Chen Xiao was utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of the massive beast.
The creature was as large as a city bus. Its enormous head bore a pair of eyes the size of wagon wheels, radiating a savage and murderous gleam. At first glance, it resembled an oversized tiger, but upon closer inspection, it was nothing of the sort. It had no fur, only a layer of fine scales. Its head and back were dark, bluish-black, while its underbelly was pale. Its four limbs were a deep shade of green, darkening to black at the claws, which were deeply embedded in the ground, gleaming coldly with an eerie luster.
The moment it spotted the two people before it, the monstrous beast erupted into a frenzy, opening its massive maw and letting out a thunderous roar.
"Awooo—!"
With that earth-shaking howl, a wave of foul, rancid breath blasted Chen Xiao's face. The beast's gaping maw, filled with jagged fangs, instantly reminded him of the terrifying man-eating creatures from horror films. The cavernous darkness of its throat resembled a bottomless tunnel, making it impossible to see where it ended.
His thoughts were a jumbled mess, he simply couldn't process anything.
The sheer size and ferocity of the beast triggered a deep, primal fear within him, one buried in the instincts of all living beings. Fear wasn't always a bad thing, sometimes, it was what spurred survival. But at other times, it was the very thing that crushed all hope of escape, leaving the weaker party paralyzed in despair.
Fortunately, while Chen Xiao's mind was in chaos, Du Rong still had the presence of mind to react. He flung down his pack, drew the rune-engraved blade from his waist, and shoved Chen Xiao aside with a loud shout.
"Run! Don't look back, just go!"
With that, Du Rong charged forward, gripping his weapon tightly.
Chen Xiao had no idea what kind of monster this was, and neither did Du Rong, but there was no doubt it was a vicious beast. The best course of action should have been to turn and flee at all costs, only then would there be a sliver of hope for survival. Even though he was bound by a contract with Chen Xiao, in situations like this, where survival was all but impossible, a cultivator was allowed to abandon their employer and escape alone. After all, if he couldn't possibly win, staying would only mean both of them dying together.
But Du Rong didn't do that.
Even knowing their chances were slim, he still chose to buy Chen Xiao time to escape. Not out of any grand heroic sentiment, he simply felt that if he was going to wear such expensive armor, he ought to be worthy of it.
"Come on, you beast! Come at me!"
Roaring, Du Rong sprinted down the slope at full speed, heading toward the mountainside. As he ran, he swung his rune blade wildly, trying to attract the beast's attention.
In truth, he didn't need to provoke it. The moment the massive creature saw such a small figure charging at it, it felt insulted, challenged.
Fury exploded within the beast. With a powerful lunge, it leaped down from the mountainside, its gaping jaws snapping toward Du Rong.
With death bearing down on him, Du Rong didn't have time to think. He threw himself to the side, rolling away just in time. The beast skidded to a stop, its claws digging deep furrows into the ground. It let out a furious roar and twisted its body, hind legs tensing before it pounced once more. This time, it swung a massive forepaw straight at him.
Du Rong abandoned all thoughts of life and death, his entire mind focused solely on fighting the beast before him. He didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his rune blade and slashed toward its eye.
If the beast didn't change its attack trajectory, then before its claw could strike him down, his blade would stab directly into its eye. Even if he died, the monster would be left blinded in at least one eye.
A deadly exchange of blows.
But this beast was highly intelligent. Not willing to lose an eye, it swiftly adjusted, pulling back its claw and tilting its head slightly.
Du Rong's heart leapt with joy, his momentum wasn't spent yet, and he was already closing in on its shoulder and neck. If he could drive his blade into the gap between the beast's scales, even if it didn't die, it would be gravely wounded!
That was the only thought in Du Rong's mind. He didn't even consider what would happen if his rune blade couldn't pierce through those fine yet resilient scales.
Everything happened in an instant, there was no time for second thoughts.
Before Du Rong could see whether his weapon was sharp enough, the beast's eyes flashed with a cunning, ruthless glint. It twisted its body, and from behind, its long-hidden tail suddenly lashed out!
