"That's a strange technique, indeed," Xing Jue was also extremely surprised as he looked at the Youming Hall disciple who had instantly increased his strength to the level of a High-level Martial Venerable.
While this disciple's newly acquired strength seemed unstable compared to the strength he gained through using soul explosion, this technique was extremely terrifying, after all, there was a huge difference between four mid-level Martial Venerables and one high-level Martial Venerable. Especially a person who was adept at combat, with this power, he could be very scary.
Clearly, that Youming Hall disciple was the type of person, as seen in their earlier fight with Wang Yanran. It's just that compared with Xing Jue, he was still far inferior.
"Brother Xing Jue, leave quickly. Don't worry about me," Wang Yanran suddenly said loudly at this moment.
With the strength of a High-level Martial Venerable, she naturally sensed the change in the Youming Hall disciple's strength, which was why she was so nervous.
Xing Jue being able to defeat a mid-level Martial Venerable was already an enormous shock to her, but expecting him to challenge a High-level Martial Venerable with his current strength as a Low-level Martial Venerable, she didn't believe he could win.
After all, the gap between levels was vast, spanning two levels was an outlandish feat. At least, she had never heard of anyone being able to do that before. Therefore, she was deeply worried about Xing Jue's safety.
"Sister Wang, have no fear," Xing Jue said, turning his head to face her. A confident smile appeared on his handsome face.
For some reason, whenever Wang Yanran saw that confident smile of his, her heart would inexplicably feel reassured. She stopped talking, and instead, she took advantage of this opportunity to take a pill from her storage bracelet and put it into her mouth, ready to intervene in case Xing Jue couldn't hold up.
"High-level Martial Venerable, is that all? Unfortunately, you're still no threat to me," Xing Jue said, turning back to face the Youming Hall disciple after calming Wang Yanran. There was a hint of scorn in his tone.
He then slowly closed his eyes. When Xing Jue opened his eyes again, a powerful dark black soul surged out from his body. It instantly spread throughout his body, swirling around him like burning flames.
Finally, under the shocked gaze of Wang Yanran and the Youming Hall disciple, it slowly began to rise. As she looked at the rising Xing Jue, Wang Yanran was jaw-dropped. This was the first time she had seen such a powerful secret technique. It was simply amazing.
It wasn't just Wang Yanran. That Youming Hall disciple also stared at Xing Jue in disbelief, because at this moment, he could feel the immense power of the black thing surrounding Xing Jue's body.
Facing the Youming Hall disciple's shocked expression, Xing Jue smiled slightly. Then, with a soft yell, the dark black soul rapidly surged back into his body. At the same time, Xing Jue's energy instantly increased, eventually breaking through to the mid-level Martial Venerable level. His body, which was floating in mid-air, slowly descended.
"Hmph, a mid-level Martial Venerable, so what? You think you can be my opponent?" The disciple let out a long sigh of relief when he saw that Xing Jue's energy had finally stayed at the mid-level Martial Venerable level. He said with a sneer.
When Xing Jue's energy began to rise, he was extremely nervous, fearing that he would surpass him. But once he discovered that Xing Jue's power only stayed at the mid-level Martial Venerable level, he felt relieved, because he didn't think that Xing Jue could beat him with that level of strength, especially now.
"Try me?" Xing Jue smiled slightly and said disdainfully.
"Granted," Seeing Xing Jue so disdainful towards him, the disciple became furious. He moved, transforming into a flashing thunderbolt as he charged at Xing Jue.
"Break!" Facing the disciple's powerful attack, Xing Jue took a small step, clenched his right fist, and then slammed a fist towards the disciple.
"Bang!" When their fists collided, they were both forced backward by the powerful force.
"Impossible!" Seeing that his full-strength blow had only tied with Xing Jue, the disciple was stunned and said.
Xing Jue sneered and then a gust of wind appeared. His whole body suddenly disappeared, instantly appearing in front of the disciple.
At the same time, a brilliant, radiant palm slammed toward the disciple's chest.
The disciple never expected that Xing Jue's speed would increase so suddenly. He didn't even see what he was doing, but when he saw Xing Jue, it was too late.
"Bang!"
Xing Jue's palm struck the disciple's chest. There was no doubt about it.
"Puchi!" The fist landed, and the man spit out a mouthful of blood. His entire body rapidly flew backward, smashing into a large tree before coming to a stop.
The force of the impact was so great that even the sturdy tree trembled a few times. At this moment, the disciple's face was pale, and his body began to tremble. At the same time, his strength rapidly declined, back to the mid-level Martial Venerable level. He then shook his head and went unconscious.
"It's true, the power gained from that strange technique is unstable," Xing Jue muttered, looking at the unconscious disciple.
Xing Jue's attack was quite powerful, but he certainly shouldn't have fainted with the strength of a High-level Martial Venerable. The reason why he passed out was definitely the backlash of that strange technique.
"Sister Wang, what's wrong?" After dealing with the disciple, Xing Jue turned his gaze toward Wang Yanran. At this moment, she was staring at Xing Jue in shock, her stunned expression was a bit cute.
"Err, Brother Xing Jue, thank you…" As she heard Xing Jue's call, Wang Yanran finally snapped out of her daze and quickly thanked him for his help.
"Hehe, Sister Wang, you're being too polite," Xing Jue responded with a faint smile.
