The forest finally fell silent.
Dust slowly drifted through the air, settling over the broken trees and shattered ground. Huge cracks stretched across the earth, while several fallen trunks lay scattered around the battlefield. The violent clash that had shaken the entire forest had finally come to an end.
The Xuan Gang expert stood among the ruins.
His breathing was somewhat heavy.
Blood stained one side of his black robes, and several shallow wounds covered his body, but his eyes remained cold and composed.
Several meters away, the enormous body of the Earth Bear lay motionless.
Its massive chest no longer rose.
Its limbs were sprawled across the ground, its thick brown fur stained with blood.
The Xuan Gang expert stared at it for several breaths before finally relaxing.
"Finally."
His voice carried a trace of exhaustion.
That beast had been far more troublesome than he had expected.
A Rank Two fierce beast with such a powerful physical body was already difficult to deal with, and the Earth Bear's earth affinity had made it even more troublesome. If not for the difference between their realms, he might have been the one lying on the ground right now.
He slowly lowered his hand.
The Xuan Gang surrounding his body gradually dispersed.
He glanced at the corpse.
"Stubborn beast."
He didn't feel any joy from killing it.
Instead, he was annoyed.
Because while he had been fighting the Earth Bear, Su Yang and Tu Bing had already disappeared.
His gaze immediately shifted toward the collapsed ground.
The ravine.
The two of them had fallen into it.
He walked toward the edge.
The earth beneath his feet was covered in cracks, and a huge section of the forest floor had collapsed downward. The ravine was extremely deep, with darkness swallowing everything beneath.
The Xuan Gang expert narrowed his eyes.
"Did they die from the fall?"
It was possible.
The collapse had been sudden, and neither of them had been able to react properly.
Even a True Essence martial artist would have difficulty surviving such a fall without preparation.
But he wasn't willing to take chances.
The package was still missing.
And those two had already demonstrated too many strange abilities.
If they survived, the consequences of allowing them to escape would be troublesome.
The expert walked closer.
He leaned forward slightly and looked into the darkness.
Nothing.
Not even movement.
His expression became increasingly cold.
"Dead or alive..."
He prepared to descend.
But then—
Thump.
The Earth Bear's body moved.
The Xuan Gang expert's eyes widened.
"What?"
He immediately turned around.
The enormous beast that had appeared to be completely dead suddenly moved one of its paws.
The expert's expression changed.
"You..."
The Earth Bear slowly raised its head.
Its breathing was extremely weak.
Blood poured from its mouth, and several wounds had torn through its thick fur, but the fury in its eyes had not disappeared.
The expert's face darkened.
"You're still alive?"
He had clearly felt the beast's life force weaken to almost nothing.
He had believed it was dead.
The Earth Bear's gaze moved past him.
Toward the ravine.
Toward the direction in which Su Yang and Tu Bing had fallen.
Something seemed to flash within its eyes.
Then its enormous body suddenly moved.
The expert's instincts screamed.
He immediately gathered Xuan Gang around his body.
But the Earth Bear didn't attack him directly.
Its paw slammed into the ground.
Boom!
The earth trembled.
A violent earth-yellow energy erupted beneath the expert.
His expression changed.
"Again?"
He jumped backward.
But the moment his feet left the ground—
The Earth Bear opened its mouth.
A terrifying fluctuation gathered around its throat.
The expert's pupils contracted.
"Earth Spear!"
Boom!
The ground exploded.
A gigantic spear of earth shot upward.
It wasn't merely an ordinary spear.
The energy condensed within it was astonishingly dense, and the entire spear seemed to have been forged from compressed earth itself.
The Xuan Gang expert tried to twist his body aside.
Too late.
The spear pierced through his chest.
Puff!
His eyes widened.
The enormous earthen spear tore through his black robes and pierced directly through his torso.
Blood splattered across the ground.
For a moment, everything became completely silent.
The expert stared downward.
The spear had passed straight through his chest.
His Xuan Gang had been unable to completely block it.
Not because the Earth Bear had suddenly become stronger.
But because he had been careless.
He had believed the beast was already dead.
