"Human, your steps must halt."
One day, a Three-tailed Bird Xuan Beast appeared before Li Xuan. It hovered in mid-air and spoke, "The Eight-tier peak Three-tailed Xuan Vulture, are you trying to stop me?" Although Li Xuan was surprised that the Xuan Beast could speak, he understood after sensing its aura. Xuan Beasts were divided into nine tiers, with peak Eight-tier being considered extremely powerful. Once they reached Tier Nine, they could transform into human form.
"By order of my king, your head is required!" As the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture finished speaking, it flapped its wings. A hurricane rapidly formed and swept towards Li Xuan.
Seeing this, Li Xuan unleashed a punch, instantly shattering the hurricane. He then calmly looked at the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture in the sky, his gaze conveying his thoughts.
"You are indeed strong! However, this is where it ends." The Three-tailed Xuan Vulture's large eyes rolled, and its three tails danced. Three storms rose from the ground and surged towards Li Xuan. Simultaneously, the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture swooped down, charging directly at Li Xuan.
"Heavenly Slash Three Swords!"
Li Xuan's thoughts raced, and he unleashed a sword strike towards the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture.
*Swoosh!*
Over five hundred sword qi strikes, layered together, struck the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture with a soul-stirring slash. Before it could reach Li Xuan, its body was cleaved in two mid-air and plummeted down. The three storms vanished along with the beast's demise.
"An Eight-tier peak Xuan Beast, it would be a shame to waste," Li Xuan murmured. With a wave of his hand, he collected the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture's corpse into the Prison Suppressing Ring. A fist-sized beast core then fell into Li Xuan's hand.
"It has actually formed a beast core, a great tonic indeed." Li Xuan considered this, built a fire pit, and began to roast. Along his journey, Li Xuan had slain no less than eighty high-tier Xuan Beasts. He casually took out some Xuan Beast meat, placed it on the fire, and waited.
"Interesting, even a Heavenly Vulture has been slain. This human, I shall face him myself." Meanwhile, on a mountain peak deep within, a man glanced in Li Xuan's direction, muttered to himself, and then vanished.
"Care for some?" Just as Li Xuan swallowed the Three-tailed Xuan Vulture's beast core and began eating the roasted meat, a man suddenly appeared before him. Li Xuan was taken aback, then offered the roasted meat in his hand.
The man's face twitched, and a surge of anger welled up in his eyes.
This damned human, not only eating my kin before my very eyes, but also expecting me to join him in eating his own kind?
This is an attack on the soul!
"Human, you have successfully ignited my wrath!" The man took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on Li Xuan, and his aura surged.
Li Xuan's eyes narrowed, and a great sense of crisis arose within him.
This person before me is very strong!
"Are you the King of the Xuan Beasts?" Li Xuan's thoughts raced as he spoke. Xuan Beasts that could transform were at least Tier Nine. However, breaking through to Tier Nine was extremely difficult for Xuan Beasts. Generally, those that could transform were kings of their domain.
"Not entirely foolish. I shall grant you a complete corpse!" the man said, disappearing instantly. The next moment, he reappeared before Li Xuan and struck with a palm. Li Xuan was sent flying backward.
*Bang!*
With a resounding thud, Li Xuan crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Cough, cough..." Li Xuan coughed violently, his eyes filled with gravity. With just one palm strike, he was heavily injured.
"Huh? You're not dead yet." The man seemed surprised but slowly walked towards Li Xuan.
"Heavenly Slash Three Swords!"
"One Sword Breaks All Laws!"
"Pupil Art, Illusory Realm!"
Li Xuan's pupils contracted sharply as he rose and unleashed all the sword techniques and pupil arts he knew. In the next instant, Li Xuan shot away without looking back.
Fighting against an unbeatable foe was akin to seeking death.
"Break!"
The man unleashed a palm strike, shattering the two sword techniques Li Xuan had used. However, a radiant light then enveloped him, and his eyes slowly closed.
Meanwhile, Li Xuan, who was rapidly fleeing, suddenly staggered after a minute and fell, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Li Xuan's expression was extremely grave. It was the backlash from his pupil art. This meant the Xuan Beast King had broken through his Illusory Realm.
"I can't keep running. With my current injuries, I'll be caught soon." Li Xuan took a deep breath, turned, and changed direction.
*Cough, cough!*
Li Xuan coughed blood along the way, his face extremely pale. Soon, he arrived at the bank of a wide river. Glancing back at the visible black dot behind him, Li Xuan leaped into the river without hesitation.
Ten breaths later, the man appeared at Li Xuan's previous location and fell silent, looking at the rushing river. He could no longer sense Li Xuan's aura.
"Interesting, you actually escaped." The man took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and muttered to himself, then turned and left.
However, after five minutes, the man reappeared. Seeing no sign of Li Xuan, he frowned slightly and left again.
"This guy actually managed to escape." At Wen Ding Plaza, Xuan Ye and the others exchanged shocked glances. When that man appeared before Li Xuan, everyone had worried for Li Xuan. After all, that was the King of the Xuan Beasts, whom even they couldn't suppress alone. Yet, Li Xuan had escaped from his grasp.
"It's good that this brat escaped, otherwise we might have faced considerable trouble," Xuan Ye said with a wry smile. Ru Lai and the others fell silent. According to what Xuan Ye had said earlier, the person behind Li Xuan was someone even Xuan Ye couldn't face. If Li Xuan died in the Xuan Beast world, they would all have to bear the wrath of that woman.
"We should focus on how to break the seal laid by those three Beast Kings. Otherwise, if the participants cannot retreat, the losses will be immense," Luo Xing said gravely.
Xuan Ye and the others nodded. They had just learned that a seal had been jointly laid by three Beast Kings in the Xuan Beast world. The talismans they had previously set were now ineffective. If that seal wasn't dealt with promptly, and the beast tide erupted again, most of the participants within the Xuan Beast world would perish.
"My lords, this concerns all participants. I implore you to lend your assistance," Xuan Ye said after some thought, looking at the six elders behind him.
"Yes." After a moment of silence, an elder slowly nodded. With one person agreeing, the other elders also nodded in assent.
*Roar!*
Just as Xuan Ye and the others broke the seal jointly laid by the three Beast Kings, three massive roars erupted.
The next moment, countless powerful Xuan Beasts surged from the depths of the forest.
The second beast tide had erupted once more.