Batian Martial Soul

As Su Miao ran, she turned her head to the side, her eyes sweeping over Ling Xiao like knives, her tone urgent and angry.

"These wild beasts are solitary by nature, always living alone and rarely gathering in groups!"

"What heinous thing have you done to it?!"

Ling Xiao chuckled twice, his feet still, his breathing rapid.

"It's nothing... we just sparred a bit, and I went a little... a bit too far."

Su Miao clearly didn't believe it and was about to ask further when the beasts behind her suddenly roared in unison. The sound waves were almost tangible, making people's eardrums hurt!

At the same time, the earth trembled more violently, and the speed of the charging beasts increased even more, as they went completely berserk!

"you!"

Su Miao's face turned ashen; she was both angry and anxious, but she knew this was not the time to pursue the matter.

Ling Xiao knew that if they continued running like this, they would be the first to run out of energy.

He made a quick decision, abruptly stopping in his tracks, releasing Su Miao's wrist, his eyes narrowing.

"Let's go separately!"

"They're after me, I'll distract them!"

Before Su Miao could respond, he suddenly turned to the left and rushed into a dense forest of dead trees.

As expected, the enraged beasts turned without hesitation, their crimson eyes fixed solely on Ling Xiao, ignoring Su Miao beside them, and surged into the withered forest like a raging torrent, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

Su Miao stood still, watching the herd of beasts chase Ling Xiao's figure into the forest. The dust gradually obscured her vision, and she frowned deeply, muttering to herself.

"Is this guy... a madman, or a monster?"

"An ordinary person would hardly survive encountering even one, yet he managed to attract hundreds..."

Before the words were finished, a clear and melodious roar came from the forest, carrying a hint of the arrogance and ruthlessness unique to demonic cultivators. It pierced through the roars of beasts and came clearly. It was a battle cry that showed no fear in the face of adversity, but rather became even more excited!

In the deadwood forest, Ling Xiao pushed his movement technique to its limit, moving like a phantom between tree trunks and bushes.

The withered branches tore at my clothes, and the pebbles hurt my feet, but the roars of the beasts behind me were like a death knell, relentlessly pursuing me.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of light suddenly appearing ahead, revealing a wide, open gravel plain with no trees to lean on or stones to hide in. Behind him, hundreds of wild beasts were gradually tightening their encirclement. A foul-smelling wind rushed towards him, and their fangs and bone spikes gleamed coldly in the dim light. The encirclement was complete!
My strength was rapidly depleting, my lungs were burning with pain, and if I continued to flee for my life like this, I would eventually be pounced on and devoured by the beasts.

Ling Xiao's mind raced, and in the midst of the desperate situation, his demonic soul suddenly solidified, and a burst of spiritual light flashed through his mind!
He abruptly stopped, leaning against a towering black-patterned boulder, and turned to face the surging tide of beasts. In an instant, his aura shifted from the panic of fleeing to a calm and collected composure, as solid as cold iron.

Taking a deep breath, Ling Xiao bit his tongue hard!
A wisp of crimson blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, carrying the warmth and chill of the source of life, mixed with the tenacious will naturally nurtured after countless life-and-death trials, and a faint but powerful demonic aura that was enough to intimidate low-intelligence creatures.

He pointed his fingers like a sword, stained with his essence blood, and raised his hand to make a sweeping motion. He did not activate any secret technique (under the rules of spiritual isolation here, secret techniques are impossible to use), but rather released the extraordinary primal power in his blood without reservation!
This aura was like a blazing sun suddenly breaking through the darkness for wild beasts that were ignorant and acted solely on instinct!

The three wild beasts charging at the forefront slammed their forelimbs onto the gravel, their hooves carving three deep gashes. A flash of instinctive surprise and fear crossed their murky red eyes, and a low whimper escaped their throats. They stood frozen in place, not daring to take another step.

The rampaging beasts behind them couldn't stop in time and crashed into each other with a bang, sending gravel flying and roaring incessantly.

But in just a few breaths, all the wild beasts quieted down, staring intently at the crimson stain on Ling Xiao's fingertip. Their nostrils flared wildly as the aura emanating from the blood gave them a faint sense of intimidation from the level of life itself, while also exuding an indescribable, instinctive greed, as if it were the most tempting delicacy in the world.

Ling Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he had made the right bet!

His own bloodline was already extraordinary, and he had devoured and refined many rare and precious materials along the way. He had also been tempered by countless treasures from secret realms, and his life essence was far beyond that of ordinary people.

This drop of essence blood is his only "trump card" at this moment, and it naturally has the dual effect of suppressing and seducing these low-intelligence ferocious creatures.

However, the wild beast he had severely injured and with whom he had a blood feud was completely different.

The profound humiliation and excruciating pain had driven it completely mad, making it incredibly resistant to that menacing aura.

It pawed at the ground impatiently, its hooves crushing the gravel, and let out a deafening growl. Its scarlet eyes were fixed on Ling Xiao, it was itching to tear this hateful human to pieces!
Just as it was about to charge forward recklessly, several larger wild beasts with gray-black manes suddenly roared and stepped forward, using their broad bodies to block it. Clearly, they were unwilling to rashly offend the aura that their instincts feared, and they wanted to compete for that drop of essence blood.

Seeing this, Ling Xiao dared not linger.

He slowly retreated, but as soon as he moved, the pack of beasts followed and closed in. The encirclement remained intact, and fear and greed mingled in their eyes, like a pack of wolves eyeing their prey.

Ling Xiao made a snap decision and flicked his fingertips!
The drop of essence blood, containing the aura of origin, transformed into a slender bloodline, shooting precisely towards the open space in front of the beast horde. Upon landing, it did not dissipate but instead glowed with a faint red light, its aura growing increasingly intense.

hum!
The horde erupted in a frenzy!

All the wild beasts were drawn to the drop of blood essence, letting out roars of extreme longing. Their once orderly formation was thrown into chaos as the beasts pounced on the drop of blood essence like madmen, tearing at each other, pushing and shoving, fighting endlessly.

It's now!

Ling Xiao turned around, unleashing all the remaining strength in his body, and sped off like an arrow in the opposite direction from the village, not daring to stop for even a moment.

Most of the wild beasts were caught up in the struggle for essence blood, fighting until they were covered in blood and gore.

Only that crazed beast didn't even glance at the essence blood; its eyes were only on Ling Xiao's back. It roared and chased after him alone, its speed even faster than before!
Fifteen minutes later, Ling Xiao rushed into a relatively sparse grove of low trees. He was nearly exhausted, his legs felt as heavy as lead, and his breathing was as labored as a bellows.

He stopped abruptly, bent down and picked up a thick, withered ebony branch from the ground. The wood was hard and the tip was sharp, barely usable as a weapon.

As he slowly turned around, the wild beast had already caught up, its mouth and nose spewing white vapor, its eyes filled with a frenzied killing intent.

But the moment it saw the withered branch in Ling Xiao's hand, its charging momentum suddenly stopped. Almost reflexively, it covered its buttocks with its paws and curled up slightly.

In those eyes, anger remained intense, but it was clearly mixed with a hint of barely concealed fear, and even a touch of... humiliation? (End of Chapter)