The dense forest was completely silent, as if there was nothing there.
Li Jiuge felt a shiver run down her spine and subconsciously grabbed the sleeve of Ji Yunxi. "Yunxi, isn't it too quiet in here?"
Ji Yunxi walked forward cautiously, holding Li Jiuge's hand in case she got separated. "Don't be afraid. We'll just be careful."
But no sooner had she spoken than a puff of smoke suddenly billowed towards them. They quickly covered their faces, afraid of being harmed by the smoke, but it was already too late.
When Ji Yunxi woke up again, she found herself lying in an unfamiliar dense forest. She sat up in a hurry. Apart from Li Jiuge, there was no one else around.
Li Jiuge had her eyes tightly shut. It was unclear what had happened to her.
"Jiuge? Jiuge!" Ji Yunxi patted Li Jiuge's shoulder anxiously. Fortunately, she soon came to and slowly opened her eyes.
Ji Yunxi let out a long sigh of relief. It was good that she was okay.
"Yunxi, where are we? Where are cousin and the others?"
Ji Yunxi couldn't answer immediately. She stood up and looked around. "We must have been separated by the fog."
Li Jiuge knew that panicking wouldn't help, so she pulled herself together and followed Ji Yunxi as they slowly groped forward.
Suddenly, they seemed to hear the grunting sound of a ferocious beast nearby.
The sound was so loud that the ground was slightly trembling. It was obvious that this ferocious beast was extremely fierce and might well be a colossal creature.
The courage that Li Jiuge had just mustered began to waver. She stammered and asked Ji Yunxi, "Yunxi, with such a commotion, could this be the ferocious beast guarding the key to pass the level?"
"It should be. Let's get closer. Azhi and Second Brother will also go there when they hear the noise."
Ji Yunxi's eyes darkened. "Even if they don't hear it, as long as we kill the ferocious beast, we'll surely find them in the end."
Li Jiuge was slightly shocked and wanted to ask if Ji Yunxi was serious. After all, with her mediocre skills, it seemed unlikely that they could defeat the ferocious beast.
The hesitant look on her face made Ji Yunxi smile. She patted Li Jiuge's head. "I'm just joking."
After joking around for a while, the two of them walked towards the direction of the ferocious beast. Before long, they met Qi Haoyang.
He had also heard the sound of the ferocious beast and was about to go and take a look.
The three of them walked together. It was only when they came in front of the ferocious beast that they saw Feng Xingzhi, Ji Yunyi and Hua Siyun.
Hua Siyun had been closely following Feng Xingzhi. She even reached out and tried to grab his sleeve.
"Xixi!"
The moment Feng Xingzhi saw Ji Yunxi, he immediately rushed towards her. He held her shoulders and checked her up and down to make sure that she was okay. Only then did he pull her into a tight embrace.
"I was so scared. I was really worried about you."
Ji Yunxi felt a bit shy but didn't want to let go. She wrapped her arms around him in return.
Perhaps the noise they made alerted the beast. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble and heavy footsteps rang out.
Everyone felt a sense of crisis and immediately drew their swords in defense.
The creature finally appeared in front of them.
It was about the same size as a tiger, but its long fur was like that of a maned dog. It had fangs like those of a wild boar in its mouth, and its tail, which was ten feet and eight inches long, stood upright.
Li Jiuge slowly looked up at the terrifying face of the ferocious beast and stammered, "It's so big. There must be at least a dozen keys on it, right?"
Ji Yunxi felt a great sense of danger. She immediately pushed Li Jiuge towards Ji Yunyi. "Second Brother, protect Jiuge."
Qi Haoyang also quickly stepped up and said to Ji Yunxi, "Shall we go and face it first?"
Ji Yunxi subconsciously looked at Feng Xingzhi. Seeing him nod, she followed Qi Haoyang and walked towards the ferocious beast.
The ferocious beast sensed a hint of danger and immediately let out a series of screeches. Ji Yunyi subconsciously covered Li Jiuge's ears.
After Qi Haoyang and Ji Yunxi got closer to the ferocious beast, they drew their swords. But a magic formation suddenly appeared within a radius of nine feet around the beast.
"Quickly retreat!" Qi Haoyang was a bit panicked and quickly tried to back away.
Ji Yunxi calmed down. She tightly held onto Nianyun and slowly backed away, not daring to make any sudden movements for fear of provoking the ferocious beast and making it go berserk.
Their retreat didn't attract the attention of the ferocious beast, but they were blocked by the barrier of the magic formation. They could get in but couldn't get out.
Qi Haoyang panicked a bit and immediately tried to force his way out. But the formation was so powerful that it knocked him back.
Seeing this, Ji Yunyi was a bit anxious. He quickly rushed forward and wanted to go in. "Yunxi! Don't force your way through!"
Feng Xingzhi reached out his hand. "Second Brother, calm down. Let me go."
Ji Yunyi knew that Feng Xingzhi was powerful, so he took a step back and firmly protected Li Jiuge.
Feng Xingzhi's eyes gradually darkened. He mobilized his spiritual energy and then flew into the barrier and came to Ji Yunxi's side.
Qi Haoyang was shocked and a bit disdainful when he saw him come in. "What are you doing here? Are you here to court death?!"
The undisguised disgust in Qi Haoyang's words instantly made Ji Yunxi's face turn cold. "Qi Haoyang! If you dare to speak rudely to Azhi again, I'll surely take your life!"
Qi Haoyang was stunned. He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word for a long time.
"Alright, let's quickly figure out a way to kill this ferocious beast, or else we'll all die."
Feng Xingzhi's magnanimity made Qi Haoyang's face look even more unpleasant. "I naturally know that! But with you here, our chances of victory will..."
"Shut up!" Ji Yunxi's whole body turned completely cold.
Outside the formation, Hua Siyun had been staring at the ferocious beast, lost in thought. But when she saw the beast's tail, she suddenly had an epiphany.
"Wait, isn't this one of the four ancient ferocious beasts?"
Ji Yunyi's expression froze. "What? Are the people in Kunlun Mountain crazy! Did they release this thing just to kill us?!"
Everyone's expressions were a bit stunned.
If this was really the last level of the illusion, then it seemed that the other side was determined to kill them.
Hua Siyun wracked her brains but still couldn't remember which one it was. "I really can't remember. What should I do!"
Li Jiuge was also extremely annoyed. "You forgot? How could you forget such an important thing?!"
"Hey! At least I know it's one of the four ancient ferocious beasts. If you can't help, just shut up. No one will mistake you for a mute!"
"You!..."
The noise and screams were ringing in Ji Yunxi's ears one after another, making her feel dizzy.
Suddenly, a voice sounded in her spiritual sea. "Master, calm your mind!"
Ji Yunxi realized something was wrong. She quickly suppressed the spiritual energy that was about to run wild, and gradually came to her senses.
"Qingxuan, are you awake?"
With a puff of green smoke, Qingxuan finally appeared in front of them. He looked more handsome and more aggressive than before. "Master, I'm sorry to have worried you."
Ji Yunxi finally let go of her worries and let out a sigh of relief. "It's okay. Qingxuan, what exactly is this ferocious beast?"
"It is indeed one of the four ancient ferocious beasts, Taowu."