That yellow demon bear, Kumamoto, was a second-tier Earth-elemental beast, hardly taking note of Elder Hei Xia’s mere little earth wall. A ferocious light flashed in its turbid eyes, and with a heavy pat of its thick paw, it struck the wall. With a "boom," the wall was smashed open to the size of a bear's paw. With just two or three more blows, it could completely collapse the barrier.

After casting the earth wall spell, Elder Hei Xia’s spiritual power was almost instantly halved, and he staggered back, collapsing to the ground, barely able to stand. He needed a moment to catch his breath before casting another spell.

Fortunately, Zhang Qiao and Elder Bi Guo had already been waiting nearby, successfully drawing the attention of the yellow demon bear.

"Water Arrow Technique!"

Zhang Qiao pressed one hand on her sword while forming a hand seal with the other. With a sharp cry, a foot-long blue water arrow shot towards the second-tier yellow demon bear. The arrow was weak; it only splashed a blue ripple across the bear’s thick earth-elemental energy shield, scratching it harmlessly.

The power disparity was too great; the water arrow possessed no real force. The chilling arrow circled the bear’s earthen armor for a moment, slightly slowing the beast down—a minimal effect at best.

Seeing her spell had little impact, Zhang Qiao gritted her teeth and prepared to cast another attack.

Elder Bi Guo sneered coldly. Why would someone so young come out here just to make a fool of herself!

He flicked a black Iron Vine seed towards the yellow demon bear.

"Entanglement Spell!"

The black, gleaming vine grew wildly, tightly wrapping around the demon bear’s torso and limbs, severely restricting its movement and drastically reducing its speed. Elder Bi Guo’s Entanglement Spell was significantly more potent than Zhang Qiao's water arrow.

It was only then that the yellow demon bear realized there were three or four people ambushing it. Enraged, it clamped its jaws down on the binding iron vine, using the immense strength inherent in its thick hide. With a "snap," it tore the vine apart.

Innate divine strength was a birthright of the yellow demon bear; the older it grew, the greater its might.

Elder Bi Guo’s face immediately turned ugly. This iron vine seed was one of the strongest varieties for the Entanglement Spell, yet the demon bear had snapped it instantly. He hesitated, wondering if he should launch the remaining few iron vine seeds he carried to delay the beast further.

His hesitation was unnecessary; the other five had already attacked.

The yellow demon bear had just broken free of the vines when Xu Qing, Ye Qin, Wu Qin Yi, Zhang Zhe, and Fan Jiasheng—five figures—charged out of their nearby concealment, closing in on the bear almost simultaneously.

Ye Qin flicked his hand, launching a powerful Wind Blade that struck the bear’s eye first. With a "clang," a bright red spark jumped off the bear’s earth-elemental shield. The shield vibrated violently for a moment before settling back down.

The bear’s vision blurred momentarily, and in great anger, it turned to glare at Ye Qin.

Ye Qin inwardly startled. After more than half a year of refining his spells, his Wind Blade technique was quite proficient—fast and fierce. Yet, it had little effect on this beast. Earth spells were known for the strongest defense, and wind spells for the swiftest offense, but the wind spell was proving rather poor against the earth defense. Perhaps he should try a different spell.

Zhang Zhe and Fan Jiasheng both utilized Fireball spells, each summoning a fireball and hurling it at the yellow demon bear. The fireballs were potent, causing the bear’s earthen shield to sizzle and rapidly draining its spiritual power.

Hit by spell after spell, the yellow demon bear became momentarily bewildered, unsure which attacker to pursue. If it chased one, that person would immediately turn and flee, while the others continued to surround it with ranged spells from the flanks, causing it immense frustration.

Ye Qin kept maneuvering, rotating between Wind Blades and Fireballs. He found that as long as he maintained an attack distance of several dozen feet, the yellow demon bear posed almost no threat to him.

He even had time to watch how the others fought, absorbing their combat experience.

The main offensive force of the team consisted of Wu Qin Yi and Xu Qing.

Wu Qin Yi had already drawn her spiritual sword from the exquisite sheath at her back—it was a red flame sword, slightly over three feet long, a low-grade Fire-elemental spiritual artifact. With a swing of her hand, fierce flames ignited on the blade.

She circled the bear at speed, stabbing the flame sword into the bear’s earth shield from behind, penetrating an inch deep. The blade nearly scorched the bear’s fur and caused the earthen shield to dim considerably. Unfortunately, her cultivation was two full tiers below the beast’s, and even armed with the flame sword, she could not pierce the bear’s actual flesh.

The yellow demon bear, injured for the first time, instantly grew frantic. It swung a massive paw, knocking the flame sword from her hand, and lunged towards Wu Qin Yi, the greatest immediate threat.

Wu Qin Yi didn't care about losing her sword; she retreated in alarm, allowing others to press the attack.

However, Xu Qing seized the opportunity, appearing behind the yellow demon bear. The Golden Light Sword in his hand erupted with intense golden radiance, causing the blade to nearly double in length. He stomped his foot, vanishing into an afterimage, and with a fierce shout, stabbed toward the back of the bear’s heart.

Sensing the intense killing intent behind it, the yellow demon bear roared in shock and anger, spinning around to slam both paws forward.

The Golden Light Sword pierced through the earth shield covering the bear’s chest and seemed poised to drive into its core, but the bear caught the blade between its clasped paws.

