The forest rushed past in streaks of green and bronze as Yao Xuan sprinted between ancient trees. The ground trembled beneath him—heavy, furious footfalls pounding closer with every breath. A dozen massive predators were in pursuit, their rage loud enough to shake the earth itself.
Yet his heartbeat stayed steady.
Keep the pace. Just far enough. Let them smell hope and lose themselves to it.
Blood energy stirred beneath his skin, the first layer of his nine-colored circulation glowing faintly like an unseen aurora. With it came a subtle bend in space, a quiet cooperation from the world itself. Each step carried him a little farther than it should have. Each turn was cleaner, sharper. Even without fully activating it, the Ancestral Dragon Shattering Void Step turned him into a shadow slipping through the leaves.
Behind him, the lead Flame Lion roared—a sound thick with promise and bloodlust. Adult males thundered after it, their demonic flames throwing violent, flickering light across the forest floor.
Yao Xuan allowed himself a faint, cold smile."Exactly as planned."
He reined in his speed just enough to keep them close. Heated breaths, blazing eyes—he made sure none of it faded from his spiritual sense. The chase widened into a long arc, carving a great circle through the Spirit Ascension Platform's simulated wilderness. He wasn't running away.
He was repositioning.
When the loop finally closed, the flow of the hunt shifted. Yao Xuan angled back toward the original clearing. Ahead, weaker presences clustered together—the lionesses and cubs, left behind. Behind him, separated by distance and fury, the males continued their pursuit.
"The harvest begins," he murmured.
The calm in his eyes sharpened into something lethal.
He stopped holding back.
Blood energy surged. Space buckled. His body shot forward, leaving behind a phantom that vanished in a wash of flame. He became a nine-colored streak cutting straight toward the heart of the pride.
The lionesses reacted instantly. Maternal instinct flared hotter than reason. Led by a thousand-year-old female, they spread out, flames rising from their manes as they charged in unison—claws, fangs, and fire aimed to tear him apart.
Yao Xuan never slowed."Brave," he said evenly. "But not enough."
To his senses, their auras flickered like candles before a roaring blaze. Only the leader mattered.
His gaze locked onto her."Let's begin. Ancestral Dragon Sky-Splitting Strike."
The first purple soul ring ignited.
Power surged from his core, flooding into his right arm. His hand blurred, fingers stretching slightly as nine-colored light condensed around them—beautiful, terrifying, impossibly sharp. He met the lioness's leap head-on.
Bang!
Claw struck Dragon Claw midair. Flame crashed against sovereign draconic force. For a heartbeat, they resisted each other—
Then came the crack.
The Sky-Splitting Strike's Absolute Armor Penetration tore through her defense. Fire-infused claws shattered like brittle stone.
Yao Xuan's strike didn't stop.
It pierced through fur and bone, drove past the sternum, and found the heart beating fiercely within.
Bang.
The sound was dull. Final.
Ancestral dragon energy erupted inside her body, ending everything in a silent instant. The light vanished from her eyes. Her flaming form fell lifelessly to the ground, sending up ash and dust.
[Slayed 1 Thousand-Year Flame Lion. Gained 22 Gold Evolution Points.]
The system's voice barely registered. What mattered was the flood of rich purple spiritual energy streaming into him, eagerly absorbed by the Ancestral Dragon Soul Spirit coiled within his soul sea. It trembled, growing stronger.
Yao Xuan landed lightly and surveyed the clearing. Leaderless lionesses froze. Cubs cried out. His expression held no cruelty—only inevitability.
"Your turn."
What followed wasn't a battle. It was a harvest.
Without their millennial anchor, the hundred-year soul beasts stood no chance. His movements became a blur—dragon-clawed strikes, spatial flashes, precise blows that ended lives cleanly and efficiently. In moments, the clearing fell silent, transformed from a resting ground into a testament of overwhelming strength.
[Slay 16 Flame Lions. Gain 195 Gold Evolution Points.][Completed Temporary Mission: Slay the First Stage of Flame Lions (Second Stage Progress: 18/20). Gain 50 Gold Evolution Points.]
System chimes echoed pleasantly, but the real reward was the surge of power. Streams of purple light poured into him, causing his soul spirit to thrum and expand, its cultivation leaping forward with tangible momentum.
Then—
Hatred arrived.
It rolled into the clearing like a wall of heat and fury.
The male lions burst from the forest, skidding to a halt as they took in the carnage—their mates, their offspring, all gone. The flames around their bodies flared violently, shifting from orange to searing white. Their roars were no longer just rage, but grief so deep it promised annihilation.
Every bloodshot eye fixed on Yao Xuan.
"These ones are troublesome," he muttered, already gauging his condition. The chase and slaughter had taken their toll. He wasn't drained—but facing twelve enraged thousand-year soul beasts like this would be suicide."…Time to invest."
He reached inward.
[Replenishing blood energy and soul power requires 50 Gold Evolution Points. Restore?]
The cost stung. But power spent was power earned again."Yes."
The Points vanished. Warmth surged through his body, flooding meridians and muscles alike. Fatigue dissolved. His soul sea flared bright once more, nine-colored energy roaring back to life.
Peak condition.
Just in time.
"ROAR!"
The largest lion—mane like molten lava—threw back its head and screamed. The pack moved as one. Heat warped the air as dozens of fireballs formed and launched, overlapping into a storm meant to erase everything in the clearing.
Yao Xuan smiled faintly."Predictable."
As the inferno fell, he vanished.
Fully activating the Ancestral Dragon Shattering Void Step, his body fractured and reappeared far away, leaving only a fading afterimage. Fireballs struck empty ground, detonating in deafening succession. The earth buckled. Trees vanished. A firestorm bloomed, scouring the land bare.
Yao Xuan stood beyond the worst of it, hot wind tearing at his clothes.
Impressive power.Poor execution.
Across the scorched clearing, he met the gaze of the Flame Lion leader.
The hunt wasn't over.
It was just beginning.
Your turn to chase, his eyes seemed to say.My turn to win.