Killing Intent

Yuan Ming's heart tightened, and he hurriedly looked toward the sound.

Amid the flying dust, an abnormally tall figure crawled out. It was a brown bear covered head to toe in yellow fur, more than twice as tall as the black bear he had killed earlier, nearly as large as a one-story house.

Under its gaze, Yuan Ming felt as if some terrifying monster had fixed its eyes on him. His hairs stood on end. Though he appeared calm, his heart was filled with unease!

This ferocious beast is far beyond that wild boar. Could my luck really be this bad? Did I run into a mid-tier first-rank beast? His heart sank.

Not to mention that he had just gone through a battle—even though he had won easily, it had consumed quite a bit of mana. Even at his peak, he would not have dared face a mid-tier first-rank ferocious beast head-on.

Thoughts raced through Yuan Ming's mind. Suddenly, he let out a thunderous roar, the muscles across his body swelling as he made a show of pouncing.

The brown bear beast halted, wariness appearing in its eyes.

At that moment, Yuan Ming suddenly leaped backward, nimbly climbed a large tree behind him, and shot rapidly upward.

"Roar!"

Only then did the brown bear realize it had been tricked. With an enraged roar, it charged forward at astonishing speed, reaching the tree Yuan Ming was climbing almost instantly. Its thick bear paw slammed down viciously.

"Bang!"

The tree, as thick as a water barrel, was smashed clean through. Yuan Ming had only just climbed halfway up and fell headfirst with it.

Though startled, he did not panic. He kicked off the tree trunk, borrowing the force to leap toward another tree.

The brown bear threw back its head and released a soul-shaking roar, carrying a piercing quality like clashing metal and stone.

The sound made Yuan Ming's ears buzz and his head sink slightly. His limbs stiffened in an instant, and he fell downward like a stubborn stone.

Before Yuan Ming hit the ground, the Nine Yuan Art within him instinctively began circulating on its own. A surge of pure mana poured from his dantian and swiftly spread throughout his body. Wherever it passed, his blood and qi resumed flowing freely, and the numbness quickly faded.

The moment feeling returned to his arm, he shot it forward, driving a sharp claw into the nearby trunk.

With a "chi", the claw sank more than halfway into the wood, leaving his body hanging in midair.

The brown bear waiting below froze for a moment, then lunged again toward the tree where Yuan Ming was hanging, its thick paw striking downward.

"Boom!"

That tree was also broken with a single blow and crashed down.

But Yuan Ming had already leaped away first, landing atop another massive tree nearby that would take several people to encircle. At the same time, he spread mana across his entire body, guarding against another roar from the brown bear.

To his surprise, no roar came.

A trace of surprise crossed Yuan Ming's face. Using both hands and feet, he quickly climbed toward the top of the giant tree.

This place was more than thirty meters above the ground, enough to avoid the effects of the brown bear's roar.

How could the brown bear beast allow Yuan Ming to escape? It lunged to the base of the giant tree and struck violently with both palms, attacking left and right in rapid succession.

The giant tree swayed incessantly, its bark cracking as great swathes of leaves rained down. Yet apart from several claw marks left in the bark, there was no sign of it falling.

"Even such a huge tree can be shaken by it. This brown bear is most likely a mid-tier first-rank ferocious beast. Too bad its brain isn't much smarter," Yuan Ming muttered. He pulled a stone from his body and threw it down from above.

The stone turned into a streak of gray light and smashed hard into the brown bear's head.

With a dull "bang", the stone shattered. It did not inflict much harm upon the brown bear, but it enraged the beast further, causing it to attack the giant tree even more frantically.

The giant tree shook ever more violently, but it was simply too enormous. It would not collapse anytime soon.

A smile curled Yuan Ming's lips as he watched the scene below like a monkey show, tossing down stones from time to time to provoke the brown bear.

As time passed bit by bit, the brown bear no longer possessed its initial ferocity. Its chest rose and fell as it panted heavily, and little anger remained in its eyes.

