave, quietly watching as the Daoist waved his hand, drawing runes in the air and sending them into the void. The runes glowed with a flowing light, and there seemed to be the faintest of connections between them. The Daoist chanted in a low voice, and after a moment, the runes merged into one, forming a strange image that gradually faded until it disappeared.

“So this is magic?”

The Daoist looked up in surprise at Brian Sutton, then gave a gentle smile. “What is Daoist magic, and what is martial arts? Is it? Is it not? Hmm, newly ascended clansman, if you can survive in this world, in ten thousand years, you will understand.”

With that, the Daoist lifted his cloth shoe and lightly stepped forward, transforming into a stream of clouds, treading through the air and vanishing into the vastness. Even with Brian Sutton’s eyesight, he could not see how the Daoist disappeared.

“Well then,” Brian Sutton turned his head, looking at Jason Sutton sitting quietly in meditation in the cave behind him, and murmured, “Let’s meet again in a thousand years.”

With those words, he slowly turned and walked away, his heart filled with endless melancholy and confusion. The first friend he had made in this ancient world was now parted from him, not to be seen again for a thousand years.

A thousand years!

He stayed in the hidden valley for another month. Every day, Brian Sutton would wake at dawn, go outside to breathe in the spiritual mist in the air, and then check outside Jason Sutton’s cave.

At last, one day, Brian Sutton decided to leave the hidden valley. This was not a place he liked.

At the mouth of the valley, the two old men were still sitting as they had been when he arrived, calm and cross-legged, white eyebrows drooping, eyes closed and silent.

Then, summoning an object, Brian Sutton used the sword-riding technique, shooting through the sky like a meteor. The hidden valley beneath him grew smaller and smaller...

Hundreds of miles above the hidden valley, a sudden, furious screech came from behind. Brian Sutton turned to look and was startled. Thousands of miles behind him, a monstrous bird with wings spanning over a hundred meters, blood-red eyes, and golden talons sharp as swords was swooping toward him like lightning. In a flash, the bird had already crossed hundreds of miles, speeding straight for Brian Sutton.

Sensing with his divine sense, Brian Sutton found the bird’s aura was like a storm, its power far surpassing even that of Jason Sutton and the others.

Whoosh!

A series of piercing sounds split the air as the monstrous bird flapped its wings. Hundreds of its feathers turned into sword-like projectiles, shooting through the air and sealing off all possible escape routes for Brian Sutton.

“Not good, this monstrous bird actually knows martial arts.” Brian Sutton’s heart turned cold. The bird’s strength was completely beyond his ability to match.

In terms of cultivation, with only three years since his ascension, Brian Sutton was no match for this bird. The gap in strength was beyond words.

However, before his ascension, Brian Sutton had already cultivated the way of the sword. After ascending, he practiced the supreme Sword Body technique, mastering the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

With just a light gesture and a sword seal, the sword-feather projectiles, sharp enough to pierce metal and stone, veered off their original course.

The flying sword-feathers could not compare to his own strength. Controlling thousands of them completely was beyond his power, but altering their trajectories was no problem for a top sword master.

Finding a narrow gap, Brian Sutton transformed into lightning and broke out of the space controlled by the sword-feathers.

A fierce wind roared behind him. Brian Sutton was terrified, not daring to look back, weaving and darting through the air, not daring to fly in a straight line. In a straight line, he could never outrun the beast’s speed.

This ancient world was filled with mountains piercing the clouds, countless in number. Now, they became his best protection. But the monstrous bird seemed enraged, pursuing him relentlessly, easily smashing huge boulders in its path. Its wings were harder than iron, spanning over a hundred meters, weaving through the mountains and inevitably striking some. The hard rocks crumbled like clay under its wings, easily shattered, with massive stones falling from the sky, their echoes lingering for a long time.

Chapter Twelve: Narrow Encounter with a Foe

Amidst the mountains, beneath the pines, a dark figure stood silently. Though still some distance away, Brian Sutton could already sense the powerful aura emanating from the other.