Sun Qian's eyes widened in terror as Lizarius's fangs plunged into his neck. Lightning exploded through his body—his muscles convulsed, eyes turned ghost-white, and skin scorched under the raw current. Blood gushed from his nose and ears as he collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. With a guttural snarl, Lizarius tore out a chunk of flesh and devoured it.
He raised his head, maw soaked in blood—Qi swords were already hurtling toward him.
With a crack of thunder, Lizarius vanished in a streak of light, narrowly evading the incoming blades.
Li Feng Wei appeared in a flash, blade igniting like a falling star.
> "Damn beast!" he roared, driving his weapon down in a blazing arc. "Die!"
Lizarius darted aside, moving faster than sight. The flaming blade slammed into the earth, carving a scorching, ten-foot gash through stone and soil. Li Feng Wei pivoted with a follow-up slash, flames trailing in a deadly arc—but Lizarius twisted mid-air, evading again.
His tail lashed out, crackling with lightning. Dozens of golden scales shot forward like shrapnel.
Li Feng Wei's blade became a blur—deflecting every projectile with explosive clashes of flame and metal.
Overhead, Li Zhao Ling's spiritual swords whirled into formation and rained down on Lizarius like divine punishment. The beast soared upward, dodging nimbly, when the earth below rumbled and erupted—two massive arms of stone surged upward, aiming to seize him mid-air.
> Trap him now! Zhao Ling commanded, her eyes gleaming with focus.
But Lizarius's wings flared. With a single beat, they released a storm of razor wind that shredded the earthen arms into flying debris.
Through the rising dust cloud, Li Feng Wei lunged again, blade blazing. Lizarius turned just in time, wings folding over his body. The impact rang out like a bell—steel against storm-forged scale. The force hurled Lizarius backward across the sky.
He spread his wings, wind howling around him, and halted mid-air. The blade had left only a thin scratch.
Tiny glowing flags streaked toward him, humming with spiritual energy.
Lizarius's eyes narrowed. Trying to trap me again? He opened his maw—blue light gathering—then unleashed a torrent of searing azure flame, incinerating the formation flags mid-air. The firestorm surged toward Elder Lin Hao, who had been preparing another binding array.
> "Don't worry about the beast attacks!" Zhao Ling shouted, intercepting the flames with a wall of Qi swords. "Just set up another formation! We need something that can hurt him—slow him!"
Below, the earth fractured—spikes erupted in rapid succession, trying to impale or corral the beast. But Lizarius was a blur of lightning, weaving through them effortlessly.
His gaze locked on Lin Hao.
> Have to kill him—before he traps me again.
But then—Li Feng Wei appeared beside him, sword already swinging.
Lizarius barely dodged. The flaming blade instead carved through several of the earth spikes, molten stone hissing in its wake. Lizarius countered, his lightning-charged tail whipping toward Feng Wei's neck.
Steel met storm. Feng Wei reacted in an instant, parrying the tail with a precise upward slash. Sparks exploded.
Their battle continued, a high-speed clash of power and will—thunder and flame colliding across the rooftops of the Li estate.
---
Away from the battle
among the many buildings in the Li estate.
Shi Tong, a cultivator of the Li family at the 5th Stage of Qi Refining, stood watching the chaos unfold. His eyes narrowed—then he vanished, slipping into the shadows without a trace.
Inside the Li estate's grand hall, elders, children, and non-combatants huddled together. The walls trembled with every clash outside.
A child whispered,
> "Is the beast going to break in?"
An elder held them close.
> "Not while Li Feng Wei still stands."