High Martial Arts: Gains one point of health per second, sweeping across the heavens.

While frantically circulating his qi and blood to repair his injuries and suppress the paralyzing effect of the lightning, Su Jie also used the "Stepping the Sky" technique to fight against the Golden Thunder Eagle.

The Golden Thunder Eagle launched continuous attacks from the air, its claws, feathers, and even the occasional thunderballs it spat out kept Su Jie in grave danger, leaving him only able to dodge passively and unable to mount an effective counterattack.

"No! Fighting it in the air would be too disadvantageous for me! I have to lure it to the ground, or find a place with lots of obstacles!"

Su Jie's mind raced, and he fought and retreated, heading towards a chaotic area not far away, filled with huge rocks and the remains of demonic beasts, formed by the previous battle.

The Golden Thunder Eagle clearly saw through Su Jie's intentions and attacked even more swiftly, attempting to intercept him halfway.

Su Jie gritted his teeth and withstood several non-fatal feather attacks, sustaining a few more wounds before finally rushing into the rocky area in a disheveled state.

With the boulders providing cover, the Golden Thunder Eagle's ranged attacks were greatly limited. It screeched angrily, forced to descend and weave through the stone forest, trying to pull Su Jie out with its talons and beak.

In an instant, figures flew through the stone forest, golden light flashed, and booming sounds filled the air.

Su Jie managed to hold his own against the Golden Thunder Eagle by relying on the exquisite "Stepping into the Sky" technique and the complex environment of the Stone Forest, but he was still at a significant disadvantage. His injuries continued to accumulate, and his vital energy was being rapidly depleted.

"Damn it, I'm going to be worn down to death at this rate!" Su Jie hid behind a boulder, panting heavily. He felt that he only had less than 30,000 units of blood and energy left in his body and that his body was covered in wounds. His eyes turned fierce.

"We have no choice but to take a risky gamble!"

He carefully observed the movement trajectory of the Golden Thunder Eagle and discovered that after each dive attack, it would have an extremely brief moment to adjust its posture due to the obstruction of the stone forest.

"That's the opportunity!"

Su Jie took a deep breath, frantically mobilizing the remaining blood and energy in his body, silently calculating the landing point of the next attack from the Golden Thunder Eagle.

coming!

Like a golden lightning bolt, the Thunder Eagle swooped down again, its sharp claws grabbing at the boulder where Su Jie was hiding!

It's now!

Su Jie's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Instead of dodging, he suddenly rushed out from behind the boulder and charged towards the Golden Thunder Eagle!

He abandoned all defense and concentrated all his energy and will on the index and middle fingers of his right hand!

"Penetrating Void Finger! Two thousand five hundred points of Qi and Blood! Hit me!!"

He roared this out as if burning his life force, pouring the maximum amount of vital energy his body could currently withstand—2,500 points—into this finger strike without reservation! This was his strongest attack to date!

Om-! ! !

The black hole effect at the fingertips was more pronounced than ever before, as if even space itself was being torn apart! A deadly sense of crisis, which even sent chills down the spines of the Golden Thunder Eagle, descended instantly!

It wanted to flap its wings and fly, to twist its body, but the momentum of its dive and the environment of the stone forest restricted it! It could only watch helplessly as the finger force, which was concentrated with destructive power, rapidly magnified in its pupils!

"puff--!!!"

The finger strike landed with pinpoint accuracy at the junction of the Golden Thunder Eagle's relatively vulnerable neck and chest! The power, condensed to its peak, erupted instantly, tearing through the tough dark gold feathers and piercing through the muscles and bones!

"Hiss—!!!"

The Thunder Eagle let out a mournful cry filled with pain and resentment, its massive body plummeting from the sky like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the rocks and kicking up clouds of dust.

It struggled to get up, but blood gushed from the huge wound on its neck, and its life force receded like the tide.

[Successfully defeated the elite-level beast "Golden Thunder Eagle," gaining 1500 Federation Contribution Points!]

[Refining successful! Gained 85 points of Qi and Blood Essence!]

"Cough cough, I won..." Su Jie knelt on one knee, coughing up a mouthful of blood, his face as pale as paper. His right arm hung limply, his meridians throbbing with excruciating pain, his blood and energy almost completely drained, and his wounds burning with pain.

But when he saw the system notification and the full 85 points of Qi and Blood Essence, a smile of relief appeared on his face.

Worth it!

He dared not linger, and with a strong breath, he used the "Sky-Stepping Technique" to stagger to a relatively hidden crevice in the rocks. He immediately crawled inside and moved a few stones to roughly cover the entrance.

After refining the Golden Thunder Eagle, Su Jie's total Qi and Blood Essence reached 103 points!

"That's enough to upgrade four! System, upgrade my martial arts skills by four levels ten in a row!" Su Jie said without hesitation.

[Consuming 25 points of Qi and Blood Essence, Martial Aperture level increased to 10! Combat Power +30!]

[Consumes 25 points of Qi and Blood Essence...]

【…】

Four warm currents surged through his body in succession. Nourished by the new life force, his injuries began to heal at a visible speed, and his depleted blood and energy were rapidly restored.

"Phew..." Su Jie let out a long sigh of relief, leaning against the cold rock, feeling the solid foundation brought by the thirty-four level-ten martial acupoints in his body and the rapid recovery, and his heart calmed down a little.

"I'll recover here first. Once I'm fully recovered, the beast tide outside... hmph." He closed his eyes. Although he had gone through a tough battle, the gains were enormous.

Not only did his strength improve again, but more importantly, he proved his ability to fight to the limit under high pressure.

"Emerald-level beasts are nothing special! Once I recover, I'll push my level 10 martial acupoints to over forty, then I'll go and face those real big fish!" Su Jie's fighting spirit soared. This beast tide was practically a tailor-made super training ground for him!

About an hour later, thanks to his own recovery and the combined effects of the "Origin Breathing Technique," his blood and qi reserves rose to over 80,000 points, and his wounds had basically healed, leaving only some shallow scars.

"I've almost recovered!" Su Jie opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

He quietly pushed aside the obstructing stones and peeked out to observe the outside world.

The beast tide has descended into complete chaos due to the death of the Golden Thunder Eagle and the fact that a large number of general-level demonic beasts were "stolen" by Su Jie. The soldier-level demonic beasts have lost their commander; some are still blindly charging the outpost defenses, some have begun to kill each other, and many more are scattering and fleeing into the wilderness.

With the pressure on the front line greatly reduced, the soldiers even began to organize small-scale counterattacks to clear out the monsters that had rushed down the wall.

"Great opportunity! Now is the time to pick up the scraps... no, the time to wipe out the remaining enemies!" Su Jie chuckled, his figure once again disappearing into the chaotic horde of beasts.

This time, his target was clearer: those general-level demon beasts who were still trying to maintain order amidst the chaos, or those who were strong enough to try to gather the fleeing soldiers!

These demonic beasts stood out amidst the chaos, becoming Su Jie's best guiding light.

"Penetrating Void Finger! Eight Hundred Qi and Blood!"

"Penetrating Void Finger! One Thousand Qi and Blood!"

"Penetrating Void Finger! 1200 Qi and Blood!"