In the forest, the area where the Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard had just rampaged was a mess.
The four severely injured individuals lay together in one spot, their wails continuous.
The two lightly injured individuals could only provide simple bandages for the four, but in fact, the two who were pierced by ice spears and swatted away by the Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard were not too bad.
However, the two who were hit head-on by the fireballs were too severely injured; their bodies were covered in bloodstains, and at this rate, they would die from either blood loss or infection!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Suddenly, several figures landed swiftly in front of the six.
The two unharmed individuals quickly looked up and found that the person who arrived was their leader, Wang Zhenggang!
“What in the world happened?!” Wang Zhenggang looked at the four people lying in a row on the ground, his brow furrowed, and asked loudly.
The two exchanged glances, somewhat afraid, and described everything that had just happened.
Wang Zhenggang’s expression grew increasingly grim, becoming terrifyingly dark by the end!
“Very good!” Wang Zhenggang gritted his teeth, his face ugly as he said, “What a Kong Yan! What a Lu An!”
Looking down at the four injured individuals lying on the ground, Wang Zhenggang was furious.
Six people, one Tier 6 Sky Realm, four Tier 7 Sky Realm, and one Eighth Level Tian Ren, reduced to this state by a newcomer—this was truly, utterly useless!
Although he was angry, Wang Zhenggang knew he couldn’t say it.
He said to the people who came with him, “You two, help them take these four injured people back to the academy’s infirmary!”
“Yes, Boss!” the others quickly said.
Wang Zhenggang looked at the messy path ahead and asked the two, “Did the Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard run this way?”
“Yes, yes!” the two quickly nodded and said.
Wang Zhenggang’s brow tightened; no matter what, he had to get the Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard’s rebirth crystal core today.
He took a deep breath and loudly declared, “Everyone else, follow me!”
“Boss!” One of them was startled and quickly came behind Wang Zhenggang, softly reminding him, “Ahead is the downhill slope of North Slope; it’s too dangerous.
There might be other Tier 1 Strange Beasts, and even Tier 2 Strange Beasts could appear…”
Before he finished speaking, Wang Zhenggang suddenly turned around and glared fiercely at the person, startling him!
“Today, no one can stop me from getting the rebirth crystal core!” Wang Zhenggang said with a grim face, almost gritting his teeth, “Go!”
Deep in the North Slope, in front of the enormous Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard’s corpse.
Kong Yan looked at Lu An, at this young man who was about the same height as her, with some shock, not immediately reacting to what he said.
“Why?” After Kong Yan regained her composure, her delicate brows furrowed, and her expression also turned grim as she said, “It’s perfectly normal for humans to hunt Strange Beasts.
Who doesn’t use Strange Beasts to strengthen themselves?”
Lu An looked at the slightly angry Kong Yan, his eyes instead growing calmer, and asked, “Is what’s normal necessarily right?”
“Otherwise?” Kong Yan grew even angrier, feeling that Lu An was simply arguing with her, and said loudly, “Survival of the fittest; only what is right will remain.
Could it be that everyone does wrong things?”
Lu An chuckled softly at her words and asked, “What about slaves?”
“What?” Kong Yan was startled, not immediately reacting.
“I mean… is the existence of slaves also correct? To dispose of their lives as one pleases.
They are all human, yet they are inferior to others, even worse than animals.” Lu An looked at Kong Yan, his calm tone without the slightest ripple.
Kong Yan frowned tightly, looking at Lu An and saying firmly, “So what? This is inherently a world where the strong prey on the weak.
The strong are respected, and the weak naturally have nothing!”
Upon hearing this, Lu An’s brow finally tightened slightly as he looked at Kong Yan.
And Kong Yan also looked at him, the anger on her face growing stronger.
“The strong are respected, are they?” Just then, Lu An spoke softly, his voice a little heavier, and looked at Kong Yan, saying quietly, “Then, who do you think is stronger right now, you or I?”
Kong Yan was startled, her eyes shifting slightly, looking at Lu An somewhat unresponsively, and asked, “What do you mean?”
“You’re at the end of your rope right now, while I’m still quite energetic.
Do you think you can beat me?” Lu An appeared exceptionally calm, looking at Kong Yan and speaking word by word.
Kong Yan’s brow tightened, and her body instinctively took two steps back, looking at Lu An with a wary expression, and asked, “What exactly do you want?”
“Let it go,” Lu An said calmly.
