Near the pond at fifth region.
Blood seeped from Pan Jun's headless body, tinting the pond a murky red. His severed head drifted on the surface like some macabre flower.
A streak of wind tore through the forest.
Pan Lun, Elder of the Beast's Mountain Sect, appeared beside the corpse. He dropped to his knees, trembling as he gathered his son's body into his lap.
"Jun'er… wake up… haa… you can't leave me here…"
His voice cracked, shaking with grief.
A giant shadow fell over them as Pan Lun's lifebound beast descended from the sky—
a Four-Winged Roc, its three star-shaped pupils contracting with sorrow as it let out a piercing cry.
Pan Lun gritted his teeth, rage twisting his grief.
"Find who killed my son! I feel a qi trail… he ran from here! Go!"
The Roc soared upward instantly, wings cutting the air like blades.
Moments later, disciples burst from the trees. They froze at the sight of Pan Lun holding Pan Jun's lifeless body.
Their faces twisted in horror—then fury.
"We'll take revenge! Kill that imposter! We'll take revenge!"
Their cries shook the trees.
Pan Lun's eyes were bloodshot as he ordered,
"Take his body. Guard it. Move toward the marked area. I'll come after I tear that bastard to pieces."
A disciple stepped forward, lifted Pan Jun's body carefully, and nodded.
"Yes, Elder… we'll wait. Bring back that bastard's head."
Another waded into the pond and retrieved Pan Jun's floating head.
Then the group marched away grimly.
Pan Lun stared at the fading qi signature and snarled,
"Run. I'll still catch you… and I'll cut you into a hundred fucking pieces."
He vanished, shooting through the forest like a vengeful storm.
Meanwhile Far Away From There In Fifth Region.
Zhuo Riyan dashed through the forest at full speed, heart pounding. His instincts screamed danger—a deadly one.
He had already stuffed the green-rank dagger into his spiritual ring.
As he ran, he turned and glared at Little Cat perched on his shoulder… chewing something.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
"Hey, you stingy cat—what the fuck are you eating at a time like this?!"
Little Cat didn't even look embarrassed. He just kept chewing with a smug expression, tiny jaws working fast as if they were not being hunted by a monster and his Four-Winged Roc.
What he was eating…
looked suspiciously like a gem from Pan Jun's pouch.
And the bastard was enjoying it.
"How the hell can someone eat spiritual gems like food?" Zhuo Riyan snapped, disbelief plastered across his face as Little Cat continued chewing like he was eating roasted nuts instead of rare stone.
Little Cat casually dug another green gem out of the pouch with his claws and held it up to Zhuo Riyan.
"It's full of spiritual energy. You should eat it too. It'll recover your beast qi."
"Eat it? I'm not a beast, you damn furball! And I've never seen beasts eat gems like snacks. You're supposed to absorb them, right?!"
Little Cat swallowed loudly, tail swishing in amusement. "Tell me… how much do beasts usually absorb from spiritual gems?"
Zhuo Riyan frowned and tried to recall the lesson from that mysterious red-haired woman—the master who always wore a black veil.
Her cold voice echoed in his mind:
"No matter the number star lifebound beast have, an average star lifebound beast can only absorb about forty percent of a gem's spiritual energy. A higher star beast… sixty percent at most."
"About sixty percent," Zhuo Riyan muttered as he crossed into the Fourth Region.
Little Cat popped another gem into his mouth and snorted.
"That's why you humans always say you've never seen the outside world and this is true."
Zhuo Riyan's eyebrow twitched. "Stop disrespecting and just tell me what's going on!"
Little Cat licked his paw, utterly unbothered.
"If a lifebound beast eats a gem and directly refined it inside… it absorb one hundred percent of the spiritual energy."
Zhuo Riyan froze.
"One hundred—?"
Before he could finish, Little Cat shoved another gem toward him.
Zhuo Riyan grabbed it, staring at it like it might explode.
"It's… safe if I eat it, right…?"
But at that exact moment—
A violent qi eruption surged from behind them, sharp enough to tremble the branches.
Little Cat's ears straightened. He gave a stiff, awkward laugh.
"One good advice… run as fast as you fucking can and hide somewhere."
Zhuo Riyan didn't need to be told twice. He kicked off the tree trunk and sprinted deeper into the forest.
A massive shadow swept overhead—
a beast flying low, its killing intent washing over the trees like a wave.
Zhuo Riyan resumed running at full speed.
"Little Cat! Don't you have some movement technique?! Something—anything?!"
Little Cat smirked and lifted his chin proudly.
"Hehe… you asked the right person. I happen to have a movement technique."
His tail flicked with arrogance.
"So, master… do you want to learn?"
Movement techniques were normally used by beast masters for combat mobility, totally different from the foundational cultivation codices like Zhuo Riyan's Cosmic Thunderfiend Codex. They were meant to fight with the beast master, reposition and survival—something he desperately needed at this moment.
Zhuo Riyan forced his battered body to move even faster, teeth clenched.
"Bastard, yes I want to learn! Why the hell didn't you tell me earlier that you knew techniques?!"
Little Cat looked away, sweat trickling down his tiny face.
"Ah… you didn't ask me. Hehe…"
Zhuo Riyan felt like his trust was being repeatedly stabbed.
But this wasn't the time to argue.
Little Cat coughed sharply.
"Alright master, listen. Don't stop running. Follow everything I say."
Above them, the Four-Winged Roc—Pan Lun's lifebound beast—was already circling overhead, its killing intent pouring down like a storm.
Suddenly, the Roc opened its beak wide.
White beast qi gathered between its jaws, thickening into a violent beam.
Little Cat barked instructions immediately.
"Concentrate your purple thunder and beast qi in both legs!"
Zhuo Riyan pushed his beast qi downward.
The crimson-black qi surged to his legs easily; he had practiced similar circulation when Xiao Xiao was alive.
But his thunder…
He could not gather a single spark of the purple lightning.
Something is wrong. My beast qi has altered—its color was always yellow when Xiao Xiao still walked this world.
Even so, with only beast qi, his speed increased slightly.
But then he sensed it—
The killing intent turned razor-sharp.