The only saving grace of being under attack from three separate directions was that our enemies weren't only aiming for us. They were also trying to kill each other in the chaos.

I could've avoided all the attacks entirely, but that would leave me in a precarious position. The wood elves had yet to move. Either they thought getting involved in our scuffle was beneath them, or they were waiting for the right moment to strike.

I had no desire to expose my back to them. A human man thrust at me with his sword. At the same time, he formed a seal with his other hand.

Roots erupted from the earth, wrapping around my legs and trapping me in place. I frowned, not expecting such finesse. He was only an eight-star Qi Gatherer, but his spiritual techniques had been executed seamlessly.

If I was only facing him, I would be able to fight without care. Unfortunately, one of his companions had drawn a bow and was aiming it at my head.

I saw a whirling maelstrom of qi gathering in place of an arrow. The string twanged as he loosed the qi arrow. It thundered through the air, splitting the space in its wake as it tore towards my right eye.

Even facing two lethal strikes, I might have been able to avoid death or serious injury if not for the fact that a horse-like beast with claws instead of hooves was rearing up on its hind legs to strike from behind.

It was an impossible situation. Wang Ren wasn't faring any better, under attack from two beasts and one human in a mirror of my own precarious situation.

However, what none of my opponents knew was quite how potent my regenerative abilities were. Nothing short of instant death could stop me, provided I had enough medicinal energy to keep me going.

Of the three attacks, I was most wary of the arrow. The sword wasn't imbued with qi and hence there was a limit to how much it could hurt me. The beast's claws were razor-sharp, but the same applied to them.

Flesh wounds were just that. However, the arrow was another matter. The whirling qi was chaotic, crackling like lightning and carrying a weight that raised my hackles.

I shifted my weight, leaning to one side. The blade of the jian pierced my stomach and passed through my flesh. My skin was tough, resisting enough that the man's arm jolted on impact.

At the same moment the claws tore open my back. The beast turned my skin into ribbons with its double-clawed strike.

I winced from the burning pain of the consecutive valleys being ripped into my skin. However, my focus never left the rapidly approaching arrow.

I gathered my qi into my right palm, reinforcing my body and preparing a barrier around my hand. When the arrow struck, it met my iron palm.

The whirling qi ripped and tore at my own. It ripped the barrier to shreds in a breath's time. However, its strength was sapped. It tore a hole in the middle of my palm, but barely a drop of qi reached my face. The qi coating my nose brushed it off without difficulty.

Of my three opponents, only the archer seemed to realise what had transpired. The swordsman had a satisfied sneer on his face, while the beast was relishing in the violence and not paying attention to the results.

My body was ravaged, but with a single breath my energy cycled through it, restoring the damage the three cultivators had inflicted. I clenched my abdominal muscles, trapping the sword in place.

The man's eyes widened in shock when he saw the wound closing. However, his reaction came a moment too late.

My palm struck out, smashing into his solar plexus. He gasped and crumpled, dropping the handle of the sword.

As he fell, the roots disintegrated. They returned to the earth and I was free to move once more.

The beast had noticed my attack, but continued striking at my back. The pain was building in a searing crescendo. However, every rip of its claws was countered by a fresh wave of healing energy.

This only served to infuriate it. Its rage blinded it. I spun on my heels, planting my feet as I struck outwards. Its body was enourmous, yet the resonating wave of qi that exploded outwards sent it reeling.

The beast snorted, blood spurting from every orifice as it recovered on all fours. I felt a tremor in the air and ducked.

An instant later, another arrow of qi ripped through the air where my head had been a moment before. The archer was shocked that I'd dodged, worry written across his face.

His allies were either defeated or locked in combat with Wang Ren or the beasts. The wood elves still hadn't made a move.

I darted towards him, closing the gap in a single breath. He rushed away, trying to maintain his distance. I smirked.

He wasn't confident in close combat. That meant I had an advantage over him. With every step, I slowly cornered him.

We were in open plains, but duels were taking place in every direction. If he went too far, he risked getting caught up in another battle. Realising escape was hopeless, he shifted tactics.

The bow vanished, replaced by twin daggers. He lunged towards me, thrusting at my heart and neck simultaneously.

Seeing my hesitation, his frown twisted into a sneer. At the moment before his daggers struck, I jumped lightly.

They pierced my collar and ribs instead of my vitals. It hurt. I felt an icy burn spreading from the wounds. Poison.

