Their figures melted into the forest shadows, their auras concealed, like two top-tier assassins waiting for an opportunity, cautiously scanning everything around them.
Seeing this, Li Yifei took out several portions of still-warm food and drinking water and placed them in front of them.
The two sisters were not polite, each taking a portion and quietly beginning to eat.
Having survived the disaster, with the future path uncertain, yet at this moment, the four of them sat together, enjoying the aroma of the food, possessing a tranquility before the storm.
Zhu Zhuyun took small bites of the roast meat, feeling for the first time that the shackles of fate that had suppressed her for over a decade seemed to finally have a crack.
Just then.
A cold, viscous aura, saturated with killing intent and potent poison, spread through the forest without any warning.
The surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
Zhu Zhuyun's expression changed, and she instantly stood up, her spirit power instantly surging through her limbs and bones, her gaze locked onto the source of the aura.
Rustle... rustle...
Following the sound of rustling leaves, a Spirit Beast slowly paced out from the shadows.
It was entirely pitch-black, its physique agile like a leopard, its limbs long and powerful, brimming with the beauty of strength.
The most terrifying part was the long tail held high behind its back; the end was not a leopard's tail, but a scorpion's stinger flashing with a cold, faint blue light!
Dark green venom dripped from the stinger's tip, corroding the ground into sizzling pits.
Zhu Zhuqing recognized this Spirit Beast, and her breath hitched.
Zhu Zhuyun stared intently at the Spirit Beast, her eyes initially bursting with uncontrollable joy, but that delight was quickly extinguished by the terrifying aura the Spirit Beast exuded, turning into deep apprehension.
Her lips moved, her voice hoarse from excitement and tension: "It's the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard! The Spirit Beast most suitable for our Zhu Family's third Spirit Ability, 'Nether Slash'!"
Zhu Zhuqing's breathing also grew rapid; she knew better than anyone what this Spirit Beast meant to her and her sister.
However, the terrifying pressure, far exceeding ten thousand years, pressed down on them like a massive mountain, making it hard to breathe.
Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast.
These four words represented an absolute death zone for any Soul Elder.
The iron rule of the Douluo Continent was that the absorption limit for the third spirit ring was around 1,700 years.
Forcibly absorbing a Ten Thousand Year spirit ring would only result in the body being unable to withstand the violent energy, leading to self-detonation—a fate even a Heavenly God couldn't save.
Zhu Zhuqing's cat-like pupils constricted; the lithe figure of the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard was filled with fatal temptation.
Desire surged madly in her heart, but reason acted like a basin of ice water, firmly suppressing the flames.
Impossible.
However, the thought process of a Spirit Beast is far more direct than that of humans.
In the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard's perception, this patch of forest was its territory, and the two-legged creatures smelling of food before it were intruders.
"Roar—!"
A suppressed low growl rumbled from its throat, and the next second, its figure vanished on the spot!
A pitch-black afterimage, invisible to the naked eye, wrapped in a shriek that tore the air, lunged straight toward Zhu Zhuqing, who was closest to it! The sharp claws extended, carving five pale white marks in the air—it was extremely fast!
Zhu Zhuqing's pupils only had time to reflect that magnified shadow of death; her body's reaction completely failed to keep up with her brain's commands!
In a flash of lightning!
Another, even swifter black shadow cut in; Zhu Zhuyun had already completed her Spirit Possession!
"Second Spirit Ability, Nether Hundred Claws!"
Claw shadows crisscrossed into a net, precisely meeting that fatal strike.
"Clang—!"
An explosive sound of clashing metal erupted!
Zhu Zhuyun's claw net was shredded like rotten wood, and an irresistible, immense force poured into her body through her arm.
She felt as if her internal organs were displaced, a sweetness rose in her throat, and she and her sister were flung backward by this force.
The gap was too large!
"How dare you touch Brother Yi Fei's people!"
Amidst a delicate shout, a pink figure ghost-like approached; Xiao Wu also summoned her Spirit and latched on.
She did not choose to confront it head-on; instead, relying on the astonishing flexibility of the Soft Bone Rabbit, she twisted her waist, wrapping her entire body around the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard's torso.
"First Spirit Ability, Waist Bow!"
A terrifying throw technique was initiated, but the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast's stance was as stable as a boulder, only slightly swaying its body.
It turned and lashed out a claw, forcing Xiao Wu to let go. She used the momentum to leap back, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The three women working together were actually suppressed and forced into retreat by one Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast, constantly facing imminent danger.
The Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard was completely enraged by these three constantly harassing 'little bugs'.
It abandoned the entanglement with Xiao Wu, and its scarlet beast eyes locked onto Zhu Zhuqing again.
The raised scorpion tail, its venomous stinger glowing with faint green poison light, vanished from Zhu Zhuqing's field of vision without warning.
The next instant, an bone-chilling coldness erupted from behind her!
Fast! Fast beyond Zhu Zhuqing's comprehension!
The poisoned stinger tip was aimed directly at her heart!
"Zhuqing!"
Zhu Zhuyun's eyes split with rage; she wanted to rescue her, but her body was still reeling from the previous impact, causing a half-beat delay!
That half-beat was the difference between life and death!
Despair instantly flooded Zhu Zhuyun's heart.
Just as the scorpion tail was about to pierce Zhu Zhuqing's body, and she could even smell the sweet, fishy poison gas, a calm voice, tinged with slight annoyance at being disturbed, rang clearly through the forest.
"Too noisy."
Li Yifei, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes at some unknown time.
He did not get up, nor did he make any extra movements; he merely raised his eyelids and glanced lightly at the arrogant Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast.
The scorpion tail, filled with boundless ferocity, stopped dead when it was less than an inch from Zhu Zhuqing's back.
The Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard's violent body froze in mid-air, as if clutched tightly by an invisible hand of a Heavenly God.
The savagery, brutality, and killing intent in its eyes were completely washed away by a torrent of fear originating from the source of its Bloodline, deeply etched into its very genes, the moment it met that gaze.
That was not the pressure of a strong expert, nor the deterrence of spirit power.
It was an absolute crushing force on the level of life hierarchy.
It was as if an ant had seen a wheel rolling across heaven and earth.
"Wuu..."
The massive body trembled violently uncontrollably. The once fearsome Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast let out a mournful cry, almost like a plea, before crashing heavily from mid-air.
It prostrated itself on the ground, its huge head pressed tightly against the earth, its four limbs shaking like sieves, unable to muster even a single thought of resistance.
As if facing the deity among its natural enemies.
Zhu Zhuyun stared blankly at this scene, her mind a total blank.
One second it was life or death, the next second, the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast that had driven them to desperation became a docile pet because of a single look?
Li Yifei seemed to feel that was not enough.
He flicked his finger toward the Spirit Beast prostrating on the ground, casually flicking it.
There were no spirit power fluctuations, no earth-shattering sounds.
An invisible surge of strength landed precisely on the head of the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard.