Anyone making such a motion would involuntarily close their eyes and shake their head—the monster was no exception.

The xingxing’s outstretched claws lost their accuracy, swiping at empty air, allowing the boulder to directly and brutally smash into its temple, knocking it off course.

With a “boom,” the monster hit the ground, raising a cloud of dust, but it didn’t land on either the green-armored warrior or Miao Feng Xian. The green-armored warrior had twisted in mid-air, landing on its elbows and knees to absorb all the impact force, avoiding crushing Miao Feng Xian below.

Though not killed by the boulder, the monster was in pain, seeing stars. It shook its head and stood up, seeing Feng Miao Jun standing not far away, her chest heaving with heavy breaths.

Her hands were still covered in mud, matching that on the boulder.

She had thrown the boulder—this delicate young lady was a cultivator too!

Feng Miao Jun had been hiding behind the rock. Seeing Miao Feng Xian in danger, she lifted and threw the boulder without thinking. Only after it knocked the monster off course did she realize what she had done.

This time, she had performed beyond her usual capabilities. She smiled provocatively at it, making a gesture: “That’s payback, you ugly freak!”

Earlier the xingxing had thrown a carriage at her; this was her way of settling the score. Feng Miao Jun was willing to swallow anything except a loss.

The xingxing didn’t understand the gesture, but that didn’t prevent it from grasping the essence of her meaning. It roared in anger, charging forward, ready to flatten her with one punch.

But after just two steps, a burst of pain exploded in its head!

The pain came without warning, sharp and intense as if millions of ants were simultaneously gnawing at its brain. The monster could transform its body into an impenetrable fortress, but it couldn’t make its vulnerable brain impervious to weapons. The xingxing’s outstretched claws instinctively withdrew as it made a very human-like gesture—clutching its head with both hands.

That kind of pain was simply unbearable.

By the time the Yao prince managed to stand up, the creature was rolling on the ground, holding its head and howling in agony. The roar shook heaven and earth, startling even the birds roosting in the forest, sending them flying into a confused mass in the sky.

This sudden turn was so unexpected that the Yao prince was momentarily stunned. But knowing this opportunity was precious, he gathered his strength, aimed briefly, and hurled his hand-axe!

The axe, trailing a faint blue light, instantly embedded itself in the back of the monster’s skull with a muffled “crack” that made one’s heart tremble.

The xingxing had no chance to dodge, only letting out another painful howl before spinning around and lunging forward!

Its life force was too powerful—even with its skull split, it refused to die. Miao Feng Xian could see its eyeballs had turned bright red, with blood seeping from the corners of its eyes and beneath its nose. Whatever powerful sneak attack it had suffered had only provoked its savage nature further.

Victory was in sight—they couldn’t fail now! Seeing the Yao prince barely able to stand, if he took another hit from this berserk beast, he’d be dead or crippled. Feng Miao Jun cursed under her breath and despite her reluctance, charged toward the monster.

Honestly, facing such an enormous, berserk creature required real courage. She took a light breath, rapidly circulating spiritual energy throughout her body, making her light as a swallow.

When the xingxing swung its claws at her, her form suddenly lowered, sliding along the ground with momentum.

Fortunately, this monster was crazed with pain, in a half-maddened state, attacking without technique. Feng Miao Jun seized the opportunity as it turned, leaping onto the monster’s back, and immediately pulling out the hand-axe embedded in the back of its head!

Miao Feng Xian possessed astonishing arm strength—the axe had almost completely penetrated the monster’s skull, causing injury while temporarily stabilizing its life. But with Feng Miao Jun’s quick, fluid motion, even Miao Feng Xian heard a “pop” sound from a distance, like a cork being pulled from a bottle.

In reality, what sprayed out was a sticky mixture of red and white.

The monster staggered forward another four or five steps before finally toppling like a mountain of gold or jade, crashing to the ground with a thunderous sound!

This time, it fell and moved no more.

The xingxing was dead.

Miao Feng Xian could no longer support himself. His knees buckled as he sat on the ground, feeling that each breath drawn was an extravagance.

He raised his head with effort, meeting Feng Miao Jun’s eyes as she crouched on the monster’s back. Both saw the terror, joy, and lingering fear in each other’s expressions.

This victory had been extremely narrow. If Feng Miao Jun hadn’t been facing the direction of the monster’s charge while hiding in the forest, if the giant beast hadn’t inexplicably gone berserk, these few people would certainly have died without hope.

Feng Miao Jun, still catching her breath, pressed her hand on the xingxing’s head several times, seemingly confirming its death, before standing up and running toward Chen Da Chang.

He and the guard had each been engaged with a black-clothed man, but the earlier dramatic reversal had left everyone stunned.

Seeing the xingxing dead and its killer, Feng Miao Jun, running toward them, the cultivator who had been slightly gaining the upper hand suddenly whistled. The other black-clothed man heard the signal, feinted with his sword, then turned and fled with him!

These two fled even faster than they had arrived, disappearing into the vast darkness after a few leaps.

Chen Da Chang and Miao’s guard exchanged glances, both abandoning pursuit—each had a master to attend to.

The guard hurried to Miao Feng Xian, first feeding him ginseng slices, and then treating his wounds. Miao Feng Xian, already severely injured before fighting the giant beast, passed out without a word as soon as the crisis ended. His face was as white as a corpse’s, blood pooling beneath him, his breathing nearly stopped, his life hanging by a thread, sustained only by thousand-year-old ginseng.

Chen Da Chang saw that Feng Miao Jun’s small face had turned pale green, her forehead covered with fine cold sweat, and asked worriedly: “Is the young lady injured?”

“No. The Yao prince is nearly gone.” She had gone through great trouble to save Miao Feng Xian, and if he died here, all her previous efforts would be wasted. “Go to the roadside and flag down a carriage, spare no expense.”

After sending Chen Da Chang away, Feng Miao Jun rushed into the dense forest before the next wave of nausea could overtake her.

This time, she nearly vomited bile.

She leaned against a tree, breathing heavily for a long while, slightly calming her emotions, only to discover the curse mark in her dantian voraciously absorbing more than half of her remaining spiritual energy.

This phenomenon hadn’t occurred for a long time. She was stunned momentarily before realizing that the “genuine Yunyai-brand human power bank” was rudely demanding payment.

He didn’t possess divine sight and couldn’t possibly know she had just killed his subordinate, so the only explaKingdom was that during the battle, she had used large amounts of spiritual energy without noticing she had also drawn some from him, and now he was collecting his debt…

She gnashed her teeth in anger: “I’ve never seen such a petty man!” Then she realized he had taken back neither more nor less, but exactly the amount she had “borrowed” earlier. “Counting every penny!”

But after this small episode, the knot in her heart from killing someone had somewhat loosened. Besides, Yunyai must have sensed her drawing on his spiritual energy earlier, yet hadn’t reclaimed it immediately, which was quite considerate. Otherwise, she would have been pounded into meatballs by the monster right then.