"Stay near me, Han Shun. Those beasts are dangerous!"

"Bai Gege…" 

Han Shun watched Bai Gege looking around with his watchful eyes. This was the first time he ever saw Bai Gege panic— no, more like on full alert.

He usually faced any enemy with a lazy expression, as if everything was so mundane. But tonight was different. Bai Gege looked nervous. 

"Bai Gege, are they really dangerous?" Han Shun asked. He remembered telling God Han Ye to send mid to high-level Celestial beasts because Han Shun could take those down. 

That also meant Bai Gege shouldn't be this nervous. Because Bai Gege was just so powerful.

Bai Shijue glanced at Han Shun and replied, "It's dangerous because we're walking through the forest during the period of thick mist, which means all those celestial beasts could hide behind the thick mist that surrounds us."

"I also can't unleash my real power to wipe them all because it's limited when I'm not inside the immortal realm," Bai Shijue explained. "Truthfully, I'm more worried about you, Han Shun. Stand behind me and don't do anything rash."

Han Shun felt like he was being protected for no reason. He was strong, and he had his golden core! He could wipe them all with his attack!

KREEEEHHH!

Bai Shijue darted his eyes to the northwest direction and opened his palm, "Energy beam."

Bai Shijue released a yellow sphere made out of pure energy and shot it in the direction. 

KREEEEHHH!!!!

The enemy behind the thick mist suddenly attacked both of them. It was actually a giant rattlesnake with golden scales.

Bai Shijue was shocked because this celestial beast was a high leveled beast that often hid underground, waiting to ambush any cultivator passing in its trap. 

[Pupa: Golden Rattlesnake. Be careful. Its venom can kill you instantly if you don't die from constriction first.]

Bai Shijue knew he had to take a defensive stance. He raised his hand and surrounded them with an energy shield. 

The golden rattlesnake whipped the energy shield with its tail to no avail. Thus, the golden rattlesnake used its fangs to bite on the energy shield surrounding Han Shun and Bai Shijue. 

"Ugh…" Bai Shijue started getting cold sweat as he tried to regenerate the energy shield. It was difficult to fight these monsters during a thick mist night, and Bai Shijue wasn't in his prime condition right now. 

"Bai Gege, are you alright?" Han Shun asked. He got worried when he realized Bai Gege struggled to maintain the energy shield. 

"Ugh, I'm… alright, stay put, Han Shun!"

Han Shun saw how difficult it was for Bai Gege, and he didn't want to stand still. He needed to protect his Gege!

"I will attack that monster while you're defending, Bai Gege!" Han Shun said. 

"No, you can't! This energy shield works both ways, which means you can't use your power while you're inside my energy shield because you will hurt us both!" 

"That means I just have to step out!" Han Shun hastily jumped out of the energy shield and absorbed water from the trees around them to make an ice javelin. 

But the golden rattlesnake realized it and used its tail to whip toward Han Shun.

"HAN SHUN, NO!" 

Bai Shijue realized that Han Shun didn't seem to hear him, so he halved his energy shield and put it towards Han Shun. 

Han Shun was shocked when the rattlesnake tail almost hit him, had it not because of Bai Gege's energy shield.

KRRRHHH!

CRACK! CRACK! CRASH!

"ARGH!" Bai Shijue couldn't focus on creating two shields and decided to put his remaining energy towards Han Shun's shield, weakening his shield instead.

The golden rattlesnake's fang successfully shattered his shield. Bai Shijue jumped to the left before the fang hit him. 

"BAI GEGE!" Han Shun was about to jump towards Bai Gege, but the golden rattlesnake slithered between them, ultimately limiting his view of Bai Gege's condition right now. 

Han Shun gritted his teeth. He turned the ice javelin into an ice claymore and grabbed it. 

"HRRAARGH!" Han Shun slashed the golden rattlesnake in half. The snake shivered for a moment before it died. 

Han Shun jumped to check on Bai Gege, but to his surprise, Bai Gege suddenly disappeared!

"Bai Gege? BAI GEGE!?" Han Shun looked around in a panic because Bai Gege had suddenly disappeared from his sight. He thought the mist was the cause, so he closed his eyes to detect Bai Gege's spot right now.

But even after he used the third eye, he still couldn't spot Bai Gege's location, as if he had been swallowed by the earth.

'No, I can't find him! Where is Bai Gege!' 

'Are you searching for Bai Shijue?'

Han Shun heard the familiar voice inside his head, and he nodded, 'Yes! He is gone! Master Han Ye, how could you send such thick mist and dangerous monster to fight! I don't want anything to happen to Bai Gege!'

'Haha, don't worry about it. Bai Shijue just got caught by a celestial beast called the goo.'

'The goo?'

'Yes, a black puddle of goo engulfed someone and ate the victim very slowly. It's not dangerous as long as you can free Bai Shijue in less than 30 minutes,' Han Ye informed.

'And how am I supposed to free Bai Gege? I can't even see him!' 

'Heh, I will tell you the location of that goo until you killed this one, of course.'

God Han Ye disappeared from Han Shun's mind, and Han Shun could feel the earth was shaking. He closed his eyes to pinpoint the location of the next celestial beast.

"Found you!" Han Shun created an ice wall to stop the charging beast.

SMASH! CRASH!

"FUCK!" Han SHun cursed as he saw a giant boar with a steel tusk break through his ice wall so easily. 

Han Shun had to turn into the water so he wouldn't get hurt as the steel tusk giant boar tackled his body. 

Han Shun looked over his shoulder and saw the giant boar stop and turn around, ready to charge toward Han Shun again. 

'Hehe, try to defeat this one quickly, or Bai Shijue will die in less than 30 minutes,' God Han Ye said in Han Shun's head.