The very next day, as the sun shone brightly over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the group moved deeper into the perilous terrain.
Rayna, alongside Mira, was the first to notice a lurking threat: a massive serpent, its scales a lethal shade of green and gleaming with a deadly venom. The beast's golden eyes glittered with a hostile gleam, and it was a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast.
Without a word, Rayna stepped forward, meeting the serpent's gaze with her own steely eyes. The others wordlessly made way, understanding that this was her battle to fight.
With a calm that contrasted the danger before her, Rayna summoned the poisonous energies around her. As a wielder of the rare Poison Affinity, she had a unique advantage.
Her double daggers materialized in her hands, their edges now laced with a lethal toxin. She was ready.
The serpent attacked first, lunging at Rayna with its venom-dripping fangs bared. But Rayna moved like a shadow, her movements fluid and evasive. She retaliated with swift strokes of her daggers, each landing a poisoned hit on the beast.
In response to her onslaught, the serpent thrashed, its scales fizzling wherever Rayna's toxin had seeped in. The beast redoubled its attacks, trying to crush Rayna under its colossal body.
Rayna, however, wasn't a Core Disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect for nothing. She dodged around the serpent's strikes and answered with fatal stabs of her daggers, further weakening the beast.
As the serpent's relentless assault continued, Rayna remained unfazed. Every strike from the beast was met with an effortless dodge or parry, Rayna's movements flowing like water.
She pressed her attack, her poisoned daggers and short swords lashing out in a flurry of strikes. Each cut she made on the serpent's body allowed her virulent poison to seep into its system, slowly gnawing away at its vitality.
The serpent, writhing and hissing in its fight for survival, became more frantic in its attacks. It lunged at her with venom-dripping fangs, its tail swiping dangerously.
Each strike, each snap of its jaws, was met with Rayna's retaliation. She twirled between its attacks, her blades carving deep gashes into the beast's thick scales, leaving trails of seeping poison.
Her persistence eventually wore down the serpent. Weakened and sluggish, the serpent tried a desperate lunge at Rayna. She was prepared. Breaking into a sprint, she charged, her poisoned daggers poised for the final blow.
With one last attack, she drove her daggers into the serpent's eyes, and the beast succumbed to its injuries. The serpent collapsed, its death throes echoing through the wilderness before it fell still.
Rayna stood silent and still, her chest heaving slightly as she stared at the fallen beast. No trace of emotion crossed her features.
The others watched in silence, surprised that Rayna took it down so effortlessly. They had always known she was powerful, but since she hardly ever fought in a group, it was difficult to tell how strong she actually was.
No words were exchanged as Mira issued the now-familiar command, "Since it was so easy for you, we won't stop to rest." Rayna nodded, sheathing her weapons, and moved to the back of the group.
Their journey through the Ancient Beast Mountain Range continued, each member of the group finding their own respective trials.
Nova found herself toe-to-toe with a saber-toothed tiger, a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast. Her figure was a blur as she engaged with the massive beast.
Her spear, enveloped in crackling flames, became a whirlwind of fiery destruction. Each thrust aimed to exploit a weakness, to pierce the tiger's tough hide and sear its flesh. Her strikes, both ruthless and destructive, slowly wore down the tiger's defenses, each exchange bringing it a step closer to its downfall.
Everly, in another part of the treacherous terrain, squared off against a pair of Stone-Horned Rhinos, both at the Late-Stage of Rank 8.
As the two formidable beasts charged, the air around Everly ignited with the convergence of lightning and fire.
Each strike of her power was a spectacle of raw, elemental force, repelling the rhinos' advance, their hardened hides charring under her attacks.
She moved through the battlefield like a storm, her fire and lightning merging into a cyclone of destructive energy that battered the beasts.
The two weren't a great match-up against her, as eventually, they were cooked from the inside out.
Eden, on the other hand, faced an airborne threat: a flock of Razor-Feathered Hawks, Peak-Stage Rank 7 with a few Low-Stage Rank 8 ones mixed in.
Despite the lower rank, their sheer numbers and coordinated attacks presented a challenge equivalent to a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast.
Fortunately, Eden was a master archer, the wind carrying her arrows with unerring accuracy, each one finding a hawk mid-flight.
Her wood affinity made the vegetation around her come alive, twisting into protective barriers and clever traps. She was struck a few times, the hawk's speed and numbers difficult to keep up with, but they failed to cause any major injuries.
One by one, the hawks plummeted, either skewered by arrows or entangled in wooden snares.
Meanwhile, Seraphina found her match in a hulking rock golem.
Its stone body was as uncompromising as the metal she controlled.
The battleground rang with the harsh clang of metal against stone, her shield and sword clashing against the golem's hard exterior.
She employed her water affinity to help soften the golem's defenses and seep through any weak spots, while her metal-enhanced strikes, a fusion of brute force and intricate technique, gradually wore it down.
Despite the golem's immense strength and durability, Seraphina's judgment, intelligence, and adaptability made it an easy target for her.
