Only the rumbling sound could be heard coming from afar. Along the way, large trees snapped in half, like a surging mudslide. A cloud of white dust, mixed with flying rocks and toppled trunks, rushed before her like a devastating force sweeping away everything in its path.

Bai Sui: “!!!”

A fight that had been happening hundreds of meters away just a moment ago arrived right in front of her in the blink of an eye.

The dust settled, and the victor was clear.

Bai Sui blinked.

In front of her appeared an exceptionally large “big tiger.” This “big tiger” was completely white, with a hint of bright, faint blue at the tips of its fur. It held its head high, a bird resembling an “immortal crane” clenched in its mouth. Sharp fangs pierced the bird’s neck like icy blades. The bird’s body was also large, now drooping limply; it had clearly lost the battle and was already dead.

The “tiger’s” eyes gleamed with a cold, icy light. Its raised head tilted slightly, and its gaze accidentally met Bai Sui’s, colliding head-on.

“Hehe, Brother Tiger, you’re having your meal…”

Seeing she had been discovered, Bai Sui let out a dry laugh and climbed down from the tree with an awkward yet graceful air.

Rubbing her hands together, she approached with a smile to within a dozen meters of the “big tiger.”

This “big tiger” was actually a Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast. Its external features closely resembled a tiger’s, but unlike a tiger, it had a pair of highly distinctive golden eyes, razor-sharp fangs, and a chilling blue-tinged stripe running down its spine.

An adult Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast could reach over two meters in length. It was the king among first-order demonic beasts, equivalent in cultivation to a human at the third layer of Qi Refining.

The one before her had a red stripe on its crown, a blue mane running down its back, and fangs a foot long—exactly matching the markers of an adult Golden-Eyed Beast!

Standing before it, Bai Sui looked like a frail little cloth doll.

What a calamity!

Bai Sui cried inwardly. Wasn’t it said there were no demonic beasts in Spirit Water Peak? How could there be a Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast lurking here!

She was inexperienced, but she could feel the dangerous aura emanating from it.

Her mind kept cursing furiously, but her delicate little face showed little expression. She edged slightly forward, wearing a fawning, pleading look.

Thick, sharp claws patted the ground. The Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast gazed disdainfully at the tiny human female cub that kept trying to curry favor with it.

A hint of languid arrogance flickered in its golden pupils.

Then it let out a low growl, the bird corpse still in its mouth, and with powerful, steady strides, it advanced with the bearing of a “sovereign,” slowly approaching the female cub before it.

In its eyes, this cub posed no threat whatsoever—a mere ant, whose throat it could tear out with ease.

However, just as it got within ten meters of the human cub, an accident suddenly happened.

A sly glint flashed across Bai Sui’s face. Her right hand, originally resting on her left wrist, inadvertently rubbed the “yellow” bead on her bracelet. The next second, a bright yellow “Swift Movement Talisman” suddenly appeared before her.

‘Now’s the time!’ Seizing the moment, Bai Sui’s round, fair finger poked the talisman without any hesitation. A trace of spiritual power instantly poured through her fingertip into the talisman, activating it in a flash.

Her figure darted in a blink. When she reappeared, her tiny form had shot forward to within three meters of the target.

“Fireball Technique!!”

She raised her right hand high and swung it gently from top to bottom in a graceful arc. In an instant, a row of eight blazing white “fireballs,” each the size of a ping-pong ball, appeared neatly before her!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!! She thrust her right hand forward, and the eight fireballs turned into cannonballs shooting rapidly toward the target.

Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast: “!!!”

Roar! The human female cub had no martial virtue.

She actually launched a sneak attack!

The Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast’s expression was strikingly human-like, shifting from initial haughty disdain, to confusion, to furious rage at being toyed with. Its sharp claws slammed the ground as it leaped, ready to swallow this “little person” in one gulp.

However—

“Golden Bind!” A golden halo of light materialized out of thin air. The Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast shuddered, its movement slowing a beat.

And it was precisely this split-second delay that allowed the eight fireballs Bai Sui had unleashed to arrive before it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!…

Eight deafening blasts shook heaven and earth. The violent fireballs, like highly efficient energy bombs, released searing heat that instantly melted everything within a radius of several meters to ashes.

But this was still not enough!

As the king of first-order demonic beasts, equivalent to a human at the third layer of Qi Refining, if it wasn’t completely killed in the first moment, the consequences would be unimaginable once it recovered.

Caution was paramount; she had to strike hard!

Thus, with a determined heart, Bai Sui used the Wind Brushing Technique to lift herself into the air. Propping herself up with both hands, she then controlled eight more fireballs to descend from the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!…

The continuous barrage slammed into the ground, kicking up wave after wave of dust.

The momentum was overwhelming, like a plow sweeping through a den, directly assaulting the hidden dragon.

Of course, for safety’s sake, Bai Sui added one final Blazing Fireball as the coup de grâce for this battle.

A long while later.

