Battle Through the Heaven: Purple Heaven

The black scroll unfurled, revealing a pair of eagle wings. Though small, they were sleek and elegant, jet-black with a metallic sheen. Faint purple cloud patterns wove through them, lending a touch of refined grandeur to their otherwise simple form.

Xiao Bai leaned closer, captivated by the lifelike wings. A gentle breath stirred the scroll, and the delicate feathers seemed to sway in the breeze. "Incredible," he murmured, astonished.

His gaze settled on a line of small text beside the wings:

Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle, fifth-tier magical beast, rumored to carry a trace of ancient phoenix blood. Its flight speed ranks among the fastest of all flying beasts. Cunning and ferocious, it's notoriously hard to capture, primarily dwelling in the southern continent's Cloud Mist Region.

This Dou Technique, named Eagle Wings, also called Purple Cloud Wings, was crafted after I and several friends spent immense effort to capture a Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle. Alas, fate struck cruelly, and calamity befell me. On my deathbed, I mourned these wings, too splendid to waste. Using a secret Dou Qi method, I preserved them in this form. This technique can only be practiced by one person—heed this, inheritor!

Yao Lao drifted over, reading the text with a sigh. "The man who left this cave was a sentimental soul, it seems."

Probing the wings with his soul force, he stroked his beard. "The secret method used here is peculiar—fusing the eagle's soul with its wings. No wonder such techniques are rare; they require obscure skills."

"You didn't know this method, Senior?" Xiao Bai asked, noting Yao Lao's intrigue.

"Someone once offered me one as payment for refining a pill, but I refused. It's useless to me—only those below Dou Wang care for it. Why bother learning it?" Yao Lao said, a hint of pride in his voice.

Hailing from an ancient clan, though not highly favored, his perspective was vast. For some with diluted bloodlines, Dou Wang was a hurdle, but in his clan, it was trivial. Such a technique wasn't even a trifle—it was beneath notice.

Xiao Bai smiled, understanding Yao Lao's background and the reasoning behind his dismissal.

He returned to the scroll, studying its detailed cultivation method alongside the introduction. The final warning—"To those who obtain this, do not practice without absolute confidence in resisting the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's soul attack!"—he ignored. A fifth-tier beast's soul, even at its peak, posed no threat to him, let alone a mere remnant.

Following the scroll's instructions, Xiao Bai pressed both hands onto the wings. A soft, velvety sensation met his palms. Moments later, a stir rippled through the scroll, and a ferocious aura surged. A piercing eagle's cry, audible only to the soul, erupted, carrying an invisible ripple that struck at Xiao Bai's mind.

His soul force observed the attack, and he shook his head. Too weak. It was like a breeze brushing his face.

The eagle's remnant soul, sensing its failure, unleashed sharper, more frantic cries, each shriller than the last.

Xiao Bai remained unmoved, as if weathering a gentle wind. Let it rage—it changes nothing.

The soul, realizing its cries were futile, paused briefly before erupting with even fiercer aggression. Xiao Bai sensed it charge out of the scroll, racing along his arm toward his sea of consciousness. My sea of consciousness isn't a free-for-all. A formidable presence resided there, one even he couldn't contend with.

Enough games. He decided not to let it reach his mind.

His soul force surged, colliding with the eagle's soul. The once-swift spirit faltered, nearly dissipating from the impact. Sensing fear, it froze, but before it could react, Xiao Bai's soul force pressed it back into the scroll's wings.

Using the scroll's method, he formed hand seals. The purple cloud patterns on the wings glowed faintly, absorbing the soul. As the glow dimmed, Xiao Bai knew he'd earned the right to cultivate the technique.

Channeling Dou Qi per the scroll, he directed it to his palms and into the scroll. It blazed with light, splitting into two streaks—purple and black—that shot into his hands. The light flowed through his meridians, settling at his shoulder blades, where it carved two tiny branch meridians.

A sharp pain hit, but Xiao Bai merely frowned. After enduring Yi Wood True Lightning and Bing Fire Yang Lightning, his pain tolerance rivaled anyone's.

His soul force watched as the branches formed, the light tracing a palm-sized black eagle wing tattoo on his back, adorned with purple cloud patterns identical to the scroll's. "This is the Purple Cloud Wings?" he murmured.

With a thought, he circulated Dou Qi through the new meridians into the tattoo. It glowed, shimmering with purple radiance, forming a pair of energy wings, each about a meter long. Silver lightning occasionally sparked across them.

Carefully, Xiao Bai flapped the wings. His body lifted off the cultivation mat, hovering. Looking down, his smile widened. "Haha, I can finally fly!"

Yao Lao, watching his excitement, shook his head with a fond smile. Only now does he seem like a sixteen-year-old.

"Don't get cocky. First flights are tricky—control your Dou Qi input, maintain balance, and mind your landings," Yao Lao warned, sharing flight tips as Xiao Bai experimented like a kid with a new toy.

With Yao Lao's guidance, Xiao Bai quickly grasped the basics, testing within the cave's high ceiling. "Thank you, Senior!" he said, landing and bowing respectfully.

Yao Lao nodded, admiring the wings. "Tch, you lightning and wind types have it good. With lightning boosting these wings, they're at least thirty percent faster. If your Dou Qi holds, you could match a high-tier Dou Wang's speed!"

Xiao Bai gauged his potential, then glanced at the wings, noting the silver sparks. A thought struck him, and he rubbed his chin, pondering. If I infuse Little Bing into the wings, could I push the speed even further?