I’m not injured

Yun Ruo ran out of the barrier’s range and into the miasma. A silver light flashed around her, and she sighed in relief.

Although she didn’t know which sect the person was from, this Barrier Jade worth one high-grade spirit stone was pretty good, with a great protective effect.

‘Sorry, handsome man in white, necessity knows no law.’

Once she got out, she’d have the stubbled man pay for the spirit stone. After all, life was more important than money, right, Uncle!

She hurried to run toward the stubbled man’s position, choosing the shortest route. She could reach him directly by passing through a narrow alley. As long as the spirit energy in this Barrier Jade was abundant, even if the Spirit-Devouring Beast chased after them to eat them, it would be enough for them to hold on until they returned to the inner city.

She was risking danger to save someone, but the only thing threatening her was the miasma. She was just an ordinary person; the Spirit-Devouring Beast wouldn’t be interested in her.

Just in case, she had covered her mouth and nose in advance. Even if the Barrier Jade broke, she could hold out a little longer.

“Pretty smart, she didn’t rashly rush out,” Lin Wang on the viewing platform said, showing no awareness of being robbed, but praising her instead.

Bai Liye looked at Yun Ruo’s resolute figure, saying nothing.

She found the stubbled man very smoothly, ran over to help him up, and the Barrier Jade’s barrier protected the two of them. The Spirit-Devouring Beast’s figure flashed past, crashing against the barrier, causing the silver light to flow.

The miasma was temporarily dispelled. The stubbled man tore off the cloth covering his face and breathed rapidly. The color of his face, which had turned purplish, finally looked a little better. He scooped up Yun Ruo in one arm, “Go.”

Yun Ruo was half-lifted by him, and only felt the wind rushing past her ears. The two of them rushed into the alley she had come from in the blink of an eye. Although the stubbled man had injured his leg, he still ran very fast, but the expression on his face was twisted, obviously enduring.

The Spirit-Devouring Beast had tasted the flesh mixed with the spiritual energy, which aroused its bloodthirsty nature. Suddenly, it realized that it couldn’t eat it anymore, and immediately went crazy, its actions becoming even more urgent, its shadowy form flashing again and again, gnawing at the spiritual energy of the Barrier Jade. The light on their bodies flashed constantly. The stubbled man wished he had four legs so he could run faster. Yun Ruo’s palms were also covered in cold sweat.

The front opened up, the alley was at its end.

As long as they ran forward across a short road, they could enter the range of the inner city barrier. Fifteen seconds, no, ten seconds!

Just then, the silver light protecting the two of them flashed, suddenly dimming.

The miasma immediately eroded them.

Exhausted, the stubbled man pushed Yun Ruo forward with all his might, his voice hoarse, “Run, don’t breathe, it won’t chase you!”

The push didn’t work. Yun Ruo stubbornly grabbed his arm, then changed to carrying one of his arms as she charged toward the barrier. This pull wasted two seconds. The stubbled man grunted as the Spirit-Devouring Beast flashed and bit his arm, blood seeping out along his sleeve. However, he was infected by Yun Ruo’s unwavering attitude, and he didn’t make a sound, took a breath, and dragged his injured leg, barely sprinting toward the barrier.

The sound of wind came from behind them. Yun Ruo pushed the stubbled man forward, and the two of them fell into the barrier together.

“…Damn it.” The stubbled man slumped on the ground, recovering his senses. He immediately cursed at Yun Ruo, “What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not related to you, who asked you to come save me!?”

“Uncle, you’re spitting on my face…”

Yun Ruo’s body was still half outside the barrier. The life-and-death sprint just now had also made her legs a little weak. She was just about to get up when she suddenly leaned back, her entire body dragged out of the barrier by something.

The change happened too fast, and the stubbled man didn’t even realize what had happened.

Caught off guard, Yun Ruo thought to herself, ‘Is there another demon beast?’

