"Roar!"

On the vacant plot atop Xuan Yun Peak, an angry roar echoed into everyone's ears, making them feel a tremor in their eardrums. The most formidable genius of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, Li Gongnian, seemed to have suddenly suffered a heavy blow, retreating three steps in succession.

"Damn beast!"

Forced back three steps by a tremendous force, Li Gongnian's face turned ominously dark, losing the nonchalance he had while dealing with the Eighth Rank Middle Stage Vein Demon earlier.

At this moment, Li Gongnian finally understood the immense difference between an Eighth Rank Advanced Vein Demon and a Eighth Rank Middle Stage Vein Demon, realizing they are essentially two different entities.

Compared to human breakthroughs, the cultivation of Vein Demons is undoubtedly more arduous. While the Heaven and Earth Rules stripped Vein Demons of cultivation speed, it endowed them with strong physical strength and prolonged life, and every breakthrough in realm brings a sharp increase in their combat power.

Li Gongnian, Xu Changgui, and Lu Zhang, each when squared against equivalent-level cultivators in Tenglong Continent, were victorious; but before this Eighth Rank Advanced Vein Demon, they were restrained at every turn, and after prolonged combat, they fell into an obvious disadvantage.

This made the ever-confident Li Gongnian feel unusually irritable. At this moment, he suddenly summoned his Meridian Spirit, hoping for an additional helper to reverse the course of the battle.

As the Origin Seeking Realm Late Stage genius of Spirit Fighting Commerce, Li Gongnian could not possibly have just one Vein Demon, so even though his Eighth Rank Middle Stage Black Pattern Single-eyed Python Meridian Spirit had been decapitated by Yun Xiao at the commerce meeting, the Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit he summoned now was still at Eighth Rank Middle Stage.

Li Gongnian summoned the Eighth Rank Middle Stage Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit intending to use his Meridian Spirit to withstand the powerful attack of the Black Bear Vein Demon, in hope of seizing the opportunity to deliver a one-hit kill with his Earth Rank Advanced weapon.

Bang!

However, in just a few moves, when the Black Bear Vein Demon punched the Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit's head, it shattered its head directly, spraying brain matter and leaving the three in shock.

That was an Eighth Rank Middle Stage Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit, focused primarily on physical defense, who knew it would be so fragile, unable to endure even a few punches from the Black Bear Vein Demon.

Consequently, Li Gongnian suffered a total loss of two Meridian Spirits he had cultivated for years, both reaching Eighth Rank Middle Stage level, which truly pained him.

At that moment, within Li Gongnian's mind, a rough-clothed figure carrying a long sword suddenly flashed by, it was this rough-clothed young man who claimed the head of his Black Pattern Single-eyed Python Meridian Spirit.

"Hua Yin Wolf!"

"Mountain Armor!"

Seeing Li Gongnian's Meridian Spirit brutally slain, Xu Changgui and Lu Zhang did not hesitate at all. Hearing their simultaneous outcry, two Meridian Spirits likewise shot out from their bodies, swiftly growing into several feet in size.

Xu Changgui's Meridian Spirit turned out to be a wolf-shaped Meridian Spirit at Eighth Rank Middle Stage; it's uncertain how he managed to refine this Eighth Rank Middle Stage Meridian Spirit with his Origin Seeking Realm Middle Stage cultivation, presumably aided by the strong elder of Sky Thunder Valley.

As for Lu Zhang's Meridian Spirit, it was a bizarre creature covered completely in scales, resembling a pangolin, yet its aura was far stronger than ordinary pangolins, turning out to be an Eighth Rank Low Level Meridian Spirit.

Splatter! Splatter!

However, even Li Gongnian's Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit couldn't withstand a few hits from the Black Bear Vein Demon, these two Meridian Spirits barely persisted for two rounds before following the footsteps of the Giant Rhino Meridian Spirit, bursting their brains and dying.

"Not good!"

Failing to block the Black Bear Vein Demon with three consecutive Meridian Spirits seemed to infuriate the Black Bear Vein Demon. A glimmer of horror flashed through Xu Changgui's eyes as he saw the Black Bear Vein Demon furiously hammering its fists against its chest, resounding with loud thumping noises.

Without knowing why, when the Black Bear Vein Demon noticed these humans using Meridian Spirits against it, it couldn't help but burst into rage, after all, these Meridian Spirits in past life belonged to their Vein Demon clan.

The biggest conflict between Vein Demons and humans lies in Meridian Spirits, which is why the Beast Vein Masters of Demons Mountain would rather tame Vein Demons into Demon Pets than refine them into Meridian Spirits.

Although this requires possibly hundreds or thousands times more time, it at least preserves the spiritual wisdom of Vein Demons, unlike Spirit Fighting Commerce who would refine any desired Vein Demon into a Meridian Spirit.

Some high-ranking Vein Demons can maintain composure when battling ordinary humans, but when confronted by a rival's Meridian Spirit, they invariably slay them, but the hostility deep down is suddenly triggered.

