"The Primordial Soul Beast is chasing Gu Hong. It shouldn't return to the cave immediately."

"There's risk, but not much!"

Li An pasted three upper-grade Tier One Swift Movement Talismans on himself, transforming into a fleeting shadow in the forest,

A quarter-hour later—

Li An rushed back to the cave and effortlessly deployed an array formation he had prepared.

—In Qingyang's market, he had purchased a mid-level array and many materials, which he had modified into a high-level array.

It was enough to deal with late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Then he quickly stored the corpse of the Primordial Soul Beast in his storage bag. Just as he turned around, with the Super Sensing Skill, he heard faint sounds from the tunnel.

What he feared had indeed arrived.

He frowned, quickly placed the Primordial Soul Beast's body back, pressed himself against the wall, and changed his appearance, simultaneously holding his breath.

"Primordial Soul Beast!"

Yang Jian had already rushed in, eager to claim the beast's body.

Boom!

At that moment, the aura around him exploded; the high-level array had been triggered.

Simultaneously, seven or eight Cold Rain Talismans exploded around him, freezing his movements, followed by the eruption of seven or eight Flaming and Earth Sinking Talismans, dazzling him with continuous attacks.

"No—"

He shouted in panic, activating his protective treasures just enough to fend off the talisman lights, but the array's power left him unable to move.

In the darkness, a figure appeared, wielding a long knife slashing at Yang Jian. The dark figure revealed an umbrella that suddenly unfurled, blocking the blade while releasing hundreds of poison needles that pierced Yang Jian.

"Ah—"

Yang Jian cried out in agonizing pain as the person abandoned the umbrella and struck with a thunderous palm.

Severely injured, Yang Jian barely managed to raise his hand against Li An's relentless attacks, surprisingly holding his ground!

The difference in strength was too great, with Yang Jian at the peak of Qi Refining and Li An at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer. Even though Li An used talismans and arrays to injure Yang Jian, it was difficult to defeat him head-on.

Exchanging several blows, Li An suddenly retreated, and in mid-air, a new wave of talisman explosions commenced—

Flaming Talismans, Armor-Piercing Talismans emerged.

"How is this possible?!"

Yang Jian's eyes widened, unsure how someone at the Qi Refining Stage could manage so many runes in such a short time.

It's known that using runes requires significant spiritual power, and a regular Talisman Master can typically manage only three to five in a short period.

This person used dozens!?

He struggled to fend them off but suddenly spat a mouthful of blood, finding it full of deep blue!

Poisoned!

"Poison needles... also poisoned?"

He felt overwhelmed, wondering if he faced a demon.

As the talisman explosions fell upon him, he screamed in pain, bleeding, covered in wounds, even his protective treasures fracturing.

Instinctively lowering his head, he found a sharp dagger plunged into his heart.

"You..."

His heart filled with unwillingness but he fell motionless.

Li An forced himself to remain standing, throwing two Flaming Talismans to burn Yang Jian's body, then collected the Primordial Soul Beast and dashed outside.

"Not good, there's not enough time—"

From the cave entrance, a faint trembling echoed.

The Primordial Soul Beast had returned?

Li An remained utterly calm, embedding himself into a deep recess of the cave corridor, burying himself beneath rubble.

Earlier, Gu Hong had detonated an array, causing a collapse in the cave, leaving many irregular pits and holes.

He quickly activated the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill, fully concealing his aura, remaining motionless with a Soul-Calming Talisman pasted on his head for protection.

He heard the Primordial Soul Beast returning to the cave chamber, discovering the male beast's body missing, the female beast roaring in anger—

The roar carried enormous soul-impact force, but Li An remained still.

The female beast roared everywhere, crashing into the cave, while the sound of water crazily echoed.

Li An also sensed waves of Divine Sense scanning, the female beast clearly searching for the one who stole the Primordial Soul Beast.

But with the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill, he became like a stone, a tree root, even to the second-tier Spirit Beast's powerful Divine Sense, undetectable.

For three whole days, the Primordial Soul Beast stayed quiet, only occasionally letting out sorrowful low roars.

The Primordial Soul Beast accepted reality.

The Soul-Calming Talisman on Li An's forehead had already expired, yet he remained like stone, silent.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed!

Throughout the month, Li An neither ate nor drank, even his breathing was suppressed to an extremely slow state, becoming emaciated.

But he finally saw hope—the Primordial Soul Beast didn't stay still, venturing out into the moonlit nights, which Li An guessed was for cultivating, as moonlight was effective for Divine Sense cultivation.

In the second month, while the Primordial Soul Beast was out, Li An finally began to move.

He didn't rush out of the cave in one go.

Because he guessed that the Primordial Soul Beast wouldn't stray far, probably staying on a nearby peak, where there was an unobstructed view and the best moonlight.

The risk of rushing out was too high.

So, he moved only a few dozen meters toward the entrance each time, then hid in the cave's recesses.

After a month, he finally reached a position a few dozen meters from the entrance.

Li An waited another half month!

When the outside heat began to seep in, it was evident that it was a scorching day, fueling Li An's hope to escape.

The Primordial Soul Beast disliked the scorching sun!

This was his observation.

Until noon, when the heat peaked, Li An guessed that the Primordial Soul Beast might be napping. He took a Recovery Pill and circulated his Spiritual Power a few rounds through his body before leaping out, rushing out of the entrance with a Swift Movement Talisman—

The Primordial Soul Beast sensed his escape from the cave, but it didn't pursue.

First, Li An had disguised his life aura, making him seem unlike the one who killed its mate, holding no grudge.

Second, it was too far, and chasing would be meaningless.

Li An successfully escaped!

Once outside the cave, with no pursuers in sight, Li An took a deep breath of fresh air and quickly fled!

...

Ten days later.

On the outskirts of the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range, within a woodland.

"Gu Hong, are you still there?"

Ragged and wounded, Li An stumbled to the spot.

This was the place he and Gu Hong had agreed upon—

If separated within the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range and unable to regroup, they would meet here when safe.

Yet Gu Hong did not respond.

Li An activated the Super Sensing Skill, feeling traces of someone's presence nearby!

Evidently, Gu Hong had been here, only temporarily away.

Li An sat beneath a safe large tree, overwhelmed by exhaustion, and fell into a deep sleep.

...

"Li An, Li An!"

Uncertain how much time passed, Gu Hong's excited voice reached his ears, waking him to her concerned face.

Her eyes glistening slightly, as Li An awoke, she couldn't help but embrace him:

"I thought, I thought I would never see you again!"

...

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