The pillar of light seemed to have attached itself to Xu Yuehuai. No matter which way she went, the pillar of light would follow. Behind the pillar of light, the "groundhog" was trying its best to transfer its spiritual power, wanting to bury Xu Yuehuai here.

Once Xu Yuehuai confirmed that the beam of light had a tracking effect, she stood still, her eyes slightly narrowed as she examined the sacred beast in front of her. As the golden light grew brighter and brighter, about to turn into a white beam, Xu Yuehuai immediately erected a spiritual energy shield, forming a hand seal. The next second, a transparent shield appeared in front of her.

At the same time, the first-tier sacred beast finished charging up and struck the shield. The shield instantly began to crack. Xu Yuehuai raised her hand and continuously channeled spiritual energy into it to maintain the shield's existence.

The first-tier sacred beast opposite seemed tireless, its spiritual energy flowing continuously, while Xu Yuehuai began to feel somewhat strained. This couldn't go on like this. She had never seen this type of sacred beast before, but seeing that it could fly and dive into the earth, and that it was related to the metal element, it must be extraordinary.

As Xu Yuehuai thought of this place, a flash of inspiration struck her: "This gold can give you strength."

She was stating a fact: the sacred beast had already gained sentience and could fully understand what she was saying, so there was no need to worry about any communication difficulties.

Upon hearing this, the sacred beast was visibly stunned for a moment, but the next second, it launched another attack on Xu Yuehuai. Golden lights flashed out instantly, striking Xu Yuehuai and forcing her back three feet.

Xu Yuehuai's hand holding the silver sword trembled twice. The strength of the sacred beast was undeniable. If Xu Yuehuai were in his prime, he might be a notch above it, but now Xu Yuehuai was even weaker than the sacred beast.

A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Xu Yuehuai's mouth. She felt a warm flow and raised her hand to wipe her mouth. Seeing her bleeding, the sacred beast before her became agitated, trembling with excitement. Xu Yuehuai could sense from her excited expression just how thrilled it was.

The sacred beast did not choose to press its advantage, but waited until Xu Yuehuai recovered a little before launching another attack. Golden light struck Xu Yuehuai's back from behind. She spread her arms, one hand tightly gripping her sword.

On the battlefield, never lose your weapon. If you lose your weapon, you have already lost half the battle. Xu Yuehuai fell heavily to the ground. She immediately rolled over, turned around, and her eyes were filled with ruthlessness.

The sacred beast before her jumped up with joy upon seeing Xu Yuehuai's reaction, its eyes filled with a morbid elation. Xu Yuehuai scrambled to her feet, covered in blood. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with madness. "Do you think you can kill me?"

"Someone who lives off gold, if I burn this whole place down, do you think you can still survive?" Xu Yuehuai said frantically.

Clearly, the sacred beast in front of her trembled upon hearing these insane words. Then, its eyes turned bloodshot, and it leaped up to stand in front of Xu Yuehuai. When it stared at her, it felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

...

"It seems your Qingtao Valley isn't all that great. I thought your people would be the first to emerge after passing the first trial, but it seems you're nothing special. Xu Yuehuai was even seriously injured. What is she doing now? Is she planning to give up, so she's saying these self-deprecating things?" Sect Leader Zhan smiled, speaking sarcastically, his eyes filled with irony as he looked at Zi Sangyi.

He looked down on Zisangyi, feeling that he was unworthy to be the sect leader and sit with them. Zisangyi was just an elder, what merit did he have to inherit the position of sect leader? However, these were all internal matters of Qingtao Valley, and he had no right to interfere. He could only nitpick on these matters.

Zisangyi looked at Xu Yuehuai with worry in her eyes. This was not Xu Yuehuai's previous strength at all. What exactly happened during the three days in the lower realm that caused Xu Yuehuai's strength to drop so drastically?

Others don't care about the reasons behind this; they only look at the results. And the result that has been shown is that Xu Yuehuai is very weak and can't even defeat this mere sacred beast.

Ning Xi was the first to come out, and Mei Ming was the second. When Mei Ming came out, he was surprised to see that it wasn't Xu Yuehuai standing outside. He looked around and thought that Xu Yuehuai hadn't come out yet. Seeing his actions, Ning Xi pretended to be kind and said, "Don't look, they haven't come out yet."

Mei Ming and Ning Xi's relationship wasn't exactly good, but it wasn't terrible either. He didn't know Ning Xi well, so when he heard this, he simply nodded in response.

Ning Xi stood there for a while before leaving. She had originally wanted to wait for Xu Yuehuai to come out before leaving together, since having someone clear the way for her in this place would be a good option. However, Mei Ming had already come out, but she hadn't, and Ning Xi didn't have the patience to wait there any longer.

Although she didn't know why Xu Yuehuai hadn't come out yet, her intuition told her that she should leave now.

After Ning Xi left, the place returned to silence. Mei Ming was in front of a metal-type area and behind a wood-type area.

He was just one step away from leaving; he stood still and waited, instead of leaving ahead of time.

When Xu Yuehuai came out, he was covered in blood. He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground. Mei Ming was shocked when he saw this. He knew very well that Xu Yuehuai's strength was above his own. He rushed forward and helped Xu Yuehuai up. "What happened to you? How did you get like this?"

Mei Ming admitted that this thing could cause some harm, but he absolutely could not hurt Xu Yuehuai to that extent. He helped her sit down to the side with a worried expression.

Everything is afraid of losing its mind, so when Xu Yuehuai repeatedly provoked the sacred beast to lose its mind, that was her chance to make her move.

Bai Ze was anxiously pacing around in the space. Yuan Shui saw this and sneered, saying, "Serves her right. Who told her to show off? If she hadn't, would things have turned out like this? Killing such a sacred beast would have been a piece of cake."

"Lord Yuanshui, this is not the time for idle talk. Master's injuries are so serious, aren't you worried at all?" Bai Ze said anxiously.

Yuan Shui said with a dark face, "Why are you in such a hurry? She must have her reasons for doing this. What's the use of you being so anxious?"

After Xu Yuehuai came out, she opened a bottle of pills and ate one. She then wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said, "I'm fine."

A hint of worry flashed in Mei Ming's eyes. "I'll heal your wounds. Please sit down."