Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

On the other side of the roaring battlefield.

Zhu Ziyan moved like a fluid, silent shadow across the scorched ruins, her body blurring through the air as she tried to close the distance to catch the third officer.

But the master archer was exceptionally nimble, leaping backward across broken walls and shattered rooftops with incredible agility, continuously drawing his golden composite bow and unleashing a relentless hail of lethal spiritual arrows directly at her.

SWISH! SWOOSH!

Every time the glowing arrows whistled through the night sky, threatening to pierce her heart, the tiny baby Gryphon, Juju, perched securely on top of Ziyan’s head, would fluff its feathers and let out a sharp, high-pitched chirp.

Instantly, an impenetrable wind barrier materialized out of thin air, deflecting every incoming projectile into harmless, glowing sparks of light.

The third officer landed gracefully on the high ledge of a half-collapsed stone tower, pulling three arrows back to his ear simultaneously as a smug, arrogant sneer twisted his features.

”Hahaha! What’s the matter, little girl?!” the third officer taunted, his voice dripping with pure mockery as he released the bowstring. ”Can you do nothing except hide behind that pathetic little feathered pet of yours?! You’ve been chasing my tail for ten minutes now and you haven’t even grazed the hem of my robes! It seems like a beast tamer without her horde is nothing more than a helpless, wingless bird waiting to be shot down from the sky!”

Zhu Ziyan remained completely silent, her emerald feline eyes cool, calm, and emotionless as she casually stepped around the deflected arrow shafts.

She didn’t waste a single breath arguing with the doomed archer.

After chasing him across the perimeter for a while longer, Zhu Ziyan suddenly brought her boots to a complete halt in the center of a wide, open clearing.

She stood tall, closed her eyes, and took a deep, slow breath, letting her chest rise and fall as her qi settled into tranquility.

Seeing her stop completely, the third officer also stopped his erratic retreat, hovering on top of a nearby roof ridge as he tossed his head back, bursting into a loud, mocking laugh.

”Gave up already?!” the archer sneered, nocking a heavy, armor-piercing arrow onto his golden bow. ”Wise choice! Accept your fate and let my arrow pierce your throat! It is far less painful than running yourself to exhaustion!”

At that exact moment, Zhu Ziyan opened her eyes.

SWIIISH—!

A terrifying, radiant golden-emerald light burst from her irises, illuminating her face in an ancient, divine glow!

Right now, she was activating the ultimate form of her Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes.

This legendary ocular physique didn’t merely allow her to dominate and command wild feline beasts; at its pinnacle state, it enabled her to temporarily fuse her own body and soul with her subdued spirit beasts, assimilating their physical traits, elemental affinities, and supreme racial abilities into her own body!

”I haven’t mastered this yet, so I’ll end this quick.” She stated. ”Juju, let’s do it together.”

CHIRP~!

High above her head, the baby Gryphon Juju let out a resonant, majestic cry that echoed across the heavens.

The tiny creature then turned into a bright, golden sphere of swirling tempest energy and dived directly into the center of Ziyan’s chest.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

A massive hurricane of pure destructive, tearing wind pressure exploded outward from Ziyan’s body, shattering the cobblestones in a fifty-meter radius.

Under the third officer’s wide and horrified gaze, Ziyan’s physical appearance underwent a magnificent, rapid transformation.

The cute black feline ears on top of her head dissolved into soft golden light, replaced by delicate, small feather-like avian ears that twitched with atmospheric sound waves.

From her shoulder blades, a pair of magnificent, majestic black gryphon wings swept out, spanning over fifteen feet across, their feathers razor-sharp and humming with high-frequency wind laws.

Her slender, graceful legs also transformed, her lower calves becoming covered in brilliant, black scaled armored talons that could easily crush solid steel.

In this fused state, Zhu Ziyan opened her glowing eyes, her aura skyrocketing into a hurricane, completely eclipsing average Nascent Soul cultivators.