After a long while, the brown bear gave Yuan Ming an unwilling growl, lowered its body, turned around, and left.

Yuan Ming took out another stone and hurled it, striking the brown bear squarely on the back of the head.

Yet the brown bear seemed to have learned its lesson. It ignored Yuan Ming's provocation completely and kept running into the distance without looking back.

"Not entirely stupid, then. Too bad you're only running now. It's too late!" Yuan Ming stopped watching from the sidelines. With several leaps, he reached a position above the brown bear and dove down. His ape claws became two chilling streaks of light that raked viciously toward the brown bear's back.

Sensing something wrong with the wind behind it, the brown bear rolled aside to dodge. Unfortunately, it was still grazed by the claw light.

Its tough bear hide was torn open in a shallow wound about half a foot long. Not much blood flowed out, but a faint purple tint appeared around the wound.

It was the Soft Bone Poison Yuan Ming had traded from Wulu earlier, which he had secretly smeared onto his claws.

The brown bear beast was enraged once more, raising one bear paw and slamming it toward Yuan Ming's head.

But the bear had already spent more than half its strength earlier, and its movements were far slower than before. The white ape Yuan Ming had transformed into shrank his body and darted beneath the bear paw.

As they passed each other, the white ape extended its right claw and swiped across the brown bear's waist, leaving another wound of neither shallow nor deep.

"Roar..." The brown bear beast grew even more furious and charged forward with its bear paws flailing wildly.

Yuan Ming had no intention of confronting it head-on. Using the nearby trees to maneuver and evade, he left small wounds across the bear's body with his claws from time to time.

The brown bear beast was far stronger than Yuan Ming. Unfortunately, it had wasted too much stamina on that giant tree earlier. Since it was not naturally adept at speed to begin with, it had instead fallen into a disadvantage now. Small wounds continued appearing over its body, leaving it drenched in blood.

Moreover, as the Soft Bone Poison gradually took effect, its steps and movements slowly became somewhat sluggish.

The brown bear seemed to realize that things were going badly. It completely abandoned all defense and evasion, throwing its enormous body directly at Yuan Ming in a desperate final struggle!

This final desperate strike was considerably faster than its usual movements.

Yet Yuan Ming had long been prepared. He darted toward a large tree nearby that would take two people to encircle, intending to use it as a shield.

"Roar..."

The brown bear beast's charge did not slow. Its eyes suddenly turned blood-red as it opened its mouth and let out an earth-shaking roar.

Knew you'd use this move. Yuan Ming had already prepared for it. All the mana in his dantian surged forth, flowing throughout his body.

His entire body merely swayed imperceptibly. His footwork was not affected much at all, and just before the brown bear rushed into him, he dodged aside.

"Bang!"

The brown bear beast could not stop in time and crashed stiffly into the tree. Its huge body rebounded and dropped into a seated position on the ground, utterly disoriented.

The entire tree crashed down, throwing up a cloud of dust.

The brown bear struggled to climb back up and flee forward, but after only a few steps, it toppled headfirst to the ground.

Yuan Ming's figure swept out of the dust, arriving beside the brown bear in an instant. His right hand clawed down fiercely.

His sharp ape claws pierced into the brown bear's neck vertebrae. With a "puchi", they sank deep inside, and then he slashed downward with force.

The brown bear's neck vertebrae were severed, its neck nearly cut in half. Blood sprayed out in torrents. Its massive body twitched twice, then no longer breathed.

After Yuan Ming took out the blood-storage pouch and drained the brown bear's blood, he did not even have time to refine it before collapsing onto the ground, gasping in great mouthfuls. The perilous battle just now had clearly consumed almost the last shred of his strength.

This brown bear beast's physical strength was truly terrifying, and its fur possessed astonishing defensive power. If he had not used little tricks to wear down most of its stamina, along with the Soft Bone Poison, he would absolutely not have been its match.

