Senior Brother, Save Me!

"My lord, you jest!" The Immortal General surnamed Zhuo froze, then hurriedly explained, "According to sect rules, how could a mere outer sect disciple like this subordinate shoulder the heavy responsibility of an Immortal Prefecture? This subordinate merely wishes to obtain a position as a Cavalry Archer, so that upon returning to the sect, I may receive a reward and have a chance to advance into the inner sect."

The woman did not answer. She merely stared at the Immortal General surnamed Zhuo until cold sweat seeped down his back.

After a long while, the woman finally said, "Cavalry Archer Chi has treated you well. Last time, he even recommended you before this Immortal Prefecture!"

The Immortal General surnamed Zhuo was taken aback, his face growing hot as he hastily said, "Immortal Prefecture Lord, this subordinate also holds Lord Cavalry Archer in the highest respect. It is only that the Cavalry Archer's third son..."

Before the Immortal General surnamed Zhuo could finish, the woman raised a hand and said, "I know. Cavalry Archer Chi's transfer is inevitable. Leaving aside the matter of his third son, he has been here for many years and should leave anyway. Rest assured, I understand your matter."

"Many thanks, Immortal Prefecture Lord!" The Immortal General surnamed Zhuo was overjoyed. After bowing in salute, he hurriedly flew away.

The woman's figure descended. Looking at the ceaseless glimmers of light within the pavilion, then raising her eyes to the Autumn Hair Moon hanging halfway across the sky, she sighed and flew away on her own.

Not long afterward, the woman flew back holding a crystal chip. Her Emanated Thought entered the chip as she confirmed its contents once more, then she said in surprise, "A Forbidden Technique was discovered near this Immortal Prefecture's garrison?? How strange. Could a spirit body in Yunmeng Marsh be cultivating a Forbidden Technique?"

With a wave of her hand, the crystal chip flew into the pavilion. Moments later, the shimmering light extinguished, and the chip flew back out. The woman's expression changed slightly when she saw it, and she murmured, "Why is it near the abandoned Spirit Reception Hall??? If it is there, then even if I do not wish to go, I must!"

Having said that, the woman did not dare delay. Taking the crystal chip, she departed. About half an hour later, a Flying Shuttle could vaguely be seen tearing through the air within a streak of light, heading directly toward Yunmeng Marsh.

How could Xiao Hua have known that he had stirred up trouble again? He raced nearly a thousand li, encountering quite a few immortal objects along the way. However, most of these immortal objects were too weak, so he branded them with the Xiao surname and stored them in his space. Feeling the pain from the ice thorns across his body growing ever more intense, Xiao Hua knew the Green Fruit's effects were about to fade. Thus, he took out several freshly picked, unknown Immortal Fruits from his space and ate them. Feeling their spiritual energy absorb directly in his mouth, Xiao Hua did not hesitate to activate his light escape once more.

When Xiao Hua emerged from the light and shadow, before he could even make out his surroundings, several deafening beast roars rang out. At the same time, an incomparably sharp gust of wind sprang up before his chest. Xiao Hua had no time to think. He hurriedly twisted his waist. With a light swish, agonizing pain burst from his chest. While still in midair, Xiao Hua lowered his head and saw that a huge chunk of his chest had been violently torn away! The surface of a scattered infant naturally differed from flesh and blood; no blood flowed out, only broken crystalline veins and twisted runes. Yet the pain did not lessen in the slightest. Under the dark green moonlight, it even felt as though countless tiny swords had stabbed deeply into the wound!

"Dammit!" Xiao Hua cursed through gritted teeth as he finally landed. Without taking time to inspect his surroundings, he hurriedly turned around. He saw an immortal beast nearly a hundred zhang tall, resembling a black panther, staring curiously at its own claw. Opposite the black panther stood another immortal beast of equal size, a khaki-colored bear-like immortal beast, its pair of reddened eyes fixed viciously upon him.

