The news spread like wildfire.
Before the blood on the battlefield had even dried, the surrounding clans already knew—
The Hawk Clan had slain a six-star demonic beast.
Shock rippled through the beast world.
Six-star beasts were calamities—existences capable of wiping out entire clans. Even a Chief-level warrior would think twice before facing one.
Yet the Hawk Clan had done the impossible.
And they hadn't done it alone.
Messengers arrived breathless at every border, their voices trembling as they repeated the same story.
"Golden light descended from the Hawk Clan territory."
"That light healed two warriors in the middle of battle."
"The six-star beast dropped a core stone… and it was purified."
Every clan reacted differently.
The Tiger Clan elders slammed their fists onto stone tables in disbelief.
The Wolf Clan fell into uneasy silence.
The Snake Clan's high council stiffened, cold eyes narrowing.
"Golden purification," one elder whispered. "That is not ordinary healing."
Back at Hawk Clan territory, the air was thick with awe.
The battlefield had been cleared, but the six-star beast's core stone remained—floating above a stone altar, radiating unstable power. Normally, such a stone would be steeped in corruption, dangerous even to approach.
But this one—
—was different.
Lin Yue stood beside it, pale but steady.
His hands glowed softly with warm golden light as he pressed them against Feng Lihan's injured chest. Torn flesh knitted together, fractured bones realigned, and scorched meridians were restored as if they had never been damaged.
Feng Lihan inhaled sharply.
The pain vanished.
Not dulled.
Gone.
Mo Shan, standing nearby, stared in stunned silence as the dark bruises on his own body faded under the same light. His cracked core stabilized completely, five-star power settling with newfound clarity.
"…This isn't normal healing," Mo Shan muttered. "It's like being reborn."
The golden light spread—unintentionally—washing over the six-star beast's core stone.
The reaction was immediate.
The stone trembled violently.
Black corruption hissed and burned away, dissolving into nothing under Lin Yue's presence. Within moments, the once-tainted core turned clear and radiant, pulsing with pure elemental energy.
The elders gasped.
"A purified six-star core…"
Feng Lihan's eyes sharpened.
Without hesitation, he reached out and absorbed it.
Power exploded.
A violent wind surged through the territory, tearing clouds apart as Feng Lihan's aura rose sharply. His natural wind magic, refined over decades, roared to life—
Then something changed.
Heat followed.
Flames erupted along his wings, not wild or destructive, but perfectly controlled, intertwining with the wind instead of fighting it.
Fire.
Pure fire magic.
Feng Lihan's eyes widened for the first time in years.
"…Fire and wind?" an elder whispered. "Dual-element awakening?"
The battlefield fell into stunned silence.
In all recorded history, only legendary beast kings had wielded more than one elemental affinity without losing control.
Feng Lihan slowly lifted his hand.
Wind gathered.
Fire followed.
They spiraled together, forming a blazing vortex that hummed with terrifying harmony.
"This power…" he said quietly. "It's stable."
Lin Yue staggered, exhaustion finally catching up to him. Mo Shan caught him instantly, holding him upright.
"You purified a six-star core," Mo Shan said softly, awe and fear mixed in his voice. "Do you even understand what that means?"
Lin Yue shook his head weakly. "I just… didn't want any more corruption."
That answer sent chills through everyone present.
By nightfall, the truth had fully spread.
Not only had the Hawk Clan killed a six-star beast—
Golden light had healed warriors mid-battle.
A corrupted core had been purified.
And Feng Lihan now wielded both wind and fire.
Across the beast world, ancient beings opened their eyes.
And for the first time in centuries—
The balance of power began to tilt.