The air shrieked as the tail whipped toward him.
Terror and despair filled Du Rong's eyes. He barely had time to pull back his arm, raising his rune blade in front of his chest as a shield.
The beast's thick tail slammed down.
The rune blade shattered into pieces instantly.
A massive force struck Du Rong square in the chest. Blood spurted from his mouth as he was flung into the air, his body hurtling toward the ground. Even if the beast hadn't torn him apart, the impact alone would reduce him to a broken mess.
At that critical moment, a figure arrived just in time to catch him.
Xi Yunqing's heart was filled with both frustration and guilt.
He had followed the two of them out of the valley in secret. After ensuring they had reached a relatively safe path, he had turned back, returning to his cabin in the valley to meditate.
But just as he was deep in meditation, a beast's roar suddenly tore through the air.
The sound carried for miles, echoing across multiple mountain peaks.
A chill ran through Xi Yunqing's heart, this roar was too powerful. Whatever made it had to be a fearsome beast.
And Chen Xiao and Du Rong were still nearby.
Without hesitation, Xi Yunqing shot to his feet and rushed over.
But he was still a step too late.
Du Rong was critically wounded, and Chen Xiao's fate was unknown.
Moving quickly, Xi Yunqing stuffed a pill into Du Rong's mouth, keeping his life hanging by a thread.
As he glanced at the monstrous beast before him, rage and frustration surged within him.
This thing had no business being here.
If not for his own bad luck drawing it in, none of this would have happened.
The ferocious beast had already been enraged when it saw its prey snatched away by a human figure. Now, seeing that person carrying the prey aside, it let out a furious roar and lunged, a foul wind accompanying its attack as it struck at Xi Yunqing from behind.
Just at that moment, Xi Yunqing turned around, his chest filled with both anger and hatred. His expression was chillingly cold as he shouted at the beast, "Wretched creature, prepare to die!" With a swift motion, he raised his hand, and a heavy sword appeared in his grasp, sweeping horizontally toward the beast.
The sword was over three feet long, wide at the top and narrowing toward the tip. Its blade was jet-black with snow-white edges, and a golden-purple central ridge ran down its length, tapering along with the blade. The hilt was adorned with spiral patterns, and a deep brown sword tassel wrapped around its end.
The heavy sword slashed toward the beast's shoulder and chest. From its higher vantage point, the beast's eyes gleamed with disdain as it raised a massive claw to swipe at Xi Yunqing, intending to clash directly with the sword.
No matter how intelligent the beast was, its understanding was still limited, it failed to grasp the differences between cultivators, just as it failed to distinguish the disparities between weapons.
The moment its sharp, hardened claws collided with the heavy sword, a muffled impact resounded. A dull ache hit first, followed by an intense searing pain. While its claws were sharp enough to resist ordinary blades, the vulnerable gaps between them had no protection. Just like humans, beasts felt pain through their extremities, and the agony shot straight to its core.
The beast let out a miserable howl and recoiled violently.
With one of its four limbs injured, its movements became sluggish. The pain only further fueled its madness, making it even more violent. It roared and lashed out with relentless bites and strikes, even using its tail for surprise attacks from unexpected angles. In this fierce battle against Xi Yunqing, it showed no signs of backing down.
Xi Yunqing possessed dual spiritual roots of gold and fire, and his heavy sword was a rune-imbued magical weapon that could channel his fire-aligned true essence, greatly amplifying its power. The sword's edge was razor-sharp, capable of slicing through even the beast's tough scales. More than that, the sword itself radiated intense heat, just brushing against it was enough to inflict burns.
However, after suffering one loss, the beast learned its lesson and refused to let Xi Yunqing get close again. Its strength was comparable to a Golden Core stage cultivator, and with its resilient hide and whip-like tail that struck like steel, even an ordinary Golden Core cultivator would struggle against it.
One man and one beast, both formidable, each with their own unique abilities. A decisive outcome would not be reached in a short time.
