A Hard-Won Victory!

"Jiang Lin!"

At the sight of this, Little Dragon Girl and Xiao Wu could no longer sit still. They rushed straight to Jiang Lin's side, their eyes full of worry.

"Cough, cough. Looks like it really was a bit too much, but its strength isn't much greater than mine."

Jiang Lin rose from the ground, his face pale, then waved a hand at Little Dragon Girl and Xiao Wu to reassure them.

"Sister Long, Xiao Wu, thank you for worrying about me. But I'm fine. Step aside for now. I have to personally obtain this Netherworld Leopard's Soul Ring!"

"Jiang Lin, do you really not need me to step in?"

Little Dragon Girl hesitated.

"Don't worry, Sister Long. I still have a trump card I haven't used. Just make sure it doesn't escape."

"Ah, all right then. Jiang Lin, if you can't hold on, you have to tell me."

"Mm, I will."

With that, Jiang Lin gripped the King's Power Sword again and walked to a spot not far from the Netherworld Leopard.

"Awroo!"

Although it feared the aura emanating from Little Dragon Girl, seeing Jiang Lin dare to approach again, the Netherworld Leopard's body blurred and vanished once more, hiding within the surrounding shadows as it searched for an opportunity to strike.

"Heh, I won't let you succeed so easily this time."

Seeing the Netherworld Leopard attempting the same trick again, the King's Power Sword in Jiang Lin's hand immediately bloomed with dazzling golden light as he unleashed the King's Power Sword Intent.

Countless dense, tiny sword energies detached from the King's Power Sword, forming a white sphere of swords that radiated icy coldness and protected Jiang Lin within.

After observing for a moment, the hidden Netherworld Leopard did not attack directly as it had before. Instead, it moved several meters in front of Jiang Lin and let out a fierce roar.

A soundwave containing terrifying power immediately swept toward Jiang Lin!

Not only that, the soundwave carried bits of gravel and dirt along its path. As it neared Jiang Lin, the dirt and stones mixed within it condensed into a massive stone ball several meters wide and smashed viciously into the sword energy barrier around him.

Bang!

Without any surprise, the stone ball was shredded by the sword energy. Immediately afterward came the soundwave attack.

Feeling that soul-shaking roar, Jiang Lin's expression instantly turned grave, and he hurriedly covered his ears.

Boom—

A deafening explosion rang out, and a huge depression appeared in the middle of the sword energy barrier surrounding Jiang Lin. Fortunately, the barrier was not shattered outright and barely managed to block the terrifying soundwave.

Seeing this, the Netherworld Leopard's pupils contracted slightly, and it prepared to disappear into the shadows once more.

Jiang Lin would not let such a good opportunity slip away. His face was filled with icy severity.

The Pure Yang Flame in his hand immediately transformed into a fire dragon blazing with terrifying heat, baring its claws as it charged at the Netherworld Leopard!

"Awroo!"

Sensing the dreadful aura within the fire dragon, the Netherworld Leopard naturally had no intention of clashing head-on and immediately fled backward.

"Heh, you had such a great time beating me up just now. Now you want to run? Too late!"

"Go!"

Jiang Lin fiercely launched the King's Power Sword from his hand. At the same time, the sword energy barrier before him returned to surround the blade, transforming into a cold, sharp sword light that pursued the Netherworld Leopard alongside the fire dragon.

"Awroo—"

Feeling the terrifying presence drawing closer from behind, the Netherworld Leopard knew it could not continue like this. Otherwise, it would sooner or later be caught.

So it instantly changed directions and actually charged back toward Jiang Lin!

Clearly, it intended to capture the leader first—kill Jiang Lin before anything else.

"Heh, I was prepared for that."

A sneer appeared on Jiang Lin's face. Another cluster of Pure Yang Flame emerged in his left hand and transformed into a fire dragon that guarded him from the front.

However, the pale golden light on this fire dragon was noticeably fainter. Jiang Lin's cultivation was indeed too low, and the Soul Power in his body was simply insufficient to support the formation of another complete Pure Yang Flame.

Even so, it was enough to barely hold back the Netherworld Leopard.

The next moment, when the Netherworld Leopard came within ten meters of Jiang Lin, the second fire dragon immediately coiled around it.

At this, black currents of air instantly surfaced around the Netherworld Leopard's beast claws as it slammed them directly onto the fire dragon's head!

"Heh, worthy of a Millennium Soul Beast. That one strike alone scattered part of the fire dragon's body."

"Still, your time to die is coming soon!"

Jiang Lin muttered quietly as he watched the second fire dragon continuously disperse and reform.

As time quietly passed, the second fire dragon was finally completely scattered by the Netherworld Leopard and could no longer reform. At that moment, the first fire dragon and the King's Power Sword shadow, which had been relentlessly pursuing it, finally arrived and directly entangled the Netherworld Leopard in battle!

This time, the Netherworld Leopard could no longer remain as relaxed as before. In just a short while, all the fur on its body was burned away by the Pure Yang Flame. Moreover, four or five savage sword wounds appeared across its exposed skin.

Although the Netherworld Leopard, as a Millennium Soul Beast, possessed extremely powerful regenerative abilities, it could only heal superficial wounds. To recover from internal injuries, it had to constantly feed and absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

The sword energy surrounding the King's Power Sword happened to counter the Netherworld Leopard in this regard. Countless tiny sword energies continuously invaded its body through those sword wounds.

In only a short time, under the combined assault of the King's Power Sword, the fire dragon, and the sword energy, the Netherworld Leopard's aura rapidly weakened.

But Jiang Lin was not faring much better either. The manifestation of the King's Power Sword and Pure Yang Flame depended on his Soul Power expenditure. By now, less than a tenth of the Soul Power in his body remained. At most, he could sustain the consumption of the two Martial Souls for another three minutes or so.

"Awroo!"

As it felt death drawing ever closer, the Netherworld Leopard completely lost the will to continue fighting.

A humanlike look of pained reluctance appeared in its eyes. Then it opened its mouth and spat out a huge mass of black mist so dense it was nearly solid. With a flash, it completely vanished from Jiang Lin's sight.

Not only that, even the King's Power Sword and the fire dragon seemed unable to catch its trace through the obstruction of the black mist. They could only search aimlessly in every direction.

Seeing this, Jiang Lin immediately looked toward Little Dragon Girl in the distance.

"Sister Long, the Netherworld Leopard is trying to escape. Stop it!"

Little Dragon Girl merely nodded slightly and summoned the Frost Dragon Soul. With a thought, snowflakes began to drift from the sky, and endless cold instantly enveloped the black mist.

In the blink of an eye, a weakened figure was forced to reveal itself from within. It was the Netherworld Leopard.

"Hmph, running away? Why don't you keep running?"

With a wave of Jiang Lin's hand, the King's Power Sword and Pure Yang Flame flew back into his grasp. He then strode directly before the Netherworld Leopard.

"Roar!"

The Netherworld Leopard's eyes were filled with unwillingness and hatred as it looked at Jiang Lin. It wanted to attack again, but there was no longer enough Soul Power in its body to support its movements.

Helplessly, the Netherworld Leopard could only glare viciously at Jiang Lin and roar threateningly, hoping to frighten him away.