[Place: Sistine Continent, Eastern ends of Burnwood Forest]

After Ling took care of Guhu and his goons, he didn't waste anymore time and started finding the Heavenly Spirit beast again. Almost three hours had passed since he had entered the forest and he was nearing the spot where the Heaven Spirit beast was suppose to be residing at a fast pace.

In his way, he purposefully avoided fighting other normal beasts whenever he had the chance. But still he had already encountered six beasts within this short span of time.

As Ling came near the circular marked location within the map, he slowed down and spread his senses as far as they could reach. But he was unable to sense anything at first. He started going deeper inside the marked region and kept his senses  sharply opened. 

Boom!

Suddenly from a distance of five hundred meters in the West, he heard faint a explosive sound. 

“Guess I found it! ” Ling muttered and he quickly rushed in the direction from where the sound came.

………..

It took him five minutes to get there. When he reached the place, he saw a girl who had several light injuries and bruises on her hands and beautiful face . The girl wore the inner disciple robes of the Imperial Starlight sect. Her elegant dark brownish eyes looked like still water and  was composed and focused as she was staring right in front of her.

She was holding a long sword with her two hands pointing it straight forward. 

Almost within no time, a werewolf like beast walked outside from the shadowed parts of the forest. It was three meters tall and it's eyes were blood red. On its dark green fur, there were small blood stains. 

Ling's gaze stayed on the girl for a few moments before he turned his head and looked at the werewolf like beast.

 “It's a Golden Soul Wolf. ”, Ling said quietly under his breath. He had read about some of the Heavenly Spirit beasts in the past. So he was able to identify it at once when he saw it. The fur of the which actually looked green was turning into golden color as a strong oppression started coming out from it.

“No wonder those people from the town got slaughtered, it's power level is almost on the 4th stage of Crimson Star Realm! This girl will definitely be dead if she fights it, she is only at first stage of Crimson Star Realm. ” Ling said while carefully probing the beast's power level.

“You better be careful! The wolf's power level might be a threat for you! But then again, it might just be a good opponent for you! ” Vanisha said as she was combing her hair. She was asleep till now so her hair was disheveled and messed up. She just woke up when she felt a strong presence around Ling.

The girl who was still breathing heavily released her Heavenly energy and rushed at the Golden Soul Wolf. Within two breaths she covered the distance and swung her sword downwards to cut the beast's head in half. 

But the beast bent his upper body right ways and avoided the attack just like a human being. Then it thrusted its claws and  pierced the girl's abdomen. But then the beast's pupils shrunk as the girl's body turned into a swarm of butterflies before vanishing into thin air and then she appeared right behind it.

The girl's immediately held her sword high up as a Heavenly formation swiftly formed around it and cyan colored Heavenly energy engulfed the sword. The sword looked like a giant beautiful butterfly.

“Cyan Butterfly Arts: Clipping Butterfly ”, The girl shouted and slashed down with her sword. Although the Golden Soul Wolf was caught off guard but it reacted so fast that in the blink of an eye, it turned around and shoved it's claws at the blade.

Boom!

With a cacophonous explosion the air around fifty meters was instantly blown away as dust and rubble floated up from the ground. But then the cyan colored Heavenly energy slowly got eaten by the Wolf's golden energy and the cyan butterfly scattered into pieces.

 The girl's eyes were wide open. It looked like She didn't expect that this would happen. Reddish golden colored blood came out of the Wolf's both hands but it completely stopped the powerful attack. The beast looked enraged.

It didn't let the girl get away from its grasp and held the girl's sword with it's left hand. After that, it pulled back its right hand as its claws turned golden and got larger to terrifying degree. Then it gave a snarl and tried to struck the girl at her throat to completely end her life.

The girl was totally defenseless but she still tried her best to dodge the attack as she tried to generate a protective shield in front of her. But it was already too late as the beast's claw was only a few inches away from her.