Ordinarily, cultivators encountering such troublesome beasts would prioritize driving them away rather than engaging in prolonged combat. But Xi Yunqing had no time for a drawn-out fight. He was worried about Chen Xiao's safety and needed to tend to Du Rong's injuries as soon as possible.
Without hesitation, Xi Yunqing flicked his heavy sword, and a fan-shaped blaze surged toward the beast.
The beast had just started to gauge Xi Yunqing's combat prowess, believing itself to be evenly matched with him. Brimming with confidence, it was caught completely off guard by this sudden shift in tactics, and the flames engulfed it head-on.
A cultivator's fire magic was no ordinary flame. In an instant, the beast's face, chest, and head were scorched, its skin split open, filling the air with the stench of burnt flesh.
Though the pain was excruciating, making it want to thrash and roll on the ground, the beast moved swiftly, retreating to create distance while it plotted its next move.
It was an extremely vengeful creature, and after suffering repeated injuries from Xi Yunqing, its hatred for him deepened.
The beast itself possessed a natural talent for cultivation, with three spiritual roots; water, earth, and metal. However, like most beasts, it relied on its innate abilities rather than cultivated techniques, making it reluctant to use its gifted powers. Once expended, recovering them would take a long time.
But having suffered such heavy losses, it could no longer hesitate. True essence surged within its body as it prepared to unleash its abilities.
Sensing the shift, Xi Yunqing raised his heavy sword and observed the beast with a solemn expression. He did not rush in recklessly but instead circled the creature, waiting for an opening.
The fire spell earlier had merely been a distraction, his true intent lay elsewhere.
The moment the flames touched the beast, Xi Yunqing silently released his control over his innate ability—Misfortune. Though invisible and intangible, it clung to the beast along with the flames.
Xi Yunqing rarely used this technique in battle unless absolutely necessary. Misfortune felt like an ominous and sinister power, and he disliked resorting to such means. Whether intentional or not, using it always left a shadow over his mood.
Yet this ability was a part of him, an intrinsic power. When circumstances demanded it, he would not hesitate to use it, knowing that holding back could cost him victory.
The beast, meanwhile, was attempting to circulate its true essence, using water-aligned energy to soothe its burns, earth-aligned energy to reinforce its skin, and metal-aligned energy to sharpen its claws.
However, perhaps because it had never tried mobilizing all three at once, its focus faltered. In its distracted state, the flow of true essence went completely awry.
Water energy flowed into its skin, increasing its elasticity but providing no additional defense. Earth energy flooded its claws, making them heavier and duller instead of sharper. Worst of all, the golden true essence meant to relieve its wounds surged directly into them, intensifying the pain instead.
The beast let out an agonized shriek, its four claws scratching at the ground in frustration.
This momentary lapse was all Xi Yunqing needed.
With a sharp exhale, he kicked off the ground, launching himself into the air like an arrow.
His heavy sword descended in a brutal arc, aimed straight at the beast's skull.
There was no room for the beast to retreat or defend itself.
Xi Yunqing's strike landed cleanly, ending the battle in an instant.
After confirming that the beast was truly dead, he wasted no time rushing back to Du Rong's side.
Du Rong had already lost consciousness. His chest bore the marks of the beast's devastating strike—multiple fractured ribs, internal injuries. If not for the armor he wore, which absorbed much of the impact, his torso would have been reduced to pulp.
Though his wounds seemed severe, Xi Yunqing had already given him a life-saving pill. With further treatment using nourishing elixirs, he would recover without issue.
"Du Rong," Xi Yunqing called, his voice urgent. "Where is Chen Xiao?"
He knew it was impossible for Du Rong to respond in his state, but he still tried, unwilling to accept silence.
Du Rong was out of danger, but what about Chen Xiao?
When Xi Yunqing had arrived earlier, he had quickly scanned the area. Yet there was no sign of Chen Xiao.
Alive or dead, he had to find him.
How could he not worry?