The third officer felt a cold, paralyzing shiver shoot straight down his spine!

”W-What in the hell is that? Can beast tamers actually fused with their beasts?”

Panicking completely, he drew his golden bow to its maximum limit, channeling every single drop of his Nascent Soul qi into a single, massive, mountain-piercing arrow.

”DIE, YOU MONSTER! Sky-Piercing Dragon Arrow!”

WHOOOOOOOSH—!

The giant glowing arrow tore through space, creating a vacuum trail as it hurtled straight toward her chest!

Zhu Ziyan didn’t even raise a wind barrier, she simply flapped her newly acquired black gryphon wings a single time.

BOOM!

The explosive wind pressure generated by that single wingbeat flattened the surroundings, even the beasts and humans fighting not far away got swept by the pressure.

”Damn it!” The third officer cursed as he was blasted away, but thankfully, the arrow was still flying towards Haoran.

But before the arrow could even reach her, Zhu Ziyan vanished from her position so blindingly fast that the air itself let out a violent sonic boom.

The massive sky-piercing arrow struck empty air, exploding uselessly against the distant bedrock.

WHAT?!

The third officer’s eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks as his divine sense completely lost track of her position.

Before he could even turn his head, the atmospheric pressure behind him plummeted to absolute zero as Zhu Ziyan materialized right above his head, her black wings generating a terrifying, swirling tempest of compressed wind blades that shredded his protective qi barrier like wet paper in a single second!

SLASH! SLASH! BANG!

”Gah!?” The third officer let out a pained cry, his injuries he sustained from Huo Yue’s attack earlier already worsening.

”Damn it!”

Moving with speed so absurdly fast that she left dozens of golden, feathered afterimages echoing through the sky, Ziyan overwhelmed the third officer completely.

She didn’t just dodge his archery—she utterly dominated the entire sky.

Her razor-sharp black talons slashed through his heavy armor, leaving deep, bleeding gashes across his chest and arms, while her high-pressure gale strikes continuously battered his body, knocking his golden bow clean out of his hands and sending him crashing helplessly into the shattered stone floor below.

The third officer rolled across the blood-soaked dirt, screaming in pain and terror as he looked up at the sky, where the winged, talon-clad form of Zhu Ziyan hovered above him like an unstoppable, divine storm goddess.

”You... You...”

The third officer, now lying battered, bleeding, and utterly terrified in the dirt, scrambled backward on his elbows and knees.

Panic seized every fiber of his being, completely overriding his sanity.

He frantically reached for a backup hand-bow from his storage ring, then using his qi to create arrows with trembling, blood-slicked fingers and firing them wildly into the sky!

”Die!”

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Dozens of glowing spiritual arrows shot upward in a frantic, desperate spray!

Hovering gracefully in the high atmosphere on her magnificent, black gryphon wings, Zhu Ziyan looked down at his futile struggles with a cool, nonchalant expression.

She didn’t even bother moving her body to dodge or summoning a wind barrier.

As the high-speed, lethal projectiles reached her position, she simply raised her black scaled talons and casually swatted them out of the air like irritating insects.

CLANG! BANG! CRACK!

The spirit-forged arrowheads shattered into fine, glowing dust upon contacting her razor-sharp claws, exploding into harmless sparks of light that drifted softly down through the night air.

She stared at the third officer, ”...It seems this is the best you can do.”

”No... No! Stay away from me! Stay away!” the third officer shrieked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched, pathetic whine as he realized his ultimate archery meant nothing to her.

Zhu Ziyan flapped her majestic wings a single time, generating a sonic boom that dispersed the surrounding clouds.

She vanished from the sky and reappeared directly in front of the horrified archer.

Before the man could even scream, Ziyan lunged forward, her razor-sharp talons flashing through the air in a blinding, brutal flurry of executioner strikes.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH—!!!!!

