However, the next second, a tiger with enormous wings took flight, its gaping maw tearing directly towards Jin Bao'er, forcing her to retreat incessantly...
The Levitation Talisman was something she learned from her sixth senior brother, Lan Yingqing. She wasn't entirely proficient yet, only managing to narrowly evade the demon beast's attacks! She wanted to turn back and use her spiritual power, but the demon beast was incredibly fast, and she only managed a few hits! Instead, it only angered the flying tiger.
At some unknown point, she had retreated deep into the forest. The surrounding frenzied demon beast horde had vanished, and an extreme quiet enveloped everything...
Seeing this, she quickly landed. A silver light flashed in her hand, and Zhan Hun materialized. The aura of a half-grade immortal artifact wafted out, causing even the previously at-ease flying tiger to hesitate.
Just then, the flying tiger's expression suddenly turned panicked, as if it had discovered something. Before Jin Bao'er could attack, it fled directly, so frightened that it dared not even use its wings.
"Little girl! There... seems to be something here! Leave as soon as possible."
It was the first time Jin Bao'er had heard Long Lixing speak with such seriousness. She immediately became vigilant, her movements on her feet not stopping! She also roughly understood what was happening!
"Senior, do you know what that thing is?"
That flying tiger was at least at the Nascent Soul stage, yet it was so wary of what was inside... In her past life, she had never heard of any extraordinary beings in the Seven Desolate Forest!
"I don't know, but this scent is exceedingly unpleasant!"
Though she didn't understand, she didn't hesitate and sped outwards...
At this moment, the early morning sun slowly illuminated the entire forest...
As Jin Bao'er just left the central area, a streak of yellow-white suddenly lunged out, its foul-smelling mouth fiercely biting towards her neck!
It was the flying tiger!
A defensive array swiftly enveloped her entire body, narrowly protecting her at the last second.
Jin Bao'er's heart skipped a beat, her body stiffening slightly. She had to thank her caution, which had saved her life once again!
However, as she moved step by step within the defensive array, the flying tiger also moved, its enormous eyes fixed on her, waiting for the spiritual energy powering her defensive array to deplete so it could devour her in one gulp.
Clearly, the flying tiger before her was not foolish; instead, its mind was quite agile...
With the flying tiger in front and danger behind, Jin Bao'er could only hold her ground, her complexion growing increasingly grim.
Meanwhile, Su Xianzhu finally woke up from her unconsciousness. Her first reaction was to reach for the demon beast egg in her arms...
"Phew... thankfully! Thankfully!"
Ever since she had almost contracted a demon beast cub in the previous minor realm, she had learned her lesson! This time, no matter what, she would not let go of the contracted beast pet she had acquired!
With that thought, she quickly bit her finger and dripped her blood onto the eggshell. Before the demon beast was born, she unilaterally established a master-servant contract.
A flash of golden light passed, and the contract was formed! Only then did she relax, her gaze filled with excitement as she stared at the demon beast egg!
A cub of the Flowing Light Beast! At adulthood, its cultivation would be at least Nascent Soul, and with good luck, perhaps even Soul Transformation! By then, her Master would surely look upon her with favor!
Little did she know that to achieve this goal, the lives of several demon beast eggs and a group of demon beasts would be sacrificed.
"You're awake? Are you still feeling unwell anywhere?"
Lou Yun Immortal Venerable stood beneath a large tree not far away, gazing at the young girl on the blanket with eyes as calm as water. No one would have imagined that not long ago, he had shattered a Nascent Soul stage demon beast for this very girl!
"Master!?"
The girl's clear, surprised voice rang out. In the next second, she pounced forward, tightly embracing the tall man.
"That's great, I knew Master would come to save me! You have no idea, I was really scared to death just now... so many demon beasts~"
The girl's face was filled with a charming, cute innocence, acting coquettishly with a wronged expression. Anyone who saw her would instinctively feel pity.
Including the powerful and indifferent Immortal Venerable before her! His gaze gradually softened, but his tone still held a hint of disapproval.
"With your cultivation, stealing a young Flowing Light Beast cub was too risky. Don't be so willful next time!"
Perhaps seeing a hint of disappointment in the girl's eyes at his tone, Lou Yun Immortal Venerable sighed.
"If you want it, just tell me!"
This meant, if you want it, tell me! I'll get it for you; there's no need to put yourself in danger.
Having heard what she wanted to hear, the girl finally revealed a radiant smile...
But this made the several Nascent Soul cultivators who had worked all night to find some disciples extremely angry, their faces contorted with displeasure!
They had suffered because of the trouble caused by Lou Yun Immortal Venerable and his disciple, running around tirelessly all night. Yet these two were unrepentant, appearing so relaxed and smug in public! Did they know how many disciples their sects had lost!?
"Lou Yun! Do you owe us an explanation?"
...
By now, the sun was high in the sky. Jin Bao'er stood in the scorching sunlight, feeling the heat intensely. However, whenever she tried to move, the flying tiger would force her back, its greedy gaze fixed on her as if waiting for her to be sun-baked into jerky.
Jin Bao'er was so exasperated she was speechless! If she had known this would happen, she should have added another layer of shielding to the defensive array back then!
As time passed, Jin Bao'er could no longer bear it. Black absorbed heat, and it was becoming increasingly stuffy within the defensive array. If this continued, even breathing would become a problem.
Faced with two choices, she decisively made her decision! She quickly retracted the defensive array and charged straight into the depths of the forest...
The flying tiger pursued for a while before giving up, but it still hovered around the vicinity, unwilling to leave!
Helpless, Jin Bao'er could only continue forward...
A chilling breeze emanated from the depths of the dense forest. Without even looking, she could sense the grave dangers within!
Until she saw the enormous cave. She could faintly hear something snoring, or perhaps it was the sound of a cold wind blowing through the mountain passes.
She hesitated. If there was an even more powerful monster or danger ahead, she wouldn't be able to escape with her current cultivation. But if she stopped, she didn't know when she would be able to leave this place!
"This aura... it's strange!"
Long Lixing's voice echoed in her ears. Jin Bao'er was startled by his words.
"Senior, what is it?"
She heard Long Lixing's voice filled with great surprise, tinged with a hint of disgust and resistance.
"Could it be... but why is this scent so repulsive? Could it be... If it truly is, I will surely kill him!!"
The string of words left Jin Bao'er bewildered. However, Long Lixing quickly provided a conclusion, his voice exceptionally certain, with a trace of anger.
"Little girl, let's go in!"
Jin Bao'er didn't doubt him. After all, this mysterious senior's strength was unfathomable; she had personally experienced it! It should be fine.
As she approached step by step, the interior grew increasingly dark. Fortunately, as a Golden Core stage cultivator, her vision was not affected by the darkness!
After walking for an unknown amount of time, even her half-baked physical cultivation body felt weary before she finally reached the end of the cave...
Besides the brown wall in front of her, the surroundings were filled with the carcasses of demon beasts and some dusty high-grade demon beast cores! A beast core that could fetch a sky-high price outside was discarded on the ground here like ordinary stones!