"Lead us to the Mountain Lord!" Luo Ling said to the guard.
However, before they leave, Yuan said to Xiao Hua, "I alone should be enough to handle the Mountain Lord. Can you stay behind to make sure the people here aren't overwhelmed by the monsters? You can come to me afterward."
The people there were already looking exhausted and he cannot imagine what might happen to the defense here if he were to leave so abruptly.
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "Xiao Hua will take care of the beasts here."
"Thank you, Xiao Hua."
"The two of you also stay here and help her," Luo Ling said to her sliblings.
Yuan then followed Luo Ling and the guard to the Mountain Lord whilst Luo Li and Luo Ming stayed behind with Xiao Hua to assist the people.
Once Yuan was gone, Luo Li bowed to Xiao Hua, "Senior Xiao, please take care of us."
Xiao Hua nodded, and she turned to look at the hundreds of monsters on the battlefield.
'It's going to take forever if I kill them one at a time…' she thought to herself.
'Brother Yuan said that I can use my powers as long as I am conscious of the surroundings and I don't destroy any nature…'
"Tell the guards the retreat." Xiao Hua suddenly said to Luo Li.
"R-Right away!" Luo Li nodded, not daring to doubt her words after seeing the serious expression on her face.
"Retreat! Guards! Retreat back to the gates!" Luo Li suddenly shouted loudly.
The guards quickly rushed back to the gates after hearing her words, even feeling relieved that they don't have to fight any longer.
However, the other players were left dumbfounded by this unexpected turn of events.
"What the heck?! What about the monsters?!"
"Are you trying to make us do all of the fighting, you damn NPC?!"
"Whatever! That just means more points for me!"
Despite the Players' anger, Luo Li ignored them and said to Xiao Hua, "Senior Xiao, the guards have retreated to the gates! Is this good enough for you?"
Xiao Hua nodded and took a deep breath before closing her eyes.
"..."
"..."
A few moments of silence later, she slowly opened her eyes, and her gaze flickered with a golden light that seemed to carry the Will of Heaven within.
She calmly raised her right arm into the air before pressing her palms down in a profound manner.
"Heavenly Domain…" Xiao Hua mumbled in a low voice.
BOOM!
Xiao Hua's Spirit King cultivation base suddenly exploded, causing the dark sky to brighten, and the entire place became filled with a golden light, almost as though they were bathed in sunlight.
"W-What is this golden light?! What is going on?!"
Both the players and the guards were baffled by this phenomenon.
In the midst of the players' confusion, the monsters suddenly began screaming in pain, sounding as though they were being slaughtered before…
Splat!
The monsters within the golden light— within Xiao Hua's Heavenly Domain were crushed into meat paste, almost as though an invisible boulder had suddenly fallen on them, squashing them flat.
And within mere seconds, only flattened beast corpses remained within the Heavenly Domain.
"..."
The place turned dead silent after the people there witnessed this shocking scene and Xiao Hua's terrifying prowess.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Yuan was shocked when he suddenly gained thousands of points at once.
«+1,169 Points»
«+1,014 Points»
«+2,841 Points»
'What the heck? Where did all of these points come from? I hope Xiao Hua didn't go overboard again…' Yuan cried inwardly.
"There's the Mountain Lord!" The guard suddenly said.
"That's the Mountain Lord…?" Yuan was speechless when he saw a group of guards trying to fight a massive 7-meter tall black bear in the distance.
Luo Ling nodded with a serious expression on her face, "Indeed, that's the Mountain Lord— the Black Beast, and it seems to have advanced to the sixth level Spirit Warrior realm since the last time we saw it. No wonder why my father lost to it..."
"Do you think you can defeat it?" Luo Ling turned to look at him with a worried expression, as she was worried that she was asking too much from him.
"I will try my best," Yuan responded a moment later.
"Don't push yourself too hard, Daoist Yuan. If you cannot defeat it, just run away."
"How can I possibly do such a thing knowing that the city might fall if I don't defeat it here?" Yuan quickly shook his head.
"Daoist Yuan…" Luo Ling looked at him with a passionate gaze, looking like a child before her hero or a teenager before her idol.
A few moments later, once they were close enough, Luo Ling shouted at the guards that were already at their limit, "Get back! Reinforcement is here!"
"Young Lady!" A blissful expression appeared on the guards' faces when they saw Luo Ling's face and the masked expert beside her who was emitting a profound aura.
"I will assist you to the best of my ability, Daoist Yuan," she said to him after they arrived before the Mountain Lord.
Yuan nodded and stared at the Mountain Lord with a serious gaze through the holes in his mask.
'What a terrifying gaze and a bloodthirsty aura. This Mountain Lord is, without doubt, stronger than the Demonic Spider…'
Despite facing such a threatening opponent, Yuan was feeling calmer than when he fought the Demonic Spider. Perhaps it was due to the Black Jade Mask's effect, or maybe he was simply getting used to these situations, but his mind was completely tranquil at this moment.
"..."
When the Mountain Lord saw Yuan's confident aura, it narrowed its gaze and silently stared at him.
A few seconds later, it spoke in a grim voice, "No matter how many experts you humans bring, I will tear down this city and avenge my son!"
*ROAAAR*
The Mountain Lord released a deafening roar before it rushed at Yuan and Luo Ling with red eyes filled with killing intent, even causing the ground to tremble with each step it took.