Jiang Wuyu kept attacking, weaving between whipping roots and slashing tendrils. His Iron Serpent Laceration sliced across the beast's body, each blow releasing bursts of blackened blood. But he wasn't just striking blindly—his eyes, sharp and analytical, tracked every twitch, every reaction, every fluctuation in the beast's Qi. Somewhere beneath the twisted bark-flesh was its core… and he was close.
Lu Heng roared as he cleaved through a mass of roots, his body swelling with raw might, veins bulging with Qi. With his growing size, he was more beast than man—more Golden Carnage than Lu Heng. One massive foot stomped the ground, sending out a shockwave that tore up a wave of roots rushing toward Wuyu.
"Go!" he shouted, voice like thunder. "I'll hold it!"
The beast shrieked in fury, its roots clawing madly, trying to wrap around Wuyu's limbs, but Lu Heng's massive arms intercepted them—ripping, snapping, bashing them into pulp. He locked arms with a thick root cluster surging for Jiang, muscles flaring, refusing to let it budge. Even as the beast hurled itself forward, Lu Heng's sheer presence kept it at bay.
Wuyu vanished in a flicker of movement—Mist-Wind Step—and reappeared near the beast's chest, where pulsing lines of Qi converged. That was it.
The core.
A serpentine arc of his blade sliced in, but bark turned to steel, halting his strike. Snarling, Wuyu twisted mid-air, switching to Twin-Spiral Fang, stabbing in a spiral motion. It pierced halfway through before the beast responded violently—vines shot up like spears, the air full of venomous thorns.
Lu Heng bellowed, tearing a massive root free and using it like a club, batting the vines from the air. Then he leapt, slamming down onto the beast's flank with such force the ground cracked beneath it. The monster howled in pain.
"NOW, WUYU!" Lu Heng yelled.
Jiang didn't hesitate. He slammed his palm against the half-pierced bark and triggered Qi Sever Lance—a burst of internal Qi surged from his palm like a spike, exploding inward.
The beast's scream tore through the air.
Wuyu reached in with his bloodied hand and ripped the core out—a glowing, pulsing organ that throbbed with corrupted energy. His face twisted into a feral grin, eyes wide with a manic glint.
The demonic beast wailed, a primal scream that made the forest itself tremble. It was as if a heart had been torn from its chest, and in a sense—it had.
Its massive frame lurched. Roots writhed madly, then began to decay, collapsing like severed limbs. Lu Heng didn't stop—he slammed his fists down again and again, hammering the beast's form even as it began to crumble.
And then—after one final, earsplitting screech that echoed through the forest—it stopped.
The great beast, once a towering monstrosity of wood and rage, slumped to the earth. Dead.
Jiang Wuyu kept moving in sharp, practiced bursts—slashes, spins, feints—all aimed to weaken, probe, and confuse the beast, drawing its attention while studying its movements with razor focus. His blade flickered like a silver serpent, digging deep into joints where bark turned soft, exploiting every wound Lu Heng opened.
Meanwhile, Lu Heng was a mountain in motion. He didn't move fast—he didn't have to. His raw strength let him anchor the entire front, intercepting roots mid-swing with bone-shattering punches. One thick, barbed root swung toward his ribs, and Lu Heng caught it mid-air, his fingers crushing through its outer shell, then tore it clean off with a roar.
"Come on, you overgrown weed!"
The beast responded, roots expanding wildly, slashing and stabbing from every angle. But it was slowing—Wuyu's relentless attacks were working.
Lu Heng, now glowing faintly with golden light, slammed both fists into the ground. "Golden Pillar Break!"
The ground erupted beneath the beast, throwing it off-balance, forcing it to rise and expose its chest just enough—
Wuyu's eyes narrowed. "There!"
With a blur, he leapt high, dashed between whipping roots, then dove into a narrow gap near the beast's neck. Threads of Qi burst from his palms, wrapping around a glowing red core buried deep within, and with a shout, he ripped it free.
The beast let out a wail—not of pain, but of despair.
Its entire body convulsed as if something essential had been taken—its arms flailed, its roots collapsed, and its hide rippled uncontrollably. Lu Heng didn't stop. He advanced through the chaos, raining down fists like hammers from the heavens.
With every blow, the demonic beast shrank slightly, its Qi dispersing, its strength unraveling.
And then, with one final soul-wrenching screech, it fell.
Still. Dead.
Wuyu stood hunched over, panting, the core still pulsing in his hand, glowing like a stolen heart. Lu Heng walked up through the remains, his towering form dusted in ash and blood. He looked down at the orb in Wuyu's hand, while was greedy to have it still didn't dare to break their oath, jiang wuyu put it in his spacial ring as he said "I've gotten what I wanted," Jiang Wuyu said coldly, then tossed a bundle of scrolls toward Lu Heng. "Now you take yours."
