It didn't take long for the battle over there to escalate.

After a wild beast reached Xiantian, it would possess a bloodline-inherited magical power. This lion was called the "Violet-Flame Lion" and its bloodline was considered first-rate. Currently, because the fighting was fierce, its bloodline was aroused and the flames on its body burst forth. This made the might of each of its attacks even stronger than before.

Two Xiantian martial artists attacked in the front, while the two Meridian Condensing stage three martial artists could only impede it from the sides. However, the effects of the attacks were obviously anything but rea.s.suring.

Suddenly, a female Xiantian martial artist shot out her hand and threw a handful of stone-like objects. They clattered against the Violet-Flame Lion's head, making it roar out in pain. This resulted in its body's flames burning even fiercer and its attacks became even more vengeful!

The female Xiantian martial artist said in a stern voice: "Senior sect brother Hu, what trick are you still hiding away? Save us at once!"

The other Xiantian martial artist seemed to grimace, but his movements weren't slow at all. He fished out a token-like object and tore it apart facing ahead—

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, a red light burst forth and immediately penetrated the Violet-Flame Lion's flank!

— Yes, that red light was originally headed towards that lion's head, but the lion's reactions were extremely fast. Unexpectedly, during that moment of imminent peril, the lion just barely dodged it!

Thus, the people who once thought that they could thoroughly eliminate the lion all became desperate.

That lion's survival capabilities turned out to be so strong that even using two trump cards consecutively couldn't kill it. It was to the point that the course of this battle, on top of the true qi used up during the trick's activation, had wasted more than half of the two Xiantian's energy. Even though that lion was now an arrow at the end of its flight, both sides were still in a narrow deadlock.

In the end, either the lion would die or they would die!

However, at this moment, the red light on that lion's body suddenly detonated. It actually set its own bloodline aflame in order to eliminate these people! That b.e.s.t.i.a.l fire raged and spread, and everywhere the flames went was scorched black — If it really touched a person's body, perhaps even a Xiantian martial artist would be roasted!

In this instant, the male Xiantian martial artist pushed out his palm right into the back of the female Xiantian martial artist. She was caught off-guard, and stumbled forwards a few steps. She couldn't believe it, and miserably said: "Senior sect brother Hu, you—"

But in a moment, she was about to run into the b.e.s.t.i.a.l fire unleashed by that Violet-Flame Lion!

Luckily, someone grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

Recovering from the shock, the female martial artist glanced over and discovered that it was that male peak Meridian Condensing stage three. And as for the the other one, that female Meridian Condensing stage three, she grabbed the arm of that "senior sect brother Hu" early on. She even shoved several rocks over to act as obstructions. Soon after, she followed him, and ran away without looking back.

Thus, the female Xiantian martial artist and the remaining male martial artist were once more without an opportunity to flee.

That Violet-Flame Lion flashed by and completely sealed off their path of escape!

Behind the mountain stone, Gu Zuo also watched this scene and couldn't help furrowing his brows.

Those two were truly too despicable!

Escaping was escaping, but what kind of skill could entrapping one's companions be considered?

One could only hear that female martial artist distressingly say: "Junior sect brother Liu, why didn't you run away?"

Junior sect brother Liu's expression hardened as he faced that Violet-Flame Lion with his blade in hand: " Senior sect sister Xun should calm down. Even if we're going to die, at least it will be together. So let's fight to the end!"

Senior sect sister Xun gave him a profound look and promptly settled her state of mind. She prepared to trigger her blood essence and put everything into fighting that Violet-Flame Lion — Their lives depended on it!

Her heart, however, was incomparably bitter.

As fellow disciples for more than a year, senior sect sister Xun had been romantically pursued by that senior sect brother Hu for a long time. Originally, she had a somewhat favorable impression of him, and had waited for some time to agree to his advances. Who would have thought that senior sect brother Hu would be so heartless at this critical moment?! If he ran away by himself, then fine. Yet, in order to escape, he directly pushed her into the lion's mouth to buy himself time.

Instead, it was this junior sect brother Liu. Even though he was very attentive, and was coldly rejected by her, he still stood by her side now.

At this moment, senior sect sister Xun's despair actually lessened a little bit.

She only thought that death was just death. Merely, in return for junior sect brother Liu's affection, if they survived, she certainly wouldn't look coldly upon him again. If the strength was no good, it could be improved. But if the heart was as hard as iron, even if they were together, what was the meaning of it?

In that instant, the two had many thoughts, but that Violet-Flame Lion wouldn't just let them confide in each other.

