Time crawled by. Chang Gong Xiaojing's complexion had paled significantly, a sheen of sweat glistening on her nose. The stack of spirit talismans Lin Feng had given her, along with her own reserves, were nearly exhausted. Her internal true energy was also dwindling dangerously low. The protective Luminous Spirit Shield had shrunk to barely half its original size, now just barely covering her and Lin Feng.
A thick carpet of the unnamed poison beasts' corpses surrounded them. Shattered bodies, spilled entrails, and pools of dark blood littered the ground, filling the cavern air with a nauseating, coppery stench.
She threw one last talisman. Then, her hand stilled. A bitter twist touched her lips as she felt the near-total emptiness within her core.
Forcing down another Energy Restoration Pill, she glanced back at Lin Feng. His face was contorted in pain—he seemed to be at a critical juncture in his healing. Her lips pressed into a thin line, resolve hardening her gaze as she turned back to face the remaining beasts. Her right hand flashed, summoning a slender, three-foot sword that pulsed with a soft, azure glow.
Scanning the roughly dozen beasts still skittering around them, Chang Gong Xiaojing gritted her teeth. With a decisive flick of her will, she dismissed the weakening shield. Planting herself firmly in front of Lin Feng, she raised her sword one-handed.
No more energy to waste on the shield. Only a few left... This last reserve should be enough...
"SCREECH!!!"
A sudden, piercing cry shattered the tense quiet! A beast launched itself from atop a large rock on her left, claws and fangs bared, hurtling straight towards her face!
"SHING!" Chang Gong Xiaojing's gaze sharpened. Azure light flashed cleanly through the air. The beast split in two mid-leap, its halves thudding wetly to the ground.
But immediately, three more beasts lunged from different angles! Chang Gong Xiaojing became a whirlwind. Her sword danced in intricate patterns like unfolding petals as she pivoted, sidestepped, and lunged with astonishing grace. Within moments, the attackers lay dead at her feet.
She moved like a protective butterfly around the immobile Lin Feng. Every thrust and sweep of her sword found its mark, intercepting any beast daring to approach. As the attacks grew more furious and coordinated, her movements accelerated into a breathtaking blur. At the most terrifying moment, a beast managed to streak past her guard, its snapping jaws mere inches from Lin Feng's face! Only a desperate, lightning-fast backhand stab from Chang Gong Xiaojing skewered it in mid-air.
Finally, the last beast fell. Chang Gong Xiaojing stopped, breathing heavily. Her sword arm trembled visibly. Sweat plastered strands of dark hair to her flushed cheeks, lending her a dishevelled yet strangely fierce beauty. Seeing no more threats, a weary smile touched her lips, and a profound sigh of relief escaped her.
"SQUEEEK!!!!"
The shrill, utterly terrified shriek came from Xiao Qiu, perched on Lin Feng's shoulder. The little creature's fur stood on end like a miniature porcupine, its tiny body rigid with terror as it stared, transfixed, towards the river bank.
Chang Gong Xiaojing's head snapped around. Her pupils contracted violently. All color drained instantly from her face. Raw, unadulterated despair flooded her eyes.
Blub-blub... Blub-blub-blub...
A sickening chorus of bubbling rose from the dark water. Then, a vast, spreading black stain breached the surface, flowing onto the bank like a viscous tide of oil.
Beasts. More beasts. An uncountable number.
She had slain over two hundred. She thought it was over. But the river… it was teeming.
WHOOSH!!
In her moment of stunned horror, a blurred gray shape exploded from a pile of corpses to her right rear! Silent and deadly, it arrowed towards the exposed back of her neck!
A straggler! One she had missed!
Chang Gong Xiaojing sensed its eruption, but exhaustion had slowed her reflexes. Her turn, her defensive sweep with the sword—it was all a fraction too slow. As she twisted, searing pain lanced through her left wrist. The beast's fangs sank deep into her flesh.
Her heart plummeted into ice. Gritting her teeth against the shock, she brought her sword down in a savage arc with her right hand. THWACK! The cleaver-like blow severed the creature cleanly in half.
But numbness was already spreading rapidly from the bite wound. Her legs buckled. Staggering weakly, she collapsed beside Lin Feng.
"Lin Feng..." Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with despair. She weakly pushed his shoulder with her uninjured hand. He remained utterly unresponsive, locked deep within his inner battle.
A heartbroken smile touched Chang Gong Xiaojing's pale lips as she gazed at Lin Feng's agonized face. Her eyes softened with a profound tenderness. She opened her mouth as if to speak… but a crushing wave of fatigue slammed into her consciousness, impossible to resist. Her eyelids fluttered shut. She slumped, unconscious.
...
"Squee-squee-squee!!!"
Seeing Chang Gong Xiaojing collapse, Xiao Qiu panicked utterly. It hopped frantically on Lin Feng's shoulder, pulling at his hair with tiny claws, desperately trying to wake him. Nothing.