He ripped out the daggers, spraying blood across his face and clothes. Knowing his blades were poisoned, the sneer never left his face even though his instant kill had failed.

However, it faded when I grabbed him by the shoulders. My knee flashed like lightning, burying itself in the man's prized jewels.

The light left his eyes as they rolled back into his head. He groaned and dropped the daggers. He threw a weak punch at me, but I slapped it away before chopping the back of his neck with my palm.

Tossing his limp body away, I gazed around, assessing the situation. All of my enemies had been dispatched, but Wang Ren was still locked in battle with a muscular ape beast.

Every clash of fist and glaive made the earth tremble. None of the nearby cultivators dared to intefere, worried that the devastating blows might break every bone in their body the moment they did.

All around us, corpses littered the grassy plains. The green had been stained crimson as dozens of cultivators fell with every moment.

It was a tragic loss of life.

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I mourned every fallen human, beast, and even the unfamiliar wood elves and demons. Unfortunately, I was still far too weak to realise my dream.

On the plus side, wherever there was war, there were injured patients to heal. I might have another opportunity to reinforce my cultivation before we entered the secret realm.

Neither Wang Ren nor the ape held the upper hand. I debated joining my brother in battle, but I felt his pride might be insulted at that.

He was a warrior and I had to trust in his strength. All but two of the beasts and one of the humans had been defeated. The human eyed us warily, eventually deciding to flee with his life intact.

As he ran, he passed near the corpse of one of his allies, attempting to make off with his possessions. A pointed glare from me was enough to ward him off.

His life was the most valuable possession he could escape with. The other beast watched its kin clashing with Wang Ren, admiration in its eyes.

It seemed things were coming to an end. The ape roared, beating its chest before slamming both fists into the ground.

Dozens of earthen spikes erupted all around us, striking towards Wang Ren and blocking his escape. With a roar of his own that matched the beast's ferocity, he swung his glaive in an arc, cleaving all the spikes in half.

The beast hadn't prepared a follow up. It had been too confident in its technique. Wang finished his arcing swing with a lightning fast thrust at the beast's throat.

He had never needed my help. However, right as he was about to deal the killing blow, I caught a flash of movement in the corner of my eye.

One of the wood elves had finally decided to intervene. Conniving bastards. They'd waited for the competition to weaken itself before making a move.

The green skinned humanoid wielded a spear formed from two twisting roots, tipped with silvery wood that glistened in the sun. I wasted no time inspecting the strange weapon, only moving to intercept.

Before the strike could land on Ren's back, it was smacked aside by my palm. I glared at the wood elf, but he simply snapped his spear back, eyeing my movements.

"You have no honour, intefering in a duel," I ridiculed him.

I didn't really believe in such things, even if Wang Ren would hate me for saying so. My aim was only to rile up my enemy.

Unfortunately my words had no effect. The elf sneered at me before thrusting outwards with his wooden spear.

His silhouette blurred as he struck, splitting into three images. They struck at me from all sides, forming a pincer. Was it an illusion or were all three real?

I had no way to know. I had to avoid them all. It was a cunning technique. A pained roar and a splash from my left told me Wang Ren had ended his battle.

An outraged cry followed, along with heavy pounding on the earth. I ducked, straining my leg muscles to avoid all three spear strikes.

As I dropped, I kicked at the elf's legs. He deftly hopped over my kick, falling right into my trap.

It was a move that almost tore my hamstrings, but I erupted upwards like a spring, striking at his chin with a clenched fist. Right before my punch connected, I heard a sickening snap and felt a sharp pain in my elbow.

A second and third elf had kicked my arm from two sides, breaking it in half. The bone poked out through my skin, blood streaming to the ground in rivers.

I yanked it backwards, leaping away to secure some space. With a grunt I snapped it back into place, wincing as the healing energy's icy touch restored movement to the arm.

The elves eyed my regeneration with curiosity rather than derision. Each of them wielded an identical spear, rushing outwards to trap me in a triangle.

They stepped forward in unison, raising their weapons to limit my movements. I wasn't sure how to break the encirclement. Luckily, I didn't need to.

A confused roar came from above. A smaller ape beast flew through the sky, crashlanding on one of the shocked elves.

The green-skinned humanoid was crushed under the body of the beast. Although smaller than its cousin, it still dwarfed us by almost three times.

