Shen Haoran stepped out of the cave and cautiously advanced through the dense forest, following Elder Yan’s directions. This was, after all, the interior of the Profound Spirit Mountain Range. Luring out even a single Spirit Beast would be more than he could handle, so he couldn’t afford to be too conspicuous.

"Elder Yan, have you found her yet?" Shen Haoran asked anxiously after walking for what felt like ages without seeing any sign of Ji Lingxuan.

"Soon. She’s just ahead. We’re very close!" Elder Yan said.

"Elder Yan, you’ve said that hundreds of times!" Shen Haoran said, exasperated.

"And how come you don’t mention that you’ve asked hundreds of times!" Elder Yan retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Er..." Shen Haoran realized he could never win an argument with Elder Yan. He always ended up on the losing side. He fell silent and continued on his way.

However, just as Shen Haoran was about to press forward, Elder Yan suddenly shouted in his mind, "Shen the kid, hide, quickly! Something’s happening!"

"Huh?" Shen Haoran froze for a second, then immediately leaped onto a towering ancient tree. Elder Yan’s Spiritual Thought enveloped him, concealing his aura.

Just as Shen Haoran steadied himself, he felt the ground begin to tremble. Then, a series of deafening roars echoed from the distance.

"ROAR!"

"What... What’s going on?" Shen Haoran wondered.

The words had barely left his mouth when a cloud of dust billowed up from the distant forest. A moment later, countless Spirit Beasts stampeded out as if they had gone mad, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

"A Beast Tide!" Shen Haoran exclaimed. So many Spirit Beasts were thundering past beneath his tree that the force of the wind they generated nearly knocked him off his feet.

RUMBLE! ROAR! ROAR!

’What’s happening? Why would a Beast Tide suddenly erupt here?’ Shen Haoran thought, his brow furrowed.

Watching the stampede below, which included quite a few Middle-High Tier Spirit Beasts of Tier Four and Tier Five, Shen Haoran felt a flicker of unease.

"Shen the kid, have you noticed? These Spirit Beasts don’t look like they’re gathering for an attack. It’s more like they’re fleeing for their lives!" Elder Yan said in Shen Haoran’s mind.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran took a closer look. He saw that the Spirit Beasts’ movements were chaotic, completely disorganized and without formation. Their momentum was nothing like the terrifying force of a true Beast Tide. They really did look like they were running for their lives.

’Could something have happened deeper in the mountains?’ Shen Haoran wondered, gazing into the distance.

"Damn it, Shen the kid! That little girl is in trouble! I can feel the Spiritual Thought Mark I left on her has weakened significantly!" Elder Yan said grimly.

"What!" Shen Haoran cried out in alarm.

"Elder Yan, which direction!" Shen Haoran demanded, jumping to his feet and taking the giant black ruler from his back.

"Northeast!"

The moment Elder Yan spoke, Shen Haoran shot off like a cannonball. With the giant black ruler unstrapped from his back, his speed instantly increased severalfold. He could no longer be bothered with the stampeding Spirit Beasts. Finding Ji Lingxuan was all that mattered!

At the same time, deep within the forest, the very person Shen Haoran was looking for—Ji Lingxuan—was stumbling forward in a panic. She kept glancing back, as if terrified of something catching up to her.

Ji Lingxuan was in a wretched state. Her clothes were in tatters, her right arm hung limp as blood dripped from her fingertips. Her stunningly beautiful face was filled with panic, and her complexion was deathly pale. Her steps were unsteady, a clear sign she had been severely injured.

Not far behind Ji Lingxuan, a Spirit Beast with a human torso and a snake’s tail was in hot pursuit, constantly throwing immensely powerful Spiritual Light Balls to block her escape.

"Damn human, leave the Soul Infant Fruit! Or I’ll make sure you die without a burial place!" the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast roared, actually speaking human words.

Hearing the furious roar behind her, Ji Lingxuan gave a bitter smile. She had originally planned to use a Spiritual Artifact she had sneaked out of her family’s possession to completely conceal her aura and steal the Soul Infant Fruit. She never expected that the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast had left a soul-imprint on the fruit. The moment she picked the Soul Infant Fruit, she was discovered.

The human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast had flown into a rage upon discovering the Soul Infant Fruit was stolen. This fruit was the most crucial item for it to break through to become a Tier Eight Spirit Beast and achieve a fully human form! It had immediately given chase, relentlessly bombarding Ji Lingxuan along the way, scaring all the surrounding Low Tier Spirit Beasts into a panicked flight.

