The air was thick with tension, and time seemed to slow as the Beast King's claws raced toward Zhen. The quiet boy's eyes were wide, paralyzed by the impending death rushing toward him. Just as the fatal blow was about to land, a massive hammer crashed against the Beast King's side.

"Get back!" Jinhai roared, his voice deep and filled with desperate fury. His hammer slammed into the beast with all the strength he could muster, sending the creature staggering backward for a moment. The impact forced the Beast King to redirect its attention away from Zhen and toward Jinhai.

Zhen stumbled back, gasping for breath, and Mei quickly rushed to his side, pulling him away from the fight.

Wuji, lying on the ground with blood dripping from the slash on his arm, gritted his teeth and forced himself up. His body screamed in protest, but his mind was racing. He knew they couldn't keep this up much longer. The Beast King was using Qi to enhance its movements and strength, and they were barely holding their own against it. It was only a matter of time before it overpowered them.

But then something clicked in Wuji's mind.

He had been watching the way the Beast King fought, how it moved. It wasn't using Qi continuously—only when necessary. When it needed speed, the Qi would gather around its legs, boosting its agility. When it was under attack, the Qi would form a barrier around the targeted area, protecting it from harm. The creature was incredibly efficient with its use of Qi, conserving it until the exact moment it was needed.

Wuji's eyes narrowed. 'Efficiency.' That was the key. The beast wasn't invulnerable—it was just smart about how it used its Qi. If they could force it to overuse its Qi, to spread it too thin, they might be able to land a fatal blow.

His engineering background surged to the forefront of his mind. Back on Earth, he had studied systems and energy flow. The more strain you put on a system, the more likely it was to fail if pushed too far. The Beast King's Qi was no different. It could only defend in one place at a time, and if they overwhelmed it with enough attacks in multiple areas, they could force it to mismanage its energy.

"We can't fight it head-on!" Wuji shouted, pulling himself to his feet. His friends turned to look at him, desperation in their eyes. "It's too fast and too strong when it uses Qi. But if we can make it defend in too many places at once, it won't be able to keep up."

Jinhai, still catching his breath from fending off the beast, wiped the sweat from his brow. "What do you mean?"

Wuji's mind worked quickly. "It only uses Qi when it needs to. Right now, it's focusing on one of us at a time, so it's never defending more than one spot. If we can attack it from all sides at once, it won't be able to keep up. We just need to keep the pressure on."

Mei's eyes lit up with understanding. "You're saying we need to force it to divide its Qi?"

"Exactly," Wuji said, gripping his sword tighter. His body ached, but his mind was clearer than ever. "If we all attack different spots at the same time, it won't be able to defend all of them."

The plan was risky, but it was the only shot they had. The Beast King was wounded and relying heavily on its Qi. If they could force it to overuse its energy, they could break through its defenses.

Jinhai hefted his hammer again, determination hardening his expression. "Let's do it."

They spread out, circling the Beast King as it growled, its glowing eyes darting between them. It could sense something had changed. It tensed, its muscles rippling beneath its thick fur, preparing to react.

"Now!" Wuji shouted.

Jinhai swung his hammer down with a powerful blow aimed at the beast's hind legs, while Mei darted in with lightning-fast strikes at its side. Zhen, still shaken but resolute, slashed at its front with his short sword, while Wuji rushed forward, targeting the creature's head.

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The Beast King roared, its Qi flaring to defend against the simultaneous attacks. A shimmering barrier formed around its legs to block Jinhai's hammer, while its side was enveloped in another protective layer to fend off Mei's daggers. Its Qi surged to cover Zhen's strike at its front, leaving it exposed for a split second.

That was the moment Wuji had been waiting for.

He dashed forward, his sword aimed at the Beast King's neck. The creature, struggling to maintain multiple layers of Qi, couldn't react in time. Wuji's blade found its mark, cutting deep into its flesh. The Beast King let out a deafening roar of pain, its Qi faltering as it tried to regain control.

