Yuan Long stared at the sky for a moment, sighing to himself as he reflected on his performance. "Hmmm, I didn't expect that a High-Stage Rank 3-Star Beast would prove to be such a hassle. If Lingyu were here, I'm sure she would have killed it without using her Spirit."
Thinking about her Spirit, Yuan Long trembled in both excitement and fear. It had been quite a while since he last saw that Spirit in action, but he remembered how terrifying it could be when unleashed. He hoped never to fight that monstrosity again, lest he suffer another devastating defeat.
"Ah, whatever. I should focus on doing well in the trial instead of thinking about what could have been. If I keep worrying about the possibilities, then I'll never progress and end up falling behind Lingyu even more."
Speaking to himself, he decided to take a breather first, after all the intense fighting, before focusing on the token tied to his waist and noticing that the number '4' was displayed on it. "Great! I'm just short of one beast for completing the first stage! Since I have yet to encounter any cultivators here, I should proceed with caution.
It will do me no good if I get ambushed by someone when I am about to succeed."
With that thought in mind, he took one last look at the horned drake's corpse before he walked away from the carnage he left behind while keeping himself on alert.
However, before he could even travel ten meters, he caught sight of something moving amidst the trees next to him and halted in his tracks. His body tensed, ready to act on a moment's notice should any danger appear.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Hearing her questions, Yuan Long shook his head before explaining in detail what had occurred to him so far. "Right now, I've hunted four beasts: Two Initial-Stage Rank 3-Star Beasts, One Middle-Stage Rank 3-Star Beast, and this High-Stage Rank 3-Star Beast. I haven't met anyone yet except you, but I'm sure others are near this place. There's no way that we would be the only ones in this area."
Once he finished talking, Long Lingyu nodded her head in acknowledgement and gave a small smile, which made Yuan Long's heart skip a beat, before replying, "Very well, you did well so far, but do not let your guard down. Remember, the closer we are to the end of this trial, the stronger the competition will get. We need to remain vigilant at all times and be prepared for anything that might happen.
After all, we don't want to lose because we underestimated our opponents."
As she spoke, she walked towards him, and by the time she finished her words, she stood right in front of Yuan Long with their faces mere inches apart. Then she reached her hand to touch his cheeks and said, "Just one more beast, and you can advance to the next round, so be careful, alright?"
Yuan Long swallowed hard as he felt her warm breath wash over his face and nodded his head. "Of course, I won't let you down, Lingyu."
He found her intimate gesture strange, considering that she was always cold and distant to him, never acting like this before. However, before he could ponder on it further, he was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard something crack, breaking his concentration.
When he looked down, he noticed that his token had cracked open and shattered into pieces before a bright light covered his whole body, teleporting him away from this location.
The last thing he saw was Long Lingyu's face, which had an expression of both satisfaction and amusement on it.