‘Is this…..the end? ’ the girl thought as she closed her eyes in fear and submitted herself to her fate.

Ling who still didn't make a move was waiting for this exact movement when the beast was completely vulnerable. He shot out from behind the tree like a jet and in the blink of an eye appeared right beside the beast. 

When the werewolf finally realized his presence, it turned its head and looked at Ling who was only one feet away from it. A layer of Void energy covered Ling's right hand and he smashed his palm at the Beast's head.

Thump!

His palm touched the beast's head at first and it only gave a low sound. But right in that instant Ling spun his right palm from right to left as he muttered, “Basic Style: Rasen Kensui”.

 The Void energy that was covering his hand instantly swirled around his palm and created a small hurricane of energy which shot out of his palm and hit the beast.

Shaaaaang!

Crack! 

With the sounds of bones cracking, the beast was sent flying away for several meters before it crashed into the trees. 

This was Ling's one of the new combined moves he had learnt during these past two months. When he learnt two styles each consisting of three techniques of the Imperial Basic Martial Arts, he thought of using Void energy with each of these moves and as a result he was able to create his own kind of techniques. Although it was nowhere near the level of a Heavenly Art but still its power was several times better than normal Basic Martial Arts.

“Are you all right?” Ling asked the girl who fell on her back after the beast let her out of its clunches.

The girl stared at Ling in a daze. But then she took a long breath to retain her composure and slowly stood up as she said, “Yes, I am! Thank you very much for saving me! I am Xia Caihyi. May I know your name? ” the girl said politely.

“Shin Ling. ” Ling said indifferently as he looked in the direction where the beast crashed.  Then she looked at Ling's robes and said , “You…are also from the Starlight Imperial sect?”. 

But then the beast slowly got up and gave a loud howl of misery and rage, “Awooooo!”. It's right side of face was sagged inside as all the teeth and bones of the right side was crushed.

Seeing that Ling said, “Tch! It's still alive. Can you run? ”. This sudden question caught Xia Caihyi off guard as she stared at him dumbfoundedly . Then she suddenly realized that the aura coming from Ling was only at Yellow Star realm. She thought that Ling was suggesting to run away as she knew it was impossible for them to take it on. 

She took a long breath and lifted her sword from the ground as she said in a weak but determined voice, “ I appreciate you saving me and I will never forget this as long as I am alive but this beast's power is almost at the same level of mid stage Crimson Star realm. We can't escape together! And also this beast had stolen a thing which I need to get back! I will try to buy time… you run away from here.”

The wolf was looking at Ling with bloodlust and viscious eyes as if it wanted to devour him right at this moment. Two giant golden claws formed on the Werewolf's two hands as it's dark green fur became completely golden . Then the wolf slowly started walking towards Ling as killing intent radiated from it's eyes.

Ling looked at the beast and completely ignored the girl. He only replied, “If you are not going to run then stay back and treat your wounds! ”. The he also started walking towards it with a cold look.

Seeing that Caihyi tried to grab the corner of his sleeves and said panikckingly, “Have you gone mad?”. But before she could touch it, Ling's body flashed and he dashed at the beast. 

The beast also rushed at Ling. Within a second they covered the distance between them and the beast thursted its right claw to pierce Ling's throat. Its hand moved so fast that even Ling was startled. Ling also pushed out his fist like a spear to meet the attack.

Rumble!

The earth shook when both their attacks violently clashed against each other as the wind in the surroundings was blown away causing Xia Caihyi's long emerald elegant hair and robes to flutter wildly. But her eyes were wide open as she looked at the scene without blinking. 

Then both Ling and Golden Soul Wolf started exchanging blows after blows causing the air around them to distort as blaring sounds of energies colliding flooded one's ears. And with every exchange, the look of astonishment and incredulity increased several folds on the Caihyi's beautiful face. 

