"Who might you two be?"
Li An asked cautiously.
The pale-faced young man stepped forward, "I’m Yang Jian, and this is my master’s wife, honored as Lady Miao. We’re from White Tiger City."
Master’s wife? That title struck Li An as oddly intimate. A master’s wife bringing her male disciple out on a mission…
Still, in the world of cultivation, such things weren’t uncommon. He didn’t dwell on it.
"I am Li Jiang, and this is Miss Mo Qiu. We’re rogue cultivators from Qingyang County," Li An replied casually.
They had already agreed during their travels to use fake names if they encountered anyone.
"Fellow Daoists, we’ve been tracking this Soulcore Beast for days," Lady Miao said with a gentle smile, glancing toward Gu Hong. "It’s not easy to handle. Aside from its powerful spiritual energy, it also has the strength of a cultivator at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Shall we join forces?"
Gu Hong’s heart tightened. She glanced at Li An.
Li An also intended to work together, but he purposely replied, "Fellow Daoist Mo Qiu, this Soulcore Beast seems quite dangerous. Perhaps… we should try our luck elsewhere?"
Knowing Li An to be cautious by nature, Gu Hong nodded in agreement, effectively turning down the offer.
Lady Miao looked a bit disappointed, "Very well, I won’t insist."
Li An and Gu Hong turned to leave.
But instead of leaving the area entirely, Li An lingered in the surrounding mountains for another half-month.
First, the two strangers’ background was unclear—he couldn’t agree rashly.
Second, he and Gu Hong were weaker than Lady Miao and her disciple. They needed to wait for the right moment.
Li An was certain Lady Miao and her disciple would make a move on the Soulcore Beast.
Once they had exhausted themselves, returning to negotiate terms would yield better results.
Half a month later, Li An and Gu Hong circled back to the mountain.
“You useless thing! You barely made it in and already failed. You’ve completely wasted my efforts!”
“I’ve only got one Thunderstrike Talisman and one Soul Suppression Talisman left! How are we supposed to kill the Soulcore Beast now?”
Just as they arrived, they heard Lady Miao venting furiously.
“Oh? Fellow Daoists, are you still here?” Li An and Gu Hong stepped out from the trees.
"You came back?" Lady Miao looked wary. She and her disciple were clearly in bad shape—many of their talismans and treasures had been used up, yet they hadn’t made any progress.
Disheartened, she was about ready to give up.
"Yes. We went looking for Purple Soul Grass, but couldn’t find any," Gu Hong sighed.
Lady Miao’s eyes lit up. "You’re searching for Purple Soul Grass? For Foundation Establishment Pills, I assume?"
"Did you know," she continued, "if the Soulcore Beast’s crystal core is pure enough, it can serve as a substitute for Purple Soul Grass?"
Gu Hong shook her head. "But the Soulcore Beast is so powerful..."
"Which is why we should join forces!" Lady Miao clearly hadn’t given up on the beast.
Gu Hong hesitated, thinking it over carefully, then finally nodded.
This type of Soulcore Beast was strong enough that even late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators might struggle. Even with an array, she and Li An had a high risk of failure. But with Lady Miao and her disciple added, their odds improved significantly.
"How do we split the spoils?" Gu Hong asked.
"The Soul Core and the Spring of Yellow Springs—one item per person. Whoever lands the killing blow gets the first pick. If I take the core, I’ll compensate the value, or trade it for something you need," Lady Miao said generously. She cast a glance at Li An, her tone soft and coy, "Young Master Li, what do you think?"
Clearly, she had noticed that although Li An wasn’t strong, Mo Qiu seemed to listen to him.
Li An and Gu Hong were quietly pleased. If they had agreed earlier, when their strength was inferior, they wouldn’t have gotten such favorable terms. Lady Miao was a mid-Foundation Establishment, and her disciple was at the peak of Qi Refining.
Li An nodded, "That sounds fair."
"Good! Then it’s settled!"
The four of them discussed a few more details, then set off toward the cave halfway up the mountain.
Li An and Yang Jian each activated a Soul Suppression Talisman and pressed it to their foreheads, making them look like walking corpses. Gu Hong and Lady Miao followed closely behind their respective partners.
This way, they could keep each other in check as they advanced.
"Young Master Li has such a fine figure…" Lady Miao chuckled behind him. "And your skin’s so smooth—you must be quite strong. Mo Qiu, you’re truly lucky."
Mo Qiu, her own Soul Suppression Talisman stuck to her forehead, flushed red, "Daoist Li and I are just… regular friends."
"Oh? I see." Lady Miao’s eyes gleamed even more.
They were still some distance from the Yellow Springs when she laughed, "Young Master Li, ever thought of coming to White Tiger City? It’s a haven for wandering cultivators, far better than your backwater Qingyang County."
Li An replied evenly, "If I get the chance, I’d love to visit."
Lady Miao smiled.
"Something’s wrong!" Yang Jian suddenly whispered.