"Keep going!" Wuji yelled, his voice hoarse. "It's working!"

They pressed the attack, each of them striking at different parts of the creature's body. The Beast King's Qi flickered, unable to keep up with the relentless assault. Wuji could see the panic in the creature's glowing eyes—it was running out of energy, its once invincible aura beginning to fade.

With a final, desperate swing of his hammer, Jinhai struck the beast in its hind leg, shattering the Qi barrier and breaking the bone beneath. The Beast King collapsed to the ground, its body shaking with exhaustion.

Wuji raised his sword high and brought it down with all his strength, driving the blade deep into the beast's neck. The Beast King let out one last, pitiful growl before its body went still.

They had done it.

Panting, Wuji stepped back, his hands trembling from the adrenaline. He looked at his friends—Jinhai's chest heaved with exhaustion, Mei's face was streaked with sweat and dirt, and Zhen's hands were still shaking from the near-death experience.

But they were alive. They had survived.

As the adrenaline faded, Wuji's mind returned to a more analytical state. He crouched down beside the Beast King's massive body, studying it closely. Something wasn't right. The creature had been incredibly strong, but there were moments during the fight when it had hesitated as if it was already weakened.

"Look here," Wuji said, pointing to the creature's stomach. There was a deep, circular indentation as if something had struck it with tremendous force. "This isn't from us."

Jinhai frowned, leaning in for a closer look. "A punch?"

"It looks like it," Wuji said, his brow furrowing. "But more than that, the internal damage is severe. Whatever hit this thing didn't just bruise it—it ruptured its organs. There's massive internal bleeding."

Mei's eyes widened. "You're saying this thing was already injured before we fought it?"

Wuji nodded. "It must've been hit by a Qi cultivator. Someone strong. Really strong. The punch left this mark, but the shockwave from the blow must've torn it up inside."

They all stood silent for a moment, the weight of that realization sinking in. The Beast King had been terrifying even in its weakened state. If it had been at full strength, there was no way they would have survived the encounter.

Jinhai's face went pale as he ran a hand through his hair. "If it was this powerful while injured, imagine what it was like at full strength."

A chill ran down Wuji's spine. He didn't want to imagine it. The sheer power of Qi was something they had only heard about in legends, but now they had seen it firsthand. This was the kind of power the nobles and aristocrats guarded so jealously. And if a random Qi cultivator could do this to the Beast King, what kind of strength did the sect elders possess?

"We need to be stronger," Wuji said, his voice quiet but firm. "We need to be ready for when we face something like this again."

After securing as much meat as they could from the Beast King's corpse, they made their way back to the village, their bodies aching and covered in cuts and bruises. By the time they arrived, the sun was setting, casting long shadows over the village as they walked through the gates.

------

Back at the village, Mother Qin's face paled when she saw the state they were in. "Heavens, what have you children gotten yourselves into?" she exclaimed, rushing to tend to their wounds.

She worked tirelessly, cleaning and bandaging their injuries. Wuji winced as she wrapped his arm, the pain flaring with each movement.

"You're lucky you all came back alive," she scolded, her voice stern but filled with concern.

Wuji nodded, exhaustion weighing heavily on him. His body was battered, his muscles sore, and he knew that he would need at least a month or two to fully recover.

As Mother Qin moved on to tend to Mei and the others, Wuji leaned back against the wall, his mind wandering. From the moment he had regained his memories, he had been driven by a singular goal—becoming powerful, unlocking the mysteries of Qi, and understanding this new world.

But now, for the first time, he felt the need to rest. His body demanded it, and even his mind, always racing with new ideas and strategies, seemed to quiet. He had worked tirelessly for years, never stopping, never allowing himself a moment of peace.

What will I do for the next month or two? he wondered, his thoughts drifting as exhaustion began to overtake him.

As his eyelids grew heavy, he thought about the future. There was so much he didn't know—so many mysteries left to uncover. But for now, rest was the only thing his body could handle.

With that final thought, Wuji closed his eyes and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.