The dust dissipated, revealing huge charred craters everywhere on the ground. At the very center, repeated bombings had created a massive pit over ten meters deep.

‘Phew! That was way too dangerous just now. Even a mere first-order demonic beast is this terrifying.’

Bai Sui panted heavily. Only after confirming she could no longer sense the pressure of the Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast did she wipe the sweat from her cheeks as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

She landed back on the ground and, after verifying the enemy had been eliminated, couldn’t help but leap up with a “Yeah!”

This was the first time she had faced such a dangerous situation; even her fine hairs had stood on end throughout. Fortunately, the result was pretty good.

A close call, but she had escaped the tiger’s jaws.

But looking at the scorched, still-smoking ground, she wondered if she might have overreacted.

‘No, no, no. When a lion fights a rabbit, it uses its full strength. Besides, in such a dangerous situation just now, that demonic beast was on the same level as me. Using my trump cards was the right thing to do!’

She shook her head, immediately dismissing the contempt that had risen in her heart.

At all times, one must go all out.

Never be soft-hearted!

Summarizing this battle.

Bai Sui realized the Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast had died from underestimation, while she had won through cunning… no, through decisiveness and caution.

As they say, weakness and ignorance are never obstacles to survival; arrogance is.

Even across species, this iron law still held true.

What a pity the Blue-Maned Golden-Eyed Beast had been blasted until not even dregs remained. Otherwise, she could have collected it and sold it for quite a bit of money.

Furthermore, after this unilateral bombardment, Bai Sui noticeably felt her body going weak. The originally surging spiritual power had been drained by ninety percent in one go.

It seemed that unleashing so many “ultimate moves” all at once had consumed a great deal!

‘The scene is severely damaged. And from the effect of killing the enemy, the over-bombardment is also very obvious. This shows that in this first battle, I still didn’t calibrate properly!’

As Bai Sui recovered her energy, she did a post-battle review.

She discovered that her estimate of her own combat strength seemed to have gone awry.

Who would have thought that such a small body could harbor such immense energy?

Next time, she needed to control it more precisely! While caution was warranted, pointless waste was equally undesirable.

If she didn’t learn restraint and blindly exhausted all her power in every fight, what if the enemy dodged the first wave of attacks? Then she would be the one suffering.

Mm, she must learn this lesson.

With this in mind, after recovering some of her stamina, she hurriedly left this “battlefield.”

Given the huge commotion here, she had no idea if it might attract other dangerous beings. Better to leave quickly.

* * *

Over the next few days, Bai Sui continued to wander around Spirit Water Peak, gradually approaching the direction of Mengyang Mountain.

After that first unexpected battle, Bai Sui’s violent nature seemed to awaken. She found she had developed a slight fascination with “battle,” thoroughly enjoying the thrill of unleashing unrestrained attacks during combat.

As she slowly drew closer to Mengyang Mountain, she encountered demonic beasts a few more times along the way.

Luckily, they were all low-level demonic beasts, perfectly delivered for her to practice on.

Her experience soared!

In battle after battle, Bai Sui gradually found a “yardstick” for using her power, slowly learning to never waste even a sliver of surplus energy while ensuring the enemy’s complete annihilation.

Finally, another ten-odd days passed, and Bai Sui felt this training expedition had achieved complete success.

Conveniently, her dry rations were nearly used up; it was time to return.

This nearly one-month trip had yielded full rewards.

She summoned the attribute panel:

[Character: Bai Sui / Bai Sui]

[Lifespan: 10/90 years]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Third Layer: 48/100]

[Cultivation Art: Qi Drawing Art 'Ordinary': 29/100]

[Skills: Wind Brushing Technique 'Proficient', Fireball Technique 'Proficient', Blazing Fireball 'Ordinary', Fire Dragon Shield 'Ordinary', Golden Body Technique 'Initiation', Golden Bind 'Ordinary', Planting Technique 'Ordinary']

[Talents: Pure Ice Jade Body 'Cultivation Talent, Calm Amidst Collapse']

In just over ten days, every attribute had shown considerable improvement.

Cultivation-wise, although she was still at the third layer of Qi Refining, she had reached 48/100. Given a daily increase of two points, plus a slight extra gain from consuming spirit rice, it would take only about another month to advance to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

Such speed was absolutely astonishing.

One must know that for an ordinary person, going from the third layer to the fourth layer would require at least four to five years of training on the foundation of the third layer.

Even for a few with decent talent, or new stars nurtured with the entire resources of a sect, advancing a single Qi Refining stage would take at least over a year.

With insufficient talent, it was more likely they would never make any progress their entire lives.

Her pace could already be described as “monstrous.”

As for various techniques, through this period of combat, her proficiency in casting had improved noticeably. Except for the “Golden Body Technique,” which was still at the Initiation stage due to fewer actual beatings, all other techniques had reached 'Ordinary' or 'Proficient' levels.

In short, the trip had yielded abundant rewards, and her foundation had been greatly consolidated.