Facing the attacks of a Spirit Beast at the Tier Seven Peak—one that even had one foot in the door of becoming a Tier Eight Spirit Beast—Ji Lingxuan dodged desperately. Relying on her set of Top Grade Spiritual Artifacts, she managed to save her life, but not without suffering heavy injuries.

Fleeing for so long, Ji Lingxuan had underestimated the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast’s persistence. Even now, it showed no signs of giving up the chase.

BOOM! Another blast of Spiritual Power. This time, however, Ji Lingxuan was too exhausted to dodge. She was hit directly, her body carving a trench in the ground before she finally slammed into a towering ancient tree and stopped.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from her lips, and Ji Lingxuan’s face grew even paler. She tried to stand up, only to find she couldn’t summon even a shred of strength.

Gazing at Ji Lingxuan, who lay on the ground with large patches of her snow-white skin exposed, the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast’s eyes filled with a greedy, lecherous expression.

"Damn human, you will pay the price for your actions!" The human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast licked its lips and lunged directly at Ji Lingxuan.

Watching the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast pounce, a look of grim resolve flashed in Ji Lingxuan’s eyes. She then shut them tightly, her internal Spiritual Power beginning to surge. If this Spirit Beast dared to do *that* to her, she would detonate her Spiritual Power. She would rather self-destruct than allow this beast to defile her.

However, just as Ji Lingxuan resigned herself to death, a black shadow suddenly appeared in the sky, and a tremendous shout rang out:

"Heaven-Breaking Kill!"

From the sky, a youth wielding a giant black ruler descended like a bolt of lightning, striking the unprepared human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast with brutal force. Empowered by Elder Yan’s Spiritual Thought, this Heaven-Breaking Kill erupted with immense power, forcing the beast back more than a dozen steps. A red mark appeared on its arm. The single blow had actually managed to injure the Tier Seven Peak Spirit Beast!

The newcomer was none other than Shen Haoran. After forcing back the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast, he immediately rushed to Ji Lingxuan’s side. Seeing the once stunningly beautiful girl in such a wretched state, a surge of violent rage welled up inside him.

But Shen Haoran quickly suppressed this emotion. There was still a Tier Seven Peak Spirit Beast right behind them.

Ji Lingxuan was also stunned by Shen Haoran’s sudden appearance, but before she could ask anything, he scooped her up into his arms. Then he roared at the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast, "Hey, ugly! Catch your Soul Infant Fruit!" With that, he threw the Spiritual Light Ball in his hand toward it.

The Spirit Beast, still dazed from Shen Haoran’s attack, snapped back to its senses at his roar and instinctively caught the approaching Spiritual Light Ball. After all, in its mind, the Soul Infant Fruit that would allow it to advance was far more important than anything else.

However, the moment it caught the object, it sensed that something was wrong. Seeing the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast catch the Spiritual Light Ball, Shen Haoran’s lips curved into a slight smile as he whispered, "Flame Sun Burst!"

BOOM! The instant Shen Haoran’s words fell, a massive explosion erupted in the human-torsoed beast’s hands, and a storm of Spiritual Power was instantly unleashed.

At the moment of the explosion, Elder Yan lifted Shen Haoran into the air, and they immediately flew away. He knew an attack of this level was nowhere near enough to truly harm a Tier Seven Peak Spirit Beast.

"ROAR!" Just as he expected, as the storm of Spiritual Power raged, a world-shaking roar erupted from within, instantly obliterating it.

By the time the dust and smoke cleared, Shen Haoran was just a small black dot in the sky. Seeing the black dot in the distance, the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast was enraged. It gathered all its Spiritual Power into its mouth and fired an extremely thin beam of light. The beam shot toward Shen Haoran at a terrifying speed, tearing through space itself and leaving a trail of horrifying cracks in the air.

When Shen Haoran saw the beam of light behind him, every hair on his body stood on end. He could feel the threat of death from that attack.

However, Shen Haoran realized he couldn’t possibly dodge this terrifying attack. A cold sweat soaked his clothes. Watching the beam of light reach him in an instant, Shen Haoran could only shield Ji Lingxuan with his own body and draw out the Spiritual Power from the three Spirit Pills within him to form a barrier at his back.

BOOM! The beam of light struck Shen Haoran. The defense at his back was like paper before the beam and was instantly destroyed. Even the giant black ruler he always carried on his back was shattered into dust.

After annihilating Shen Haoran’s defenses with unstoppable force, the human-torsoed, snake-tailed Spirit Beast’s attack slammed viciously into his back. Then, like a kite with its string cut, Shen Haoran plummeted from the sky.

"No!" A mournful cry from Ji Lingxuan echoed through the sky, lingering over the forest for a long, long time.