The hideous beast's strength continued to rise as it shook its body fiercely.
It was revitalised, shaking off the weakness and the pain of its shattered Qi Core.
Its attention was fully directed towards the deeper area of the cave, not at all paying attention to Edifice.
They were already quite deep into the cave, but Edifice could not let it get deeper.
She latched onto its dragon-like tail again, trying to hold it back, but it merely slammed her against the walls of the cave.
'It's strength!'
Groaning, Edifice continued to hold on as the hideous beast began to move.
Unable to ground herself, she summoned a Qi Blade to stab into the flailing tail.
She stabbed deeply, giving herself purchase as another construct manifested.
Edifice stabbed another Qi Blade into the ground, to no avail.
Rampaging relentlessly, the hideous beast could not be stopped.
...
"What's going on?"
"Is something coming this way?"
"Calm yourselves and stand ready!"
Shouts of panic and reason resounded through the cave.
Selene sat far from the other Cultivators of the caravan but turned their way.
Rather, she looked beyond them, and a dreadful sense of foreboding lingered in the back of her mind.
Just before any thoughts could rise, there, up the trail the caravan came from, she saw the first glimpse of what worried her.
A massive beastial body of a tiger, almost as wide and tall as the cave's walls and roof.
The curtain of hair hid most of its face, but it was undoubtedly a human's head; one eye peered through the hair, twisted and manic.
'How did it get in!?'
'Did it get past Edifice? No. Where's Dawn? What happened to the two of them?!'
If she could see behind the giant body, Selene would see the ridiculously long, dragon-like tail, and her senior sister dangling off of it.
"What in the!"
"Retreat! Fall back!"
"To Where!? A twenty-meter drop lies beyond the edge. We have nowhere to go!"
"Do you think we can stand our ground!? What can we do!?"
"Hide, hide behind the carriages!"
The Cultivators all voiced their panic.
Some stood and summoned Dao Arts, launching it at the hideous beast.
Others ran to the edge, trying to find a quick and safe way to scale down.
Only the natural Spirit Spring was far below them.
The hideous beast finally arrived at the area where the caravan was stationed.
It smashed its body against one of the few carriages that made it down this far.
Wood splintered and flew through the air, and one of the Cultivators cowering within was squished to meat paste.
A nearby Cultivator attacked in a panic.
The Cultivator's Dao Art manifested boiling water; it was only meant for culinary uses.
Splashing the boiling water on the hideous beast warranted nothing but a cold glare and a cruel slap.
Its tiger paw raised and slammed into the side of the Cultivator.
His body crumbled before splattering against the cave's wall, reduced to a red stain on the dull stone.
"Fall back if you cannot fight!"
"Try and retreat to the Spirit Spring below, and find a means to escape this cave!"
At the mention of Spirit Spring, the beast's eyes were full of murderous intent.
It tried to lunge forward, but it was pulled back as its tail went slack.
"Accursed beast! How dare you slaughter my people!"
Shouting from behind, Edifice manifested a giant Qi construct to hold the beast's tail.
Dao Art -- Great Qi Hands!
The beast tried to turn its body, but couldn't do so in time as Edifice activated another Dao Art.
Dao Art -- Core Crush, Dirty Fireworks!
Pain. Heat. Danger.
It all arose in the hideous beast's heart.
Roaring in pain, its body convulsed as the heat pervaded outwards, and alarm bells rang in its head.
Pop!
Another Qi Core was destroyed.
Collapsing under its weight and the terrible pain in its chest, the hideous beast fell to the ground.
Its deafening roar echoed throughout the cave like a violent shockwave.
Unperturbed, Edifice raised one of the Great Qi Hands and slammed it into the beast's back.
The nails of the Great Qi Hand dug into its back, and Edifice dragged it towards her with fury in her eyes.
Raising her finger, she transformed the other Great Qi Hand into a spear.
Dropping her finger, so did the spear, flying towards the beast.
Groaning, power seemed to surge throughout the beast's body.
Trying to raise itself, the spear pinned it to the ground, stabbing into the hideous beast's stomach.
'Another Qi Core is destroyed.'
'Now, time to finish you! You wretched beast.'
At that thought, she raised the other Great Qi Hand and reformed it into a spear, raised just above the tip of her finger.
Selene watched as this beast was close to being put down.
As did the other Cultivators, watching in fear but also relief as the hideous beast was subdued by Edifice.
The human head of the hideous beast raised, its eyes pained and weak, and the curtain of hair parted to reveal its full ugliness.
Groaning, it opened its jaw and began to devour the air.
'It can't be!'
Quickly throwing the spear, she tried to prevent it from devouring the surrounding Qi but failed.
The spear she threw, and the one lodged into its stomach, began to disperse into wisps of Qi, entering the hideous beast's mouth.
The surrounding cave walls began to lose their tight structure and became brittle.
The air suddenly felt dry, and the Cultivators felt weak.
Only Edifice could properly protect herself; even she was spared from the hideous beast's radius.
Dao Art -- Four-Layered Protection!
Selene activated it out of instinct, barely resisting the suction of the beast.
Soon, the beast stopped, just as abruptly as it began; it closed its mouth as if to swallow.
"We lived...!"
"It couldn't kill us!"
"You fools! Get down!"
Edifice's call was a moment too late.
The hideous beast dropped its head and opened its mouth.
A furious tide of Qi surged from out of its mouth.
The Cultivators were too slow to react and too weak to defend themselves.
Most were dissolved by the Qi, melting in the stream.
Selene's defensive Dao Art could protect her, but she was knocked off the edge of the cave.
Her frail body arced through the air, with nothing but a twenty-meter drop and the natural Spirit Spring below her.
Selene fell, weak and limp, smashing along the thick, murky solution of Heaven Qi and Earth Qi.
Sinking to the bottom.
...