The spirit beast’s claws shone in the moonlight and Liu felt the sharpness as she ducked under the attack. She tried to strike back with her sword, but she missed as the beast evaded her by jumping away.

"Li, give me another one of your swords!”, Liu yelled as she charged toward the spirit beast.

"I won’t let you get away with this!", Liu yelled as she thrust her sword at the spirit beast's neck, but it jumped back as her blade missed again.

Sensing an attack coming from behind, Liu gracefully twisted her body to dodge it. The attack was a glowing wooden sword and unfortunately, the beast was in its path. Its final roar was underwhelming as its body became unmoving.

“Are you trying to kill me?”, Liu laughed as she spotted Zhang Yi still recovering from his throw.

She grinned, seeing an opening.

Using all her strength, she used a palm strike to hit the sword in the beast's head which caused blood to splatter everywhere. The beast fell backwards, its eyes glazed over from the blow and Liu ripped out the sword.

A dual-wielding Liu looked even more menacing in the moonlight as she was covered in spirit beast blood. She was grinning like a wolf, her eyes gleaming with insanity.

"Come on, we have four more of them to face!", Liu yelled back to Jian Li with excitement as she jumped across the fallen spirit beast to attack the pair of spirit beasts charging them.

Jian Li followed her and blocked most of the attacks but Liu’s speed was something else. She was unleashing flurries of blows with her both swords as she weaved in and out of the spirit beasts’ ranges untouched. It was like she turned into a new person after killing the first spirit beast.

As Jian Li was fighting, she noticed Liu’s body was gradually enveloped in a faint silver mist that had attached itself to her.

Three roars echoed throughout the clearing as Zhang Yi held back two of the beasts with his bare fists.

Zhang Yi howled as he punched the first beast in the face, launching it back into the two other beasts fighting the girls. As it flew back into them, the three spirit beasts crashed into the ground and were sent flying into the forest.

"It's my turn!", Liu yelled out, swinging her wooden swords at one of the spirit beasts.

In a moment of desperation, one of the spirit beasts abruptly switched targets and attacked Liu with its claws. The spirit beast's claws glistened as it cut through the air, heading for Liu's stomach.

"No!", Jian Li shouted but it was too late as the claw swiped through Liu, dissolving her into blood mist.

Jian Li felt her heart drop into her stomach as she stared in disbelief at what happened to her friend.

As Jian Li got distracted by Liu’s defeat, the spirit beast she was fighting took advantage of the opening and pounced in for an attack.

"DIE!", a familiar voice shouted out.

Out of thin air, a silver mist materialized behind the spirit beast attacking Jian Li.

The spirit beast suddenly became rigid and began shaking violently, its eyes glazed over with fear as it was being attacked from behind.

"That's right! You better die quickly now!", Liu yelled at the spirit beast as she swung her swords at it, carving a bloody path through its body.

Blood sprayed everywhere as the beast's body dropped to the floor lifelessly.

"There’s three left, let’s finish this before other contestants join in!”, Liu said with blood dripping down her face. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she rushed back into battle again.

"Let's do it!", Jian Li replied. She was covered in blood and her face was pale as she wiped some off with her hands.

As each of them only had one opponent to face and their chemistry had improved after fighting together for some time, they were able to quickly take down their opponents.

All three of them were covered in blood and looked exhausted from their fight but their expressions were one of joy and excitement.

"You guys did great!", Zhang Yi said as he ran his hand through his messy hair. His hair and body had turned back to normal.

"What are we fighting next?", Liu asked excitedly.

"Nothing, Liu. Aren’t you badly injured?”, a concerned Jian Li asked.

"I'm fine!", Liu replied with a smile that said otherwise. Her hands gripping her swords were shaking.

“Let’s take a break and recover guys. There’s a good chance the others heard the commotion and who knows if they want to join in when we’re weak.”, Zhang Yi said.

Jian Li and Liu agreed with a nod and they speedily made their way out of the clearing.

As Zhang Yi had guessed earlier, several groups of contestants met up at the clearing, wondering what had made all the noise.

Suspecting each other, the contestants attacked each other at the same time.

After hearing the contestants go at it, Jian Li felt relieved that they got out in time. At the same time though, she somehow felt like she was missing out on something interesting.

—————

The audience watching the fights were enjoying themselves. They had paid a large sum of money to come and watch and they had gotten their worth.

One man had even bet his house on a particular contestant but had lost it when the same guy was eliminated and almost died immediately after entering the arena.

He Yu was watching the scene unfold through the world sphere as a smile crept on her face. She stood tall and nodded as she continued observing, ignoring the crowd’s distractions.