With a deep breath Meng Lin stepped through the door and found herself in a vast open plain.

The sky was a deep shade of blue, with fluffy white clouds drifting lazily overhead, she took a few steps forward and suddenly the sky began to change.

The clouds turned dark and menacing, swirling around in a vortex that seemed to be forming directly above her.

The wind picked up, blowing fiercely in all directions and threatening to knock her off her feet.

Meng Lin looked up, her heart racing with fear and anticipation, She knew that an ancient beast was making its appearance and she braced herself for whatever was coming.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking right directly at her.

Boom!!

Meng Lin jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blast as the ground shook beneath her feet.

She looked around, wondering where it had come from and she saw a figure in the distance on land, standing in the center of a swirling vortex.

It was a man, dressed in a white robe with white hair swaying down his back.

He looked at her with cold, dark eyes, and Meng Lin instantly knew that he was the cause of the storm.

The man raised his hand, and another bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, this time twice as fast as before.

Meng Lin gritted her teeth and tried to dodge, but the bolt hit her square in the chest, sending her flying backward.

She landed hard on the ground, her body tingling with shock and she looked up to see the man walking towards her, a cruel smile on his face.

Meng Lin didn’t like being on the defense and so she focused her energy, activating her Nether Bracelets and releasing all her aura.

She charged towards the man, with a low grade sword appearing in her hand.

“Waterfall slash”

Meng Lin swung her sword, unleashing a powerful wave of corrosive qi towards the man, who dodged it with ease.

He retaliated by summoning a powerful bolt of lightning, which knocked Meng Lin off her feet and sent her tumbling across the ground.

Meng Lin quickly got back up, her eyes glowing with determination as she charged towards the man once again.

This time, she covered herself with the thunderbolt Flash technique and lunged at him with incredible speed, her sword flashed in the air for another waterfall slash.

The man, however, was quick to react, summoning a powerful wall of lighting which blocked the sword slash from hitting its target.

He looked at her and opened his mouth to laugh, his voice echoing through the storm, "You think you can defeat me with such weak attacks?"

Meng Lin eyes widened in shock as she didn’t expect him to be able to talk, she looked at him with seriousness before charging towards him once more.

She swung her sword with all her might, unleashing a powerful wave of corrosive energy that sliced through the air towards the man.

Peng!

To her surprise, the man simply raised his hand and caught the wave of corrosive energy with ease, dissipating it with a flick of his wrist.

Meng Lin felt her heart sink as she realized just how powerful her opponent was.

The man then raised his hand once again, summoning multiple powerful bolt of lightning that rained down on Meng Lin.

She tried to dodge, but the bolts were too fast, and they hit her one after another, sending her crashing to the ground.

As she lay there, battered and bruised, the man walked towards her, his eyes glinting with malevolent pleasure.

Meng Lin knew that she hadn’t even seen his true power but she refused to give up.

She got back up, her body shaking with pain, she opened her eyes which flashed with a hint of purple.

“Waterfall Slash”

Meng Lin shouted, this time activating her brute Qi as she held nothing back.

Her brute qi combined with her corrosive qi which was then intensified by her Nether bracelets showed her tremendous increase in power.

As her sword slashed through the air, a massive chaotic slash charged towards the man, this time howling with corrosive fury.

The man, caught off guard by the sudden increase in power, was unable to dodge and was slashed across the chest and sent flying backwards.

Boom! He crashed into the ground with a loud thud, raising smoke and debris in the air.

Crack

Meng Lin didn't more after that, she let go of the sword in her hand, letting it fall into the floor as a portion of the floor turned into mud to absorb it.

She didn’t want to continue using it, as cracks have already began to appear on the sword.

She was about to move forward but stopped as the man’s body began to glow before exploding outward with a white light.

ROAR!!

A deafening roar echoed throughout the plain, and Meng Lin shielded her eyes from the blinding light.

As the light dissipated, she saw that the man had transformed into an enormous beast, a white tiger with streaks of lightning bursting from around him.