Piece by piece, the golem began to crumble until it finally succumbed, shattered under her relentless assault.
Mira was the last to engage in battle. In front of her was a challenging opponent, a Mid-Stage Rank 8 Scarlet Flame Lion with a Mystic-Grade Bloodline.
This beast had the potential to ascend to Rank 9, making its strength several times higher than what it would be if it had a lower-graded bloodline. Its flames roared, consuming the battlefield and everything around it in a frightening crimson hue.
Mira's hand reached out, drawing her scythe. Ice began to gather around the blade, frosting over the surface.
The battle began in earnest, the lion attacking with a flurry of flame-enhanced swipes and bites. Its Qi-infused roars seemed to shake the very earth beneath them, disorienting anything that heard it.
However, unfazed by the physical and mental attacks, Mira met the beast head-on, her scythe carving a path through the flurry of attacks. Her icy blade was a stark contrast to the searing flames, yet it held firm against the onslaught.
Her grip tightened around her scythe, the cold metal acting as a grounding point amidst the chaotic battlefield.
The two went back and forth, exchanging a multitude of attacks just to probe the other party. The Lion could sense that Mira wasn't an opponent to be taken lightly. However, it couldn't determine the depth of her strength.
On the other hand, Mira wanted to see how she'd fare against a beast like this after she'd gone through multiple breakthroughs.
After about a minute, the first substantial hit came. The lion's claw landed on Mira's side, throwing her back with brute force. A gasp escaped her lips, more out of surprise than pain, but she quickly suppressed it, her red eyes narrowing at the beast.
In response, Mira used her Scythe Manifestation. Her scythe morphed, and a dark haze filled with black runes swirled around it. Death itself seemed to roll around her scythe, filling the surrounding area with a particularly disturbing scent and sucking all the vitality of the vegetation around her.
The hourglass on the side of her scythe also rotated, with the 'sands' at the top falling to the bottom.
Mira shot back at the lion, catching it off-guard, and slashed. The Lion yelped in pain as a gash formed on its leg. A stream of energy connected from the lion to her scythe, and a granule of sand in the hourglass fell to the bottom half.
The battle raged on, the intensity increasing with each passing second. The Scarlet Flame Lion's body ignited with an even fiercer flame, each of its swipes trailing fire, setting the surroundings ablaze.
However, Mira held steady, her frost-tipped blade crashing against the fiery barrage, resulting in clouds of steam billowing upwards upon impact.
Then, with a burst of energy, the Lion charged forward and swiped. She wasn't expecting such power and was thrown back once more.
Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she twisted her body and landed gracefully, sliding back a few feet from the force.
But the lion was relentless. It lunged at her again, but Mira was ready this time. Her scythe swept up to meet the attack, the icy blade clashing against the flaming claws.
In a swift motion, she managed to draw another gash across the beast's torso.
Once again, a line of energy connected the beast to her scythe, and another granule of sand fell to the bottom half of the hourglass. The lion roared in pain, and its fury amplified as it sensed the ominous connection between its life force and the hourglass.
Mira didn't wait for the beast to recover. She sprang forward, moving with an inhuman speed and precision. She moved around the lion's strikes, each dodge a precise calculation, and each counterattack leaving another scar on the beast's flaming hide.
The hourglass continued its countdown with each successful strike. As the sands of time fell, the lion's movements began to slow, its fiery aura dimming.
But the beast wasn't about to go down without a fight.
Gathering its remaining strength, it let out a mighty roar, a wave of fiery Qi exploding outwards. Mira was forced to retreat, shielding herself from the blistering heat with a frost barrier.
Seeing an opportunity, the Scarlet Flame Lion charged at Mira with a burst of speed, aiming to trample her with its massive body.
However, this was the moment Mira was waiting for.
As the lion neared, she somersaulted over the beast, landing on its back.
With a swift movement, she plunged her scythe deep into the lion's back. An agonized roar escaped the beast as Mira yanked her weapon free, the black runes on her scythe pulsing with a sinister light.
Once again, the energy link appeared, and several granules of sand in the hourglass fell. The Lion's strength waned significantly, and it collapsed onto its knees, barely able to keep its body upright.
But Mira wasn't done. She leaped off the lion, turning in mid-air and swinging her scythe for one final, decisive strike. The blade cut through the air, a chilling aura emanating from it as it landed on the Scarlet Flame Lion's neck.
The connection appeared once more, and the last of the sand fell. The lion's body went stiff, its flames slowly extinguishing as it fell to the ground with a thud.
The battlefield fell silent, the only sound being the crackling of the dying fire and Mira's breaths.
Mira stored the lion's corpse, planning to extract its Blood Essence later. A Mystic-Grade Bloodline was definitely a major boon, especially once she purified it.
Silently, she returned to the group, her form appearing ghost-like amidst the smoke and embers. The team, having witnessed her power, remained silent. Each had found their trial, and each had emerged victorious.
Unfortunately, Mira should have been more careful when facing a beast with a Mystic-Grade Bloodline.
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