"Holy shit!!"
Xiao Heyun immediately raised his long blade and slashed at it, his heart pounding like it had stopped for a moment.
Clang—
The blade seemed to strike something incredibly hard, sending a numbness through his hand. The force pushed him back several steps.
Only then did he get a clear look. It was a beast, its eyes suddenly narrowing sharply.
A seventh-rank beast!
"Damn human, so it was you who stole my stuff. Let me skin you alive!!!"
The Chi Feng Beast was furious at the human who had destroyed its cave and lunged straight at Xiao He Yun.
"It's not me!!"
Xiao Heyun instinctively tried to run. His motto had always been to survive by any means. After all, there was no girl around, so no need to act tough.
"Trying to run? Hurry up and hand over what you stole!"
The Chi Feng Beast's claws slammed down, and because it was wind-attribute, its speed was terrifying. Xiao He Yun was no match, and was sent flying by a single swipe.
He pulled out his long blade and turned to strike back.
Bang—
The loud crash rang out as he was knocked away again.
"Damn it, this is so unlucky, gotta run fast!"
Pain seared through Xiao He Yun, and anger flared, but he knew he couldn't fight it head-on. He had no choice but to borrow the momentum and sprint toward the cave exit.
The Chi Feng Beast snarled. "You say it wasn't you, but you stole from me and want to run? I'll devour you for sure!!!"
It gave chase.
"Damn!!"
Xiao Heyun looked back, eyes wide with panic.
How was this beast so fast?
"System, what now?"
He pushed his speed to the limit but still couldn't outrun the Chi Feng Beast. Before he heard any reply from the system, another claw slammed into his back.
A sharp, piercing pain exploded through him, twisting his face with agony. His flight stalled abruptly.
He soon fell.
"Quick, run over there!"
The system was helpless now. All the points Xiao Heyun had earned were blown on lotteries, so it could only rely on him. Still, it felt uneasy.
Since binding to the host, this was the first time something had been stolen right from under them. Usually, they were the ones doing the stealing. Now they were the victims, and worse, wrongly blamed.
Something didn't feel right. After all, Xiao Heyun was supposed to be a man blessed with great Luck…
Could there really be someone with Luck greater than his?
Impossible!
The system kept pondering as Xiao Heyun was almost beaten to death by the beast. Cursing it as useless, he ran again.
No matter how he fled—even using talismans—the Chi Feng Beast quickly caught up and beat him nearly to death.
After more than two hours of this back and forth, Xiao Heyun could no longer resist. When he finally found a cave to hide in, he collapsed unconscious.
The Chi Feng Beast lost its prey and furiously tore through the entire Cannibal Valley.
Other beasts dared not interfere but raised their guard, knowing a human had entered the valley and stolen from the Chi Feng Beast.
Meanwhile, the Nightmare Beast searched everywhere for Song Wanníng's trail. The Twin Blood Lotus could not be handed over easily!
...
"Sister, what kind of beast made that noise just now?"
Xiao Jin looked nervously at the hills flattened into rubble nearby. No one knew what beast had gone mad, wrecking everything.
"I don't know."
Song Wanníng shook her head. She didn't recognize the beast that had attacked her either.
Now that she had entered the Spirit Realm, many things needed to be learned from scratch. Otherwise, she might as well be illiterate when facing trouble.
By now she had put enough distance between herself and the beast. It probably wouldn't find her for a while.
The Twin Blood Lotus was too precious, though. She worried the beasts might notice it. After thinking it over, she placed the Twin Blood Lotus inside her inner world.
To her surprise, the lotus was stored without issue. But the moment it entered, a faint spiritual energy barrier formed around it, blocking the lotus's energy.
This meant her inner world could hold spirit plants, but because the rules differed, it could not nurture their growth—only preserve them.
That was enough. Song Wanníng had no intention of trying to grow it inside her inner world.
As long as it was safe from outside detection.
After storing her treasure, Song Wanníng did not hurry to leave. Long Ling was a treasure hunter at heart, and since she had entered, she wouldn't leave empty-handed.
Carefully, she began wandering around the Cannibal Valley with a few small companions.
...
At the same time, separated from Xiao Heyun, Xie Qinglan had entered a cave.
She had intended to come inside with her senior brother, but near the entrance, a formation suddenly changed, separating the two.
Xie Qinglan was transported into this cave and had no idea where her senior brother had gone. Worry filled her face.
The cave shimmered with colorful crystals hanging from the walls above, glowing with astonishing brilliance.
These crystal marrow formations were condensed from concentrated spiritual energy into spirit water. The energy inside was incredible. Whether for cultivation or pill refining, they were far more valuable than spirit stones.
Although Xie Qinglan was wealthy, she didn't want to miss the chance to collect these crystals. She planned to gift them to her senior brother to aid his breakthrough.
With this sweet thought, she began harvesting the crystals, unaware that these were actually a trap set by her beloved senior brother.
As she excitedly collected the crystal marrow, a terrifying suction suddenly pulled from below.
Xie Qinglan panicked and tried to let go and fly away, but it was too late.
A huge net shot up from below and trapped her completely.
"Ah—"
She screamed as the net dragged her down fiercely.
Below was a swamp, and it felt wrong. The blackish mud was laced with faint traces of demonic energy.
Xie Qinglan drew a long flute and slashed through the air with a streak of cyan light aimed at the net, only to find in horror that the net absorbed her magic power.
Bang—
She fell into the swamp, sinking quickly.
Gurgle gurgle—
The suffocating sensation rose. Panic filled Xie Qinglan's heart, but she did not succumb to fear. Instead, she tried everything to save herself.
This was no ordinary swamp. No matter how hard she struggled, she sank without a trace or even a ripple.
She was soon out of breath, her face flushed red. Her defensive light shield flared to protect her, trying to keep her safe.