At this moment, Yuan Ming felt every bone in his body aching, as though even moving a single finger was difficult.

But this place reeked of blood and was certainly not somewhere he could linger.

Yuan Ming bit the tip of his tongue hard, using the pain to stimulate his mind. Supporting himself against a large tree nearby, he stood up and returned along the path he had come.

Yet he had not gone far when a sudden change occurred.

His whole body suddenly jolted as if struck by lightning. The white ape hide on him began to writhe, and a violent aura seeped out.

The little mana remaining in his body abruptly became restless. Threads of blood-red light appeared in his eyes, and a desire for slaughter surged into his heart.

It's happening again.

Yuan Ming's heart tightened. He hurriedly sat down cross-legged and circulated the Nine Yuan Art.

Only after three full Greater Celestial Circuits did this desire for slaughter barely subside somewhat.

He gathered mana in his left hand and tapped the Incense Burner Mark on his right arm.

Green light flashed over the mark, and that mysterious incense burner appeared, dropping into his palm.

A current of warmth emerged from within the incense burner, merging into his body and permeating his head.

Yuan Ming felt as though his entire body had been immersed in a hot spring, especially his head. The blood-red light in his eyes slowly faded, and the desire for slaughter rapidly receded.

A quarter hour later, the disturbance caused by the white ape hide finally vanished completely.

Yuan Ming's gaze relaxed. He released the Fur Transformation Technique and looked silently at the incense burner in his hand.

A similar situation had already occurred twice over the past three months, both times after a fierce battle when his mana and physical strength had been severely depleted.

This thirst for blood and slaughter was now extremely intense. The Nine Yuan Art could only resist it, not make it fade away. When he encountered it for the first time, he had not known how to deal with it. Later, he recalled that the warmth within the incense burner could nourish the soul, so he hurriedly took it out and only then managed to suppress it.

"Could it be that after transforming into a white ape for too long in these mountains, I've unknowingly gained some viciousness myself? Good thing I have the incense burner." Yuan Ming secretly rejoiced, while also worrying that this desire might grow stronger with each passing day.

He had previously wanted to ask Huo Chang about the changes in the white ape hide, but unfortunately, he had never found a good opportunity.

Yuan Ming shook his head, put away the incense burner, then rose and quickly left. He found a large tree nearby and climbed up it.

Although he had not transformed into the white ape, he climbed trees much faster than before. He soon reached halfway up the trunk, found a relatively flat spot, sat down cross-legged, and began circulating the Nine Yuan Art to restore his mana.

A short while later, he took out the blood-storage pouch and activated its refining function with mana. The brown bear's blood rapidly diminished, quickly turning into a ball of essence blood.

However, this ball of essence blood was a full size larger than those from the Green Fox and wild boar beasts, and the mana fluctuations it contained were much stronger as well.

"Looks like this brown bear was very likely a mid-tier first-rank ferocious beast." Yuan Ming gripped the blood-storage pouch tightly.

After this battle, he finally gained a preliminary understanding of the true strength of mid-tier first-rank ferocious beasts. They were formidable, but not completely impossible to deal with.

After putting away the blood-storage pouch, he once again used the Fur Transformation Technique to turn into a white ape and continued deeper into the forest.

An hour later, a rather wide stream appeared ahead. It wound out from a mountain ravine not far away. The water was crystal clear, and a cool, moist breeze washed over him.

After traveling for so long, Yuan Ming was feeling thirsty. He bent down and drank several mouthfuls of stream water. Just as he was about to continue onward, his steps suddenly stopped, and he looked toward the ground beside him.

Several green fruit peels lay there, extremely fresh. They had clearly been peeled off not long ago.

Yuan Ming recognized the fruit. Sour yet sweet, it was one of the rare delicious fruits in this forest. He had eaten it several times himself.

A few fruit peels on the forest floor were nothing unusual. Many apes also picked fruit to eat. But when apes ate wild fruit, would they really peel the skins so completely?