His lips moved.
"How..."
Blood spilled from his mouth.
The Earth Bear slowly lowered its head.
The Xuan Gang expert's body remained suspended against the earthen spear.
His eyes gradually lost their light.
Then his body went limp.
Dead.
The earth spear slowly crumbled.
His corpse fell heavily onto the ground.
Boom.
The Earth Bear stood there for several breaths.
Its enormous body swayed.
The last trace of strength finally disappeared.
It collapsed.
This time...
It truly was dead.
The forest became completely silent.
Two powerful beings had fought to the death.
The pressure released by their battle had already frightened every nearby beast away.
Even the more aggressive fierce beasts that normally occupied this territory had retreated far from the battlefield.
No creature dared approach.
For a long time, there was no movement.
Only the occasional falling leaf could be heard.
The corpse of the Xuan Gang expert lay beside the dead Earth Bear.
Neither would ever move again.
Far below them...
Su Yang knew nothing about what had happened above.
His body was still falling.
The darkness around him seemed endless.
His hand remained tightly wrapped around Tu Bing's wrist.
He had tried several times to find something to grab onto, but the walls of the ravine were too steep, and the loose soil continued crumbling beneath his fingers.
"Hold on!"
Su Yang shouted.
Tu Bing gritted his teeth.
"I'm holding!"
The two continued falling.
Their bodies repeatedly struck protruding rocks.
Bang!
Su Yang's shoulder slammed into the wall.
Pain shot through his body.
He twisted his body immediately, trying to position himself beneath Tu Bing.
If they were going to hit the ground, he would at least take the impact himself.
Another rock struck his back.
Boom!
His vision briefly went dark.
Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
But he didn't release Tu Bing.
The darkness beneath them seemed to grow deeper.
Then—
Su Yang heard something.
Water.
His eyes widened.
"There's water!"
Tu Bing looked downward.
They could barely see anything, but beneath the darkness came the faint sound of rushing water.
The sound rapidly became louder.
Su Yang's heart tightened.
If there was water below, they might survive the fall.
But if it was shallow...
They would still die.
There was no time to think.
The next instant—
Splash!
Their bodies crashed into the water.
The impact was enormous.
Su Yang felt his entire body go numb.
The cold water swallowed him completely.
Tu Bing disappeared beside him.
For several moments, Su Yang couldn't tell which direction was up.
His lungs began burning.
He instinctively moved his arms.
His body slowly rose.
Then his head broke through the surface.
"Ha!"
He violently inhaled.
Water streamed down his face.
He immediately turned around.
"Tu Bing!"
There was no response.
Su Yang's heart tightened.
He plunged back into the water.
His hand searched through the darkness.
Then—
He grabbed an arm.
Su Yang pulled.
Tu Bing emerged from beneath the water.
His body was completely limp.
Su Yang dragged him toward the nearest rocky ledge and placed him down.
"Wake up."
He slapped Tu Bing's shoulder lightly.
Nothing.
Su Yang checked his breathing.
Still alive.
He exhaled in relief.
Only then did he realize how badly injured he was.
His shoulder was numb.
His back was bleeding.
His ribs hurt with every breath.
Several internal organs were trembling from the repeated impacts.
But then...
Something strange happened.
Su Yang frowned.
The pain was decreasing.
Slowly.
Almost imperceptibly.
He looked down.
The water surrounding his body seemed to possess a strange warmth despite its cold temperature.
A faint energy was flowing through his wounds.
The injuries on his arm began closing.
The swelling around his shoulder gradually subsided.
Even the internal damage caused by the Xuan Gang expert's earlier attack seemed to be stabilizing.
Su Yang's eyes widened.
"What is this?"
Beside him, Tu Bing's breathing gradually became steadier.
The blood that had stained his clothes began dispersing into the water.
His pale complexion slowly regained a trace of color.
Su Yang stared at the water beneath them.
There was something inside it.
Something that was slowly entering their bodies.
And as the two lay there, exhausted and unconscious of the changes occurring around them, the water beneath their bodies continued to move gently.
Their injuries...
Were healing.