"Roar..." The black panther immortal beast suddenly came to its senses and let out a delighted growl. Opening its mouth, it generated a suction force and swallowed the crystalline substance torn from Xiao Hua's body. What was rare was that the black panther immortal beast even stretched out its tongue to lick its claw, looking as though it had not had its fill.

"Roar..." Before the black panther immortal beast could raise its head, the bear beast angrily opened its mouth and sprayed out a yellow beam of light, lunging straight at Xiao Hua as though he were its irreconcilable enemy.

"Are you kidding me?" Xiao Hua scratched his head and cried, "Could it be that you are cousins with that toad?"

The bear beast grew enraged at his words, and the panther beast turned its head as well. Almost simultaneously, with a roar, the panther beast extended all four limbs. Its massive body flew through the air as black flames spewed from its mouth and rushed toward Xiao Hua.

Seeing the two beasts attack at once, Xiao Hua knew the Ruyi Scepter would not be useful. He hurriedly waved both hands, taking out the Kunlun Mirror and Haotian Mirror simultaneously. Before he could activate them, he held them before himself.

Boom! Boom! Almost at the same instant, tremendous force crashed into the magical artifacts in Xiao Hua's hands. The force was so great that even Xiao Hua was shocked. His arms sank, and his entire body was sent flying!

Bang... Xiao Hua flew more than a hundred zhang before crashing into something soft.

Splat... A muffled sound came from behind him, and a stream of juice sprayed from his back, splashing all over Xiao Hua.

"What is this?" Smelling the sweet fragrance at his nose and mouth, Xiao Hua was about to turn back when, in the distance, the panther beast grew even more furious. Black halos appeared beneath its paws as it opened its jaws and lunged at him.

Xiao Hua hurriedly put away the Kunlun Mirror and Haotian Mirror. Just as he was about to take out the Ruyi Scepter, a heart-soothing coolness arose from his chest. Xiao Hua quickly lowered his head and saw pale green juice smeared over the spot on his chest where the panther beast had injured him. The juice rapidly seeped into his Nascent Soul Body, while fluorescent light spread over the surrounding surface. The wound visibly healed before his eyes!

"Excellent!" How could Xiao Hua not know what he had encountered? As he raised the Ruyi Scepter, his Heart God swept behind him and stored an object several zhang in size within his space. Golden threads covered the object, and between those threads were mottled markings that resembled ghostly faces. In his haste, Xiao Hua had no time to inspect it closely.

Bang... The Ruyi Scepter came down squarely upon the panther beast's raised left paw. Amid the clang of metal, the panther beast let out a miserable howl. Its left paw had clearly been smashed to pieces. Twisting its body, the panther beast swept its python-dragon-like tail over with a whirlwind. Just as Xiao Hua was about to meet it, the bear beast flew in from his left with a whoosh. Its enormous bear paw crashed downward. Xiao Hua did not doubt that even a small mountain would be beaten into collapse by this bear beast.

Xiao Hua did not dare be careless. His body drifted through the air, attempting to evade the panther tail, while the Ruyi Scepter in his hand slashed diagonally upward to meet the bear beast. Boom... The enraged bear beast suddenly lowered its upturned maw, spraying another yellow beam of light directly at Xiao Hua's chest! Meanwhile, the panther beast, though in midair, turned its head back like one gazing at the moon. With a whoosh, a pillar of black flame joined the bear beast's light beam in a pincer attack against Xiao Hua.

"Are... are these even immortal beasts?" Xiao Hua was astonished at the sight of such a coordinated assault. However, when he looked into the two beasts' eyes, he understood. The Thousand Demon Sacred Realm had Seven Great Saints. Though these two immortal beasts might not possess the strength of the Seven Great Saints, if they had lived long enough and knew how to cultivate, they would certainly possess a certain degree of intelligence. Their intelligence might not be weaker than that of ordinary cultivators!

