Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Chirp~"

"Chirp~"

As the Third Elder of the Demon Sect controlled their avatar to flee at high speed, sharp "chirping" sounds came from the dense forest behind them.

The sound seemed neither powerful nor threatening, even somewhat cute and cuddly.

Yet, as soon as the two avatars controlled by Yan Meishan heard this sound, their faces turned extremely ugly.

These seemingly harmless "chirps" were emitted by the Wood Spirit Beast that possessed the strength of the Void Refinement Realm.

"I've been desperately pushing this avatar to its limits, even burning up most of its essence blood, yet I still can't shake off this beast!"

Inwardly cursing, Yan Meishan then controlled the avatar that was at the second layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, tossing the Golden Core Female Cultivator that was on its shoulder away.

She tried to use her as a delay to stall the cheetah-like Wood Spirit Beast for a moment.

Meanwhile, the avatar that was parasitized by the Insect Queen, and also at the second layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, continued to exert all of its spiritual power, racing non-stop toward the direction where the remnants of the Immortal wood were located.

Let's not talk about the fleeing avatar for now.

As for the avatar that the Third Elder of the Demon Sect had left behind to buy time, it was a young woman who looked pitifully charming, about twenty years of age.

This female cultivator had a cultivation that was roughly at the sixth layer of the Golden Core Realm. She belonged to the Iron Sword Sect just like the escaping avatar and was in a master-disciple relationship with it.

Of course, they had now become indistinguishable from each other.

When Yan Meishan controlled the Golden Core Female Cultivator to stop, her initial intention was to self-destruct directly, hoping to damage the cheetah-like Wood Spirit Beast.

However, due to the overwhelming difference in power between Golden Core and Void Refinement, the moment she made the avatar pause,

the cheetah-like Wood Spirit Beast pounced out from some corner of the dense forest, and heavily clawed at the Golden Core Female Cultivator's throat!

The throat of the female cultivator had a gaping hole ripped open, and blood gushed out as she was knocked back, flying through the air.

After crashing through countless ancient trees and vines, she finally landed in a muddy swamp.

Seeing that it had successfully struck, the cheetah-like Wood Spirit Beast let out a couple of "chirrups" on the spot, then slowly and gracefully walked towards its prey.

All these events may seem complicated, but in reality, they happened in just the blink of an eye.

Lying in the muddy swamp, the Golden Core Female Cultivator flashed with green light, and the wound at her throat disappeared instantly.

The "Undying" rule had been triggered.

From this point on, she had only one last instance of the "Undying" rule's protection left. If she suffered fatal damage again, she would be healed by the Qingmu Secret Realm and then teleported out.

The avatar controlled by the Third Elder showed a trace of anger in her eyes. She, a mighty Divinity Transformation Realm Cultivator, had last been brought to such a wretched state when…

...when her previous avatar had the "Undying" rule depleted by the cheetah Wood Spirit Beast and was expelled from the Qingmu Secret Realm.

The Golden Core Female Cultivator performed a kip-up, standing up from the swamp.

At this moment, Yan Meishan could no longer be bothered about the mud staining the avatar's body. She controlled the female cultivator, her eyes dead set on the cheetah Wood Spirit Beast not far away.

This Golden Core avatar had already secretly gathered all of its spiritual power into the position of its Dantian.

The Third Elder silently prayed in her heart, hoping that the Wood Spirit Beast with the strength of the Void Refinement Realm would once again choose close combat.

After all, the gap in their cultivation levels was too great. Even if Yan Meishan used this kind of self-destructive technique, it would be difficult to inflict significant damage on the cheetah Wood Spirit Beast if she couldn't approach it.

Not far away.

The Wood Spirit Beast, stepping elegantly on thick fallen leaves and moving forward, saw its prey, which it had previously brought down, standing up once again.

The wound at the base of the neck had even vanished.

Immediately becoming vigilant, it halted in its tracks.

A few strands of confusion flitted through its earthy yellow eyes.

With its simple brain, it couldn't understand why all these little humans who had intruded into its territory needed to be killed more than five times before they died.

The leopard wood spirit beast let out a chirping sound on the spot.

It vigilantly lifted its right paw and swung it forward.

Suddenly, a wooden spike condensed out of thin air and shot out with a speed that the Third Elder's clone couldn't possibly avoid!

Yan Meishan, controlling the Golden Core Realm female cultivator, felt her heart sink when the wood spirit beast suddenly made its move.

She immediately controlled the clone to execute a Flying Escape Skill forward while also gathering the Spiritual Power concentrated within the Golden Core, trying to get as close as possible to the leopard wood spirit beast for a self-destruction.

But at the critical moment,

A disjointed and loud song began to ring out from the forest beside her.

"The river flows down from the heavens above, demon beasts dare not harm human lives!"

Along with this discordant chant, a pure white brush with purple bristles transformed into a streak of light and effortlessly shattered the spike condensed by the wood spirit beast.

"Do not panic, Fairy, with this young master here, a mere Void Refinement Realm wood spirit beast is hardly worth mentioning."

After shattering the wooden spike, that pure white brush circled in the air and then flew back into the forest.

A moment later,

A young scholar, dressed in blue clothes, with a jade-like appearance and graceful demeanor, flew out from the dense forest.

After appearing, the scholar first gave a gentle smile to the female cultivator controlled by Yan Meishan and said, "The lady must be frightened, after I slay this beast and extract the Heavenly Talent and Earthly Treasure from within its body, then I will converse with you."

Having said that, he turned around with flair and walked towards the Void Refinement Realm wood spirit beast.

As the scholar moved, he took out a brush case marked with a peach blossom from his waist. With a wave of his hand, he gently brushed across the surface of the case, and the lid with the peach blossom mark disappeared, revealing several brushes inside, including the purple bristle brush that had just flown out.

Afterward, the young scholar in blue gently swept his fingers across the brush handles in the case. The brushes he touched all flew out of the case.

Each one, like a flying sword, traced mysterious paths through the air, and simultaneously attacked the confused leopard wood spirit beast.

This sudden turn of events left both the wood spirit beast and the Golden Core female cultivator stunned.

Yan Meishan, controlling this clone and drawing on her Divinity Transformation Realm experience, forcibly calmed the Golden Core that was about to self-destruct. She didn't have time to wipe the blood gushing from her mouth and thoughtfully watched the scholar's nonchalant back for a moment before promptly coming to her senses, quickly lowering her head with her eyes slightly downcast.

"Am I now living the trope of a hero saving a beauty as told in the legends?"

The Demon Sect's Third Elder scoffed inwardly.

"However, with his strength, he can be of use. And..."

Reminiscing the appearance of the young scholar when he appeared, a strange smile suddenly formed on her lips.

"Although this man is far inferior to that Taoist Jin Xu, his strength is also much lower, if things go smoothly here, I might take him for myself and 'play' with him at will."

Since her last time in Shangjing City, it had been a long time since the Third Elder Yan Meishan indulged in her "hobbies."

This mishap in the Qingmu Secret Realm finally seemed to turn for the better, and Yan Meishan felt her luck might be changing.

After all, even as a member of the Demon Sect accustomed to doing evil deeds,

The heavens couldn't let her keep having bad luck, could they?