Actually, it was only the blink of an eye. After the Violet-Flame Lion stopped them from escaping, it already pounced towards them. It opened its mouth filled with sharp teeth, and the b.l.o.o.d.y stench was mixed with a bit of a charred smell. Unexpectedly, it now seemed even more frightening.

Although senior sect sister Xun and junior sect brother Liu both knew the Violet-Flame Lion was finally giving its all, they were still completely shocked. It was only because they ran out of trump cards long ago that they were nearly out of options against the immense, oncoming pressure with a speed even faster than them.

Senior sect sister Xun sprayed a mouthful of blood essence and coated the longsword in her hand. She raised her lily-white hand and directly stabbed out: "Junior sect brother Liu, go quickly!"

As she spoke these words, her shoulder was already exposed under the lion's jaws.

Junior sect brother Liu didn't actually run away, and had condensed the true qi of his entire body into his fists. He skirted around and attacked from the side to ruthlessly pummel the temples of that Violet-Flame Lion's head!

If he was able to smash it, the Violet-Flame Lion's head would certainly deviate off course. Senior sect sister Xun also wouldn't be bitten on her shoulder nor receive a serious injury!

Behind the mountain rock.

Gongyi Tianheng suddenly said: "Ah Zuo, attack the Violet-Flame Lion's head."

Gu Zuo didn't object in the least. The instant Tianheng's voice fell, he already released a silver drill with great coordination and shot it right at the Violet-Flame Lion!

It never occurred to the Violet-Flame Lion that there was still an oriole behind. Its Tianfu Acupoint was suddenly pierced by the silver drill. When the drill abruptly twitched, it caused the lion's body to tremble in pain.

Senior sect sister Xun and junior sect brother Liu never expected there to be such a mishap. At once, they hastily twisted their bodies and fled. They started to evade from beneath that lion's ferocious attacks!

In the next moment, the two fellow disciples saw an extremely strong figure leap out from the side. His hand clenched a long silver spear. The spearhead directly pierced the lion's mouth and skewered it through the top — In the blink of an eye, the Violet-Flame Lion's brain was stabbed, and the final bits of strength in its huge body dissipated.

They…were saved!

Senior sect sister Xun's legs almost went soft.

Beside her, junior sect brother Liu extended an arm to stop her stumble.

Being supported by junior sect brother Liu, her charming face blushed. Finally, she grabbed his arm and slowly stood firm.

A hint of joy flashed across junior sect brother Liu's face.

The two didn't linger to rejoice over their new lease on life, and first went to their savior to meet him.

They set their eyes upon what was clearly a slender and graceful young man. His skin was like jade and his appearance was a rare handsomeness. Like the bright moon, one couldn't stare at him too closely. At this moment, he pulled out the silver spear from the lion's head, turned his head, and smiled. That sincere bearing and that breathtaking feeling his appearance produced all contributed to forcibly subduing them.

They also clearly saw that the clothes this person wore were…an outer sect disciple's.

But when did the outer sect get such an outstanding disciple? Moreover, this person's face didn't resemble any of those reputable veteran disciples who've been in the outer sect for a long time.

In that case, he should be one who just entered the sect this year?

No matter what, if it wasn't for this person lending a hand, they would've lost their lives here.

Senior sect sister Xun led junior sect brother Liu. The two took a step closer, cupped their fists, and gratefully said: "Many thanks to this junior sect disciple for the kindness of saving our lives. We don't know, but how do we address our junior sect brother?"

This savior was naturally Gongyi Tianheng.

Tianheng moved his finger and that silver spear disappeared from his hand. Afterwards, he cupped his hands in greeting: "This one is Gongyi Tianheng. Senior sect brother, senior sect sister, no need to be polite. We are all fellow disciples, and I just so happened to be here at the right time. It wasn't much to lend a hand. If you two hadn't worn down this lion, even if I came to help, this one wouldn't have been able to deal with it."

After he finished speaking, his line of sight looked off to the side.

At first, senior sect sister Xun and junior sect brother Liu wanted to say a few more words, but seeing him like this, they couldn't help looking over, too.

Then, they saw a teenager gracefully jump out from behind a mountain stone.

This teenager seemed no older than fifteen or sixteen. His skin was tender and had delicate features, but he looked a little cowardly. On the contrary, his flushed face looked somewhat cute.

From what could be seen from his qi energy, he was a pharmacist — It was no wonder that he hid behind the mountain stone previously.

Gu Zuo glanced at his dear big brother, and looked at the other two people, a little embarra.s.sed: "I… This one is Gu Zuo. The young master's subordinate pharmacist."

