The cat-shaped sacred beast, which had relaxed upon hearing they were leaving, was jolted back to alertness by those three words. It was no match for them and had only gambled on using illusions to control them. If it could control the one it desired, that would be ideal. If not, the other two would at least be wary of the one it controlled, allowing it to retreat safely. However, the current situation was beyond its plan.
It wasn't foolish, merely that it had stayed in the ninth-tier sacred beast realm for too long, so long that it had forgotten time. It couldn't wait any longer, which was why it had set its sights on Qiu Yuanxi.
Seeing the demon and the human, both of whom it couldn't defeat, halt their steps, the cat-shaped sacred beast's heart began to pound wildly.
"What's wrong?" Ling Luoyi looked at Qiu Yuanxi in confusion.
"Xiao Luo'er, what about it? It dared to attack us, shouldn't we teach it a lesson?" Qiu Yuanxi pointed at the cat-shaped sacred beast, which was warily staring at them.
Ling Luoyi looked over. It was a large cat, as tall as a person, a ninth-tier sacred beast, equivalent to a ninth-tier Spirit Saint in the human race. It appeared to be at the peak of the ninth tier, just one step away from breaking through to become an Emperor Beast, but there were no signs of it attempting a breakthrough.
"I almost forgot about you."
This statement made the cat-shaped sacred beast tense up its entire body, but its pride wouldn't allow it to beg for mercy. It could only stare at Ling Luoyi and ask, "What do you want to do?"
"We were just passing by and didn't intend to do anything to you. Yet, you kept following us and even attacked us. It seems I can attack you."
The Canglan Continent and realms above it were different from the lower realms. Here, beasts had sentience and could speak. The relationship between humans and beasts was tense, but they generally didn't overstep boundaries, and both sides lived reasonably well.
This time, because the cat-shaped sacred beast had attacked them first, Ling Luoyi had a valid reason to retaliate. Even if the cat-shaped sacred beast reported this to the beast tribe, Ling Luoyi would be in the right.
"But, but you're fine, and those two are also fine."
Knowing it was being disingenuous, the cat-shaped sacred beast spoke these words haltingly.
Upon hearing this, Ling Luoyi and Gu Yuncheng hadn't reacted yet, but Qiu Yuanxi became furious and roared, "We weren't injured because we are capable, not because you showed mercy!"
The cat-shaped sacred beast wanted to retort but had no grounds to do so.
It hadn't intended to harm them; it only wanted Qiu Yuanxi's cultivation. As for the illusion, as long as Qiu Yuanxi gave it her cultivation, it would dispel the illusion. Even if the second layer of the illusion couldn't be fully controlled by it, as long as it withdrew its spiritual power, the illusion would still break without the support of spiritual power. As for being unable to leave after an hour, that was also a lie; as long as it withdrew its spiritual power, she could still get out, just not on her own.
"Then what do you want to do to me?"
Seeing the cat-shaped sacred beast back down, Qiu Yuanxi no longer wore a stern expression. Although this cat-shaped sacred beast's target was her, ultimately, it hadn't harmed her. How to deal with this cat-shaped sacred beast still required Ling Luoyi's opinion.
"Xiao Luo'er, how do you plan to deal with this cat?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Luoyi didn't answer but instead asked, "A'Su, A'Yuan, how do you want to deal with it?"
"Luoluo, I'll listen to you," Gu Yuncheng stated first.
"Xiao Luo'er, you decide. I have no opinion."
Ling Luoyi looked at the two of them and said, "Then... let's let it go."
The cat-shaped sacred beast had expected Ling Luoyi to kill it, or at the very least, severely injure it. It never expected her to simply say she would let it go so casually and was momentarily stunned.
Gu Yuncheng was not surprised by Ling Luoyi's decision. After seeing Ling Luoyi walk into the illusion herself, he knew Ling Luoyi would make this decision. Therefore, he had only restrained it and done nothing else. Upon hearing Ling Luoyi's words, he also released his suppression of the cat-shaped sacred beast.
