A day ago.

Within the periphery of the Endless Forest, Yang Zenke led his group of five with a vigilant expression on his face. He wiped off the sweat trickling down his cheeks using his dirt-covered hands.

"Brother Yang, that Spiked Giant Worm might be following us. I think it would be better for us if we fight it out. Our food and water won't last us for long, and by then, we won't have enough energy to confront it." One of Yang Zenke's teammates suggested with a grim face.

Yang Zenke glanced at his team and saw their worn-out appearance. They have been sent here by Jiu Shen to train their fighting abilities against the savage beasts of the Endless Forest. Today was the last day of their training, but it seemed like they could not regroup with the other teams. The reason for this was because their group was being tailed by an early stage 7th-rank Emperor realm Spiked Giant Worm!

It was a huge worm that stretched around fifty meters in length and with a body as huge as a barrel. Together with the sharp spikes around it, this Spiked Giant Worm would prove to be troublesome even for experienced 7th-rank Emperor realm cultivators.

Yang Zenke's ears suddenly twitched and he immediately crouched and touched the ground with the palm of his hands.

His teammates were surprised by his actions, but they suddenly felt a sense of crisis when they saw the change in Yang Zenke's expression.

"It's here. Everyone prepare for battle!" Yang Zenke shouted when he felt the ground trembling.

He took out his blood-red sword and glared at the distance. From there, he could see a huge cloud of dust and smoke as a huge behemoth slithered towards his group with its huge mouth opened wide.

Everyone immediately pulled out their swords when they felt the trembling of the ground. They knew that the creature that was following them for days had finally caught up with them.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The trembling of the ground intensified as the huge beast came nearer.

Yang Zenke narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Spiked Giant Worm ahead of them. He was quite nervous about the thought of fighting against this savage beast since it was many times stronger than them. However, there was no fear in his eyes!

This savage beast had no eyes, but its sense of smell was leagues above other savage beasts. Its sharp rows of teeth were covered in blood, a testament that it had eaten a bunch of creatures along the way.

"Don't be afraid! With the master's sword, we can cut anything!" Yang Zenke's words increased everyone's morale and the light in their eyes flashed with madness as they eyed the Spiked Giant Worm.

It was unthinkable to see a bunch of youths facing a wild 7th-rank Emperor realm savage beast. Not even the young elites of the Alliance would dare to this insane thing!

***

A thousand meters away from the scene was a man with long wavy red hair. He stood atop a tall tree as he gazed at the confrontation between Yang Zenke's group and the Spiked Giant Worm. This man was Hu Xiandao. He was the man sent by Jiu Shen to secretly protect the youths during their training.

Behind Hu Xiandao was a cold-looking lady in her early thirties. She had a hair full of black hair that reached her waist. This lady is one of the elders of the Ice Cloud Sword Sect.

"Lord Hu, are you sure that you don't want to interfere? Sect Master Jiu's task is to protect the kids from danger. It would be bad if those kids get heavily injured because of this." The cold-looking lady said as she looked at Hu Xiandao.

Hu Xiandao turned his head towards her and replied in a confident tone. "Indeed, but Sect Master Jiu's plan was to train these kids and to let them experience life and death battles. This is a great opportunity for them and it would be a pity if I interfere. Don't worry. If those kids will be in danger, I will immediately go and save them."

The cold-looking lady nodded her head reluctantly upon heading his words. There were three young ladies among Yang Zenke's group and this three were disciples of their Ice Cloud Sword Sect. She wasn't worried about Yang Zenke and the others since they already have much experience in fighting against the savage beast, but those three young girls were still inexperienced.

"I hope those girls will be alright." She muttered silently, but Hu Xiandao was able to hear her words clearly.

"Don't worry about them. Yang Zenke is the leader of this group and he should be able to prevent that beast from seriously injuring his teammates. Besides, we are still here to protect them. Let's go closer." Hu Xiandao said before leaping from one tree to another.

The cold-looking lady followed after him.

***

"Stay close to each other and don't let it hit you!" Yang Zenke shouted as he dashed towards the Spike Giant Worm. He was actually planning to attack it head-on!

"Brother Yang! Be careful!"

The Spiked Giant Worm could sense a small human running towards it, so it immediately aimed its sharpened fangs towards this crazy human.

Yang Zenke abruptly jumped into the air when he saw that the beast's movement. He then brandished the sword in his hands as he shouted.

"Earth Slicing Sword Spectrum!"

An arc of bloody light shot out of his sword and streaked towards the Spiked Giant Worm.

The savage beast felt threatened when it sensed Yang Zenke's attack. It hastily pulled itself backward, but it was still hit by Yang Zenke's slash.

Puchi!

Roaaarrr!!!

The Spiked Giant Worm emitted a pained cry after it was hit. However, Yang Zenke and the others saw its open wounds speedily closing up.

"It's recovering! This savage beast actually has a high regenerative ability!" One of them cried out after witnessing the scene.

Yang Zenke glared at the Spiked Giant Worm and muttered to himself. "Tch! This will be difficult..."