He didn't know if his current status was enough to speak to these people, but since they were already looking at him, it wasn't good not to say h.e.l.lo…

Because Tianheng was their savior and that they saw how importantly Tianheng treated Gu Zuo, it was only natural that they wouldn't a.s.sume a condescending att.i.tude towards Gu Zuo.

At this time, they also rather quite amicably smiled to him:

"Xun Suying."

"Liu Wuyan."

Gongyi Tianheng saw them like this, and faintly nodded.

They weren't people who didn't know what was good for them. Excellent.

A group of four quickly got acquainted with each other.

Tianheng set off: "The sky's already dark. I'm afraid the night won't be very smooth. It's better that senior sect sister Xun and senior sect brother Liu collect that Violet-Flame Lion corpse first."

Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan gave each other looks, and both shook their heads: "If it weren't for junior sect brother Gongyi, our lives would've been lost. How could we speak about profits? This lion corpse should belong entirely to junior sect brother Gongyi."

They also understood that these two people should've been hiding on the side for a while. However, since they were hiding, they naturally could've waited till after they died to eliminate the lion. At that time, not only would it be less troublesome, the lion corpse would've belonged to them completely. But that Gongyi Tianheng still saved their lives…

Recalling those two friends who left them behind to be scapegoats, they suddenly felt that Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo were trustworthy people.

Tianheng watched them acting this way. Naturally, he also couldn't really receive all of it. He just smilingly said: "You two don't need to…"

Liu Wuyan said: "If junior sect brother Gongyi isn't willing to take it, then we don't know what's proper."

Tianheng saw that they were indeed genuine and sincere, and just said: "Since it's like this, let's split it in half." He saw that the two still wanted to talk, and smiled, "Senior sect sister Xun and senior sect brother Liu don't need to speak anymore. Both of you have exerted yourselves and both of you will get something. It's only fair."

Those two heard this and had no other option than to agree.

But at the same time, their favorable impression of Tianheng increased somewhat — There was no need to say otherwise. This junior sect brother who confronted a wild beast approaching grade five lacked a greedy heart. He never even coerced them into returning the favor. One could see that his morality and conduct were excellent.

Afterwards, a group of people came to dismember the lion corpse.

Even though it was like this, they all modestly yielded to each other.

Because Gu Zuo was a pharmacist and the lion's body had many things that could be used in medicine, Xun Suying allowed Gu Zuo to pick the medicinal ingredients first. The other things were distributed once more.

The Violet-Flame Lion's flesh contained faint fire qi. It had wonderful uses for a martial artist practicing an attribute cultivation method. Since the medicinal ingredients were all given to Gu Zuo, Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan received most of the the flesh. In total, they had several hundreds of kilograms of meat essence. Gu Zuo and Tianheng only obtained about two hundred fifty kilograms.

After acquiring their spoils of war, both sides were quite satisfied.

During this time period, they pushed their understanding of each other a step further.

Gongyi Tianheng was an outer sect disciple who'd just arrived. Xun Suying was already an inner sect disciple; moreover, her background had considerable connections. Liu Wuyan clearly hadn't advanced to Xiantian so his status was recorded as outer sect, but the martial arts he cultivated in were all inner sect. This was also due to his ident.i.ty — His Liu Family was considered a big Clan, and the inner sect had Elder Liu, who was his grand-uncle in the Clan. Elder Liu watched over anyone with the Liu surname.

Before, Xun Suying was grateful to Tianheng for saving them. After conversing, she felt that this person was just like his bearing, both of which couldn't be underestimated. With the intention of making friends, she grew friendly to him.

Liu Wuyan, who was off to the side, was still habitually silent, and didn't issue any complaints against Xun Suying's actions. However, he also remembered Tianheng's kindness, so he didn't develop any resentment towards him.

As for Xun Suying, although she intended on making friends with Tianheng, she wouldn't neglect Liu Wuyan like in the past. Instead, she included Liu Wuyan and had a chat with both of them.

A little while later, both sides basically regarded each other as friends.

Only, the two didn't realize that, while Tianheng talked with them, his mind was still focused on another person's transmissions.

[Big brother, did you delay your help because you weren't sure?]

[Not really. It's just that a person's mind is hard to fathom. Only those who stand their ground are worth saving.]

[Eh, it's only this? Then, big brother making friends with them now is…]

[When I advance to Xiantian, I'll enter the inner sect. Making a few friends in the inner sect ahead of time is both beneficial and harmless.]

T/N: Thanks, Charysa, for the corrections.

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