Beauty.

Wei Wushang's words carried an aura of courage that couldn't help but touch Zhang Mei's heart and infuse her spirit with a kind of strength.

Zhang Mei carefully reduced the area of the barrierr by 60%. Then she took a deep breath to calm her heart and expressed her thoughts, "Actually, shrinking the barrier is not the only possible way to reduce spiritual essence consumption."

Then she hesitated to speak further.

"Oh there's another way we can buy time. Please continue," Wei Wushang said with an encouraging gaze.

Zhang Mei nodded meekly, "The other method is to stop these wolves from attacking the barrier. You see, their repeated attacks on the barrier are what's really consuming my spiritual essence at such an rapid pace. If they were to stop attacking the barrier for just a few minutes, then I think we can hold on for the required twenty minutes easily."

Wei Wushang was silent.

Zhang Mei felt ashamed for making such a unreasonable demand and quickly added, "Um, I know this is too much to ask but it's the only way."

"Actually, it's not too much." Wei Wushang's eyes suddenly shone with an undetectable dark shine.

The multitude of thoughts in his mind clashed and ultimately provided him with a solution to this predicament.

"Could there really be a solution to this nightmare?" Zhang Mei's excitement surged at once.

Wei Wushang did not to answer her.

Instead, he turned around and smiled at Li Zhihua. The girl instantly felt a chill rise from the depths of her soul.

"W-why are you looking at me like that?" Li Zhihua was extremely frightened, crying out loudly as she scampered to the edge of the barrier.

Under Wei Wushang's gaze that was filled with coldness, the already frightened Li Zhihua suddenly felt as if she stood naked in the midst of ice and snow.

"Sister Li, I forgot to ask. Have you awakened your martial spirit?" Wei Wushang questioned, maintaining an emotionless stare.

"I..." Li Zhihua hesitated, her eyes lowering as she bit her lips and fearfully shook her head sideways.

"I thought as much... Hmph, then your uselessness is solely your own fault," Wei Wushang sneered, then raised his leg and delivered a powerful kick to her stomach sending Li Zhihua flying outside the barrier!

Thud.

Li Zhihua landed outside the barrier with a harsh impact.

Dead silence!

At this time, it was as if time had stopped.

The outside winds blew relentlessly. Li Zhihua was laying on the ground, her peach like face was covered in mud as she stared blankly at Wei Wushang.

In front of her, less than ten steps away, were the pack of grey wolves.

These savage beasts were still furiously smashing their bodies against the prison barrier. They did not expect that, in the very next moment such a drastic change would occur.

They were stunned too, staring blankly at Li Zhihua as watery liquid escaped their mouths.

Inside the Earthly Prison barrier Zhang Mei stood like a statue, silent and unmoving. Her mouth was open so wide that a fist could fit in and her eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets.

It wasn't until the shockwave from the clash between the two immortals reached their location that everyone snapped awake.

"Ahhh—!!" Li Zhihua shrieked loudly, before frantically struggling to get back on her feet.

When she finally staggered to her feet and made a desperate dash toward the barrier, the wolves had already closed in. The wolf in the forefront sank its teeth into the girl's arm and brutally tore out a large chunk of flesh.

"Wahhh!!!" Li Zhihua let out a shrill scream of agony as heart-wrenching pain shot through her, but in that instant another wolf pounced on her and placed its teeth into her neck, mercilessly ripping her throat open and killing her on the spot.

Without hesitation, the remaining wolves swarmed in and greedily teared into the girl's lifeless body. The disturbing sounds of the wolves' chewing and biting, as well as their swallowing could be heard.

In a heartbeat, the girl's body had turned into a banquet for the hungry wolves. The once stunning Li Zhihua was now just a heap of flesh and bones, her beauty rendered worthless in the face of death.

Inside the Prison barrier.

"Wei Wushang, have you gone insane?!"

"You pushed her to die. Wei Wushang, you're a murderer!!"

"How could you do something like this???"

The Zhang siblings quickly distanced themselves from Wei Wushang and stared at him with unshakeable disbelief written across thier faces.

While the culprit, Wei Wushang ignored them and calmly watched the wolves tear apart Li Zhihua's lifeless body.

He thought to himself, 'This should buy us enough time... But should that be my main concern? I just killed her. So, that makes me a bad person... Well, technically, I pushed her to die. It was the wolves that killed her, not me.'

'But that's not a good justification, is it...? Wait, this is absurd! Why am I even trying to justify it? And to whom exactly? Haha, what lunacy has gotten over me.'

The thought made Wei Wushang laugh out loud, prompting the already terrified Zhang siblings to scramble to the very edge of the barrier.

Wei Wushang abruptly stopped laughing and fell into a deep silence. 'Maybe it's not lunacy that's provoking this weak justification within me. It's.. the nagging thought of my parents disappointment if they ever saw me become a murderer. But I've already chosen my path, which means my resolve is lacking.'

Such a thought made Wei Wushang's blood boil in anger, even his breathing turned heavy.

'What a fool you are Wei Wushang! Such great aspirations you hold in your heart, yet you waver at the very first step! Are you even worthy of having such ambitions? Hah, didn't you swear on your parents grave that you'd walk your own path? Was that a lie? Did you lie to your parents, you piece of shit?!'

He grit his teeth,'No, no, this won't do. I'm not a piece of shit... Maybe I am. No, I'm definitely a piece of shit. I'm the biggest piece of shit, the kind that stinks. But I'm not content being a piece of shit! No, that's not what I want to be. I, I, I want to be a flower...!?' Wei Wushang's thoughts abruptly halted. His brows furrowed, and he wondered, 'Now, why do I want to be a flower?'

He scratched the back of his head, a bit confused. But then, a spark of enlightenment flashed in his eyes, 'Ah, yes, it's the lotus. I want to be like the lotus. It grows in muddy waters but remains unblemished by dirt, so pure and divine. That's it. I want my fragrance to exude greatness and extraordinariness, despite the filth I am.'

'I need to quickly eliminate these unnecessary weaknesses. Dump the past like the trash it is and focus solely on my present. Be only loyal to my dreams and betray the past, for the past is already dead!'

Wei Wushang was locked in a fierce mental battle with himself, it was clear from the way he so tightly clenched his fists. Even his usually calm face betrayed a look utmost fury at this moment.

Wei Wushang wasn't the type to hold back or pull punches, not with others and certainly not with himself. Some people might see this type of behavior as a form of endless suffering, but for Wei Wushang, understanding and knowing oneself was extremely, I mean extremely important.

From the corner of the prison barrier, Zhang Hao and Zhang Mei watched in great fear as their perception of Wei Wushang changed from a murderous bastard into a unstable lunatic.

It was only when the wolves had finished devouring half of the girl's corpse did Wei Wushang finally relax.

He then turned to Zhang Mei and her brother.

Gazing at them with his cold unblinking eyes, he spoke calmly, "Don't make a fuss. It's just killing. Now, hurry up and recover your spiritual energy."