The Ursine Beast’s Retreat

The Ursine Beast moved low, its four limbs pressing against the hill. Its coat of black fur shimmered with an oily sheen, as smooth and lustrous as the finest silk. Its eyes, though blood-red, held no trace of ferocity. Yet, the sharp glint from its massive claws sent a chilling dread through all who beheld them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Ursine Beast lifted its head, gazing at the azure longbow suspended in mid-air. With a powerful slam of its forepaws against the earth, three Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts rose at the sound, charging directly towards the formation as if commanded.

Indeed, this Ursine Beast possessed considerable intelligence. Unwilling to act rashly before understanding the formation’s power, it commanded lower-realm demonic beasts to test the waters.

Witnessing this, Chi Qiu activated her divine ability, ‘Blooming Life’. The ground before the formation churned, and numerous Night Ling Vines burst forth. They intertwined, branch by branch, root by root, rapidly forming a formidable vine wall.

Boom!

The instant they collided, the vine wall severely warped, teetering on the verge of collapse. Chi Qiu swung her sword, unleashing a wave of sword qi. While the sword qi had little effect on the Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts themselves, it effectively slowed their assault on the vine wall.

Though the situation appeared perilous, the vine wall ultimately withstood the demonic beasts’ charge. Moments later, the longbow in mid-air drew taut, releasing three arrows that struck down and killed the beasts.

Upon seeing the three Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts instantly perish, a flicker of apprehension entered the Ursine Beast’s eyes as it regarded the longbow. Its forepaws restlessly scraped at the indigo flowers beneath its feet, hesitating as if deep in thought.

Chi Qiu felt a surge of quiet joy at the Ursine Beast’s apparent hesitation. Without pausing, she continued to activate her ‘Blooming Life’ ability, conjuring more Night Ling Vines to heighten and thicken the wall. While this action would obstruct her vision, for Chi Qiu, who commanded a sea of indigo flowers, it presented no disadvantage.

“Roar—”

After a moment of contemplation, the Ursine Beast suddenly let out a sky-shattering roar. The bellow transformed into a wave of sound that spread outwards, causing the vine wall to tremble faintly. Behind the wall, Chi Qiu’s brow furrowed slightly, her eardrums stinging from the assault. A single roar from a Heart Scripture Realm demonic beast such as this could surely kill any mortal.

Fortunately, the people of Sang City, located near the colossal mulberry tree, had long since evacuated the area. Furthermore, unintelligent demonic beasts, those whose spiritual awareness had yet to awaken, would only follow their instincts and rush directly towards the tree. Demonic beasts who possessed intelligence, however, dared not slaughter mortals.

According to the Daqi Law, any demonic beast that massacred over ten thousand mortals in a single instance would face a Daqi bounty. Should they slaughter more than a million, the Daqi would dispatch its army and Demon Extermination Guards in pursuit.

Initially, this law failed to deter many demonic beasts. Yet, ten thousand years ago, an ancient divine demon known as the Nine-Headed Divine Demon, born in an epoch long past and surviving to the present day, devoured all mortals and cultivators within an entire city to serve as blood sacrifices, all in pursuit of a breakthrough. In a single feast, it consumed over a hundred million mortals.

Enraged, the Daqi Emperor personally led the army and the Demon Extermination Guards. In just seven days, they located and slew this ancient divine demon, which had lived for an untold number of years. Its nine heads were then hung above the Imperial City’s main gate, a chilling warning to all under heaven.

From that day forth, no great demon or divine demon dared to violate this ironclad law. Only a few minor demonic beasts, desperate for a breakthrough, would occasionally take such a risk.

Accompanying the Ursine Beast’s mighty roar, the scattered demonic beasts in the vicinity began to gather. Before long, over twenty lesser demonic beasts encircled the Ursine Beast.

Chi Qiu observed all of this, yet she was bound to defend the formation. She could only watch helplessly as the Ursine Beast rallied its subordinates, unable to intervene. Her only recourse was to conjure even more Night Ling Vines to bolster her defenses.

Seeing that enough lesser demonic beasts had gathered, the Ursine Beast let out a few low growls. Several newly advanced Transcendent Realm demonic beasts, fearless of death, charged towards the vine wall Chi Qiu had woven.