Unable to thrust further, Xu Qing spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Golden Light Sword and roared again:

“Hah!”

The sword’s golden light surged simultaneously. Xu Qing wrenched it violently, and a thick bear arm flew into the air, splattering blood everywhere. Even the yellow demon bear’s dense, materialized earth shield completely shattered and disintegrated.

In pain, the yellow demon bear let out a furious "hiss," shaking the entire great canyon. It finally realized these supposed "prey" were not to be trifled with; a relentless volley of attacks could easily wear it down here. Immediately using all four limbs, it turned and fled wildly toward the dense forest a mile away. Despite losing an arm, its speed was virtually unimpaired.

Xu Qing’s expression changed. That single roar from the yellow demon bear might attract numerous other cultivator teams.

"Quick, entangle it! Don't let it escape!"

The intense battle had left Ye Qin momentarily stunned by the sheer power of the Golden Light Sword's "armor-piercing" effect. He quickly collected himself, pulled out the last Wood Thorn seed he carried, and shot it towards the fleeing yellow demon bear.

A Wood-elemental entanglement spell was the optimal way to stall this beast.

The wood thorn seed struck the bear and instantly began to wrap around it. The tenacity of the wood thorns was comparable to the iron vines, but they possessed an added feature—poisonous barbs.

The bear’s earthen shield was already broken, and the half-inch thorns could not penetrate its rough hide, but a few thorns unexpectedly lodged near its severed stump, immediately showing faint green toxic spots.

The yellow demon bear seemed extremely wary of the wood thorns, pulling and biting desperately to break free. However, missing an arm made tearing the vines apart much more difficult, and the intrusion of the wood toxin further sapped its strength.

The team members rejoiced and rushed forward. All manner of spells—offensive, slowing, the Golden Light Sword, the Flame Sword—were brought to bear in a relentless assault. They vowed not to stop until the beast was finished.

"Roar!"

The yellow demon bear, once again surrounded by the group and facing certain death, finally went berserk. It slammed one massive paw onto the ground.

"Earthquake!"

The ground within dozens of yards buckled, and a continuous, violent seismic wave radiated outwards in all directions.

Ye Qin was caught in the tremor’s radius. He immediately felt dizzy, barely able to maintain his focus to cast spells. If the yellow demon bear had attacked him now, his life would have been forfeit.

His heart chilled, and he instantly crushed a "Earth Evasion Talisman" in his hand, teleporting several dozen feet away, escaping the range of the "Earthquake." The dizzying sensation vanished.

When Ye Qin’s vision cleared, he saw that within the bear's epicenter, the weakest member, Zhang Qiao, had been knocked unconscious on the spot. Meanwhile, Zhang Zhe, Wu Qin Yi, Elder Hei Xia, and the others were swaying unsteadily, looking as if they were drunk, their heads spinning. It would be a short while before they could regain their senses.

Only Xu Qing had been prepared; he had quickly consumed a spiritual pill and was barely affected. He stood there, Golden Light Sword in hand, savagely attacking the wood-thorn-entangled yellow demon bear.

Unable to break free of the wood thorns and lacking time to dodge, the yellow demon bear slammed its own chest, then opened its mouth and spat out a dazzling, yellow spiritual object towards Xu Qing’s fierce Golden Light Sword.

The yellow ball and the Golden Light Sword engaged in a fierce, direct confrontation.

"Demon Core!"

Ye Qin gasped in awe. He had never seen a demon core before, but at this moment, his mind was crystal clear—it could be nothing else.

The two forms, one yellow, one gold, clashed repeatedly.

With almost every impact, the demon core dimmed slightly, but it was clearly dominating the fight. Fine cracks appeared on the Golden Light Sword, and they widened rapidly. Even this spiritual artifact, refined by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, could not withstand the demon core’s attack. In the blink of an eye, after dozens of exchanges, the Golden Light Sword was on the verge of shattering.

Xu Qing grew increasingly anxious. The yellow demon bear’s physical defense was drastically reduced—this was the perfect moment to kill it. But the demon core was so formidable that it blocked him completely, preventing him from striking the bear’s body.

Ye Qin, however, did not stand idly by. He immediately revealed his fastest spell, the Wind Blade, and launched it.

Schlick!

Blood splashed into the air.

While the demon core was still locked in combat with the Golden Light Sword, the second-tier yellow demon bear’s massive head flew into the air. It was instantly dead.

With the death of the yellow demon bear, the demon core, now free from the beast’s spiritual control, tumbled to the ground. Its glow faded, transforming into a dull, earthy-yellow mass, resembling a hard-boiled egg.

"Hahahaha!"

Xu Qing roared with laughter, dropping the nearly ruined Golden Light Sword and lunging towards the earth-yellow sphere. He now possessed two second-tier demon cores. If he could find one more, he could join the Great Luo Sect and become a disciple of a proper immortal cultivation sect. Foundation Establishment would no longer be an unreachable dream.

He recalled toiling for twenty years in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance in Immortal Fate City, yet the alliance was too stingy to even grant him a single Foundation Establishment Pill. He had long wanted to leave the alliance and seek refuge with a true cultivation sect. (To be continued. For further developments, please visit www**m for more chapters, to support the author and legitimate reading!)