"Meow?!"
"Neigh?!"
"Cha!!"
Faced with the sudden turn of events, all three Contract Beasts' expressions changed.
To them, Xu Ran's safety was every bit as important as their own.
And right now, the aura erupting from the long saber was directed at Xu Ran.
"Don't panic!"
Xu Ran immediately gave a low shout, followed by a muffled groan.
The force within the saber surged into his body.
He felt excruciating pain, as though his body were being torn apart. Amid his daze, an image gradually became clear in his mind.
It was a powerful human whose face he could not make out. A terrifying aura surged around the figure, instinctively filling Xu Ran with a fear that kept him from looking directly at him.
Clutched tightly in the man's hand was an utterly ordinary long saber.
Aside from being newer, it was no different from the one Xu Ran currently held.
Next, Xu Ran saw what the giant beast's remains had looked like in life.
The mountain-sized beast, wrapped in lightning and exuding a terrifying aura, fled in panic upon seeing the powerful human. The man merely raised his saber and delivered a downward slash.
What a breathtaking slash it was. Even through an image separated from him by the passage of time, Xu Ran could still feel its sharpness rushing toward him, as though that single strike would shatter heaven and earth. The mountaintop below was instantly cleaved in two.
"Ngh..."
Xu Ran let out another muffled groan. The increasingly intense pain throughout his body made it impossible to keep watching, and he could only release his tight grip on the saber.
Unfortunately, he had not seen what happened next, and did not know why that powerful man had left this saber here.
He shook his head with a