The Soul Suppression Talismans on both their foreheads began to tremble slightly.
From the cave ahead came a faint humming sound, sharp, painful, and dizzying.
The Soulcore Beast’s sonic attack!
"Hold steady and charge! Use the Thunderstrike Talismans to draw it out! Mo Qiu and I will strike!" Lady Miao barked at the order. She was the only one without a Soul Suppression Talisman, but she gritted her teeth and dashed into the cave.
Gu Hong followed at once.
Li An and Yang Jian sprinted after them, activating the Thunderstrike Talismans in their hands.
With a flash of lightning, a pained roar echoed from the cave—the Soulcore Beast’s spiritual sense had been struck.
In less than five hundred meters, with two Thunderstrike Talismans disrupting its attacks, the Soulcore Beast retreated from using its divine sense. The two men burst into a vast, humid cavern.
The cavern stretched wide, hollowing out the entire mountain. In its center bubbled a yellowish spring that formed a murky pool. A strange beast, the size of a turtle and sporting a single horn, crouched in the middle.
"Roar—!"
The Soulcore Beast locked eyes on the two intruders and moved with startling speed, appearing before them in a flash!
Lady Miao was right—its raw physical power alone rivaled a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Li An!" Gu Hong yelled, unleashing a talisman to support him.
Li An threw several High-Grade First Rank talismans, slowing the beast just enough for him to retreat back to Gu Hong’s side.
"Die—!" Lady Miao seized her chance. Her soft sword lashed out, slicing a deep gash into the beast’s side.
The Soulcore Beast roared in fury. Seeing the Thunderstrike Talismans spent, the horn on its head flashed yellow light, striking Lady Miao and making her body tremble.
Gu Hong reacted quickly and unleashed the second Thunderstrike Talisman.
"We must kill it before the talisman burns out!" Gu Hong shouted, pulling out a Second Rank array and activating it.
Li An assisted her. The array surged with power and struck the Soulcore Beast, but it retracted its head into its shell, completely withstanding the impact!
That shell was too tough.
"Hold on—I’ll handle it!" Lady Miao steadied her shaken spirit and darted forward. Her soft sword slid into the narrow space between the beast’s head and shell.
"Roar—!"
The Soulcore Beast let out a terrible shriek, then went berserk. It lunged forward and swiped at Lady Miao, shredding her robes and even her inner armor. Its claw raked across her pale skin, drawing a scream.
But Gu Hong seized the moment—her array struck the Soulcore Beast’s head dead-on.
Boom!
Its skull exploded. The monster collapsed, lifeless.
"We did it!"
"We really did it!"
Everyone was overjoyed.
Lady Miao hurriedly sprinkled medicinal powder on her wounds, her face a mix of pain and triumph.
They gathered around the corpse, ready to extract its materials.
Bzzzz—
Suddenly, the hum returned.
Everyone instantly felt dizzy and faint.
"No… another one?!"
Yang Jian cried in despair.
Li An and Gu Hong’s expressions changed drastically.
A splash echoed from the spring—another Soulcore Beast leapt out!
Its eyes, filled with sorrow at the sight of the corpse, soon turned bloodthirsty.
Its horn glowed madly as it charged.
"There’s more than one! This is the mother beast!" Lady Miao’s face turned pale.
"Run!"
She grabbed Yang Jian and fled, flinging out several talismans and low-grade treasures behind her.
"Go!" Gu Hong gritted her teeth and dragged Li An with her.
Once they escaped the cave, Li An shouted, "Detonate the array!"
Their Soul Suppression Talismans had already failed. Gu Hong’s face was deathly pale as she activated the array—rocks tumbled from the ceiling, sealing off the passage behind them.
They bolted like frightened dogs—
But the mother beast smashed through the debris and kept up the chase.
"Split up!" Lady Miao shrieked, grabbing Yang Jian and fleeing in another direction.
She was the fastest, which made Li An and Gu Hong the ideal prey.
They ran desperately, the beast close behind, clearly unwilling to stop until someone was dead.
"Split up!" Li An shouted, shoving something into Gu Hong’s hands, "The Last Thunderstrike Talisman. Go—now!"
Without waiting, he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
Gu Hong was shocked. She looked down and realized—it was a defective talisman, clearly one Li An had crafted himself.
Its effect was weak. It could save his life, but not kill the beast.
"Li An!"
Gu Hong wanted to chase after him. If he was caught alone, he’d die for sure.
But the mother beast was already bearing down on her.
"Then… so be it."
She hardened her resolve and lured the beast away.
Li An, after running for a while, stopped to catch his breath.
He quickly pulled out a pill and swallowed it to restore his energy.
Then, without hesitation, he turned and ran back—toward the Soulcore Beast’s cave.
—
At the same time…
Somewhere in the forest.
"Yang Jian, hurry back now while the beast is chasing Mo Qiu and the others. Go retrieve the loot—"
Lady Miao suddenly ordered.
—
(End of Chapter)