Trapped in danger, Xiao Hua could not concern himself with anything else. His left hand swung the Ruyi Scepter down savagely toward the bear beast's paw, while his right hand waved. Rumble, rumble... Thunderous Might erupted. Immortal Arts were, after all, Immortal Arts. Although Xiao Hua lacked Immortal Power, thunderlight sprang up nearby and enveloped the area within several dozen zhang before him.

With a boom, the bear beast's paw was smashed inward. Amid flashes of lightning and crashing thunder, both the bear beast's yellow beam and the panther beast's black flames were crushed apart by the great hand of thunder. To Xiao Hua's frustration, however, the great hand of thunder was also shattered by the panther beast's tail!

A wave of weakness spread from his limbs. Xiao Hua knew that recklessly using Immortal Power had destabilized his Infant Body. Yet he also knew that this was the best opportunity. Gritting his teeth, he stepped with Misty Steps, slipping to the bear beast's side. Raising the Ruyi Scepter, he struck the bear beast's head with a smack!

This bear beast was unlike the earlier toad and the rest. Earth-yellow radiance scattered from its head, and thumb-sized runes spun within the light before blood finally burst forth!

After killing the bear beast, the panther beast realized something was wrong. Black light appeared beneath its paws, and it tried to flee like lightning!

"Grow, grow, grow..." Xiao Hua roared repeatedly. Fortunately, the Ruyi Scepter also recognized the voice of Xiao Hua's Nascent Soul. With a whoosh, the lengthened Ruyi Scepter smashed into the panther beast. Likewise, black qi wrapped around bean-sized runes and spread across the panther beast's entire body. Only then did the panther beast breathe its last.

"Hah!" Xiao Hua stood there and let out a long breath. A long-lost weakness in his bones and numbness in his muscles arose once again. He looked at the corpses of the two beasts, each comparable to a tribulation-transcending cultivator, his gaze complicated. He wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

After storing the two beasts in his space, Xiao Hua lowered his head and looked at his chest. The wound had almost healed, but the stabbing pain he had not felt during the fierce battle suddenly intensified. Xiao Hua raised his eyes to the high sky. The dark green moon still hung there, seeming never to have moved. He truly wished for the moon to set quickly and the sun to rise one moment sooner.

"Ah?" Just as Xiao Hua was about to withdraw his gaze, a hair-raising sensation suddenly arose within him. On a hill not far away, two lantern-like eyes were slowly and silently approaching. Had he not looked at the moon in reflection, he would likely never have seen them!

"Whoosh..." Seeing that Xiao Hua had discovered it, the owner of those lantern eyes suddenly sprang forth. Under the moonlight, Xiao Hua saw it clearly: it was another dark green panther beast, several hundred zhang in size!

Seeing fist-sized, coin-shaped runes covering the panther beast's body, with patches of black clouds beneath its paws, Xiao Hua immediately knew it was several times stronger than the earlier one when a powerful pressure appeared from nowhere as fierce light shot from its eyes!

"Good timing!" Evil rose from Xiao Hua's heart. Grasping the Ruyi Scepter, he roared, "Let you have a taste of Xiao's prowess as well!"

"Whoosh..." The panther beast was still far from Xiao Hua, yet it opened its mouth first. A whirlwind sprayed from its jaws, sweeping straight toward Xiao Hua.

Swish! As the vile wind came forth, it passed straight through his body. Xiao Hua felt an icy chill spread across his entire body. Not only did his limbs become weak, but ice abruptly formed within his chest and abdomen as well!

If he had possessed a fleshly body, Xiao Hua could naturally have activated protective golden light. But he was truly unfamiliar with this Nascent Soul Body. Alarmed, he urgently considered how to respond.

At that moment, hearty laughter came from afar, followed by the Guiding Emissary's voice. "As expected of an Ascended Immortal, as expected of such skillful methods. To have escaped all the way here in such a short time, this emissary truly admires you to the point of prostration!"

Xiao Hua's mind turned, and without hesitation, he shouted toward the sky, "Senior Brother, save me!"

As he shouted, Xiao Hua stepped with Misty Steps and actually charged toward the Guiding Emissary...

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