She rolled back around, barely controlling her body, and crouching down, she quickly took a step back and pressed her back against the wall, so she wouldn’t be attacked from both sides.

Although she couldn’t cultivate in the Xuan Yang Sect for three years, she had still learned a lot of things.

Her face was covered with a thick cloth to cover her mouth and nose, but Yun Ruo still held her breath as quickly as possible.

Now the miasma had dissipated even more. It was no longer dark and heavy, but more like a flowing mist, so she could basically see things clearly.

Standing on the ground in front of her was a small beast like a cat, with miasma entangled in its snow-white fur. It raised its head, its deep green eyes half-open as it looked at Yun Ruo, its expression quite cute and innocent. Its long tail dragged on the ground, slowly retracting.

There were no other demon beasts. What had just wrapped around her was this Spirit-Devouring Beast’s tail.

What did it want to do?

Wasn’t it uninterested in ordinary people? Did it want to catch her and play with her like a cat playing with a mouse? She hadn’t heard that Spirit-Devouring Beasts had such a hobby!

Yun Ruo tentatively moved to the side.

The Spirit-Devouring Beast’s eyes followed her movement. The retracted tail stretched in front of it, and it narrowed its eyes, sniffing the scent on its tail, posing gracefully.

It really looked like a cat.

It even made her want to rua it.

Just as Yun Ruo had this thought, the Spirit-Devouring Beast buried its head in its tail and sucked it. All the fur on its body stretched out, and its eyes suddenly widened. The green pupils turned into a vertical line and then quickly spread out to fill the entire eye socket.

It excitedly parted its mouth at Yun Ruo.

Remaining between its teeth were torn strips of cloth and minced meat, blood mixed with thick saliva flowing from its mouth.

What kind of terrifying pet mutation was this!

Yun Ruo screamed inwardly. The shock of this scene was too great. She turned around and ran towards the barrier, and the Spirit-Devouring Beast whipped its tail, leaving afterimages as it wrapped around her waist in an instant.

“Beast! Come eat me!” The stubbled man rushed out of the barrier, pouncing toward the Spirit-Devouring Beast.

However, the Spirit-Devouring Beast, which had been chasing after him to eat him just now, ignored him, its eyes glowing green, saliva dripping. A shadow flashed, and it pounced on Yun Ruo, pressing its two front paws on her shoulders, opening its mouth with its three rows of sharp teeth and biting down on her neck like lightning.

The fishy stench rushed at her face. Yun Ruo stared at the Spirit-Devouring Beast, feeling its movements slow down frame by frame.

Behind her were the stubbled man’s grief-stricken shouts, the young boy’s shrill whistles echoing within the barrier, and the sounds of more people gasping and exclaiming. She heard them all clearly.

‘I don’t want to die.’

Her chest was burning as if it was scorching. The long and painful memories of being locked in the jade coffin flooded her mind, and Yun Ruo was left with nothing but the desire to survive, not to die here.

She didn’t die then, and she didn’t want to die now.

The Barrier Jade that she was holding in her hand, which had lost its effect, emitted a slight hum. Something flowed out of the round jade piece and solidified into a shape in her palm. Without thinking, Yun Ruo gripped what was in her hand and stabbed upward, the invisible blade piercing the Spirit-Devouring Beast’s lower jaw from below and coming out through the top of its head. The stinking blood splattered all over Yun Ruo’s face.

Almost at the same time, the Spirit-Devouring Beast on her body was knocked away by a sword.

The feeling of the sword piercing through flesh made Bai Liye stunned for a moment, but his movements didn’t stop at all. He picked up Yun Ruo and took her back to the barrier.

On the other side, Lin Wang carried the stubbled man’s shoulders and rushed in as well.

Bai Liye gently put Yun Ruo on the ground. The stubbled man pushed Lin Wang away, limping over and kneeling in front of Yun Ruo with a thump. His young apprentice ran over crying and knelt down with a thump as well.

