Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Take this!" Qin Lan jumped out of the dried pond and attacked the nearest Thundercry Lion. Using his seventh-level cultivation, it was more than enough for him to confront two sixth-level Yao Beasts at once.

Qin Lan's attack rushes over at the female lion just like a tidal wave as it sent the Yao Beast slamming on the wall. The noise created by their initial fight quickly attracts the male lion's attention.

"ROAR!" it only takes the male Thundercry Lion two seconds to charge a ball of lightning between its jaw. In the next moment, a bolt of lightning made its way fiercely where Qin Lan is expected to land.

"Bzz!" but Qin Lan's weren't a weakling either. An energy sword is formed with the Eight Transformation Treasured Brush acting as its handle deflected that attack effortlessly. Once he managed to secure his landing, three Qin Lan's mirages appeared.

Added with his original body, the four Qin Lans attacked the male Thundercry Lion at once. 

"Grr... ROAR!" the Thundercry Lion changed its tactic. Instead of firing a few bolts of lightning out from the energy ball between its jaw, the Yao Beast is smart enough to use a soundwave as its means to protect itself.

The sixth-level Thundercry attack is undoubtedly the deadliest attack of this Yao Beast for forcing Qin Lan to a retreat. Two of Qin Lan's mirages are destroyed from this attack, leaving only one and his original body moving around.

Soon, a cautious roar from the female lion came.

It finally went back on its feet after suffering the light concussion from Qin Lan's sudden attack.

"Does this means we're going to get into the second round?" Qin Lan chuckled.

"Roar!"

"Roar!" 

The two Thundercry Lions attacked at the same time. It was not a pleasant experience for Qin Lan to be sandwiched in between two sixth-level Spiritual Energy.

"Mountain Splitting Strike!" but Qin Lan wasn't a pushover either. With his cultivation of a seventh-level, launching two attacks at once is nothing to him. In an instant, two sword strikes were fired in a different direction and forced both Thundercry Lions into a retreat.

Additionally, he uses the Thousand Miles Travel in a Step technique to shorten the gap between him and the female lion.

"Here!" Qin Lan's shout alarmed the Yao Beast that was too occupied in its mind. That ended up becoming a weak point for the Thundercry Lion as Qin Lan ruthlessly stabs his energy sword into its beating heart.

"Roar... Roar..." the female lion struggled for a moment before breathing out its last breath.

The male Thundercry Lion fell into a state of rage when it witnesses the death of its companion. The fury that grew inside the Thundercry Lion then eaten up the Yao Beast's sanity as the color of its fur started to change darker.

"Don't tell me... The stupid beast is going through an evolution right now?" cold sweat as large as a glass bead appeared on Qin Lan's head as the feeling of threat is getting worst.

A pair of horns slowly grew out of the Thundercry Lion's head as the Spiritual Energy of this beast increases. The body also undergoes a drastic change as it grew taller than an average Thundercry Lion.

"Oh... S**t." Qin Lan started to feel a slight regret for killing the female lion first. It seems that he underestimated the possibility of the Yao Beast evolving in the middle of the battle.

But what's done is done. There's no medicine to cure regret in this world.

What Qin Lan can do right now is to prepare himself before it escalated further to an irreparable situation.

"Offensive Metal, come out." Qin Lan tapped on the Purple-Dragon Spatial Jade on his waist and withdrew six pieces of ingots out as he formed the Qiankun Golden Sword.

**Tap - Tap - Tap...**

"Who the hell is coming into the cave at this time?" the footsteps of a few people coming into the cave caught Qin Lan by surprise. He immediately saw the two cultivators from the village when turning his gaze at the cave's entrance.

"Benefactor!" both of them called Qin Lan instantly without realizing there's a larger threat standing beside them.

"Get out of the cave right now!" Qin Lan shouted. The Qiankun Golden Sword that's fully formed at last is swung at where the Thundercry Lion undergoes its evolution.

"Huh?" the two cultivators are still confused with what happened. As their cultivation was nowhere significant, this made their reaction after hearing what Qin Lan said seem to be moving at a snail pace.

"Boom!" a soundwave attack detonates on the spot as it destroyed the cavern they're in. The entrance immediately caved in, burying the two cultivators in the process.

"NO! NO!!!" Qin Lan's attack is just half a second slower than the soundwave created by the Thundercry Lion.

A sense of fear came into Qin Lan's mind while he's staring at this Yao Soldier a meter taller than the usual Thundercry Lion.

"Human... You dare... To kill my companion..."

"I will... Send you... Hell..."

Its consciousness also grew at a nightmarish speed as the Yao Soldier now possessed the ability to talk minutes after completing its evolution.

"Hehehe... Then let me see what you're capable of doing. I'm also curious about what kind of treasure I'll be able to get from killing a Yao Soldier like you." Qin Lan chuckled as he continues to taunt the demon in front of him.

"You... Will... See hell... Soon enough." the Yao Soldier revealed a smile through its beast appearance.

And with a lift of one of its limbs, the Spiritual Energy of an eighth-level cultivator runs amok. Then, an attack akin to a hammer is swung downward came at Qin Lan as it forces him to defend against it using all his might.

"Eight... Eighth-level!" Qin Lan raised his sword up as he supported it with both hands to defend against this attack. The moment the attack from the Yao Soldier made contact with Qin Lan's sword, he was pushed down by at least a few inches deeper into the ground.

It even causes a slight concussion to Qin Lan's mind from the impact, like being smacked by a hammer on the face.

"A - Again?" the Yao Soldier raised its limb slightly and decided to repeat the attack for the second time.

"Again!" 

"Your!" 

"Head!"

"Sea Splitting Strike!" Qin Lan yelled. Without bothering if he's going to exhaust his Spiritual Energy or not, he immediately used the second sword strikes from the Three Sword Strikes of Zhenwu Gate to retaliates.

"Bam!" the attack throws the Yao Soldier slamming onto the other side of the wall as their battle started.