Battle of the Magical Beasts

The three sixth-tier Magical Beasts faced one another in a triangular formation, greed and hostility filling their eyes, yet none of them dared to make the first move lightly.

Each wanted to find the Pill's hiding place first and reap the rewards without effort.

Inside the cave, Yun Yun listened to the increasingly close roars outside and nervously clenched the hem of her clothes. "They seem to have discovered this place..."

Xiao Peng tucked the Jade Bottle into his robes, then raised a hand and patted Yun Yun's shoulder. His voice was steady. "Don't be afraid. They won't be able to find us. For the time being, we'll stay here."

Those three Magical Beasts would not leave so easily. He and Yun Yun could only hide here and wait until they departed.

Yun Yun nodded, but her fingertips were still icy cold.

She could clearly hear the rustling of the giant python's scales scraping against tree trunks outside the cave, as well as the shrill cries of the Blood Eagle's wings slicing through the air as it circled overhead. Every sound lashed at her nerves like a whip.

Even if her strength recovered, there was no way she could survive against those three Magical Beasts.

Yun Yun sighed and glanced outside. "Now, I only hope they leave soon."

The moment she finished speaking, Yun Yun's stomach growled.

The ill-timed rumble was especially clear in the silent cave. Yun Yun's cheeks instantly flushed red, and she instinctively shrank back behind the stone wall, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Xiao Peng was briefly stunned, then a trace of amusement flashed through his eyes. He rummaged through his Storage Ring and took out an oil-paper packet. When he opened it, several amber-colored candied fruits spilled out, along with a few neatly pressed squares of dried meat.

The fruits were coated in glittering sugar frost, and up close, their sweet fragrance was unmistakable. The dried meat gleamed with a sauce-colored sheen of oil, looking satisfyingly chewy at a glance.

"I bought these in town earlier. Want some?" Xiao Peng handed her the oil-paper packet.

"Th... thank you," Yun Yun said softly.

She picked up a candied fruit and gently bit into it. Sweet juice instantly melted across her tongue, carrying a faint tartness that perfectly eased the anxious emptiness in her stomach.

The dried meat was wonderfully chewy, its salty fragrance laced with a faint smoky flavor. It had clearly been carefully smoked.

Xiao Peng took a piece of dried meat for himself and slowly chewed it, his gaze resting on the flickering flames.

"Good grief, three sixth-tier Magical Beasts. What kind of treasure has appeared here?"

Xiao Yan stared at the three sixth-tier Magical Beasts in the distance and spoke in utter shock.

Earlier, he had noticed the strange phenomenon between heaven and earth here and had come with Old Yao to see what was happening. He had not expected to find three Magical Beasts.

Old Yao's soul form floated by Xiao Yan's shoulder, a glint flashing through his cloudy eyes. "To draw three sixth-tier Magical Beasts into a standoff, and cause a phenomenon between heaven and earth..."

At that moment, he thought of one possibility: someone nearby had refined Pills, producing a Sixth-grade Pill that caused the phenomenon.

Old Yao rubbed his illusory fingers together, lowering his voice to an extreme. "Only the birth of a Sixth-grade Pill can trigger such a phenomenon. And judging by how agitated these three Magical Beasts are, this Pill is far from ordinary."

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, and even his breathing quickened. "A Sixth-grade Pill? Then wouldn't that mean..."

"Don't be rash." Old Yao tapped Xiao Yan on the forehead. "Anyone capable of refining a Sixth-grade Pill will not be weak, and they must have quite a few trump cards. Haven't you noticed? These three Magical Beasts are circling around the outskirts. They haven't found the person at all."

Following Old Yao's gaze, Xiao Yan indeed saw the three Magical Beasts pacing restlessly through the forest. Their claws and scales constantly scraped at the ground, yet they never charged in any fixed direction.

"Could the person refining Pills be hiding?" Xiao Yan lowered his voice, quietly gathering Dou Qi at his fingertips. "Is there anywhere nearby that could be concealed?"

Old Yao's soul form drifted into the air, his cloudy eyes sweeping the surroundings before finally stopping at a mountain wall concealed by vines. "The energy fluctuations there are a little strange. It seems to be hidden by a formation. Ordinary Magical Beasts can't detect it, but it can't fool this old man's soul perception."

Looking in the direction Old Yao pointed, Xiao Yan saw that the mountain wall blended perfectly with its surroundings. If Old Yao had not mentioned it, he would never have noticed anything unusual.

Xiao Yan's heart stirred. "Could the person refining Pills be hiding behind that?"

"Most likely." Old Yao landed back on Xiao Yan's shoulder. "That formation isn't top-tier, but it excels at concealment. It was clearly set up temporarily. The people inside evidently don't want trouble either."

As they spoke, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King below suddenly flew into a rage. Purple Dou Qi exploded like a fountain and slammed viciously toward the Black Scaled Giant Python, which was trying to circle behind it.

The giant python cried out in sharp pain, its enormous body suddenly coiling around the Lion King's hind leg. Venom dripped from its fangs, corroding sizzling pits into the ground.

Seeing this, the Blood Eagle beat its wings, and several blood-red feather blades shot through the air, heading straight for the injured parts of both beasts. It clearly intended to profit from their conflict.

"They're fighting!" Xiao Yan's eyes gleamed. "Should we go take a look while they're distracted?"

Old Yao shook his head. "Wait a little longer. These three Magical Beasts are evenly matched. They won't decide the victor so quickly. Besides, since the people inside can set up a formation, they must have prepared something else. Rushing closer will only bring trouble upon ourselves."

Xiao Yan suppressed the agitation in his heart and watched the three Magical Beasts below fight with increasing ferocity.

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's claws tore open the giant python's scales, while the Black Scaled Giant Python's venom corroded the Lion King's mane. The Blood Eagle's feather blades added several bone-deep wounds to both of them, and blood stained a wide stretch of forest red.

"That Blood Eagle is quite clever, always picking up easy gains," Xiao Yan said quietly.

Yet his gaze could not help drifting toward the mountain wall hidden by the formation.

He could sense faint energy fluctuations coming from behind the formation, as if someone were adjusting it. Clearly, the people inside were also watching the battle outside.

Old Yao gave a soft snort. "While the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole waits behind. It thinks it is the oriole, but perhaps someone even more ruthless is waiting behind it."

The moment his words fell, Xiao Peng inside the cave suddenly opened his eyes, his fingers making a subtle hand seal.

A faint ripple spread across the Formation Light Screen at the cave entrance, deflecting the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's stray Dou Qi strike. At the same time, it completely blocked Xiao Yan and Old Yao's prying.

"They've come..." Xiao Peng muttered quietly to himself.

He had not expected Xiao Yan and Old Yao to arrive at this time.

Thinking of how they acted in the novel, he felt it was perfectly normal for the two of them to come here.

The only thing that puzzled Xiao Peng was where the other two sixth-tier Magical Beasts had come from.

He remembered that there had only been one sixth-tier Magical Beast in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, hadn't there?

Xiao Peng took out several formation flags, intending to reinforce the formation so that those Magical Beasts would not accidentally break into it.

With a flick of his finger, three formation flags shot like meteors into the cracks of the mountain wall. The runes on the flags suddenly lit up, weaving together with the original Formation Light Screen into a denser web of energy.

The air outside the cave seemed to freeze. Even the roars of the Magical Beasts sounded as though they were muffled behind a thick layer of cotton, becoming blurry and indistinct.

Yun Yun asked Xiao Peng, "Xiao Peng, is everything all right now?"