Terror warred with helplessness in its large eyes. It looked up. The black tide crawling from the river was horrifyingly close now. If they reached Lin Feng and Xiaojing… if they began to bite... nothing would remain but bones.
"SQUEE!!" Xiao Qiu leapt down onto the ground directly in front of Lin Feng. It arched its back like an enraged kitten, fur bristling, and shrieked its loudest challenge at the approaching horde. A futile attempt to intimidate.
Oh, how it wished! It wished it could blast them with lightning like Lin Feng sometimes joked! It wished it could spit fireballs or razor winds like other beasts! But… why couldn't it do anything?!
"Grraaawwwrrr..."
An unfamiliar, low growl rumbled from Xiao Qiu's tiny throat, baring miniature fangs. Fury and helpless rage warred within it—fury at its own inability to protect Lin Feng, rage at these vile beasts attacking when he was most vulnerable.
Must protect. Must protect Lin Feng! Go away! You fiends... GO AWAY!!!
A wild, desperate light ignited in Xiao Qiu's eyes. The faintest shimmer of distortion seemed to ripple the air around its tiny form, almost invisible. Driven beyond reason, it scrabbled blindly beside it, grabbed the closest hard object, and hurled it with every ounce of its might towards the encroaching tide!!
"HMMM..."
An unnatural, deep hum vibrated through the cavern. The 'rock' Xiao Qiu flung wasn't a rock at all—it was one of the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones Lin Feng had scattered earlier for his cultivation! As it left Xiao Qiu's grasp, the stone erupted with an intense, blinding pure white light!
Stunned by the sudden brilliance, the front ranks of the beasts faltered, shrieking and recoiling. Those directly in the stone's path scrambled frantically aside.
In the heartbeat it took for the glowing stone to arc through the air and land amidst the packed beasts, the intense light seemed to implode inward. A tiny, ferocious white vortex seemed to spin violently within the stone for an instant. Then, a spiderweb of cracks raced across its surface...
KABOOOM!!!!!!
The next instant unleashed chaos. A detonation, far more violent and deafening than any talisman blast, shattered the air! Light—ten times brighter than before—blazed like a miniature sun! A visible ring of concussive force rippled outwards from the blinding core, carrying a wave of annihilating power!
SCREEE—!!! The shrieks were horrific. Dozens of beasts were simply vaporized at the epicenter. Others were ripped apart, hurled bodily through the air like grotesque ragdolls. Blood and shredded viscera rained down. Where the stone had landed, a crater several meters wide gaped, surrounded by a ring of mangled, scorched carcasses.
The vast, carpet-like swarm crawling up the bank now resembled a black cloth with a gaping, ragged hole torn in its center. The beasts not instantly killed milled in utter panic, shrieking incoherently, their relentless advance shattered into chaos.
...
"Squee...?"
Xiao Qiu stared, utterly dumbfounded, at the devastation and the panicked beasts. It looked down at its own tiny paws in sheer bewilderment. Then, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, an explosion of pure, exhilarated understanding dawned in its wide eyes.
"SQUEEEK!!!!" It unleashed a roar of triumphant fury! It darted half a meter to the right, snatched up another Spirit Stone lying near Lin Feng's array, hoisted it high above its head with both paws, and hurled it with ferocious intent towards the densest part of the scrambling horde!
As the stone left its grasp, Xiao Qiu felt a distinct sensation—a tiny, focused surge of something flowing from deep within its own core, into the stone. The stone blazed with white light again as it soared. It landed squarely amidst the confused mass of beasts.
BOOOM!!!! Another thunderous explosion! Another small cluster of beasts ceased to exist.
Amidst the renewed panic, a group of beasts near the front seemed to snap out of their stupor. Shrieking with renewed bloodlust, they turned their focus directly towards the tiny source of their destruction—Xiao Qiu—and charged!
Xiao Qiu yelped in fright. Instinct took over. It grabbed another nearby stone, pointed its tiny paw like an accusation at the lead beasts barely ten meters away, and flung the stone with all its might!
KABLAM!!
The blast was punishingly close. The shockwave lifted Xiao Qiu off its paws, sending it tumbling head over heels backwards. Shaking itself off, it looked up. Where the lead beasts had been charging... there was now only a small, smoking crater and scattered gore.
"SQUEEE!!!!" Unbridled, savage joy surged through Xiao Qiu now! It scrambled towards another Spirit Stone. Mimicking a gesture it might have seen somewhere, it wound up like a tiny pitcher, reared back, and launched the stone with a grunt of effort towards the heart of the chaotic swarm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!!!
The underground world became a place of thunder. Detonation after detonation rocked the cavern walls. Violent shockwaves churned the nearby river, sending large waves crashing onto the bank, sweeping shredded beast corpses into the dark water. The river's surface began to swirl with ominous streaks of crimson...