"I am Xiao Lingtian, the elder brother of Xiao Chen!"

These words are rumbled in the ears of Lin Yuan and Chen Ming. Lin Yuan slowly stood up frantically, darting his eyes toward Xiao Lingtian.

"You.. bastard," Lin Yuan wheezed, letting out a mourn in sheer pain.

"Shut up! You slander me? Bloody murderer. Son of a bitch!" Xiao Lingtian scorned, taking a heavy step toward LIn Yuan with pure disdain.

’I need to do something... I need to buy some time for Lin Yuan...’ Chen Ming thought, his mind lingering in a storm of thoughts.

Xiao Lingtian thrusted his hand back to unleash another punch toward Lin Yuan—

Whoosh!

A beam of green light blasted Xiao Lingtian a twelve paces away. Xiao Lingtian groaned and spat a splash of blood in mid-air, slamming heavily against the giant rock. It was Chen Ming’s ’Piercing Beak’ attack. He instantly reacted and unleashed to save Lin Yuan.

"Get up, Lin Yuan, Let’s get out of here," Chen Ming helped Lin Yuan, holding his waist gently. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah! I am fin—"

ROAR!!!

The panther’s loud roar rumbled across the forest, interrupting the words of Lin Yuan. Immediately, the panther sprinted towards its master, its heavy steps splashing the blood around. It covered the distance from Xiao Lingtian in four massive strides. Xiao Lingtian gripped the giant rock behind him tightly, letting out a furious grunt to stand up. The panther whined lowly, nudging the robes of Xiao Lingtian to check his wounds.

"I am okay..." Xiao Lingtian murmured, stroking the panther’s sleek fur. "Don’t worry. Let’s kill those fucking morons."

The beast let out a low, anxious groan, darting its head toward retreating Lin Yuan’s group.The beast moved with slow, menacing strides before letting out an earth-shaking roar. Covering the distance in the blink of an eye, it lunged toward Lin Yuan and Chen Ming with lethal leaps.

ROAR!!

Lin Yuan fluttered, seeing the incoming beast.

"DODGEE!!!" Lin Yuan yelled, shoving Chen Ming aside. The beast bounded up into the air, unsheathing its front claws in a lethal swipe. Thanks to Lin Yuan’s split-second reaction, Chen Ming tumbled aside just as the talons tore through the empty air.

The beast’s gaze locked onto Lin Yuan. The raw, predatory malice in its eyes sent a chilling shiver down his spine. Lin Yuan needs to use his remaining beast essence efficiently. He watched the beast’s movements calmly. With his past life experience, Lin Yuan maintained calmness even in this lethal situation. He remembered the mana-beasts like lighting-tigers, fire-leopards from his past life. The beast in front of him was more wild and lethal, but to Lin Yuan, the movements seemed similar to the mana-beasts.

"Chen Ming, Deal with that bastard, he was coming here," Lin Yuan muttered, smearing a steak of blood on his lips. "I will handle this beast..."

Chen Ming tilted his head, glancing at Xiao Lingtian marching towards them. Lingtian’s face is glimmered with an angry grin, walking with heavy thuds. Chen Ming stood up slowly, then strolled toward Xiao Lingtian.

’His beast is not with him,’ Chen Ming squinted, his slow stroll converting into a sprint. ’So I have the advantage to kill him.’

Chen Ming’s beast essence replenished. He got enough time to replenish his essence again. He should use it wisely to defeat Xiao Lingtian. If he used more beast essence to unleash another ’Piercing Beak’ attack, it may not work as before. Because Xiao Lingtian was in front of him, and his guard was up. To decrease his expenditure of beast essence, Chen Ming concentrated a small amount of essence in his aperture. A thin laser beam shot out from his aperture, tearing through the air toward Xiao Lingtian.

WHOOSH!

Xiao Lingtian dodged the beam effortlessly, turning a blind eye to Chen Ming. As he turned back, Chen Ming closed the distance, crouching low and unleashing a vicious punch toward Xiao Lingtian’s chin. As the strongest cultivator of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Lingtian was not an opponent to be underestimated. Yet, blinded by arrogance, Chen Ming had forgotten a fundamental law of the Dao. When a beast breaks through to the Core Beast Realm, it transitions from a helpless creature into a devastating guardian capable of guarding and attacking enemies. Similarly, a cultivator can use the beast essence in his aperture to attack and defend. This was the law of heaven, a reality Chen Ming realized far too late.

The air groaned as Chen Ming’s fist surged upward, but it never hit its mark. In a blink of a moment, a suffocating pressure erupted from Xiao Lingtian’s gaze. The dark, ethereal silhouette of a panther appeared over his frame, its phantom jaws roaring in rage. Xiao Lingtian channeled the beast essence in his aperture into a shield to defend the incoming attack. Chen Ming’s fist collided with an invisible shield just below Xiao Lingtian’s jaw with a deafening clang, the shockwave rippling through the ground, yet Xiao Lingtian’s head barely moved.

