The young man's words left everyone looking dejected. They had spent quite some time trying to capture the Thunder Swallowing Beast alive.
After their first encounter, they had wounded it, and it had immediately started running for its life. They had never dared get too close, worried that if they pressed it too hard, they would drive it into a corner and make it detonate its Inner Core. That would leave them worse off than before.
But they had never imagined that after deliberately letting it get some distance ahead, hoping it would think they had given up the chase and let down its guard, someone would cut in and snatch it away. Even that thunderstorm had been part of their plan.
Once the Thunder Swallowing Beast had absorbed enough power, it would surely be eager to refine the thunderbolts. Then they could seize the opportunity and capture it in one fell swoop.
But just as they had caught up, someone had inexplicably cut in and stolen their prize. The feeling of gaining something only to lose it again was truly hard to bear.
"Was all that effort for nothing? Not necessarily." A strange smile suddenly appeared on the woman's face. Her gaze burned as she looked toward the narrow pass where Bi Fan was hiding, a hint of complexity in her eyes. "You've been hiding for so long. Are you still not planning to come out?"
At her words, everyone instinctively turned to look where her gaze had settled. Bi Fan, hidden in the shadows, narrowed his eyes. After a brief silence, he strode out openly.
"You?" The Wuji Palace disciples all cried out in surprise when they saw him. They were quite familiar with him, the man whose name had spread far and wide in the Heavenly Emperor