"This Xiaoyou, your potential is impressive. To climb five hundred steps is no small feat. It seems you must have tempered your body diligently in daily training?"
The male Nascent Soul cultivator spoke calmly.
Yun Xi could already feel herself reaching her limit. She did not force herself further, stopping on the step as she replied:
"Junior is a dual cultivator of sword and body. This is already my limit. It seems I can go no farther."
As soon as she finished speaking, a ring of golden light wrapped around her. Under the gaze of the Nascent Soul cultivator, she disappeared from the staircase.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Xi found herself standing in a dense, ancient forest. Insects chirped all around, birds called from hidden branches, and the occasional roar of a beast echoed through the trees.
Her wariness spiked instantly. Raising a hand, she summoned the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella from her hair bun into her grasp, then cautiously moved toward the direction of the roars.
As she advanced, she spread her divine sense. To her relief, she found that both her divine sense and spiritual power were no longer suppressed here.
Through her senses, Yun Xi quickly perceived what was happening five li away. A group of primitive tribesmen wielding crude stone weapons were locked in combat with a massive black panther. The beast stretched nearly three meters long, over a meter tall at the shoulder. When it swiped with its forepaw, a single blow sent a man flying, its claws leaving deep craters in the muddy earth.
Its whip-like tail lashed out, flinging four or five more men through the air. Only four half-clothed men in beast-hide shorts clung desperately to a thick rope looped around the panther's neck, straining with all their strength to restrain it.
The leader, a broad-shouldered man with powerful muscles, whistled sharply for his companions to support him. But the panther hated the rope biting into its throat, thrashing violently to shake it off.
With a flash of its claws, sharp talons slid free from its padded paws. One slash was enough to spill the entrails of a tribesman, blood splattering as the man collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
A scream split the air. A woman dashed forward, flinging herself across the bleeding man, sobs pouring out as she clutched him tightly.
Sweeping with her divine sense, Yun Xi saw the weeping figure clearly. She was a young woman dressed in a beast-hide skirt and chest wrap, her lithe, sun-kissed body exposed in places, her bronzed skin gleaming with health. Yet now her face was streaked with tears as she cried out the man's name.
The scent of fresh blood drove the panther into a frenzy. Its claws slashed again toward the others.
This time, however, its attack was intercepted. The whistling man roared and charged, stone hammer raised high. Golden light burst from his right arm, flowing into the hammer.
When the hammer met the panther's talons, the sound of cracking rang out. Instead of the crude weapon shattering, the beast's sharp claws snapped. The panther howled in pain, recoiling quickly.
The hammer-wielding warrior staggered back as well, chest heaving, clearly drained of strength. But his stand reignited the others. The remaining tribesmen rushed forward, brandishing their stone weapons, striking at the beast.
Yet Yun Xi could see plainly. Only the golden-light warrior's strikes truly harmed the panther. The others' blows might as well have been scratching its hide. And like the man who was already disemboweled, such warriors were in the greatest danger.
The battle raged on in deadly earnest. Then, from the corner of her eye, Yun Xi noticed movement. The young woman who had been crying moments before now gripped a brown stone dagger and darted straight into the fight, aiming for the panther's belly.
Her movements were agile, almost desperate. Sliding low, she slipped beneath the panther, thrusting her dagger upward into the beast's soft underbelly with a cry.
The golden warrior seemed to understand her intent. He bellowed for his companions to pull the rope in unison, yanking the beast's head aside to give her the chance to drive home her strike.
Yun Xi clenched her fingers around her umbrella, tense with anticipation. The plan was working, the dagger piercing deeper—until the rope suddenly snapped.
The men holding it were flung to the ground, sprawling in the opposite direction. Only the girl remained beneath the beast, struggling to cut it open.
Freed, the panther roared and leapt, tearing itself clear of the girl's grasp. The dagger stuck in its flesh, blood trickling down, only enraging it further. Instead of fleeing, the panther turned, its uninjured paw swinging mercilessly toward the girl's head.
"Ahhh!"
The despairing cry of the tribesmen filled the air.
But the fatal strike never landed.
Yun Xi had already acted. With a flick of her wrist, the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella unfolded, its dragon-scale surface catching the panther's claws with ease, shielding the cowering girl.
In the next breath, Yun Xi appeared beside her. She recalled the umbrella into her hand and flicked her sleeve, sending a Mystic Frost Needle whistling into the beast's skull.
The panther staggered back two steps, dazed. Its body shook violently, then crashed to the ground. Blood bubbled from its maw as it wheezed raggedly, until finally it lay still, eyes closing forever in unwilling defeat.
Yun Xi waved her sleeve and drew the needle back into her palm. Umbrella in hand, she stepped before the fallen panther, uncertain if it was a true spirit beast. She was about to investigate further when the young woman she had saved fell at her feet, pointing toward the dying warrior and babbling urgently in a language Yun Xi could not understand.
Though the words were foreign, Yun Xi understood enough. The girl wanted her to save the man.
Seeing Yun Xi hesitate, the girl fumbled desperately, pulling a golden gemstone from the cord around her neck. She pressed it into Yun Xi's hands, clearly offering it as payment.
The golden warrior rushed forward, grasping her wrists, unwilling to let her part with the gem.
Yun Xi raised a brow. She had not saved them seeking reward. She had only wanted to learn where she was. But with the barrier of language, their wariness toward her, and her own suspicion of them, it was difficult to bridge the gap.
So she cast a simple detection spell on the panther. No spiritual energy flowed within its body, yet its bones were etched with strange runes she could not decipher. Whether such markings were unique to this beast or common to all creatures here, she could not tell.
Deciding to seek answers elsewhere, Yun Xi turned and began walking away. She was nearly out of sight when the young woman once again blocked her path.
This time she said nothing. She simply forced the golden gemstone into Yun Xi's hand and looked up at her with pleading eyes.
The hammer-wielding man did not stop her this time, though the suspicion in his gaze remained.
Yun Xi turned the gemstone over in her palm, feeling the current of energy flowing within it. At last she nodded inwardly. She would help this once, and take the gem to study afterward.
In a flicker, she was at the side of the dying man. His face was pale, lips tinged blue, breath faint and shallow, life slipping away.
With a snap of her fingers, she sent a surge of spiritual power into his heart, stabilizing his pulse. Her eyes scanned his torn abdomen, then she summoned the Mystic Frost Needle again. Pinching a seal, she drew from its tail a thread of icy silk, fine as hair.
Under the anxious gaze of the girl and the injured man, Yun Xi knelt and began to stitch the wound closed.