Wu Huang closed his eyes tightly, bracing for the impact. However, what he heard instead was the heavy resonance of clashing metal. He opened his eyes in surprise and whispered, "Mu Qinlian?"
"Senior Brother, are you alright?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern, though she kept her gaze fixed on the Great Beast and her face was taut with tension.
"Yes, I'm fine," he replied immediately.
"I'm glad. Let me deal with this beast, and then I will get you out of here," she said, though her tone didn't sound entirely certain.
"Another human bastard? I will kill you first, and then I will kill the other one!" the creature roared as it lunged toward Mu Qinlian. Its extended claws were capable of ripping through steel with ease.
Mu Qinlian took a step back and grabbed the collar of Wu Huang's robes. "Brother, I hope you can forgive me for this," she said, before hurling him away with great force.
Wu Huang was sent flying dozens of meters and crashed violently against a tree. Using his spiritual energy, he managed to partially resist the blow, but he still coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Shit," he groaned, crossing his legs to stabilize his condition.
The internal and external wounds were dangerous, but they did not pose an immediate threat to his life. Once he returned to the sect, he would only need a healing pill to fully restore himself. While he stabilized his breath, Mu Qinlian was already entangled in combat with the puma-shaped Great Beast.
"Annoying human! Let me kill the useless one, and in exchange, I will spare your life," the beast proposed, realizing that finishing off the opponent in front of it would take too much time. Though it did not fear other beasts, it was afraid that more humans might appear, making the situation unsalvageable.
But Mu Qinlian, with no intention of negotiating, launched herself into the attack.
"Annoying humans, all of you are equally stupid!" the beast screamed with rage as its figure became blurred and difficult to perceive.
Mu Qinlian extended her Divine Sense and quickly captured its shadow. Her sword lengthened, and a Sword Spirit surged in its direction, leaving a trail of energy that sliced through space. The beast, which had been hiding in the shadows, leaped out to avoid the blow, but the attack reached it, tearing away a tuft of black fur along with a piece of flesh. A trail of dark red blood stained the ground.
"You little human! You will pay for this!" the creature roared, its eyes bloodshot. Since becoming a Great Beast, it had never suffered such humiliation at the hands of a human.
Mu Qinlian's sword glowed again as she lunged forward. Claws and steel clashed once more. As expected, there was a vast difference between the physical strength of a human and that of a magic beast, so Mu Qinlian had to focus on attacking the enemy's weak points while dodging with dexterity.
However, noticing that her spiritual energy was depleting at an extreme rate due to the confrontations she had faced before arriving, she knew she had to take the most direct path and end it immediately. She locked eyes with the beast's malicious gaze, and suddenly, her own eyes became strangely enchanting.
The magic beast, fully concentrated on her, was momentarily paralyzed by that hypnotic look. A feeling of devotion and servility appeared in its heart for a split second. But its instincts screamed that something was wrong, and it snapped out of the trance almost immediately. Nonetheless, that brief moment was enough. Mu Qinlian was already in front of it, swinging her sword toward its head. Since dodging was now impossible, the monster extended its claw to protect itself. The sword sank in with brutal force, tearing and rending the massive limb.
"Scheming brat!" it groaned in pain as it retreated. Its right paw was broken and mangled—a severe wound that, while not life-threatening, reduced its combat capability significantly.
Mu Qinlian lunged forward again to finish the fight, but the beast leaped back and began moving at blinding speed, circling her. The young woman observed in all directions and waited patiently; she knew that if she attacked aimlessly, she would leave herself vulnerable, and if she launched her Sword Spirit blindly, she would only hit the air.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Her Divine Sense expanded around her like a net of alert, waiting for the enemy to enter her range. At the same time, her sword began to vibrate as it condensed devastating spiritual energy.
"Die, human!" the beast roared, lunging with all its might at Mu Qinlian's exposed back.
The instant she felt the creature enter her Divine Sense, she opened her eyes and swung her steel in a lightning-fast motion. The Sword Spirit was released with tyrannical force; the beast's body was torn apart without any chance to resist. The trail of the attack continued onward, toppling several trees in its path and exterminating the lesser beasts that had been lurking in the shadows to watch the battle.
The creature's corpse hit the ground with a heavy thud. Mu Qinlian collapsed to her knees, her face pale and her breath shallow. That final strike had consumed every last drop of her spiritual energy; anyone else would have lost consciousness, but her iron will kept her awake.
"Are you alright?" Wu Huang asked, approaching with difficulty to support her and prevent her from falling.
"I'm fine, I just need to recover," she answered in a weak voice, taking a Qi Recovery Pill from her spatial ring and swallowing it immediately.
Wu Huang nodded and helped her sit carefully so she could begin her meditation. Then, he looked toward the corpse of the Great Beast and could not help but sigh in relief. Since he had joined the sect, this was one of the most intense experiences he had lived in a long time, and he hoped in his heart that nothing like it would happen again soon.
In a time as short as it takes a stick of incense to burn, the battle was over.