After several back-and-forth clashes, Ming Zhitian and Jie Qingxia found themselves in a desperate retreat. Jie Qingxia's long hair had been singed off significantly. "I told you we couldn't fight them, but you insisted on coming," she grumbled. "Now we'll all die here."
Ming Zhitian shook his head. "I don't think so."
Suddenly, the Fiery Birds shifted formation, creating a circle that completely enclosed the two of them. With a sharp "Ga'a~" cry, all the Fiery Birds charged.
Ming Zhitian locked onto them, then spun and punched, creating a vortex that kept them at bay.
Jie Qingxia, however, was not faring as well. She managed to lop off a fiery feather from one Fiery Bird, enraging them. As the number of Fiery Birds targeting Jie Qingxia increased, she began to falter.
Jie Qingxia leaped into the air, her sword slashing. Abruptly, a Fiery Bird swooped from below in a surprise attack!
"Qingxia, be careful!" Ming Zhitian cried out, too late. He unleashed a punch, sending the Fiery Bird that had been mere inches from Jie Qingxia's face flying.
Jie Qingxia had narrowly avoided disfigurement. Ming Zhitian swiftly embraced her waist and spun, landing them both safely. "Senior Sister, are you alright?"
This was the third time this man had saved her. Jie Qingxia, over five hundred years old, felt her heart flutter like a young maiden's, struggling to suppress the long-dormant emotions.
Seeing the overwhelming numbers, Ming Zhitian roared into the sky, "Sky Eagle!"
In response, the sound of "Goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo..." approached from above.
Ming Zhitian glanced at it. "Stop chattering and get to it!"
"Goo!" (Understood)
Jie Qingxia stared, astonished, at the large half-black, half-white goose descending from the clouds. "What species is that? Such a powerful aura!"
With one wing, the Sky Eagle dispatched a roasted chicken, and with the other, another roasted chicken. It managed to knock them all down. It seemed to have a stunning effect, as the fierce flames on a dozen Fiery Birds extinguished, and they fell into the lava, incinerated.
Ming Zhitian and Jie Qingxia were dumbfounded. They were called Fiery Birds, yet they couldn't withstand the intense flames of the lava.
Indeed, a fight between flying birds and a flying chicken was far easier. Ming Zhitian quickly took out a retrieval tool from his storage bag and scooped out all the thoroughly dead Fiery Birds.
Ming Zhitian gently stroked the Sky Eagle's goose head and fed it several golden inner cores. "These are yours. Now, find a quiet place to refine them."
The Sky Eagle was overjoyed, letting out two happy "Goo goo" calls before soaring into the sky.
Jie Qingxia watched the large black and white goose depart, sighing, "I wish I had a goose like that too. Ming Zhitian, where did you get it?"
"A gift," Ming Zhitian replied. He divided the remaining ten golden inner cores, handing five to her. "Here, these are your spoils of war. Half for each of us."
Jie Qingxia only took two. "I'll just take two, thank you."
Ming Zhitian pocketed the remaining eight inner cores. "As you wish."
Jie Qingxia also stored her two inner cores. Looking at the man who had saved her from peril three times, her heart had unknowingly been given away.
Ming Zhitian broke her reverie. "Senior Sister Qingxia, we need to find a safe, quiet place where no one will disturb us to refine these."
Jie Qingxia nodded. "Yes, let's leave here first."
As they emerged from the volcano and searched, they encountered a large group of people led by a disciple searching for Ming Zhitian. It was the Stone Quartz Sect.
Fei Yining of the Leaping Gate declared, "Enemies meet on a narrow road. We've finally found you, Ming Zhitian. I will repay every humiliation you've inflicted upon me today!"
"And for our brothers of the Heavenly Gate, you actually killed our Sect Master Ling Weiao! If this hatred isn't avenged, our Heavenly Gate is not worthy of cultivating immortals!"
Soon, the two of them were surrounded by three thousand disciples from the Heavenly Gate of the Five Peaks Sect, the Spiral Gate, and the Leaping Gate of the Stone Quartz Sect.
Seeing so many people, Mao Bujin of the Spiral Gate and Fei Yining gained confidence. Mao Bujin stepped forward. "Ming Zhitian, now, kneel and surrender immediately. I might consider leaving you a whole corpse."