She was at first stage of Crimson Star Realm and yet one of her Heavenly arts was only able to harm the beast slightly and also it actually caught her sword strike with it's golden claws. But right now, someone who she believed to be at Yellow Star Realm was actually fighting against a Heavenly Spirit beast which was at Crimson Star Realm with bare hands and on top of that, he was actually fighting on equal grounds with that beast. She thought that this would have been the greatest joke if someone were to tell her a ridiculous thing like this. But right now, she was seeing all of this with her own two eyes.

Although it looked like they were in a standstill, Ling was actually at a slight advantage. With every single strike, he would suppress the beast. The beast started to get panicked as fear ceased its heart. As Ling tried to struck its head with his left fist, the beast didn't attacked him back. Instead it quickly retreated backwards with a jump. Then it again rushed forward as it thrusted both it's claws to hit Ling.

Its sudden movement was so quick that it caused Ling's pupils to shrunk slightly but he immediately reacted . He knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge it so he instantly brought both his hands together and opened his Palms wide. At the same time, he bent his knees and pressed his feet firmly on the ground as he got into a solid defensive stance and muttered, ‘Basic Style: Ying Yama’. 

Dhing!!

When Golden Soul Wolf's claws hit King's hand, it felt like it had hit a hard mountain as it's razor sharp nails were unable to pierce his hands. The blast of energy from the attack only caused Ling to skida few meters on the ground before he came to a stop. Caihyi was standing right behind him in a confused and daze look. She was staring at his back with a complex and difficult look as her brain was puzzled by all this. “Get away if you don't want to get hurt! ” Ling said in a low cold voice. Hearing his cold bone piercing voice, she unintentionally took several steps back.

Ling lowered his hands. Blood was dripping out of them. And soon a line of blood came out from the corner of Ling's mouth as he gulped down a throatful of blood. Although he had blocked the move, he still suffered a few internal injuries due to the heavy pressure and power. 

On the other side, the beast's hands were also bleeding with reddish golden blood. Some of its long viscious nails were broken and it looked like it was suffering a lot of pain.

“Awoooo!”  the beast gave another shriek. Then the golden claws on its hand became even larger and golden Heavenly energy started swirling around them. A terrifying amount of pressure started coming out of the beast which caused even Xia Caihyu to feel suffocate.

Then the beast jumped at Ling like a mad dog. Seeing that Caihyi's face lost its color as she shouted on top her lungs, “Move Aside! ”.

But a smirk appeared on Ling's face at this moment. He pulled his right hand back as red Void Energy swiftly gathered around it. His right hand's veins popped out as the red energy got more and more frenzied and dense. Within one breath, the wolf was already a meter away from him as it shoved both its golden claws like daggers. At this movement, Ling also pounced his fist against its hands as he said, “First stage: Null Airbreak”. 

When his fist got closer to the golden claws, the golden Heavenly energy that covered the beast's hands started to get absorbed by Ling's Void energy as the red energy grown more turbulent and strong. When the beast sensed that unusual phenomenon, its blood red pupils shrunk abruptly as it started feeling a tremendous amount of terror from Ling.

Boom!

Crack!

A gigantic blast of explosion caused the earth and air to shook as a storm of red energy blown away the beast like a bloodied rugged sack for over fifty meters before it got smashed into the dense wall of trees. Then many trees fell on it.

There was a long cretor on the ground which stretched fifty meters forward and which was twenty meters wide. Several trees were uprooted from the ground as the area which got inside the energy storm was completely devastated.

Ling took a long breath and withdrew his energy. He hadn't used hundred percent power on the attack just now as it would have completely drained him out. He only used fifty percent of its full power. But still he thought that it was enough to kill the Golden Soul Wolf.

He actually didn't think he would have to use this move as the beast was at fourth stage of Crimson Star Realm but it's just as Vanisha said, the Golden Soul Wolf was actually strong enough that it was a great opponent for him to develope his fighting instincts ever more.

SoulBlaze

(Edited): Next chapter wil be posted on 21/072020(dd/mm/yyyy).Hopefully you liked this chapter.