Perhaps because of the special relationship that had developed between them, Luo Xiu felt a twinge of guilt about Yan Yue'er in his heart. After all, it was because of his lack of strength that even after consuming the Bo Yuan Dan, he was unable to withstand the Zilin Duojiao. It was unnecessary for Yan Yue'er to faint again to save him, and perhaps then the events that followed wouldn't have occurred. From the third region to the second region, the first region... Until they left the Myriad Demon Secret Realm and reappeared in the Guan Lei Mountain Range, Luo Xiu and Yan Yue'er had maintained silence towards one another. "I'm leaving now." After coming out of the Myriad Demon Secret Realm, Yan Yue'er stood beside Luo Xiu, her beautiful eyes filled with an indescribable sense of incommunicable meaning. Three hundred years of solitary living, solely devoted to cultivation for the sake of revenge. Over the years, she never expected to have such an absurd encounter with a young man. Luo Xiu's gaze trembled slightly; he wanted to retain her, but he had no reason to do so. She had a deep-seated vendetta, and even though she had never mentioned it to him, Luo Xiu could feel it. His strength was too weak; he simply couldn't help her. "Will we meet again?" Luo Xiu asked. "If one day you also reach the Martial Monarch Realm, perhaps we will." As she spoke, Yan Yue'er took out a pair of twin moon demon jade and a secret map from her storage ring and handed them to Luo Xiu, saying, "I won't give you the yuan qi stones for now. I have a use for them." Luo Xiu did not refuse the demon jade and secret map. The blood pearls obtained from hunting demon beasts in the secret realm were not of much use to ordinary martial artists, but for him, they could rapidly enhance his physical realm. "Shura, that's not your real name, is it?" Yan Yue'er suddenly asked. "My name is Luo Xiu." "I still think 'Shura' is a good name. To forge a name through killing, to cultivate in a bloodbath, I wonder when I will be able to use the blood of my enemies to commemorate my departed mother." A trace of sadness flashed in Yan Yue'er's eyes. In the past, she was a Martial Monarch, a powerhouse who dominated the world. Even then, her power was not enough to take revenge, which showed how terrifying and mighty her enemies were. "If I have the strength one day, I will use the name of Shura to help you exact your vengeance." Luo Xiu spoke. Yan Yue'er was briefly startled, then sighed softly, tip-toed up, and with a gentle kiss on Luo Xiu's lips, she soared into the sky and disappeared in the airspace over the Guan Lei Mountain Range. "Luo Xiu, may we meet again if fate allows…" Luo Xiu felt a sense of melancholy. She was a Martial Monarch, and even if her cultivation had fallen because of the soul injury, she would eventually recover and look down upon the world. He, however, was just a minor innate-level cultivator, still struggling to break through to the Refine Spirit Realm. Yan Yue'er could fly across the sky; the beasts of the Guan Lei Mountain Range dared not provoke her, yet Luo Xiu could only walk out on foot. His sense spread out, detecting many Refine Spirit level demon beasts lurking in the depths of the Guan Lei Mountain Range. Three days later, Luo Xiu emerged from the depths and reached the periphery of the mountain range. The sky was dimming; it would take about a day's journey to leave the Guan Lei Mountain Range. Luo Xiu decided to find a safe place before darkness fell to consume a few more blood pearls to enhance his physical strength. His figure passed through a small woodland, where he sensed the presence of a few human cultivators. He leaped up and settled on a large tree branch. Despite the dimming sky, he could still see a distance of over three hundred meters. Not far away, in a woodland, five figures sat cross-legged around a campfire, where food was being roasted. The five people, three men and two women, were on alert. One middle-aged man seemed to sense Luo Xiu's probing gaze; he abruptly stood up, turned back, and shouted, "Who goes there?" Seeing the middle-aged man's reaction, the other three also became alert, especially a nervous younger girl who looked around. The middle-aged man's vigilance surprised Luo Xiu, who obviously had a wealth of hunting experience. "I am just passing by and mean no harm." He leaped down from the tree trunk and walked over. His somewhat youthful appearance seemed to relax the group a little, but the middle-aged man frowned. "Young brother, what can I do for you?" The wild forest was rife with killing, and every experienced hunter had fought for survival on the edge of life and death. Regardless of whether the youth in front of them had ill intentions, the middle-aged man preferred not to interact with strangers in the wilderness if it wasn't necessary. "Uncle Yang, you're being too cautious. He looks about my age." The young girl in the group muttered. "Miss, you are too naive to understand the dangers of the world." The middle-aged man replied helplessly but kept a watchful eye on Luo Xiu's every move. Luo Xiu understood the man's wariness, a vitally protective trait for a qualified hunter in the wild. "Sorry to disturb, farewell." He bowed slightly and leaped away, disappearing into the dim woods. Hunter groups like those five were common in the Guan Lei Mountain Range. With Luo Xiu's vision, he could tell that the nervousness of the middle-aged man was probably because of the young girl in the group. The respectful way the man addressed her as "Miss" indicated that the four of them were likely accompanying the girl on a training expedition to the outskirts of the Guan Lei Mountain Range. Without the protection of the middle-aged man's group, a girl with such little experience in the world would likely struggle to survive. As the light faded, Luo Xiu found a hidden tree hollow nearby. Here on the outskirts of the Guan Lei Mountain Range, the strongest demon beasts lurking were of the innately mentioned range. Nevertheless, Luo Xiu did not let his guard down. He took out a fifth-grade defensive formation disk, inlaid it with mid-grade yuan qi stones, to prevent any unexpected incidents. Inside the tree hollow, Luo Xiu sat cross-legged, took out hundreds of mid-grade yuan qi stones, and activated a fifth-grade spirit gathering formation. Refining the body required not only condensing the qi-blood to temper the flesh but also abundant natural energy to fill the body. He took out a Refine Spirit level blood pearl from his storage ring. Over the past three days, Luo Xiu had consumed four out of seventeen Refine Spirit level blood pearls. This was the fifth. Half an hour later, the fifth Refine Spirit level blood pearl was refined. The heterogeneous aura of the demon beast swirled in his body but was soon dissolved under the wash of vital forces between life and death. "Boom!" Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the sky above the Guan Lei Mountain Range, along with a tumultuous surge of yuan qi fluctuations. At this moment, both the lurking demon beasts in the forest and the hidden hunters spending the night looked up at the sky in panic and shock. Three figures stood aloft in the dark night sky, two on one side and one on the other, confronting each other with overwhelming momentum. The lone figure was a woman, dressed in black tight-fitting martial attire, with a voluptuous body wrapped in flames, and fiery red hair flying behind her. Opposite her stood two men; one was broad and muscular, wielding a war blade surrounded by fine arcs of lightning. The other had a clean-shaven face and wore a white scholar's garb, with nine flags the size of a palm circling him. Luo Xiu emerged from the tree hollow and at the first glimpse of the woman, his gaze suddenly sharpened. Yan Yue'er! The two men facing her exuded overwhelming vigor; unmistakably they were Martial King level powerhouses! "Lei Weilong, Gongsun Qianji, do you two really think you can stop me?" Yan Yue'er called out coldly, frosted with anger. "We are just following orders and apologize for the offense," said Lei Weilong in a deep voice. "Half a month ago, the three Supreme Elders of the Yan family ordered a search of Guan Lei Mountain Range for your whereabouts, Martial Monarch Tianfeng should just surrender to avoid unnecessary harm," Gongsun Qianji said with a light smile. "If Martial Monarch Tianfeng had not been injured in the soul, we wouldn't dare obstruct you. However, your cultivation has now fallen to the Refine Spirit realm, and you are not our match." "If I recover my cultivation, I will annihilate your Lei Martial Gate and the Gongsun family!" Yan Yue'er's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Betraying the Yan family is a capital offense. Whether you can save your own life is another matter. Since you refuse to surrender, I must take action!" Gongsun Qianji snorted coldly, pointed his finger, and the nine flags surrounding him flew out, forming a formation in the air as he shouted, "Lei Weilong, aren't you going to make a move?" Lei Weilong flashed forward into the formation, his war blade glinting with crushing might and lightning, slashing towards Yan Yue'er. Seeing this, Luo Xiu was anxious, but being too low in cultivation to fly, he could only watch helplessly as Yan Yue'er was attacked by two Martial Kings. Lei Weilong, the sect master of Lei Martial Gate, and Gongsun Qianji, the head of the Gongsun family, were both fifth-order formation masters! Those who could reach the fifth order in the art of formations, with the spiritual consciousness of a Martial King, could manipulate formation flags and kill enemies, much stronger than a Martial King of the same level. Both Lei Weilong and Gongsun Qianji were formidable Martial Kings on par with Wen Qianhong. The assault of two Martial King level powerhouses brought daunting pressure to Guan Lei Mountain Range below, causing countless demon beasts and human cultivators to tremble in fear and anxiety. "Boom!" A figure fell from the sky like a meteor, enshrouded in intense flames that Luo Xiu instantly recognized as Yan Yue'er. Even as a Martial Monarch, having fallen to the Refine Spirit level due to a soul injury, she could not withstand the combined attack of two Martial Kings. Luo Xiu's spirit surged as he pushed the ten-direction phantom body technique to the limit, dashing towards the spot where Yan Yue'er was falling. Gongsun Qianji used his spiritual consciousness to control the formation flags, creating a trapping formation to seal the area and prevent Yan Yue'er from escaping. Lei Weilong descended from the sky with bloodstains on his war blade, having wounded the Martial Monarch Tianfeng in the recent combat. Martial Monarch Tianfeng was Yan Yue'er's title. Among the ten Martial Monarch level powerhouses of the Tianwu Kingdom, each had their own title. "Boom!" Massive flames suddenly soared in the forest, illuminating the endless night. A colossal phoenix phantom appeared in the sky, and Yan Yue'er, surrounded by a terrifying aura of murder, rose amidst the blood, with an injury on her waist spilling blood. "Lei Weilong, Gongsun Qianji, remember this! You will regret it!" Her voice was filled with resolute killing intent as her hands struck out, the phoenix phantom screeched, sweeping its wings towards them. In an instant, the flames engulfed the sky, the dazzling light blinding to behold. "Not good, she has escaped!" "Using such a force, the suppressed soul injury will surely recur. Let's chase her!" As the flames gradually dissipated, Lei Weilong and Gongsun Qianji, covered in soot and charred clothes, leaped up into the sky, following the direction in which Yan Yue'er fled. When Luo Xiu arrived, all he saw was devastation, with burn marks everywhere. "Lei Martial Gate, Gongsun family!" Murderous intent flashed in Luo Xiu's eyes as he clenched his fists, engraving the names of Lei Weilong and Gongsun Qianji. The feeling of being unable to protect his woman was unbearable for Luo Xiu, who desperately needed strength, great strength! I must get stronger! …