The other two elves shrieked when their companion was buried in the earth. Clearly they shared a strong bond. However, despite their misery they never stopped thrusting their spears at me.

I used their slight distraction to knock one spear into the other. Both weapons harmlessly shot past my ear.

I struck out with both palms, knocking the wind from the elves chests. Wang Ren appeared behind them, swinging his glaive to decapitate both in a single slash.

Before the blade could bite, I heard a snort and felt a crushing weight pressing down on my shoulders. In the blink of an eye, the two elves vanished.

I looked upwards, seeing that the fourth elf was floating in the air, carrying the bodies of all three of his companions in one hand as if they were sacks of rice. He was actually a Foundation Building expert, likely near the peak of the realm.

"Enough," he snarled.

Even the reverberation of his voice carried his qi and an unfamiliar force that seemed to cut into my mind. I winced, but my glare never wavered.

I expected him to strike us down for hurting his allies, but instead he simply vanished into the distance, carrying the three wounded elves with him. I was glad for his actions, given that I had expended almost all my qi in the battle.

A pitiful growl came from behind me. Ren threw a lethal glare past my shoulder, silencing the ape.

It eyed us warily, resting on its haunches. Occasionally it threw glances towards the larger ape, which was still bleeding from a deep wound in its throat.

Despite Ren's lethal strike, the beast's heart was still beating. The vitality of an awakened beast was no joke.

"Hey little fella, come here. I won't hurt you," I said to the monkey.

When it ignored me, I sighed and took a skewer of grilled meat from my spatial bag. Sniffing the delicacy, the ape managed to overcome its suspicion and sauntered over.

Wang Ren gave me an odd look, but he had long since known I was strange by this world's standards. The ape threw me another look, before its hand darted out and grabbed the skewer.

It rushed away, throwing me another glance before digging in with gusto. I chuckled at the beast's antics. Judging from its four-star cultivation, it was still a kid.

"I'm going to heal the big one," I told Ren.

"Are you sure? That monkey was a tough nut to crack. I'm not sure I can take it down again as I am."

"Beasts respect strength. I'm sure he won't try anything funny," I replied with a shrug, kneeling down beside the mass of muscle and fur.

I didn't expect this to improve my cultivation much, but that wasn't why I did it. I knew that just the two of us wouldn't be enough inside the Blossoming Heavens. I was wary of human cultivators—they were scheming bastards. However, beasts were another matter.

It depended on the species, but they were usually quite straightfoward. I hoped to recruit this big lug as an ally.

The healing went off without a hitch. Even though it was a lethal wound, there was nothing complicated about it. My qi went to work, knitting the flesh and skin on its neck back together.

The monster snarled and shot to its knuckles the moment it regained consciousness. It bared its fangs at me and I slowly edged away, raising my hands.

A black ball shot past, smashing into the big ape's chest. It began to screech and wave its hands, pointing at me a few times. Whatever it said seemed to calm the enourmous ape.

It placed the smaller monkey down, then bowed its head towards me. The little one screeched again and pointed into the distance. The big monkey sighed, an odd look in its eyes. Then, it waved at the two of us and started to walk towards the epicentre of the chaos.

The many duels were slowly coming to an end now. The loss of life was extraordinary. Almost half of those present had been killed or crippled. Only the strongest remained.

I followed the monkey with Wang Ren at my side. I was curious to see where it was taking us. It had been hanging out in a similar location, so I'd assumed it had come without stronger allies, but perhaps that wasn't the case.

The two young masters who'd started all this chaos in the first place were still battling, but their clash seemed to be drawing to a close. The purple robed youth, despite his bravado, was covered in wounds and panting like a dog.

The red robed man was also injured, but he still had a confident posture and clearly held the upper hand. "Ren Wei, last time I let you live in the hope you would learn from your mistake. It seemed that was an erorr. There is no place in this world for fools unable to learn from their betters. Die!" he roared as a phoenix formed from flames appeared behind him.

Ren Wei's face paled at the appearance of the mythical beast. He raised his sword, muttering something under his breath. A silver spectre of a serpent formed around him, but it was barely visible.

The phoenix crashed into the serpent. It held for a breath, but then shattered into silver light. The flames moved to consumed the purple robed youth, but suddenly the entire world pressed down on the plains.

I gasped, frozen in place and clutching at my throat. It felt as if the entire universe was crushing down on my shoulders.

"Enough, you impudent brats! It is time," a gravelly voice echoed through the entire region.

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