“Otherwise, you won’t even get the rebirth crystal core.”
“You!” Kong Yan felt a surge of anger in her chest, pointing furiously at Lu An, and said loudly, “How dare you threaten me?”
Lu An looked at Kong Yan, saying nothing.
Instead, he walked to a nearby tree line and placed the cub he was holding on the ground.
Strange Beast cubs are naturally stronger than ordinary wild animal cubs; they can walk unsteadily shortly after birth.
Kong Yan stood still, watching the tiny cub walk further and further into the forest until it completely disappeared, unable to help but stomp her foot in anger!
When Lu An returned to her, she glared at him and said, “Do you know what you just did?”
Lu An looked at Kong Yan, finally returning to his original self, scratching his head and smiling, saying, “It was a bit foolish, but at worst, you can slowly deduct it from my share of the money later.”
“Later?” Kong Yan’s face was grim, her silver teeth slightly clenched, and she said, “You won’t interfere with hunting Strange Beasts later?”
“I won’t interfere!” Lu An quickly said with a compensatory smile, “As long as it’s not a cub, I absolutely won’t stop you!”
Upon hearing this, Kong Yan’s heart eased a little.
After all, a cub was far less important than a rebirth crystal core, but thinking that she had actually been startled by this young man just now, she couldn’t swallow this resentment!
Just as Kong Yan was about to say something, a ‘rustling’ sound suddenly came from a distance.
Lu An and Kong Yan both turned their heads to look, discovering that several figures were rapidly approaching from afar!
Kong Yan carefully watched those people, and when she clearly saw the person in front, her heart panicked, and she exclaimed, “It’s Wang Zhenggang and them!”
Just as Kong Yan’s words fell, a hand had already grasped her wrist and pulled her back.
“Run fast!” Lu An frowned tightly and said quickly!
With that, Lu An pulled Kong Yan, and the two quickly ran deeper into the forest!
Seeing the two escape, Wang Zhenggang’s face darkened, and while running frantically, he shouted loudly to the people beside him, “No matter what, you must catch these two people for me!”
“Yes, Boss!” the others shouted loudly.
Wang Zhenggang and four others quickly chased after Kong Yan and Lu An.
Lu An looked back with a frown; the opponent’s strength was much higher than his, and Kong Yan’s body was weak, her speed even slower than his, and the distance was rapidly closing!
Damn it!
Lu An’s brow furrowed; he waved his large hand, and immediately the Nine Heavens Holy Fire spread out, forming a huge arc, heading straight for the five people not far behind him!
“Petty tricks!” Wang Zhenggang sneered, and then he waved his large hand, and in an instant, several masses of flames surged out, colliding fiercely with the Nine Heavens Holy Fire!
Bang!
A current of Qi swept open, and the Nine Heavens Holy Fire was instantly dispersed by the fire masses, but the momentum of the fire masses did not diminish at all, heading straight for Lu An and Kong Yan’s backs!
Lu An’s brow tightened at the sight; at this moment, Kong Yan was also helpless.
In a hurry, he suddenly turned around and struck out two palms, and in an instant, a not-so-thick ice wall appeared!
“Get down!” After doing so, Lu An instantly pressed Kong Yan down with his body, and their bodies lunged forward!
Bang!!
The fire masses instantly shattered the Mystic Deep Cold Ice, but their speed was also somewhat slowed by a third.
Lu An’s forward-rushing body dodged most of the force, but he was still grazed on the back by the fireball!
However, lunging forward came at a cost; their rapidly forward-rushing bodies suddenly fell to the ground, rolling rapidly down the steep slope!
The ground was full of shattered rocks and broken wood, and the speed at which the two rolled was so fast that they couldn’t stop at all.
Lu An had no choice but to use all his strength to hold Kong Yan in his arms, trying to bear the impact himself as much as possible.
The two rolled for a long distance on the ground.
Lu An only felt that the clothes on his back were completely torn open, and waves of sharp pain came from behind him.
But having undergone Body Tempering with Holy Fire and cold ice, his tolerance for pain had reached an appalling degree.
He stubbornly held Kong Yan tightly without uttering a sound.
Just then, there was a sudden ‘crash’ sound, followed by a sensation of weightlessness, and both their bodies fell simultaneously!
Bang!
Lu An’s back slammed hard against the large rock beneath him, and with Kong Yan pressing down on him, he almost had the Qi knocked out of him.