One big and one small knelt beside Yun Ruo, tears streaming down the stubbled man’s face as he began to sob with a hoarse voice, “I owe you a life, you… rest in peace.”

He reached out and wiped over Yun Ruo’s eyes.

What was he doing?

Yun Ruo looked at him inexplicably.

The stubbled man was stunned, and wiped over her eyes again.

Yun Ruo reacted. The stubbled uncle thought she had died with unresolved grievances.

She blinked and said in a muffled voice, “I’m not dead.”

The young boy’s crying stopped. The stubbled man shouted, looking at her in disbelief, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Lin Wang’s sleeve, “Immortal! Save her! She’s not dead, she can still be saved!!”

Yun Ruo sat up slowly. The blood on her neck flowed into her clothes, feeling sticky and uncomfortable. The young boy lifted his sleeve to wipe her face, and she took off the cloth covering her mouth and nose, “It’s not my blood, it’s the Spirit-Devouring Beast’s. I’m not injured.”

She shouldn’t be injured, she didn’t feel any pain on her body, and the Spirit-Devouring Beast hadn’t actually bitten her.

Lin Wang looked surprised and squatted down, placing his hand on Yun Ruo’s neck, not minding that she was covered in blood and dirt. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and looked up at Bai Liye, “She’s fine.” Her breathing was peaceful and full of energy, and she was very healthy.

Bai Liye frowned, recalling the scene just now.

Seeing that the dirty-faced girl and the stubbled man had returned to the barrier, everyone on the viewing platform breathed a sigh of relief, and some even cheered. But the next second, the situation changed drastically. He and Lin Wang jumped off the viewing platform to rush over, but it was still too late. The Spirit-Devouring Beast had already caught its prey, and even if he had acted faster, he could only have retrieved the corpse.

No one had expected the Spirit-Devouring Beast to attack an ordinary person.

From the moment Yun Ruo was dragged away to the moment Bai Liye and Lin Wang came to save her, everything had happened in an instant. He hadn’t had time to think much before. Now that he saw Yun Ruo was fine, Bai Liye recalled that when he had swung his sword to force back the Spirit-Devouring Beast, the sword hadn’t missed its target. He had really stabbed something.

Could it be…

He turned and left the barrier.

“Hey!” Lin Wang was startled. The miasma hadn’t been cleared yet, and the Barrier Jade was gone. Why was he running out again?

Was he addicted to it!? “Bai Liye, you’re crazy… Huh?”

Lin Wang had only cursed halfway when Bai Liye came back, the tip of his sword carrying the corpse of the Spirit-Devouring Beast and throwing it on the ground.

“You killed the Spirit-Devouring Beast?” The Xuan Yang Sect disciple who had repaired the barrier had rushed over. It was the youth who had argued with Lin Wang before. He looked at the demon beast’s corpse on the ground in disbelief, then looked at Bai Liye with an even more incredulous expression.

This person didn’t even have a Barrier Jade on his body, let alone any high-level magical artifact. How could he have killed the Spirit-Devouring Beast? If he had such strength, why didn’t he take action earlier?

Bai Liye ignored him, calling out to Lin Wang, “Can you tell how it died?”

Lin Wang checked it briefly, “A sharp weapon, killed with one blow.”

The wound on the top of the head was so big. Anyone with eyes could see it.

But that was why it was strange.

Bai Liye knew that he hadn’t killed the Spirit-Devouring Beast, and turned his eyes to Yun Ruo, who was sitting on the ground.

Everyone’s eyes followed and gathered on Yun Ruo.

Absolutely impossible.

The Xuan Yang Sect youth felt that the thought that had flashed through his mind for a moment, “Could it be that she killed it?” was extremely ridiculous. The Spirit-Devouring Beast was fast and could devour spiritual power, and it was at the top of the list of demon beasts that were difficult to capture and kill. Did he really think a plain and ordinary beggar could have done it?

Even if all her spiritual meridians had awakened, it would be impossible!