Chapter 1457: Yue Ying

One month later, Blood Refining Star.

A region with extraordinarily lush vegetation, where towering ancient trees stood in dense rows.

Vines coiled like dragons and serpents, saturated with potent life energy.

At this moment,

a slender, slightly disheveled figure darted through the dense forest at astonishing speed.

She wore a pale green battle suit, her silver hair tousled by her frantic sprint.

Her pointed elven ears trembled slightly, her exquisite face bearing an unprecedented solemnity and a faint, barely perceptible panic.

It was Yue Ying.

At this moment, she was no longer the usual cold and composed figure, as if being pursued by something utterly terrifying.

Strangely, her gaze kept scanning the surroundings.

Her spiritual force spread like mercury spilled on the ground, tightly monitoring every breeze and rustle within a radius of several kilometers.

Yet, whether through sight or spiritual perception,

everything was normal: only swaying trees and dense shrubbery.

No beast's shadow, no scent of blood, not even a trace of killing intent could be detected.

But Yue Ying's heart pounded wildly.

Something was nearby!

"Neither sight nor spiritual force can detect it..."

Yue Ying clenched her silver teeth.

The universe's races were boundless, many possessing unique abilities unknown to others.

The elves' special ability was innate affinity with the Life Dao.

They could harmonize with plants and draw vast information from them, achieving something akin to communication.

As the elven princess, this ability had reached its peak within her!

Even now, though sight and spiritual perception failed to detect the hidden threat,

the surrounding forest trees were frantically sending her warnings!

More critically, according to the information transmitted by the plants,

this entity had actually killed other contestants.

"Each contestant carries a rescue badge for survival.

Even if killed, it always happened before they could activate the rescue badge.

But the plants' message revealed that the monster simply ignored the rescue badges and killed others outright."

Yue Ying's heart tightened in dread.

That meant, if the monster caught up to her, she would surely die without fail!

"This is a nightmare..."

Originally, she had been teaming up with Bais and others.

But their group consisted only of Star Stage One and Two cultivators—pathetically weak.

Thus, within the first two or three months, Bais and the others had already been eliminated.

Only she, relying on her Silver Moon bloodline, had held on until the ninth month.

She had once felt a touch of pride.

A Star Stage Two cultivator surviving until the ninth month of the Beast Hunting Contest was already an extraordinary achievement.

Yet she never imagined she would face this calamity.

"If I'd known it would come to this, I'd have preferred to be eliminated earlier."

Yue Ying felt regret, but now, no amount of regret could change anything.

"No good!"

Suddenly, her expression shifted.

According to the information from the forest trees, the monster had accelerated!

And it was rushing toward her at incredible speed!

If this continued, she would be caught in less than ten seconds!

"Of course—it was only playing with me before, moving slowly on purpose."

A look of despair surfaced on Yue Ying's pale, delicate face.

Like a cat toying with a mouse.

Even if capable, a cat often does not seize the mouse immediately.

Instead, it treats the mouse as a toy, playing until it tires, then swallowing it whole.

Now, she was that mouse.

The old cat behind her had grown bored—and was ready to devour her.

Before this, Yue Ying had already been running for over an hour.

Her internal energy was nearly depleted; though she knew the monster had accelerated, she had no strength left to flee.

"Could it be... that I'm truly going to perish here?"

As Yue Ying sensed her life force nearing exhaustion, this thought surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.

Though she was the noble elven princess, gifted beyond measure and doted upon by countless others,

since embarking on the cultivation path—especially after leaving the Elven Star Region for the vast, cruel universe—she had not failed to consider the possibility of her own demise.

The universe was boundless, brimming with peril; the fall of geniuses was as common as stars going dark.

She had long been mentally prepared.

But as death drew so close, she still felt a flicker of panic.

Even her mind had begun to produce an effect akin to a life flash.

Countless memories surged through her mind in an instant.

Yet, she suddenly realized.

The regret surging within her was not about the cultivation realm she had failed to reach.

It was not about her duty as a princess, nor even about any clinging to life itself.

The focus of that regret, clear and jarring, settled upon a towering figure.

Xu Jingming!

His image burst into her mind without warning.

Short black hair, a cold and calm face, deep eyes, golden Lei Ting swirling around him in battle.

What did she regret? That she never got to go on another mission with him? That she never truly understood him?

Or that certain feelings, unspoken and even unexamined by herself, would never have a chance to take root and grow?

Yue Ying did not know.

She had never experienced such complex emotions.

Under the pressure of life and death, those subtle feelings she had deliberately ignored now became vivid.

She simply felt a hollow, aching regret.

It was something she had never felt before.

"If I'd known it would end like this, I wouldn't have been so reserved at that dinner."

A bitter curve touched Yue Ying's crimson lips.

Too late—she realized it too late; there would be no chance after this.

Sssss~~~

The forest trees sent another message: the monster would reach her in five seconds.

Just as she, too exhausted to run further, resigned herself and stopped in place.

Suddenly, a familiar male voice, laced with confusion, rang out right beside her ear:

"Huh? Yue Ying? What are you doing here?"

Not through a communicator. Not a distant shout.

But right beside her—as if the speaker stood right next to her.

Yue Ying shuddered violently, her turning motion freezing for an instant.

That voice was...

She snapped her head up toward the source of the voice.

There, suspended in the sky above, was a towering figure clad in black battle armor, with brilliant golden Lei Ting wings trailing behind him.

She saw his neat short hair, sharply defined profile, and those deep eyes now gazing at her with faint surprise.

Yue Ying's expression froze: "Xu Jingming?"

At first, she wondered if this was a hallucination born of despair.

But the information flowing from the surrounding forest trees proved it was real!

The wild, radiating golden Lei Ting was causing countless trees to feel discomfort.

If this were merely her illusion, the trees would not feel discomfort.

"Xu Jingming—it really is you!"

Yue Ying was overjoyed.

But the next instant, her face turned grim: "Quick! Run! There's a hidden monster here!"