The scrolls thudded to the ground, sealed and marked with old talismans—spoils from the beast's nest.
He turned away, but paused. "And I suggest you hurry with dissecting the corpse. Won't be long before others arrive."
Wuyu was about to turn and leave, core tucked under his arm, but Lu Heng stopped him.
"I have an idea to hide our involvement."
That caught Wuyu's interest. He turned back, brow raised.
Lu Heng's eyes gleamed. "We'll blame demonic cultivators. Say this whole war started because of them. That they killed my students and your clansmen to turn us against each other. That they made you attack the mine to awaken the beast. That they planned to take it after we killed each other."
Wuyu's expression was unreadable for a moment. The idea sank in.
Lu Heng stepped closer, voice low and deliberate.
"They get blamed. We get praised. And no one suspects we worked together or took anything."
He stared directly at Wuyu.
"So hurry and answer. Yes… or no?"
Jiang Wuyu stood frozen, his jaw clenched so tight it could've cracked bone.
He didn't know what to do.
If no one believed the story, they'd both be labeled demonic cultivators—and that meant being hunted, torn apart by righteous sects, buried by imperial decree. But if the lie worked... they'd walk away free. Respected. Untouched. Maybe even praised as saviors.
He weighed it all in a heartbeat.
"I don't believe the empire will simply trust us," he muttered sharply, his eyes narrowed. "They'll place a watch on us... someone stronger than both of us. Maybe even an Emberwake Realm cultivator. That's a death sentence."
He turned away, voice colder now. "I'll have to refuse that plan. It wastes time I don't have. Goodbye, Lu Heng."
But Lu Heng didn't move. He simply stared at Wuyu's retreating back, lips curling faintly in amusement.
To him, the choice was simple.
In one outcome, he was certainly a criminal. In another, he had a chance—a gamble, but a good one. And Lu Heng? He wasn't afraid to gamble. He didn't fear the Emberwake Realm either. He couldn't fight it—not yet—but he could run. And he was damn good at running.
So he made the call.
He threw back his head and bellowed into the woods:
"STUDENTS OF THE STONE PATH HALL! CLANSMEN OF THE JIANG CLAN! I, LU HENG, VICE DEAN OF THE INSTITUTE—"
His Qi surged, the echo carrying like thunder.
"—ALONGSIDE JIANG WUYU, PATRIARCH OF THE JIANG CLAN, HAVE SLAIN A DEMONIC BEAST AND THE DEMONIC CULTIVATORS WHO AWAKENED IT TO USE AGAINST US ALL!"
His voice rang through the trees like a bell announcing war.
Jiang Wuyu stopped dead in his tracks.
Veins bulged across his forehead. His fists trembled with fury.
"This bastard... he wants to drag me into his plan whether I agree or not..."
Wuyu spun, ready to spit venom and leave Lu Heng to his foolish fate.
But the moment he turned—
He felt them.
Three powerful presences. Close. Too close.
His pupils shrank.
"No..."
He cursed inwardly.
Fighting Lu Heng. The beast's resilience. The extraction. It all cost too much time.
And now, they were here.
"Damn it..." he growled, teeth gritted.
He didn't even have to see them. Their pressure alone was enough. Their Qi was dense, refined—far above his. Three cultivators, likely mid Rank Two, and one of them...
One of them felt like fire caged in a sun.
A high stage rank 2 cultivator or even a peak one. No doubt.
Wuyu's mind raced. If I don't play along with Lu Heng now... he'll turn on me in an instant.
The corpse was still warm. The beast's core was in his ring.
He was holding all the evidence.
All Lu Heng had to do was say, "Wheres the core?."jiang wuyu would then be forced into giving the core away otherwise he'd be labeled as a demonic Cultivator and in the end lu heng would win valuable information on the farlands while jiang wuyu wins nothing and would be the one that lost a lot for nothing and he thought about his son he has promised him he'd heal him and he has promised this many times but always failed and with each fail his son lost more hope more trust in his fathers promises to the point that wuyu can see his son wish for peace, he could see that his son could not stand the pain anymore and would one day try to end his life and Jiang wuyu would rather slaughter clans and sacrifice his life then see his son burial he has done too much and gone too far for him to just fail another time.
No.
He couldn't let that happen. Not after everything he sacrificed.
He took a breath, killing the rage behind his eyes, swallowed the humiliation, and turned back toward Lu Heng with a false calm.
He'd play along.
He had no choice.
"Let's make sure they hear it all," he muttered under his breath, walking forward like this had been his idea all along.