The instant Yu Tianlong caught the Huo Yun Leopard disappearing out of the corner of his eye, his hair stood on end.
An invisible air of lethal menace spread at that very moment!
Sensing the change, Yu Tianlong felt an inexplicable familiarity for some reason. Was this the ecology of the Star Dou Great Forest?
Every last one of these bottom-rung Soul Beasts was a crafty old schemer.
Couldn't they just fight head-on?
Did they have to pull this stunt?
But things had already come to this, so Yu Tianlong could only steel himself to avoid being instantly killed by the Huo Yun Leopard's sneak attack!
At the same time, he pinned all his hopes on Cho'Gath. After all, they only had one chance.
If they failed, Yu Tianlong did not dare imagine the consequences!
As the seconds and minutes ticked by, Yu Tianlong was nearly out of the Huo Yun Leopard's territory.
Just then, deep in the dense woods, crimson cloud patterns suddenly appeared on a charred tree trunk.
Three-foot-long edges of crimson-gold light burst from the Huo Yun Leopard's claw tips. Before the shriek of tearing air could reach him, six streams of lava-like fire had already fanned out over Yu Tianlong's back.
Sensing the killing intent, Yu Tianlong used his first Soul Skill, Rupture, without the slightest hesitation, blocking all the flames with bone spikes that erupted from underground!
Amid the flying sparks, the beast stepped on burning maple leaves and twisted in midair, its second wave of attacks rushing toward him with a boiling, scorching heat.
Faced with this attack, Yu Tianlong did not dodge. He merely drew a deep breath. He understood that this was an opportunity, and he also knew that success or failure hinged on this single instant.
All he could do was repeat silently in his heart.
A little closer, a little closer!
The instant the Huo Yun Leopard came within five meters, the voice in his mind rang out.
"Master, now! Jump!!!!"
Hearing Cho'Gath's words, Yu Tianlong stamped his right foot against the ground. Beneath the Huo Yun Leopard's astonished gaze, the ground suddenly split open.
Countless bone spikes erupted at the spot where it was about to land.
At the same time, a purple Big Bug came racing over from nearby on his thick legs.
The moment the Huo Yun Leopard saw the bone spikes, it knew it could not dodge them.
It did not even understand when this human child had unleashed his Soul Skill.
There had clearly been no fluctuations of Soul Power from him just now!
Four or five bone spikes pierced straight into the Huo Yun Leopard's body through its lower abdomen, sending blood splattering.
The searing pain stalled its movements, and its wails echoed throughout the entire area.
But it was a thousand-year Soul Beast, after all. How could it be killed so easily?
Just as the Huo Yun Leopard tried to pull itself free through sheer physical strength-
Yu Tianlong, who had leaped into the air, circulated his Soul Power and forcibly twisted his body.
He looked at the Huo Yun Leopard struggling in the forest of bone spikes, then at Cho'Gath, who still needed a few seconds to reach them. To stop the Huo Yun Leopard from breaking free and fleeing-
Yu Tianlong gritted his teeth and kicked straight at the Huo Yun Leopard amid the sharp bone spikes.
The Huo Yun Leopard had almost pulled its body free, but before it could rejoice-
It felt a heavy, powerful blow strike its back.
The blow drove its body right back down!
"Roooaaar----------"
"Aaaah----------"
This time, there was not one scream, but two.
The Huo Yun Leopard's body suffered a second round of injuries.
And Yu Tianlong's foot was pierced by a bone spike.
Seeing the human child right before it, his foot impaled on a bone spike, the Huo Yun Leopard's ferocity was fully unleashed.
It opened its jaws, intent on crushing Yu Tianlong's head between its teeth.
Under such excruciating pain, Yu Tianlong lost his balance for a moment and had no chance to escape at all.
Watching the Huo Yun Leopard endure the agony of its flesh being torn apart just to bite him-
Yu Tianlong smiled.
"Little Cho, save me!!!!"
"Roar!"
"Do not harm my master!"
The bone spikes vanished, and Cho'Gath took a great leap, landing directly in front of Yu Tianlong.
He took the full force of the Huo Yun Leopard's bite.
At the same moment, his four pincer-like claws seized the Huo Yun Leopard's body.
His immense physical strength was fully revealed at that moment.
No matter how the Huo Yun Leopard struggled, it could not escape Cho'Gath's restraint.
Seeing this, Yu Tianlong knew they had things secured. Without the slightest hesitation, he took the food he had prepared earlier out of his storage ring and began eating in great mouthfuls.
After all, in an environment like the Star Dou Great Forest, you never knew which would arrive first: tomorrow or an accident.
His foot had been pierced through. If an accident came first and he had yet to recover, that would be no different from waiting to die!
Once swallowed, the large quantities of food turned into streams of pure life energy, continuously healing Yu Tianlong's injured foot.
Although his recovery was slow, Yu Tianlong still marveled more than once at Cho'Gath's constitution.
Broken bones regrew, severed meridians reconnected, and blood-red buds of flesh constantly writhed and grew.
While Yu Tianlong recovered, Cho'Gath was nearly finished as well.
Under his overwhelming strength, the Huo Yun Leopard could not break free at all. On top of that, it had already been badly wounded before fighting Cho'Gath, and its constant blood loss drained its stamina as well.
Growing weaker and weaker, the Huo Yun Leopard struggled beneath Cho'Gath's claws and sharp teeth for a minute before finally dying.
Cho'Gath looked at the completely motionless Huo Yun Leopard and carefully sensed it. Even after confirming that there were no signs of life, he still did not let go.
Instead, with extreme caution, he used his sharp teeth to eat the Huo Yun Leopard's entire head before finally releasing it.
He could not be blamed for being cautious. Something like this had happened before: when he had hunted a Red Scorpion Snake, the thing had actually played dead and fooled him.
As a result, the moment he let his guard down, the Red Scorpion Snake suddenly launched a dying counterattack and lunged at Yu Tianlong. If he had not reacted quickly afterward-
And stopped it, neither he nor Yu Tianlong might have been here now.
After that incident, Yu Tianlong had said something to him that remained deeply etched in his memory, something he even took as his guiding principle.
"Anyone who has a grudge or feud with you must be killed whenever you get the chance. Even the kin behind them must be wiped out as well. Ideally, grind their bones and scatter their ashes. Shake even their eggs until the yolks break, and split even their earthworms lengthwise."
After doing all this, Cho'Gath did not immediately devour the Huo Yun Leopard's corpse.
Instead, he stood guard at Yu Tianlong's side with extreme vigilance. He had already made too many mistakes. Had they not been lucky enough to survive, they would already have been gone.
He could devour the Soul Beast later, but his master's safety mattered most!
It was not as though any Soul Power would be lost anyway.
Seeing that Cho'Gath had finished, Yu Tianlong sped up his eating as well.
A quarter of an hour later, although Yu Tianlong's foot had not fully recovered, it was already mostly healed and would not hinder his movements.
Only then did Cho'Gath approach the Huo Yun Leopard's corpse and swallow the Soul Ring floating in midair in a single bite.
It crunched crisply, but had no flavor.
After eating the Soul Ring, Cho'Gath began feasting on the Huo Yun Leopard's corpse as well.