A Hard-Won Victory!

"Jiang Lin!"

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

"Cough, cough. It seems I was indeed pushing myself a little too hard, but it wasn't that much stronger than me."

Jiang Lin's face was pale as he rose from the ground. He then waved a hand at Little Dragon Girl and Xiao Wu, reassuring them.

"Dragon Sister, Xiao Wu, thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine. Step back for now. I have to obtain this Netherworld Leopard's Soul Ring myself!"

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

Little Dragon Girl hesitated.

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

"Sigh, all right then. Jiang Lin, if you can't hold on, you must tell me."

"Mm, I will."

With that, Jiang Lin gripped the King's Power Sword once more and approached the Netherworld Leopard.

"Awoo!"

Although it feared Little Dragon Girl's aura, seeing Jiang Lin dare to approach it again, the Netherworld Leopard's body blurred and vanished once more, concealing itself 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 attempt the same trick again, the King's Power Sword in Jiang Lin's hand burst forth with dazzling golden light. Jiang Lin directly unleashed the King's Power Sword Intent.

Countless tiny sword qi then detached from the King's Power Sword, forming a white sphere of swords that radiated chilling frost as it shielded Jiang Lin within.

After observing for a moment, the Netherworld Leopard lurking in the shadows did not attack directly as it had before. Instead, it stopped several meters in front of Jiang Lin and suddenly let out a deafening roar.

A shockwave containing terrifying power immediately surged toward Jiang Lin!

Not only that, the shockwave swept up fragments of stone and dirt along the way. As it neared Jiang Lin, the mud and rocks caught within it gathered into a massive stone ball several meters wide and smashed viciously into the sword qi barrier around him.

"Bang!"

Without any surprise, the stone ball was shredded by the sword qi, followed immediately by the sonic shockwave.

Feeling that roar, enough to make one's soul tremble, Jiang Lin's expression turned grave as he hurriedly covered his ears.

"Boom—"

A deafening explosion rang out, and a huge dent appeared in the center of the sword qi barrier surrounding Jiang Lin. Fortunately, the barrier was not shattered outright and barely managed to block the terrifying sonic attack.

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

Jiang Lin naturally would not let such a good opportunity slip away, his face turning cold.

The Pure Yang Flame in his hand immediately transformed into a fire dragon containing terrifying heat. Baring its claws, it charged toward the Netherworld Leopard!

"Awoo!"

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

"Heh, you had so much fun beating me up just now. Now you want to run? Too late!"

"Go!"

Jiang Lin violently hurled the King's Power Sword from his hand. At the same time, the sword qi barrier before him returned to the King's Power Sword, transforming into a cold sword beam that pursued the Netherworld Leopard alongside the fire dragon.

"Awoo—"

Feeling the terrifying aura closing in from behind, the Netherworld Leopard knew it could not continue like this, or it would sooner or later be caught.

So it instantly changed direction and charged straight at Jiang Lin again!

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

"Heh, I was already prepared for that."

A cold smile appeared on Jiang Lin's face. Another mass of Pure Yang Flame appeared in his left hand, transforming into a fire dragon that guarded him from the front.

However, the pale golden glow on this fire dragon was much fainter. Jiang Lin's cultivation was simply too low, and the soul power within him was no longer enough 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.

Seeing this, black currents of energy emerged from the Netherworld Leopard's claws as it slapped down directly at the fire dragon's head!

"Heh, it truly is a Millennium Soul Beast. Just that one strike scattered part of the fire dragon's body."

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

Jiang Lin murmured softly as he watched the second fire dragon continuously collapse and reform.

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

This time, the Netherworld Leopard could no longer handle things as easily as before. Within moments, all the fur on its body had been burned away by the Pure Yang Flame. Moreover, four or five savage sword wounds appeared across its exposed skin.

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

The sword qi surrounding the King's Power Sword happened to restrain the Netherworld Leopard in this regard. Countless tiny sword qi seeped continuously into its body through those sword wounds.

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

However, Jiang Lin was not faring well either. The King's Power Sword and Pure Yang Flame both relied on consuming his soul power to manifest. By now, less than ten percent of the soul power in Jiang Lin's body remained, enough to sustain the two Martial Souls for at most another three minutes.

"Awoo!"

As death drew ever closer, the Netherworld Leopard no longer had any desire to continue fighting.

A painfully human expression of reluctance appeared in its eyes. It then opened its mouth and spat out a huge mass of incomparably dense black mist. 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 detect it through the black mist. They could only search around like headless flies.

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

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

Little Dragon Girl merely nodded before summoning the Frost Dragon Soul. With a thought, snowflakes began drifting down from the sky, and endless cold instantly enveloped that mass of black mist.

In the blink of an eye, a weakened figure was forced out of the mist. It was the Netherworld Leopard.

"Hmph, running away? Why aren't you continuing to run?"

Jiang Lin beckoned with his hand, and the King's Power Sword and Pure Yang Flame flew back into his grasp. He then strode directly toward the Netherworld Leopard.

"Roar!"

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

Helplessly, the Netherworld Leopard could only glare fiercely at Jiang Lin and let out a threatening roar, hoping to scare him away.