The atmosphere on the training ground was quite tense, akin to sub-zero supercooled water, easily set off by any disturbance like a chain reaction.

Xiang Ling, who had encountered the Holy Spirit, knew her strength but hadn't called in any Archer Spiritual Cannon. Such a thing wouldn't be able to harm a Holy Rank; moreover, Yanmen Pass had just experienced a battle with significant losses already. Xiang Ling needed to ensure that after she went to Luoyang, Yanmen Pass would still have enough strength to maintain control over the border.

So, even the people originally in the vehicles were ordered to return to the fortress altogether. Yet, despite this, Xiang Ling still felt a hint of fear.

This was her territory, a fortress with a population of over a hundred thousand. If she were to engage in combat with a Holy Rank, the destruction and losses incurred would be unpredictable. If not for that, she would have long ago thrown her long spear up in the sky to have it shot down.

"Do you know that guy?" Xiang Ling heard Tiran speaking the name of the little Angel in surprise.

"Uh... Sort of?" Tiran also didn't know if knowing the body possessed by the Holy Spirit counted as knowing. "But judging by your reaction, you've seen her too?"

"I bumped into her on the grassland before, with a guy as well." Before Xiang Ling could explain further, the Spirit above suddenly made a move.

What looked like... well, it wasn't a likeness, it was a sack, released with a drop of a hand, rolling down towards the ground.

In Princess's mind, several thoughts instantly flashed by whether to watch the thing fall or to go catch it. If it were a bomb about to explode upon impact, she definitely couldn't let it fall. But if she went to catch it and it exploded, that wouldn't be good either. Moreover, even if it wasn't a bomb, if it was a sack full of something gross like Olige, it would still be disgusting.

Before Tiran could react, Xiang Ling had already taken action, pulling back her right hand long spear before hurling it out, rocketing towards the sack to stop its downward momentum. Tiran quickly followed up, releasing Frost Chi, with ice pillars growing rapidly from the ground, intersecting and supporting the sack like tree branches.

"Huff..."

But before she could finish catching her breath, several Angel's Arsenal's circular light gates had appeared around the Spirit, and several shining golden swords were shot out at a speed not inferior to Xiang Ling's spear throw.

However, what puzzled Tiran was that the targets of those weapons were not anything on the ground but precisely the sack held up in mid-air by Tiran.

With a few dull thuds, the sack was unquestionably pierced, and the massive force made the frosty silver tree below tremble and begin to crack. Following that, a painful wail came from inside the sack.

"Creak..."

Harsh and piercing, making the sound of nails scratching glass seem like child's play. And in addition to the unbearable noise, although Tiran's soul was quite tough, he still felt a hint of wavering.

"What on earth is in that bag?" Tiran covered his ears.

Xiang Ling's expression also turned solemn, her eyes fixed tightly on the red bag in mid-air slowly spreading a faint color.

The crimson liquid flowed through the cracks in the ice tree, seeping into the fine crevices, looking somewhat artistic.

"You don't think that thing is blood, do you..." Tiran's scalp tingled, the three Angel's Arsenal swords plunged in. If there was a person in the bag, they were in trouble with that massive amount of bleeding.

Of course, judging from the sound just now, that was highly unlikely.

The Holy Spirit didn't seem to have any intention of lingering here, he threw the thing like he was a delivery man and quickly vanished, his wings disappearing in a flash.

Just as the Holy Spirit disappeared from view, the burlap sack oozing blood on the ice tree in mid-air suddenly burst without warning. Yes, literally burst; the sturdy burlap cloth expanded like a balloon, then tore into pieces, scattering nearby ice crystal branches.

In the burst sack, a figure swayed and stood up. Because the surroundings were filled with blood mist and exploded ice powder, obscuring visibility, Tiran could only make out a vague human shape.

The ice tree, after enduring the onslaught of Angel's Arsenal and a new round of explosions, finally couldn't hold itself together. When the figure inside the sack appeared, the whole tree cracked apart and collapsed with a crash.

Seeing that the figure was about to lose its footing, a pair of wings spread open directly from its back.

Wings? Another Angel? Did Little Fei give birth?

Ignoring Tiran's malicious guesswork, the figure in the ice fog, humanoid with wings, did indeed resemble an Angel to some extent. As for why Tiran didn't guess it was a demon-winged person... well, that was just pure malice, imagining a little Angel as a princess was trash.

Of course, after the figure emerged from the broken sack, flapped its wings to create airflow dispersing the ice fog, it was at least certain that it wasn't Little Fei giving birth.

"I say, Lord Ling, do you recognize this thing? It's too spooky looking..."

Tiran looked at the figure, feeling goosebumps all over himself.

The outline in the ice fog was correct, humanoid with wings, but unlike a demon Angel with hands, this one had wings growing out of its back, more like the winged Orcs of the West where wings were also arms. The wing feathers had claw-like bone joints, the body mostly a ghastly white with sparse feathers in certain areas, and irregular markings on the exposed parts.

