The entire situation began to really piss Wei Yan off as he was not even given a chance to reply to He Chao’s words as He Chao left right away just as he ordered the three demon beasts to do so a moment earlier. Wei Yan was used to listening to his superiors full heartedly, but it was still too much for him to have to listen to such a young brat. 

Daydreaming about how he would repay this so-called kindness to He Chao once this was over, Wei Yan had begun walking slowly towards the direction of the cave. As explained, it did not take him long at all to spot it and to edge closer to the entrance. What seemed interesting to him, was that many of the trees that were supposed to be covering the area were all broken and laying down on the ground as if the many battles He Chao and his companions had, took place in this exact spot before. 

This made Wei Yan hesitate for a breath of time since there would be no clear cover for him once the battle began, but truth be told, as much as he did not want to admit it to himself, he still felt that there was no reason for him to start panicking since he trusted the group he was with to back him up once things began. 

And so just as planned, Wei Yan began to circulate his energy rapidly but still in a very controlled manner. It took several seconds, but eventually he felt the ground underneath him begin to shake as a soft but threatening roar sounded from within the cave. Without stopping his energy circulation within his body, Wei Yan drew the sword that He Chao loaned to him as the roars began to increase in volume. 

The lion type demon beast realizing that Wei Yan was there to battle it, exited the cave and its appearance made Wei Yan feel extremely uncomfortable. The demon beast had many light scars covering its body, but it was standing tall well above him. Wei Yan instantly placed his body and sword into a defensive stance, since the demon beast did not halt its advance. 

Instead of throwing out a vicious claw strike, the demon beast simply put its palm onto Wei Yan’s sword as drool began to slowly pour out of its mouth. It was clearly telling Wei Yan that it was hungry and that it did not place Wei Yan onto a list of what it felt would pose any kind of danger to it which made Wei Yan’s face change to one of anger. 

“You damn monster!” Wei Yan shouted as he swung the sword towards the demon beast’s head as a clear sign that he was now unable to control his emotions and was ready to die if it meant taking it down with him. What was shocking, is that the demon beast’s body vanished as it appeared several feet away before Wei Yan’s attack was even able to land. 

The sudden ability to do this did not surprise Wei Yan since He Chao earlier explained that the demon beast had unlocked a technique used by one of its ancestors called Shadow Step which would allow it after using a portion of its strength to in almost a flicker type way, land several feet away to avoid an attack head on. 

What was not accounted for, is that the demon beast instead of heading closer to its cave, used the technique to move behind Wei Yan, which was the complete opposite direction! And because of this, the three demon beasts who were part of this mission had surrounded it, blocking the lion type demon beast’s escape path. With the tides now turned in their favor, the four demon beasts entered into a battle with each other as Wei Yan charged over to assist. 

Many blows were exchanged, but Wei Yan had played his role almost to perfection as he allowed the lion type demon beast several openings to target him instead of the other three demon beasts. The demon beast seemed to not mind that he was taking a much bigger beating compared to the other three present, because Wei Yan’s energy continued building until it ended up reaching a threatening level. 

Still, there was no sign of He Chao yet, and if one were to look from the outside looking in, they would realize that at this moment, the battle seemed to be a complete stalemate. It was clear that Wei Yan would not be able to hold out forever, but slowly the energy radiating from the lion type demon beast began to drop lower and lower. 

Suddenly, a large energy source was felt by all four at the very least an entire full mile away. The lion type demon beast sensing it first, began to enter a berserk type rage as it not only recognized that it was He Chao’s energy, but that if he were to join its current four enemies, it would meet its end shortly after. 

To its surprise, the three demon beasts and Wei Yan chose to increase the distance between them and it was enough to not cause it to be suspicious, but in a way showing it that they were waiting for He Chao to show up and switched from a purely offensive position to one of defensive and endurance based. 

Ignoring the other three demon beasts since they were unable to cause any harmful blows due to the difference in strength between them, the lion type demon beast began to target Wei Yan and it looked like if he was not careful, that Wei Yan was in danger of losing his life. Exchanging several more blows, Wei Yan realized that his efficiency with the sword was increasing as he did not need to use as much energy to utilize the Dao of Storms inscription patterns on it.