Qiu Yuanxi, however, was somewhat surprised by this but did not object.
Feeling the suppression around it disappear, the cat-shaped sacred beast hesitantly asked, "Are you really going to let me go?"
"Mm."
"Why?"
Hearing this question, Qiu Yuanxi could no longer hold back and blurted out, "You're going to let me go, and you're still not satisfied? Hurry up and leave!"
However, the cat-shaped sacred beast didn't leave. It kept staring at Ling Luoyi, wanting to know the answer.
"Firstly, you didn't injure any of us. Secondly, thank you for allowing me to see her."
"That's it?" The cat-shaped sacred beast was somewhat bewildered.
"That's it. So, you can leave now, or do you wish to die?"
Hearing the coldness in Ling Luoyi's tone, the cat-shaped sacred beast trembled, turned around, and ran. After taking just one step, it heard Ling Luoyi behind it say, "Wait!"
The cat-shaped sacred beast didn't want to stop, but it was no longer under its control. As soon as Ling Luoyi's words left her mouth, a person, no, a demon, suppressed it, rendering its legs immobile.
"Here, take this." With that, a white and blue shadow was hurled towards the cat-shaped sacred beast.
The cat-shaped sacred beast turned its head just in time to see something flying towards it. It instinctively caught it and looked closely. It was a medicine bottle, and judging by the sound, there was something inside. The cat-shaped sacred beast, bewildered, opened it and saw a round pill inside. It asked dazedly, "What is this?" Could this be poison?
"You blocked us and wanted A'Yuan's cultivation because you wanted to break through to become an Emperor Beast, right? A'Yuan's cultivation cannot be given to you, but this can help you break through sooner. Consider it a gift, and also my thanks for letting me see her."
Without waiting for the cat-shaped sacred beast's reaction, Ling Luoyi said to the two beside her, "Let's go. We're not far from the outside now."
The two had no objections to Ling Luoyi giving the medicine and followed her, leaving the still bewildered cat-shaped sacred beast behind.
After walking for about another quarter of an hour, the three finally emerged from the cave and found themselves facing a cliff. However, with their considerable cultivation, the cliff did not pose a challenge to them. Upon reaching the outside again, Ling Luoyi collected Gu Yuncheng into the Starry Night World. This time, she did not close the external water mirror, allowing Gu Yuncheng to see what was happening around Ling Luoyi.
Upon arriving at the Sacred Hall, Qiu Yuanxi and the guards from the Sacred Spirit Lake had been waiting for her return. Seeing them return, they all bowed, "Your subordinate greets Your Highness, and His Highness of the Battle Hall."
"Rise."
"Yes!"
After the guards stood up, Qiu Yuanxi's guard captain carefully examined Qiu Yuanxi for any injuries. Seeing that she was unharmed, he was relieved. After relaxing, he noticed that Qiu Yuanxi now possessed immortal power, not from an external source, but from within, her own immortal power.
"Your Highness, where did you go during this time? How do you have immortal power?"
Speaking of this, Qiu Yuanxi became proud. "Don't you see who your Highness is with? I'll tell you, Your Highness not only has immortal power but also immortal bones."
"Really?"
"Of course, it's true."
After receiving confirmation from their Highness, they still felt uneasy and all looked towards Ling Luoyi, who was calmly standing by. Seeing Ling Luoyi nod, the guard captain took out a sound transmission jade slip and sent this news to the Sixth Elder.
Upon hearing this news, the Sixth Elder was also very pleased and passed the message to the Domain Lord.
When Qiu Yuanxi's immortal bones had just formed, the spiritual bell in the Sacred Domain rang again. Therefore, the Domain Lord was prepared and was not very surprised by Qiu Yuanxi cultivating immortal bones. However, he was somewhat surprised by how quickly Qiu Yuanxi had managed to cultivate them. He had expected Qiu Yuanxi to need another ten or even several decades to cultivate immortal bones, but he hadn't expected her to achieve it now.
The matters within the Sacred Domain no longer required his concern; he only needed to wait patiently.