What made Tiran unable to look directly at it was the face – a huge eye in the center, surrounded by several small eyes, with even more small eyes squeezed inside the big one, creating such an effect that Tiran felt instant horror and his sanity values plummeted, almost turning to walk away.

(Prototype)

On the other hand, Lord Ling appeared much calmer, though his complexion was still not good.

"Wild Beast."

Lord Ling uttered the two words softly, taking a few steps forward to pull out the long spear that had been frozen on the ice crystal tree after being thrown earlier and fell down with the tree just now.

In Shenzhou, Wild Beasts were not equivalent to the Western demon beasts; most of them were subordinates of Immortal Beasts and were quite powerful, especially in the near-extinct state of immortals and immortal beasts. Each one was not easily hunted down.

If one had to compare, they were perhaps equivalent to siege-level beings, or even stronger. However, most Wild Beasts lived in the distant Duan Cang Mountains, far beyond the grasslands. Even though Yan Gate Pass was originally established to defend against Wild Beasts, in reality, Lord Ling had only encountered a few of such creatures.

Of course, the current Wild Beast in front of them was not too fearful, Lord Ling's skill was more than enough to handle it.

Just as he thought this, the Wild Beast, now furious due to the injuries caused by the Holy Spirit, let out a cry and dove towards Tiran and Lord Ling, who were still standing on the training ground.

The long spear swept out, creating a crimson wave that intercepted the attack, but the Wild Beast promptly changed its direction nimbly and aimed its sharp claws at Tiran's chest.

"Oh damn, don't come any closer!"

The fact that it already had a grotesque appearance was something the Princess couldn't accept, and now it was charging at them directly— who could bear it!

Frost Chi erected an ice wall in front of him in an instant. Sharp ice cones protruded from the wall, and the fierce beast, unable to stop in time, was pierced through. Tiran showed no mercy and once again extracted moisture from the air to freeze this ferocious beast completely in ice.

"Whew... That scared me."

The princess, who had breathed a sigh of relief, couldn't help but glance at the trapped beast in the ice again. Her scalp still tingled a bit, but it seemed that taking a few more glances made it somewhat bearable.

Hmm? Upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem so bad, right? At least it's humanoid and not some strange octopus-like creature. Ignoring the peculiar patterns on its skin and those feathers, this beast actually seemed to have a pretty good figure.

The princess's gaze drifted to the chest. Despite being covered in feathers, the curves were unmistakable... A girl? No, perhaps... a female?

Ahem!

"Is this the ferocious beast?"

Tiran pointed at the ice block and asked Xiang Ling.

"Yes, but ferocious beasts generally don't leave the Broken Blue Mountains, so I'm not sure of her species."

After controlling the beast, Xiang Ling's expression did not relax. Instead, she immediately turned and walked back into the fortress. "Silver War Maiden, please continue to seal her."

"Sure, what about you?"

"I'll do some research."

Yanmen Pass was built to defend against the grassland people and ferocious beasts. Ferocious beasts hadn't left the Broken Blue Mountains for many years, but the previous guardians of Yanmen Pass had dealt with them, leaving behind records in the storerooms.

"Found it."

Although the records were quite old, the importance of such information was evident throughout history, so they were preserved decently, despite the dust accumulating on the boxes. The bamboo slips inside remained relatively clear.

The contents of these bamboo slips reminded Tiran of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," with illustrated and textual descriptions that were quite vivid, and the ancient Chinese characters gave her a sense of familiarity.

After opening the twenty-sixth bamboo slip, they finally found what they were looking for.

"Mang Qing, body like a human, arms like wings, feet like a bird, completely snow white, multiple faces, its cry is mournful..."

Reading the words describing the creature, they compared it with the slightly abstract but aptly highlighting characteristics of this beast, and it seemed to match.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the damaged section at the end, Xiang Ling raised an eyebrow. Although the last portion was unreadable, it seemed sufficient.

"But this should do."

From the records on the bamboo slips, it appeared that the beast outside would bring quite a bit of trouble.

"Hey, why don't you let me take a look too?"

Tiran beckoned.

Xiang Ling didn't refuse and handed the bamboo slip to Tiran.

"It does feel familiar..."

Seeing the Chinese characters, Tiran couldn't help but feel nostalgic. Oh, in this world's history, it was Xiang Yu who defeated Han at Gaixia, so should it be called Chu script?

Finally, Tiran also read the blurred section.

However... after touching and feeling the carved marks, it seemed salvageable.

"General Ling, do we have any charcoal or something similar here?"

After obtaining some charcoal from the logistics, Tiran worked on the bamboo slip for a while, applied carbon powder, and finally transferred it onto white paper, managing to barely make out the last few words.

The writing style seemed... different from the original narrative. Wasn't this written by someone else?

The content stated: "These creatures all seem to be females, and they are quite adorable."

... ... ...

!!!

The princess suddenly realized it and widened her eyes in horror.

She suddenly realized that she had underestimated the depths of human depravity.