Her talons tore through his high-grade spiritual armor, his chest, his shoulders, and his throat in a single second, shredding his flesh and meridians like ribbons!

Blood sprayed across the ruined cobblestones as his late-stage Nascent Soul dantian was utterly shattered in a single, merciless burst of high-pressure gale force!

With that final, decisive strike, the battle in the Eastern Gardens officially ended.

”...Haa, finally.” Zhu Ziyan sighed in relief as she landed lightly on the scorched ground.

But, the moment her feet touched the dirt, the radiant light in her eyes faded, and the ultimate fusion transformation dissipated into thin air.

Her majestic wings dissolved into swirling particles of light, her talons reverted back into her slender legs, and her cute black feline ears reappeared on top of her head.

Juju also appeared above her, looking exhausted and plopped its body on to her head.

”You lazy b—” Ziyan couldn’t finish her words as the sudden, massive strain of fusing with a divine beast swept through her body, causing her legs to go weak.

She stumbled forward and almost fell face first onto the hard stone, but before she could hit the ground, a massive, shadow furred dark tiger stepped beneath her, gently catching her against its soft, thick fur.

She smiled weakly, wrapping her arm over the giant tiger’s neck and gently caressing its ear.

”Thank you...” she murmured softly, taking a deep breath to stabilize her depleted qi before raising her head to look out across the battlefield.

The remaining hundred elite guards of the Botanist Faction had already been completely wiped out.

Crimson blood stained the dirt, and shattered weapons lay scattered everywhere among the smoldering craters.

It wasn’t really a surprise that they were annihilated so quickly; every single one of those guards had already been severely weakened and heavily injured from Huo Yue’s catastrophic initial sun drop attack.

Facing an army of demonic beasts alongside Shen Tao and Shen Fei was simply an execution line for them.

”Good job, everyone. You may rest now,” Zhu Ziyan spoke gently, her cat ears twitching.

Her eyes glowed with a soft, pulsing light, opening a wide spatial portal behind her back.

In an orderly, loyal line, the hundreds of roaring feline demonic beasts—shadow panthers, lightning lions, and fiery tigers—turned and surged smoothly back into the safe haven of her ocular dimension.

At that exact moment, two heavy sets of footsteps echoed across the clearing as Shen Tao and Shen Fei stepped through the rising smoke, walking over to her side.

Shen Tao was shaking off a few drops of blood from his massive knuckles, while Shen Fei casually adjusted his heavy silk sleeves.

”Are you alright, lady Ziyan?” Shen Tao asked, his deep voice carrying genuine concern as he looked at her pale face. ”To take down a Nascent Soul as a Golden Core is no easy feat.”

”I am fine, Shen Tao,” Ziyan replied, offering a reassuring, gentle smile as she stood up straight on her own two feet, resting her hand against the tiger until it vanished back into her eyes. ”Just a bit drained. What about your opponents?”

Shen Fei snorted softly, tossing his golden hair back with a bored expression. ”Handled. A fast fly that thought he was lightning, but couldn’t even break my skin. Totally uninteresting.”

”My guy tried to use a spear,” Shen Tao added bluntly, cracking his neck with a loud sound like snapping stone. ”He had no physical foundation at all. I buried his face in the dirt until he stopped moving.”

”As expected of you both,” Ziyan chuckled softly.

Then slowly, floating down from the high sky like a radiant, fiery goddess, Huo Yue also descended onto the scorched clearing.

Her flame wings faded into lingering embers, and her dark crimson ruler returned to her spatial ring.

She landed softly on a ruined stone wall, looking at the three of them with a wide, mischievous grin stretching across her face.

Huo Yue dusted off her hands, pointed her finger down toward the untouched, pristine central herb plots, and barked cheerfully,

”Alright, all of you, dig!”

Shen Tao, Shen Fei, and Zhu Ziyan all blinked in unison, staring at her in complete, silent confusion.

”Huh?”