This vine wall was incredibly resilient; even the three Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts from before had struggled to shake it. Moreover, Chi Qiu had reinforced it in the interim, making it impossible for these seven or eight newly advanced Transcendent Realm demonic beasts to breach it.

The vine wall remained steadfast. In mid-air, the azure longbow once again bent into a full moon, this time manifesting six arrows. With a resounding Snap!, six demonic beasts instantly fell dead, leaving only two frantically clawing at the vine wall.

This is bad!

A jolt of alarm ran through Chi Qiu. The Ursine Beast had seen through the longbow’s limit of six arrows per volley. It was undoubtedly planning a major move.

After dispatching the six demonic beasts, the longbow began to absorb spiritual energy from within the formation. The bowstring slowly drew back again, two arrows materializing upon it before streaking forth like comets, slaying the remaining two lesser demonic beasts.

Seeing all the lesser demonic beasts dead, the Ursine Beast not only showed no anger but, in a surprisingly human-like gesture, nodded slightly as if highly satisfied. It roared a few more times, and six Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts, now fully invigorated, charged towards the vine wall.

This left Chi Qiu puzzled. They had just tested that the longbow could only fire six arrows at once, so why send these six Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts to their deaths? However, Chi Qiu quickly understood. Behind the six demonic beasts, a smaller one, less than three chi tall, was hidden.

Compared to the other demonic beasts, which often measured several zhang in size, this one was insignificant and easily overlooked. Yet, this very creature sent a shiver down Chi Qiu’s spine.

This demonic beast was a Crimson Flame Ape, possessing Spirit Nurturing Realm cultivation. In a one-on-one battle, Chi Qiu could easily slay it. But in her current defensive posture, this Crimson Flame Ape became a formidable weapon.

Crimson Flame Apes were born in volcanic regions and could naturally breathe crimson flames. This fire burned at an extremely high temperature, unquenchable by water and inextinguishable by earth. Should even a spark of crimson flame touch Chi Qiu’s Night Ling Vines, they would turn to ash in moments.

Chi Qiu attempted to control the Night Ling Vines, intending to open a path for herself to exit the formation and slay the Crimson Flame Ape. However, the Ursine Beast was only dozens of zhang away, and the other demonic beasts charged with incredible speed. Before the Night Ling Vines could even form a passage, the first wave of demonic beasts had already reached the vine wall.

The longbow once again nocked its arrows, slaying six Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beasts. At the very same moment, the Crimson Flame Ape opened its maw and spewed crimson flames. The moment the crimson fire touched the Night Ling Vines, they ignited, the raging blaze casting a fiery red glow upon Chi Qiu’s face.

Chi Qiu’s sword-wielding hand trembled slightly. With the vine wall breached, she could only meet her enemies with her sword, fighting to delay the Ursine Beast.

The crimson fire raged, reducing the vine wall Chi Qiu had painstakingly constructed to ash in mere breaths. The longbow slowly drew open, firing another arrow that struck down the Crimson Flame Ape, but it was too late.

From a distant hill, the Ursine Beast’s eyes gleamed with savagery. It roared, and all the remaining demonic beasts charged forth. It, too, began to advance, its massive paws pounding the ground.

Chi Qiu wielded her longsword, unleashing sword qi, striving to reduce the numbers of the demonic beast horde. The beast horde’s breach of the grand formation was now inevitable. Chi Qiu’s only option was to hold back the horde and protect the formation runes. As long as she could delay them long enough, the longbow would eventually slay all the demonic beasts.

One by one, Night Ling Vines once again burst from the earth. This time, they couldn’t form a complete vine wall, merely serving to slightly impede the demonic beast horde’s advance.

Chi Qiu stood her ground, sword in hand. A single swing severed a Transcendent Realm python, cutting it in two. Without time to spare for the writhing halves of the python, she brought her sword horizontally to block another large maw lunging at her.

Thud!

The clang of metal on bone rang out, and Chi Qiu was sent reeling backwards by the demonic beast’s immense power.