“I knew it” Meng Lin inwardly uttered as she carefully examined the creature.

It was an ancient spirit beast called the Shifting Thunder Tiger, being at the half-step Gold Core realm, she wondered if it had unlocked some of it’s inherent memories, allowing it to shift and talk.

Roar!

The white tiger roared with its fur crackled with electricity, and its eyes glowed with a fierce hunger.

A faint red glow emerged from within its fur as it went on to cover its whole body.

Meng Lin’s eyes widened as she recognized it to be a bloodline ability, and she knew that she had to be extra careful.

Her eyes widened even further as she saw the tiger suddenly turn into pure lightning before streaking towards her.

She focused her brute qi and summoned a powerful shield around her body as the claws of the beast appeared before her face.

Peng!

Crack!!

The shield shattered under the impact, and Meng Lin was sent flying backwards, however regaining her balance in midair she landed on her feet, with little damage.

The Lightning Tiger appeared before her once again, its eyes filled with bloodlust.

Meng Lin gritted her teeth and gathered a large chunk of brute qi into her bracelets that covered her entire forearm.

“Ha”

She shouted, her bracelets glowed with a dark chaotic aura as she released a powerful beam towards the beast.

Boom!

Roar!

The blast hit the tiger, causing it to roar in pain as it flew backward to land far away.

However it quickly recovered and charged towards Meng Lin once again, it appeared before her and lashed out with its ferocious claws, intending to rip into her.

Meng Lin quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, but the tiger was fast and relentless, striking out with lightning-fast swipes and pouncing towards her with its massive jaws.

Meng Lin continued to dodge and weave, summoning powerful blasts of brute qi to keep the beast at bay, but it was clear that she was quickly loosing in the battle.

As she dodged another swipe of the tiger’s claws, she felt a sudden surge of energy before her as the tiger stopped and opened its mouth to gather qi.

She quickly jumped back and changed her elemental qi before punching towards the ground with all her might.

The ground beneath her shook violently, and a wave of mud erupted around to form a dome around her.

Rumble!

As the mud appeared, a large wave of thunder erupted form the tiger’s mouth, surrounding the environment with blinding light.

Boom!

Suddenly the earth shook. With the destroyed dome at the center, a massive shockwave rippled outward with the ground gradually turning into mud.

The Lightning Tiger struggled to maintain its footing, its claws digging deep into the mud as it tried to leave the perimeter of the mud.

But Meng Lin was prepared, her aura spiked and slowly the mud began to spread and in a few seconds the whole floor in a 50 meter radius turned to mud.

Roar!

The Lightning Tiger let out a furious roar as it’s body turned into lightning that flew towards the sky, escaping the thick mud beneath.

However Meng Lin knew that she couldn't let it escape, she focused her energy and released her spiritual consciousness into the ground.

With a determined face, she closed her eyes and willed the surrounding mud to move.

All the mud in the 50 meter radius began to churn and swirl, slowly rising up in a towering whirlpool that engulfed the Lightning Tiger.

The beast struggled against the powerful currents, but it was no match for Meng Lin’s control over the elemental qi.

Rumble!!!

Finally, the mud submerged the beast, and slammed it back into the ground, causing a massive rumble to shake the area.

The tiger, while inside the mud was only able to struggle a bit as every movement seemed difficult to make.

Meng Lin didn’t waste time and opened up the mud underneath her, allowing herself to go underneath to confront the beast.

As Meng Lin willed the mud around her to propel her forward towards the tiger.

She held out her hand to grasp the sword she had placed underneath before plunging it into the beast’s body.

(Roar) Ooo!

The Lightning Tiger let out a muffled roar before dissipating into mist, causing a relieved Meng Lin to lose all strength in her body.

She let herself fall while the mud embraced her with not the slightest mud on her robe.

Meng Lin smiled, she didn’t think it’d be this hard but she has won, she was exhausted but victorious.