Gu Qingli watched in horror as her father fell, blood spurting from his lips. Her eyes burned with anguish, and the inner force within her dantian surged wildly, sending searing pain through every meridian in her body.
It was the price she paid for forcibly pushing her speed to the limit.
Her eyes crimson, Gu Qingli ignored the agony that wracked her body, slicing through the air like a phantom shadow. At the final moment, she caught her father before he crashed to the ground.
But the lingering force from the beast's earlier strike still lingered on Gu Zhan's body. Her feet drove deep into the earth, and even then, she was pushed back several dozen meters before the momentum ceased.
Her face turned as pale as snow, her energy surging chaotically within her, as if a single breath would send blood bursting from her throat—yet she endured it with sheer will.
"Xiao Li, you—how did you…"
Gu Zhan had already resigned himself to death, never expecting to see his daughter's face when he looked up. Shock and disbelief widened his eyes.
Before he could finish his sentence, another mouthful of blood gushed forth.
"Father! Are you all right?"
Gu Qingli's eyes brimmed with panic. She held him steady and quickly took his pulse, finally exhaling in relief. Though gravely wounded, the injuries were not beyond saving.
Gu Zhan's once-handsome face had turned deathly pale. He forced a smile, but it was strained and feeble.
Gu Qingli swiftly eased him to the ground, produced a set of silver needles, and pierced several key acupoints. As color slowly returned to his face, her tension finally eased.
"It's all right now. Xiao Li, don't worry about me—this place is too dangerous."
"Don't fret, Father. I can protect myself. Besides, that beast is already spent, like an arrow at the end of its flight."
She gently moved Gu Zhan to a safer location. Only then did they turn their eyes back to the battlefield.
Not a single man remained standing.
The once-proud Snow Tiger regiment, over a hundred strong, now lay scattered across the ground, groaning in pain. Sun Jie had been flung far from the epicenter of the clash—whether he lived or died was unclear.
But Gu Qingli's gaze was drawn to the fallen beast. Though covered in blood, barely a patch of uninjured flesh remaining, it still breathed—and in those savage eyes, madness burned bright. Incredibly, it was still struggling to rise.
A collective gasp escaped the survivors.
Even Gu Qingli was shaken. A high-tier beast, indeed—though battered and broken, its vitality remained terrifying. That tenacity, that monstrous physique, commanded awe.
No wonder warriors of the same rank were no match for soul conjurers. The beasts summoned by soul conjurers often surpassed even their masters in raw strength.
At that moment, Sun Jie stirred.
He forced himself upright, bloodied and trembling. The carnage around him filled his eyes with grief. With a roar that tore at the heavens, he wept bitter tears.
"I, Sun Jie, have failed the brothers of the Snow Tiger Corps… I've failed Commander Han!"
Gu Qingli's earlier resentment softened into sympathy.
This man, though reckless, had a backbone of steel. Though his rashness had nearly cost her father's life, she recalled how often her father spoke of Commander Han and Vice Commander Sun Jie, and how well they had treated him.
"Even if I die here today," Sun Jie bellowed, voice trembling with rage and sorrow, "I'll make sure that beast pays with its life! I'll avenge our fallen brothers!"
Wounded and swaying, Sun Jie drew himself upright, sheer willpower holding him aloft. His eyes blazed red as he unleashed a furious roar.
And at that moment—when enemies locked eyes once more—the rage ignited anew.
The beast, seeing Sun Jie still alive, let out a low, murderous growl. In its eyes burned a deadly light.
Neither would stop until the other was dead.