"By the way, Sister Wang, where are the other disciples from your Zangyao Manor? Why are you the only one here?" Xing Jue then walked over to Wang Yanran and asked with a smile.
"Er..."
"Brother Xing Jue, aren't you also alone?" After hearing Xing Jue's words, Wang Yanran was stunned. Her face turned gloomy. She remained silent for a moment before replying with a smile.
"Oh, hehe," Xing Jue just chuckled. He realized he had spoken out of turn. Actually, Xing Jue had already guessed that Wang Yanran and the other Zangyao Manor disciples didn't have a very good relationship, but he hadn't thought much about it before. Now, he regretted his words.
"Oof!" At this moment, the power Xing Jue had gained from his Soul Explosion began to dissipate rapidly. As his energy subsided, the stinging pain from the backlash began to emanate from his body.
Xing Jue quickly took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill and popped it into his mouth, but it still couldn't relieve the piercing pain of the backlash. He quickly sat down, ready to treat his injury.
"Brother Xing Jue, try this," Seeing this, Wang Yanran quickly took out a white pill from her storage bracelet and handed it to Xing Jue.
Xing Jue didn't hesitate. He took the pill and popped it into his mouth. But what surprised Xing Jue was that after this pill went into his stomach, the stinging pain from the backlash was rapidly alleviated, eventually completely disappearing.
"Sister Wang, what kind of pill is this? It's amazing," Xing Jue said excitedly to Wang Yanran.
"Hehe, this is a Xuan-rank Top-grade Pill that I developed: 'Pain Relief Pill'. Regardless of the reason for the pain, consuming this 'Pain Relief Pill' will immediately alleviate it," Wang Yanran explained in detail, seeing that Xing Jue seemed interested in the pill.
"Xuan-rank Top-grade Pill? No wonder it has such medicinal power," Hearing Wang Yanran's words, Xing Jue opened his mouth wide in surprise.
"Brother Xing Jue, that secret technique you used earlier seems to cause backlash, right? How about I give you a few of these Pain Relief Pills. That way, you won't be bothered by the pain from the backlash in the future," Wang Yanran seemed to have read his mind and said with a smile.
As she spoke, she took ten 'Pain Relief Pills' out of her storage bracelet and handed them to Xing Jue.
"This… this is too awkward. This pill is too precious. I can't accept this," Xing Jue hastily refused. While he would love to accept them, Xuan-rank Top-grade Pills were extremely valuable. If he took ten of them, he would owe her a huge debt.
"If it weren't for Brother Xing Jue stepping in, the pills in my storage bracelet would likely have been stolen by those Youming Hall disciples. This paltry reward is nothing," Wang Yanran quickly said.
"Er..." Being told this by Wang Yanran, Xing Jue hesitated. He wanted to take these pills deep down. After all, the backlash of using Soul Explosion would take some time to heal, which would delay his hunting.
So, with these "Pain Relief Pills," the hunt would be much easier for him. However, he still felt too embarrassed to accept them.
"Sister Wang, why don't you hunt with me?" Xing Jue suddenly raised his head and looked at Wang Yanran after pondering for a moment.
"Hunt together?" Wang Yanran was stunned after hearing Xing Jue's words. She had never heard of disciples from different factions hunting together.
"Sister Wang, to be honest, after I use my secret technique, even High-level Beasts can be killed. But it's true, as you said, using this technique causes a backlash."
"But your 'Pain Relief Pills' can counteract that backlash. Therefore, my hunting speed will increase significantly. In addition, your High-level Martial Venerable strength, we can cooperate to hunt together. Our hunting efficiency will increase tremendously, and we can split the loot evenly. What do you think, Sister Wang?" Xing Jue said slowly.
"Okay, let's hunt together as you suggested," Wang Yanran said with a smile, silent for a moment after hearing Xing Jue's words.
Although she was a High-level Martial Venerable, her practical experience was really limited. In the Beast Mountain Range, there were also dangers. She had witnessed the power that Xing Jue showed, so having him around, she would also feel reassured.
Seeing Wang Yanran's agreement, Xing Jue also smiled excitedly. With the help of her pills, his hunting efficiency would increase linearly.
"But…" Wang Yanran hesitated at this moment.
"What's wrong?" Seeing her hesitation, Xing Jue became nervous and shouted, fearing that she would change her mind.
"If you hadn't saved me earlier, I probably wouldn't have been able to continue hunting."
"So, we absolutely cannot split the hunt fifty-fifty. I will only take a third. If you don't agree, I will have to withdraw," after a moment of silence, Wang Yanran smiled slightly at Xing Jue.
"Er, okay," Xing Jue was stunned after hearing Wang Yanran's words. He then said with a sigh.
However, at this moment, his fondness for Wang Yanran increased yet again. Working together, a third of the reward, in the whole world, only a fool would do this. Wang Yanran was clearly not that kind of person, so she was doing this to repay Xing Jue.
Seeing that Xing Jue agreed, Wang Yanran smiled sweetly, her beautiful smile even captivated Xing Jue.
Thus, the best partners for this hunting competition were formed. Without delay, the two took some time to recuperate before rushing towards the depths of the Beast Mountain Range.
What was most exciting was that with the support of her pills, Wang Yanran's speed was absolutely no less than his. This meant that their hunting efficiency would become extremely terrifying. Xing Jue smiled slightly, full of expectations for the hunt ahead.