When it came to close-quarters combat, demonic beasts of the same realm were significantly stronger than cultivators. Demonic beasts typically possessed tough hides, making them difficult to injure, while cultivators excelled at engaging from a distance. Fortunately, Chi Qiu possessed the Azure Frost Sword, a high-grade magical artifact. Though she had not yet reached the Heart Scripture Realm and thus couldn’t control objects with true qi, its inherent sharpness still allowed her to easily slay demonic beasts.

Chi Qiu fought and retreated, attempting to draw the demonic beasts further away from the formation runes. In mid-air, the longbow drew back once more, releasing six arrows simultaneously, striking down six more lesser demonic beasts.

“Roar—”

After Chi Qiu severely wounded another Spirit Nurturing Realm demonic beast with her sword, a tremendous roar reverberated. Chi Qiu’s mind reeled from the impact of the roar, and by the time she regained her senses, the Ursine Beast was already upon her.

Chi Qiu held her sword, meeting its gaze. The Ursine Beast knew there was no time for delay and unleashed another thunderous roar. This time, Chi Qiu was prepared; she steadied her mind, unmoved by the colossal roar.

With a powerful kick of its hind legs, the Ursine Beast launched itself forward with a deafening rumble, transforming into a black blur as it lunged at Chi Qiu.

The force of this lunge was immense and heavy. If Chi Qiu failed to dodge and was even slightly grazed, it could shatter her to pieces.

Though this Ursine Beast possessed the strength of the Heart Scripture Realm, it had yet to cultivate demonic power. Its purpose in coming here was to devour the tender shoots of the colossal mulberry tree to achieve that very power. Thus, its current fighting style remained the same as in the Spirit Nurturing Realm, relying on its overwhelmingly powerful physical body to charge headlong into battle.

The Ursine Beast stood twenty zhang tall; even a single tooth in its mouth was as large as Chi Qiu herself. Devouring Chi Qiu would clearly be inconvenient, so it had opted for this simple, brutal lunge.

At this moment, Chi Qiu cursed herself for never having learned movement or evasion techniques. When she was still in her male body, relying on the terrifying explosive power of the physique cultivated through the divine ability ‘Intertwined Gold’, she had never paid much heed to movement techniques. Any she acquired were simply exchanged for spirit stones or herbs, never kept. Now, however, she was paying a heavy price.

Chi Qiu found herself with almost no escape. She leaned to her right while raising her sword to block, ultimately evading the deadly lunge by the narrowest of margins.

The gale force wind generated by the Ursine Beast’s lunge brushed against Chi Qiu, and she felt a fiery sting on her face, which instantly flushed red.

When its lunge failed, the Ursine Beast extended a massive paw to strike Chi Qiu. Chi Qiu, however, was prepared. Right where she had stumbled, four Night Ling Vines had already taken root and sprouted, forming a small vine wall before her. Chi Qiu herself did not remain idle; she raised the Azure Frost Sword, thrusting it through a gap in the vine wall.

Bang!

The colossal paw slammed into the vine wall, which offered only a momentary resistance before scattering into countless pieces. Chi Qiu’s sword pierced the Ursine Beast’s paw, but she herself was sent flying several zhang by the impact, her recently healed ribs in her chest beginning to throb once more.

“Aow! Aow!”

The Azure Frost Sword easily cut into the Ursine Beast’s paw, and foul-smelling blood splattered across the ground. The Ursine Beast cried out in pain, retracting its paw and fixing its gaze on Chi Qiu, temporarily halting its assault.

Snap!

The longbow fired another six arrows. At this point, only the Ursine Beast and two lesser demonic beasts remained alive within the formation. To destroy the formation before the longbow’s next volley, they would first have to overcome Chi Qiu.

After these two exchanges, Chi Qiu’s mind eased slightly. Fortunately, the Ursine Beast had not yet cultivated demonic power and could only fight with its physical body; otherwise, Chi Qiu would have found it extremely difficult to hold it back.

Seeing the Ursine Beast staring at her, Chi Qiu showed no fear, meeting its gaze with her sword. She understood that she could not show even a hint of weakness at this moment.

A few breaths later, the Ursine Beast let out a final, skyward roar, then turned and fled, abandoning the grand formation.

Chi Qiu finally let out a sigh of relief, crouching down to alleviate the searing pain in her chest.