At the brink of life and death, Nangong Bingyu, known as the genius of Luo City, arrived. This made Di Yi Ye breathe a sigh of relief, thinking his life was saved—with Nangong Bingyu's Late Condensation Soul Stage cultivation and her awakened Water Elemental Ability, she could surely deal with over ten Fire Mane Rats with ease, not to mention she had an equally powerful companion by her side.
Nangong Bingyu's companion was a tall young man, about twenty years old, extremely well-built. He was even a head taller than the slender Nangong Bingyu, reaching about two meters in height, truly a burly man.
Di Yi Ye also recognized this man; his name was Tong Wei. While not as astonishing as Nangong Bingyu, he was also a genius. He was also a master at the Late Condensation Soul Stage. Although he hadn't awakened a Special Ability yet, he had awakened the Werewolf Gene, allowing him to Shapeshift. Even though it wasn't a perfect form, his strength increased significantly after Shapeshifting into a werewolf. This made him much stronger than cultivators of the same realm who hadn't awakened Special Abilities or genes.
After Nangong Bingyu stopped him from calling her name, Tong Wei's expression turned grim. A faint green light flashed in his sinister eyes. From Di Yi Ye's perspective, dense fur appeared on his limbs, sharp claws protruded, and his facial features and teeth slightly bulged, resembling a wolf's head upon closer inspection. A ferocious aura permeated the air. Even Di Yi Ye, not fully conscious, felt the sudden change in his aura and demeanor.
Nangong Bingyu naturally sensed it too, even with her back to Tong Wei. However, she didn't panic and didn't even turn around. Yet, the raindrops within a Zhang Xu radius around her exuded an extreme, piercing chill. Upon closer inspection, these raindrops condensed into countless ice swords, each less than an inch long. The sword qi crisscrossed, and the killing intent was sharp as knives, making anyone feel uneasy from a distance.
Sensing the piercing Sword Intent and bone-chilling cold, Tong Wei chuckled awkwardly. After looking up at the falling raindrops in the sky, he finally retracted his imposing aura. Then, pointing at over ten figures leaping in the distance, he asked, "Do you want to do it, or shall I?"
Di Yi Ye also saw Tong Wei's action. Being intelligent, he instantly understood why Tong Wei had restrained his killing intent after looking at the sky—the falling raindrops undoubtedly gave Nangong Bingyu, who had awakened her Water Elemental Ability, an absolute advantage. Even Tong Wei, who had awakened the Werewolf Gene, was no match for her among those of the same realm.
"Each according to their own ability."
Nangong Bingyu calmly uttered a sentence. Then, she glanced at Di Yi Ye, who had already turned into a charred husk beside her. A hint of surprise and faint regret flickered in her beautiful eyes.
The arrival of Nangong Bingyu and Tong Wei was not accidental. They had heard the roars of the Fire Mane Rats and, more importantly, felt the Righteous Sword Qi that Di Yi Ye had unleashed earlier. That powerful sword qi made them, both at the Late Condensation Soul Stage, feel a deep sense of dread. They believed that if they had faced such an attack, they would have been injured even if they could withstand it.
If a cultivator at the Condensation Soul Realm had unleashed such an attack, they wouldn't have paid it much mind. However, Di Yi Ye, who had clearly only reached the Initial Awakening realm, could unleash power that threatened cultivators in the Condensation Soul Realm. This was enough to surprise anyone, even Nangong Bingyu, known as the genius of Luo City.
As for the look of regret, it was naturally because, in Nangong Bingyu's heart, Di Yi Ye, who looked like a charred husk, clearly wouldn't survive. The fall of such a powerful, or rather, potential-filled cultivator was naturally a regrettable matter to her.
This was merely a fleeting shift in emotion. Soon, Nangong Bingyu's expression turned extremely cold. She moved gracefully and walked directly towards the charging Fire Mane Rats. Her aura also changed in an instant, becoming even more piercing than before, as if the surrounding space were about to freeze.
Upon hearing the words "each according to their own ability," Tong Wei said no more. He let out a roar, and the fur all over his body suddenly thickened. His hands, feet, and head directly took on the form of a giant wolf. In the next instant, he charged directly at the Fire Mane Rats, his speed surpassing Nangong Bingyu's, and even faster than the Fire Mane Rats themselves.
Striking first despite starting later, Tong Wei met a Fire Mane Rat head-on. With a roar, his transformed claws easily sliced through the neck of a Fire Mane Rat, causing its crimson head to fall off. After a few twitches, the Fire Mane Rat died.
After easily killing one Fire Mane Rat, Tong Wei didn't stop. He continued to charge at the other Fire Mane Rats, either slashing with his claws or tearing with his fangs. Everywhere he passed, there were corpses, naturally of Fire Mane Rats. His might was evident.
As if sensing Tong Wei's power, or perhaps sensing the ferocious beast aura he exuded, most of the remaining Fire Mane Rats chose to evade him. However, they didn't flee. Instead, they bypassed Tong Wei and headed towards Nangong Bingyu. The fastest Fire Mane Rat came within a Zhang of her.
At a distance of one Zhang, a Tier 2 Fire Mane Rat could easily leap over and bite Nangong Bingyu's throat. However, at this moment, the Fire Mane Rat staggered as if poisoned, unable to move. Roars accompanied by scorching flames erupted, and the surrounding raindrops turned into steam. The Fire Mane Rat's movements briefly recovered.
The flames, hot enough to easily melt steel plates, stopped three feet away from Nangong Bingyu. Upon closer inspection, layers of frost condensed around the flames. Under the frost's embrace, the flames were as docile as a lamb, showing signs of extinguishing and posing no threat to Nangong Bingyu.
Looking closely, a layer of frost had already condensed beneath the Fire Mane Rat's feet, and it was rapidly spreading. Soon, it covered its entire body, rendering it completely immobile.
Ice swords formed by merging raindrops fused together, and then a foot-long ice sword appeared, piercing directly into the Fire Mane Rat's head.
The ice sword easily penetrated its body, and the Fire Mane Rat immediately died. As the ice sword flew out, a crimson crystal appeared. This crystal was the same as the one that had been shattered when Di Yi Ye split open a Fire Mane Rat's head with his Righteous Sword Qi. However, this one was larger. It was clearly the Crystal Soul of the Fire Mane Rat, the origin of its Qi. With its Crystal Soul extracted, the Fire Mane Rat naturally could not survive.
The more powerful the exotic beast, the larger the Crystal Soul it nurtured. The one extracted by the ice sword was larger than the one Di Yi Ye had shattered, proving that the Fire Mane Rat killed by Nangong Bingyu was more powerful, an elite among Tier 2 exotic beasts.
The entire process took only a few seconds. Nangong Bingyu made no other movements besides shifting her steps lightly, her hands even clasped in front of her chest. Yet, she easily killed a Tier 2 exotic beast like this, truly living up to her reputation as the genius of Luo City. This made Di Yi Ye sigh with emotion.
It made sense. Di Yi Ye had fought desperately to kill one Tier 2 Fire Mane Rat, while Nangong Bingyu had killed one with such ease. The gap in their strength was evident, which naturally made him feel a myriad of emotions.
"Nangong Bingyu is indeed very powerful. Even with the advantage of the environment, it's enough to showcase her strength, far surpassing mine. No wonder Tong Wei, also at the Late Condensation Soul Stage, didn't dare to fall out with her, even with his awakened Werewolf Gene."
Di Yi Ye muttered to himself. At the same time, he finally breathed a complete sigh of relief—those Fire Mane Rats posed no threat to Nangong Bingyu and Tong Wei, and therefore, they couldn't threaten Di Yi Ye either.
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