Life-and-Death Battle, Six Consecutive Slashes!

With the support of the Purple Cloud Wings, Mu Chen moved at incredible speed. He bent backward at the waist to evade the beast paw striking at him, then beat his Purple Cloud Wings fiercely. His speed surged once more as the Fire-Quenched Sword swiftly sliced across the ape-like magical beast's neck, brutally cutting more than half of it open.

Before Mu Chen could steady himself from the momentum carrying him forward, a magical wolf leaped up and swung its sharp claws straight at his head. Its bloodthirsty wolf eyes brimmed with cruelty, and its uneven fangs parted slightly, releasing a thick stench.

Gritting his teeth, Mu Chen held the Fire-Quenched Sword horizontally before him and blocked the magical wolf's pounce. Borrowing the wolf's force, he shot backward at high speed—but two magical beasts appeared behind him, both savage and vicious.

Mu Chen was extremely glad that he had cultivated the Purple Cloud Wings. They were far more useful than any movement Dou skill. At the critical moment, the Purple Cloud Wings beat rapidly, carrying him seven or eight meters into the air and avoiding the fatal attacks from behind.

"Die!"

Mu Chen hurled the Fire-Quenched Sword from his hand. It became a streak of fiery light and, with a puff, pierced through one magical beast's skull.

Weaving left and right to evade the other magical beasts' encirclement, Mu Chen dove down swiftly, pulled the Fire-Quenched Sword from the beast's head, and pressed his lips together. Six magical beasts remained on the field.

Mu Chen had thought that killing two magical beasts would make these creatures come to their senses and realize he was not someone to provoke. Yet he had not expected the blood flowing from the dead beasts to stimulate them even more, awakening their bloodthirsty instincts. The two wolf-type magical beasts were especially affected; they became increasingly vicious, and their attacks grew fiercer and fiercer.

Although these magical beasts could not fly, their physical strength was not something humans could match. With a single leap, they could easily pounce more than ten meters high—enough to threaten Mu Chen.

Not wanting to draw the attention of the flying magical beasts in the sky, Mu Chen kept his flight altitude at around seven or eight meters, never rising beyond the cover of the trees' branches and leaves.

Mu Chen did not continue charging recklessly. He gave the remaining six magical beasts a cold look, then turned and flew deeper into the forest.

None of these magical beasts were ordinary second-tier magical beasts. An ordinary Dou Master without sufficiently powerful trump cards would likely struggle to deal with even one of them.

Awooo!

The two magical wolves followed close behind. Once these bloodthirsty creatures held a grudge, they clung on like leeches and could not be shaken off. Mu Chen's "escape" in particular made their not-too-bright minds believe that he feared them, so they pursued him relentlessly.

To magical beasts, human flesh and blood were equally nourishing, capable of increasing their strength.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Behind the magical wolves, two clumsy-looking black bears followed as well. These magical beasts were also extremely vengeful, and they were the strongest among the beasts present, comparable to six- or seven-star Dou Masters.

"Four magical beasts remain. The other two didn't follow—they must be gnawing on the dead beasts' corpses. That was within expectations. With two fewer magical beasts, my chances of winning have increased considerably."

Flying ahead, Mu Chen suddenly circled around a large tree, looped back, and thrust the Fire-Quenched Sword straight at one magical wolf.

To Mu Chen, these two agile, swift creatures were the first targets he needed to eliminate.

However, this magical wolf was quite cunning. Wolf-type magical beasts were naturally known for their agility. It easily dodged Mu Chen's sword, then kicked off a large tree and used the rebound to pounce at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen gripped his sword with both hands. Fire Attribute Dou Qi within his body flowed into the Fire-Quenched Sword, activating the Magic Core's amplification effect. The pale-red blade nearly turned into a red-hot branding iron as he brought it down upon the pouncing magical wolf with the force of splitting a mountain.

"Slash!"

Mu Chen swung down with all his strength, chopping off the magical wolf's outstretched claws, splitting open its head, and cleaving its body into two halves.

Beast blood sprayed everywhere. Warm blood splattered all over Mu Chen, and his face was covered in scarlet, foul-smelling fluid, making his expression look exceptionally savage.

After killing that magical beast, Mu Chen's pupils contracted. He hurriedly used Thousands-Pound Fall and dropped to the ground. Above him, a magical wolf flashed past. Its sharp claws came within an inch or two of Mu Chen's face, and the fierce wind raised by its swift passage made his cheeks sting.

If Mu Chen's reaction had been any slower, that pounce might very well have taken his life.

