The sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking penetrated Long Qingyi's ears, his sword plunging into the spirit beast's eyes.
The creature howled, struggled and whimpered, but Bao Zhang held it firmly still as Qingyi thrust his blade deeper and deeper.
"Shit... it's not enough!" Qingyi felt the beast use all its Qi to stop the blade from penetrating, with the two finally coming to a standstill.
Gritting his teeth, he channeled every drop of lightning Qi from his dantian towards the sword. The giant horned wolf shuddered as the thunderous Qi tore at its flesh and bones.
With a final burst of power, the creature managed to escape, throwing Bao Zhang against a tree as it tried to retreat.
Its steps were shaky and clumsy, its jaw opening and closing in vain attempts to bite the air, foam beginning to form in its mouth.
The Giant horned wolf crashed into a tree, its Qi flowing wildly before finally collapsing. It was still alive, but suffering terrible spasms, great gouts of blood flowing from between its sharp teeth.
"Your brain's fucked, huh?" Qingyi smiled, satisfied. His lightning Qi had probably completely melted the creature's brain.
Stepping on the beast's neck, he aligned his sword with its heart, but stopped at the last moment. These creatures had value, and the beast would die soon. There was no point in damaging the corpse any further.
Taking a Qi recovery pill, he looked at Jun Hao, with Bao Zhang already leaning over him.
"Ugh... Tell my mom I died a hero." Jun Hao grunted, coughing up large quantities of blood.
"Tell her yourself, you fat bastard!" Bao Zhang snarled, shoving a healing pill down his throat as he grabbed his exposed guts and shoved them back in.
Stopping next to Jun Hao, Qingyi focused his lightning Qi on his index finger.
Bao Zhang held the two sides of the horrible wound, pressing them together while Qingyi used his lightning Qi to weld the skin and flesh together.
"Argh... fuck!" Jun Hao grunted in pain, but Lei Feng held him firmly, covering his mouth and preventing him from moving too much.
"Circulate your Qi, you idiot. Is the great Jun Hao going to die because of a little wound like that?" Lei Feng teased, his slightly trembling voice betraying his concern.
Hearing that, Jun Hao gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, concentrating on circulating his vital Qi.
"Thank you," Bao Zhang thanked Qingyi, who wiped a drop of sweat from his face as he finished closing the wounds.
Bao Zhang had completely changed his view of the handsome young man.
At first, he thought he was just a pretty face who had been lucky enough to receive a golden token in a selection where the Sect had found few talents.
But now, he had to recognize Qingyi's true potential.
He himself was a cultivator with an eighth-level spiritual root who had just entered the foundation realm, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat Qingyi if he met him in the selection for inner disciples.
"His situation is stabilized, but he needs a doctor, and fast," Chu Yang muttered after measuring Jun Hao's pulse.
"Junior Brother Qingyi, you're the only one here with a movement technique. Do you think you can get Jun Hao to the village? We'll follow right behind," Bao Zhang asked, his face contorted with worry.
Qingyi closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his Qi reserves.
'About 30%... the city must be more than five kilometers away... I'll have to push it a bit,' he thought, taking out another Qi recovery pill and swallowing it as he stood up.
Turning his back to Jun Hao, he said, "Put him on my back. I'll try to get there as quickly as I can."
"Thanks again," Bao Zhang and Lei Feng picked up the fat man together, placing him on Qingyi's back. Chu Yang took a small rope out of his pocket, tying them together.
Feeling that they were tightly bound, Qingyi stepped forward, activating the Lightning Steps. His body and Jun Hao's disappeared in a thunderous aura that cut through the air.
Running at extreme speed through the dense forest carrying someone as heavy as Jun Hao was exhausting.
Qingyi gave it his all, already feeling his meridians begin to burn like live embers. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself beyond his limits.
When he finally reached the village gates, he felt as if his meridians were on the verge of collapse, throbbing painfully.
"I need the village doctor!" He roared at the guard.
"I'm sorry, but-" The guard shuddered, taking a step back.
"NOW!" Qingyi stomped hard on the ground, the earth beneath his feet cracking as a thread of murderous intent leaked from his piercing eyes.
He had no special friendship with Jun Hao - in fact, he even found him a bit annoying - but he couldn't deny that the fat man had a good heart.
Qingyi didn't want him to die at his hands.
With trembling steps, the guard turned around, running towards the residence of the only doctor in the whole village.
Arriving in front of the humble-looking clinic, Qingyi passed through the door, ignoring the angry shouts of an irritated old man who appeared to be the doctor. He entered one of the rooms and placed Jun Hao on a bed.
"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Didn't you see we're closed? I'm not going to treat that bastard," the old man grunted, but his words lost their force as soon as his eyes met Qingyi's.
"We're disciples of the Ascending Dragon Sect and we just killed that damn wolf. You're going to treat him, or you're going to be the one who needs treatment." Qingyi growled. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to use the Sect's name like that, but the situation demanded it.
With a frightened look on his face, the old man finally lowered his head, running over to Jun Hao's body and injecting a thread of Qi into his meridians to check his condition.
Exhausted, Qingyi just sat down outside the clinic.
After a few minutes, the figures of Bao Zhang, Lei Feng and Chu Yang finally appeared on the horizon, carrying the corpse of the beast on their shoulders.