Just like the Eighth Rank Advanced Black Bear Vein Demon before them, when it hammered its chest with fists several times, its fur instantly stood upright like black needles, appearing sharp and eerie.

"Its strength is actually still increasing?"

Li Gongnian, whose power of soul had already reached the peak of Earth Rank Low Level, was the most perceptive. With just one glance, he could see that the Black Bear Pulse Demon, which had undergone some mutation, had a noticeable surge in its entire aura.

Originally at the Eighth Rank Advanced, the Pulse Demon's demon meridian qi was only between the late stage and peak of the Origin Seeking Realm of humans. But now, having employed some bloodline secret method, the Black Bear Pulse Demon had clearly reached the peak of that level, just a step away from breaking through to the Half-step Ninth Rank.

Although the Black Bear Pulse Demon hadn't reached the Half-step Ninth Rank yet, it was undoubtedly much stronger than an ordinary Eighth Rank Advanced Pulse Demon, which was bad news for the three of them, including Li Gongnian.

Previously, under the strength of the Black Bear Pulse Demon, the three working together were already at a disadvantage, not to mention the current state. At this moment, Li Gongnian seemed to have some vague suspicion, thinking perhaps he made a blunder by attacking the opponent with meridian spirit.

"Everyone, be careful!"

But there was no medicine for regret. Li Gongnian knew this well and could only shout loudly, then saw the Black Bear Pulse Demon slam one of its bear paws onto Lu Zhang's chest.

Crack!

A bone-cracking sound that's enough to make one's teeth ache echoed. Li Gongnian could clearly see Lu Zhang's chest collapse entirely, and whether the chest bone pierced the heart after breaking, would depend on Lu Zhang's destiny.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of crimson blood spurted from Lu Zhang's mouth as he flew backward, like a kite with a broken string, his aura severely weakened. When he finally hit the ground hard, he remained motionless.

"Junior Brother!"

Despite not sharing the same surname, Xu Changgui had developed deep bonds with Lu Zhang over the years fighting side by side. Seeing Lu Zhang struck by the Black Bear Pulse Demon's paw, his life unknown, Xu Changgui couldn't help but feel his heart breaking.

However, the anger and hatred in Xu Changgui's heart could not turn into strength. Just as he called out, a gigantic bear paw already came crashing onto his chest with lightning speed. If nothing changed, his fate would be as grim as Lu Zhang's.

Yet, at this moment, Xu Changgui had little room to dodge, and couldn't possibly retrieve a weapon from his waist storage in time. In this critical moment, he could only raise his arms, crossing them in front of his chest, hoping to fend off this strong blow.

Unfortunately, even when the Black Bear Pulse Demon was in normal form, with the aid of an Earth Rank Middle Level short knife, Xu Changgui had been forced back several steps. Now that the Black Bear Pulse Demon's strength had greatly increased and he had no short knife to block, his fate was predictable.

Crack!

Another bone-cracking sound ensued, but Xu Changgui's situation was slightly better than Lu Jia's. Thanks to the block by his arms, his chest bone wasn't broken; only the arm bones of his two arms were.

Using this force, Xu Changgui retreated rapidly, enduring the excruciating pain from his arms. He knew he had lost most of his combat power; if the Black Bear Pulse Demon pursued aggressively, his life would likely be in jeopardy.

Luckily, the Black Bear Pulse Demon seemed indifferent to someone so gravely injured with broken arms. After striking Xu Changgui away, its bear eyes slowly turned to a certain direction, where a slightly trembling young human stood.

"Damn it, how can this beast be so strong?"

Li Gongnian cursed inwardly. He had been very confident in his strength, and with the help of Xu Changgui and Lu Zhang, he believed that even if they couldn't easily defeat the Black Bear Pulse Demon, they should at least manage a draw.

But now, with Lu Zhang struck uncertainly alive and Xu Changgui's arms broken and combat prowess lost, Li Gongnian was really uncertain about how long he could hold out alone.

However, the Black Bear Pulse Demon wasn't burdened with such thoughts. As its bear eyes shifted, its body swiftly followed. Suddenly, the once bulky body became incredibly agile, and its speed incredibly astonishing.

The sudden movement of the Black Bear Pulse Demon startled Li Gongnian a bit. But in the next moment, his eyes darted around, and he decided not to engage the Black Bear Pulse Demon directly. He leaped upwards, towards a stone platform several meters above the ground.

That stone platform was where the Black Bear Pulse Demon previously stood. There was a deep hole there, which all human cultivators present believed to be where the Black Bear Pulse Demon stored heavenly materials and earthly treasures, including many herbs needed to complete their mission.

Li Gongnian's reaction was undoubtedly quick at this moment. He intended to catch the Black Bear Pulse Demon off guard; as long as he could obtain the mission-required herbs, there was no need to continue battling the Black Bear Pulse Demon.

Simply fleeing without confrontation might not be as difficult as imagined.