Seeing the scene before him, Mu Chen thought, What a chance! The Fire-Quenched Sword in his hand shot straight above his head and plunged into the magical wolf's abdominal cavity. Carried by inertia, the wolf's belly was sliced open by the sharp blade, spilling wolf blood and internal organs all over the ground.

Looking at the dead magical wolf, Mu Chen did not even have time to breathe a sigh of relief before the two black bears attacked him from both sides. Their massive bear paws were larger than Mu Chen's head.

Even with the Dou Qi Veil reinforced by Wood Hardening covering his body, Mu Chen had no confidence that this defense could withstand the black bears' brutal assault, creatures renowned for their strength.

At the critical moment, Mu Chen's mind became calm and clear. He fell straight backward onto the ground, then rolled with the momentum, evading the black bears' pincer attack in an extremely bedraggled manner.

The blood flowing over Mu Chen's face had long obscured his crazed expression. At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind: kill the two magical beasts before him!

Slapping one hand against the ground, Mu Chen flipped several times and landed half-kneeling. With an angry roar, he drove the Fire-Quenched Sword straight into one black bear's stomach. Twisting his wrist, he rotated and stirred the blade, causing warm beast blood to spray out.

Letting go of the Fire-Quenched Sword, Mu Chen formed palms with both hands and viciously struck the hilt. The bloodstained sword forcibly pierced through the black bear's body. Its crimson tip emerged from the other side as streams of blood flowed out in a steady trickle.

However, due to his tremendous exhaustion, Mu Chen ultimately failed to evade the last black bear's claw strike. The Purple Cloud Wings and Dou Qi Veil were forcibly shattered, while blood poured from his left shoulder. A horrifying wound appeared there, and Mu Chen felt his entire left arm go numb.

With a muffled groan, Mu Chen staggered backward. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes twitched slightly from the pain. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his cheeks and fell with a patter onto the soft ground.

Wiping the blood from his mouth with his right hand, Mu Chen coldly watched the roaring black bear charging toward him. His eyes burned with fury. This was the first time he had suffered such a severe injury.

With a flick of his right hand, Mu Chen directly unleashed his trump card, the Xuan Huang Flame. The dark-yellow flames were like a cloud of fire as they swept over the berserk black bear and instantly set its entire body ablaze.

Under the terrifying heat of the Heavenly Flames, the black bear struggled for only a few seconds before being burned into a pile of ashes.

Mu Chen dropped onto the corpse of the other black bear, hissing through his teeth.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Mu Chen tore open his sleeve. When the cloth stuck to the wound was ripped away, it tugged at the injury and caused even more sweat to stream down his cheeks.

Maintaining his Wood Attribute, Mu Chen took a white jade bottle from his backpack and gave a bitter smile. He then poured the hemostatic medicine he had refined the previous night over the wound and swallowed a healing pill. Before long, a layer of scab formed over the wound on his left shoulder.

His cultivation technique circulated as Dou Qi surged rapidly through his body, accelerating the pill's medicinal effect. Combined with the Wood Attribute's restorative power, it greatly hastened the wound's recovery.

Ten minutes later, Mu Chen finally felt sensation returning to his left arm. Still, judging from the state of it, he would need at least half a day to recover completely.

"Fortunately, the Purple Cloud Wings and Dou Qi Veil weakened the blow together, so it didn't cause a serious bone fracture. Otherwise, even if I treated the injury with all my strength, it would take at least three days.

"Luckily, I had nothing to do last night and refined some pills. Otherwise, today would have been dangerous."

After simply binding his wound, Mu Chen pulled the Fire-Quenched Sword from the black bear's body, split open the heads of several dead magical beasts on the ground, and stored their Magic Cores in his backpack. He looked around the nearby forest, rubbed his forehead, and ended up grabbing a sticky mixture of sweat and beast blood.

"I was too busy running earlier. I have no idea where I've ended up now. But I should be beyond the outer region, right?"

Mu Chen quickly left the area. The magical beasts' corpses and the bloody smell lingering on the ground were especially attractive to other magical beasts. The battle had ended some time ago; if he did not leave soon, he might run into more magical beasts.

What Mu Chen could not see was that atop a nearby tree canopy stood a vague azure figure, silently watching him depart. In the forest below, the corpses of many magical beasts lay scattered in every direction.

"With the cultivation of an early-stage Dou Master, he encountered the siege of eight second-tier magical beasts of mid-grade or above, yet slew six of them in one battle. He is only around seventeen years old, about the same age as that girl Yanran, but his strength far surpasses hers.

"He possesses both Fire and Wood Attributes. He is good material.

"What a pity. I still need to trade with the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King for Purple Spirit Crystal. Otherwise, I would certainly bring him into the Misty Cloud Sect."