Jun Wu and Mei Ling never imagined their journey would turn into a life-and-death battle.

At the beginning, Jun Wu would harvest the beast core and cut the necessary parts, placing them inside his storage pouch.

But as the number of beasts increased, he could only extract their beast essence as they hastily departed from the battle scene.

Roar!

From the darkness, a massive beast jumped at them. Jun Wu reacted swiftly and moved to the side, evading the beast's wide claw.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He released four shots with his Runic Revolver while he threw seven array plates to different corners.

All the shots hit their mark, but the beast's hide was too thick, allowing the beast to sustain only a minor injury.

The beast-like leopard was furious, howling fiercely, ready to pounce on them once again, only to realize something was wrong.

The seven array plates lit up almost instantly, trapping it inside. These were all Grade-2 Array Plates. Compared to a Grade-1 Array Plate, these were much more powerful.

Against them, an ordinary Tier-2 beast could forget about moving an inch. And this was the main reason why they had remained unscathed under the beast onslaught.

Just as Jun Wu prepared to deliver various killing shots, Mei Ling warned.

"Watch out!" she screamed.

Whoosh!

Jun Wu activated his Swift Wind Boots and vanished from his spot at a blinding speed.

Boom!

The ground trembled under the sudden sneak attack. Jun Wu appeared in the distance and turned to look at his previous position.

A massive python appeared at his previous position, its green orb-like eyes staring at puny humans a couple of meters from its position.

It did not understand how the puny human managed to evade its calculated sneak attack, but it did not care.

It spared no glance at the second human with the breath of spiritual energy. Hunting such humans was beneath it.

Mei Ling was stunned inwardly when she noticed the disdainful gaze cast at her by the massive python. She did not know whether to be happy or furious.

She had just been looked down upon by a mere beast.

Still, she knew how dangerous the situation was. Compared to all the beasts they had faced previously, the python was in another league.

She maintained her calm and retreated slowly. As long as the python did not focus on her, she believed Jun Wu had the means to handle it.

Truly, Jun Wu had a means to handle it, but first, he needed to ascertain the length of the python.

Right now, he could barely see the end of the python. Its body coiled like a small mountain, staring at him with ferocity.

Whoosh!

It opened its maw, its long fangs out, dripping purple liquid as it lunged at Jun Wu. From its mouth, purple gas flowed out.

Jun Wu did not need to find out what the purple gas was as he already moved. His speed was not lower than the python's.

Bang! Bang!

While retreating, he released twelve wind blades, targeting the python's vital spots. Apart from the twelve wind blades, the continuous barrage from the Runic Revolver halted the python's attack.

Hiss! Hiss!

The python hissed in pain as the various wind blades sliced through its scales.

The purple gas merely slowed the wind blades for a fraction of a second, having no lasting effect on them.

Each wind blade targeted its neck, eyes, and mouth—places with thinner scales.

Under the barrage of both shots and wind blades, the python sustained various injuries but nothing life-threatening.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, its massive thick tail came crashing toward him. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Many array plates appeared in his hand and scattered quickly as he evaded the massive tail.

Boom!

The tail slammed heavily into the dark ground, leaving a deep crater behind, but Jun Wu had long departed from its location.

The massive python was confused when it saw the various objects flying around. But since they contained no threat, it ignored them and glared fiercely at the puny human.

It was furious.

The ant before it was too slippery, like an eel. Still, it was determined to devour the human no matter how slippery he was.

Unfortunately, it had underestimated its target.

Just as it was ready to launch another attack, the small ordinary items thrown by the human lit up suddenly.

The seven array plates connected in a blink, trapping the python. Realizing what was going on, the python hissed, and it began to struggle fiercely.

Various cracks began to appear on the trapping array, and it was spreading quickly.

However, Jun Wu was not too worried as he laid down a second array plate. This was a killing array.

Slicing Fan Array.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With the last array plate, the Slicing Fan Array, in position, Jun Wu activated without delay. Instantly, the dark wind was sliced apart, whistling.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The massive python hissed in pain. Trapped, it only watched as the various slicing fans cut through its defenses.

If one was not enough, what about two, five, ten, and more. This was the fearsome part of an array formation.

As long as there was enough energy, the array could operate infinitely. Quickly, the massive python was covered in blood, and the ferocious glint in its eyes had long vanished.

Now, it was replaced by fear.

It struggled fiercely, trying to escape from the entrapment, but it was futile. The more it struggled, the easier the Slicing Fan attack cut through its body.

Standing in the distance, Mei Ling watched everything with her jaw slightly dropped. She never expected such a terrifying beast would be dealt with like that.

Apart from the sneak attack that had almost caught Jun Wu off guard, the following battle was under his control.

Hiss!

The python made its last cry as its body fell to the ground. Every inch of its body was sliced apart. Blood flowing like a small stream.

Looking at the dead python, Jun Wu breathed a sigh of relief. The battle might have looked easy, but many factors played into his success.

Most importantly, his Swift Wind Boots helped him the most. If his speed had been even a little slower than the python, he would have ended up inside the python's stomach.

Mei Ling walked toward him and asked calmly.

"How may I help?"

Her usual aloof expression had softened. She and Jun Wu had gone through a lot, and acting cold toward him did not seem right.

Jun Wu turned and threw the Runic Revolver to her.

"KILL the other Beast."

She caught the Runic Revolver and nodded. She turned and headed toward the trapped leopard-like beast.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The leopard-like beast could only watch as its head was blasted into smithereens under Mei Ling's rage.

Although she did not let the expression show on her face, she had never hated the feeling of being useless in her life more than now. Her pride came from her strength, which was now nothing in the Shadowless Region. She had become a burden on him.

Without Jun Wu, she did not know how many times she would have died.

She gnashed her teeth and continued to shoot even though the beast was already dead.

She vowed inwardly she would never again allow herself to be a burden to anyone in this life.

Unknown to her thoughts, Jun Wu had already started harvesting the python meat. Compared to an ordinary beast, the python was a lot stronger.

He believed it must be an Intermediate Tier-2 beast.

Extracting the beast core, it was a lot bigger than an ordinary beast core. Besides, the yellowish light emanating from it shone brighter.

Having extracted the beast core and taken enough beast meat, he left the leftovers.

Just to have enough space in his storage pouch, he even threw away almost all the common beast meat while replacing it with the python meat.

Coming beside her, Jun Wu deactivated the trapping array and extracted the beast core. As for the beast meat, he ignored it.

"Let's go," he said, walking deeper into the darkness.

"Hmm! Hmm." She nodded and followed him.

Half an hour later, a group of five humans arrived at the scene. Everyone was stunned when they saw the carnage.

"How did this happen?" a young woman asked, but no one responded.

Their eyes were locked on the python that was now unrecognizable.

"Do you think this is the work of an Intermediate Master?" a young man asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

Their leader, a middle-aged man, shook his head.

"I don't think so." He paused for a moment and added, "This does not look like the work of a human. The attack has no pattern and…"

His voice trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Let's not think about it," he finally said, not daring to continue his train of thought.

"Should we take the beast parts?" another young man asked.

"No… It is already too late. It would have been corrupted." The leader shook his head.

"Let's go. Let's hope we find the location this time around."

The group nodded and headed toward Jun Wu and Mei Ling's direction.