Before Chen Ming could evade the fear gripping his heart, Xiao Lingtian counterattacked. The swirling light-blue beast essence around his right arm stiffened, expanding into a massive, sharp claw of malice. The beast essence changes its color as per the cultivation stages and it changes from pale to dark through the stages in it. Like Baby Beast Realm has Pale White color essence, Spirit Beast Realm has Pale Green color essence, Core Beast Realm has Light-Blue color essence, and so on. And with a ruthless motion, Xiao Lingtian slashed downward. The panther paw tore through Chen Ming’s chest as if it was a fragile parchment, ripping deep through his flesh and muscle.

The red blood sprayed vehemently across the courtyard in a semi-circle arc, painting the ground red. The sheer, kinetic violence of the beast-essence strike lifted Chen Ming off his feet and sent him crashing into the tree a few paces away. His mangled body rolled through the dust before collapsing into a heap. Gasping once, Chen Ming instantly fluttered his eyes, falling unconscious as a pool of blood began to expand under him.

Lin Yuan blocked the panther’s snapping jaws with his hands, utilizing the beast essence coating his hands with some strength, and in an instance he witnessed a horror as his friend was brutally laid down.

"CHEN MING!!!" Lin Yuan screamed, languishing to stop the panther with his beast essence. He evaded the beast attack, diverting it sideways and ran towards Chen Ming.

The panther beast jerked his head in a violent motion, pivoting its body in the opposite direction and lunged forward. As Lin Yuan reached back to unleash a devastating punch on Xiao Lingtian and concentrated with Light-Red beast essence, the beast caught him off guard, slamming him to the ground. Lin Yuan groaned in agony as the panther pinned him under its weight.

"You little bastard! You dare to hit me, moron!" Xiao Lingtian reprimanded, stomping his left leg on Lin Yuan’s head harshly. "Panther Beast! Crunch his head into tens of pieces!"

Xiao Lingtian commanded, taking his leg back. The beast snapped its neck, opening its jaw to crackle Lin Yuan’s head into pieces.

BOOM!

A shimmering beam of dark blue energy pierced into Lingtian’s back, blasting Xiao Lingtian and the panther beast backward until they shattered the trunk of a giant ancient oak fifty paces away. Lin Yuan was shocked, slowly raising his gaze.

In front of him on a tree branch, there was a black-haired man, skewering like a large tower. In his grip there was a golden bow, its surface rippling with faint, dark blue essence. Beside the man, there was a magnificent creature. Its radiant wings unfolded like those of a descending angel, shedding a halo of gleaming fire on its feathers while the currents of wind spiraled violently around its divine form. It is the third-stage evolution of the mighty beast:

The Golden Roc, Flame Element — a Legendary Rank Beast.

The realization struck Lin Yuan’s mind like lightning. Memories surged back from their path to the Blackwood Ravine Forest, the words of Su Wan’er had spoken in hushed tone: An elite senior was in our academy, a master who commanded a beast of legendary rank. He was an elegant and furious disciple of the academy.

’Magnificient... He is an absolute monster’ Lin Yuan thought, slowly pushing his hands onto the ground to stand up. ’I can sense his beast essence. He is a Peak stage cultivator of Core Beast Realm. He is stronger than Master Mo Qinghe’

The black-haired guy descended down to the ground with a loud thud.

HOWL!!

The Flame Roc rumbled, flapping its wings once before halting and landing on the ground. The black-haired man marched toward Lin Yuan, a calm, gentle smile lingering on his face. His long, dark traditional robes — the attire of a senior academy disciple fluttered vehemently against the wind, while his black hair whipped sideways in a messy tangle.

"I am Teng Jiuxuan!" The black-haired guy said, cupping his fists in a traditional way. "I am a senior disciple of the cultivation academy, and Core Beast Realm - Peak Stage cultivator. I am here to help you! Don’t worry... Are you okay.. umm Sorry what’s your name, junior?"

Lin Yuan was silent for a second and then answered.

"I am Lin Yuan, a Baby Beast Realm - Peak Stage Cultivator."

"Oh! I heard about you, the infamous ruthless junior who sliced Xiao Chen’s head brutally and beat Zhang Wei to death. Even though they tried to kill you, you must have a demonic nature to slaughter them like that. Hahaha... never mind, Lin Yuan," Teng Jiuxuan grinned. Unfamiliar thoughts flickered through his mind, but he refused to let them consume him right now. "Zhen Yueli will heal your friend... Go, be with him!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Lin Yuan darted frantically toward the right side, where Chen Ming lay. Meanwhile, an elegant girl with light-blue hair stepped forward toward Chen Ming. A faint blue light swirled around her pale hands. Zhen Yueli pivoted Chen Ming onto his back and extended her hands above him, causing his body to shimmer with a blue glow. She was a Core Beast Realm - Lower Stage cultivator who obtained a water-element wolf beast. Her water beast essence carried powerful healing properties, and the lethal claw wounds on Chen Ming’s chest began to heal slowly.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT BASTARD???" Xiao Lingtian’s voice crackled.

Teng Jiuxuan’s gaze turned toward the direction of that voice. He clenched his golden bow tightly and marched towards Xiao Lingtian.