Lust for Slaughter

Yuan Ming's heart tightened, and he quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

Amidst the flying dust, an unusually large figure crawled out. It was a brown bear covered in yellow fur, several times larger than the black bear he had killed earlier, almost as tall as a story.

Under its gaze, Yuan Ming felt as if he were being stared at by some terrifying monster, his hair standing on end. Although he appeared calm, he was extremely uneasy inside!

"This fierce beast is nowhere near comparable to the wild boar from before. Am I really this unlucky to encounter a mid-tier level one?" His heart sank.

Let alone the fact that he had just finished a battle, which, although easily resolved, had consumed a considerable amount of his spiritual energy. Even at full strength, he wouldn't dare to confront a mid-tier level one fierce beast head-on.

Yuan Ming's thoughts raced. He suddenly let out a thunderous roar, his muscles bulging, preparing to pounce.

The brown bear fierce beast paused, its eyes showing wariness.

At that moment, Yuan Ming suddenly leaped backward, nimbly climbing a large tree behind him and quickly scaling upwards.

"Roar!"

The brown bear realized it had been tricked and roared in anger, charging forward. Its speed was astonishingly fast, reaching the tree Yuan Ming was climbing almost instantly. It swiped its thick paw fiercely.

With a "bang!"

The tree, as thick as a water bucket, was snapped in half. Yuan Ming, who was only halfway up, fell with it.

Though startled, he remained composed. He pushed off the tree with his feet, using the momentum to leap towards another tree.

The brown bear threw its head back and let out a soul-stirring roar, a sound like metal clashing that pierced the ears.

The sound made Yuan Ming's ears ring, his head felt heavy, and his limbs instantly stiffened. He plummeted downwards like a stone.

Before he hit the ground, the Nine Yuan Art within him instinctively circulated. A stream of pure spiritual energy surged from his dantian, quickly spreading throughout his body. Wherever it flowed, his blood and qi were revitalized, and the numbness rapidly receded.

As soon as his arm regained sensation, he stretched it forward, his claws piercing into the trunk of a nearby tree.

With a "shriek," his claws sank deep into the wood, and his body dangled in mid-air.

The brown bear waiting below was startled. It rushed to the tree Yuan Ming was on again and swiped its thick paw downwards.

"Boom!"

This tree was also broken in one strike and crashed down.

However, Yuan Ming had already leaped away, landing on another giant tree nearby, several people's embraces wide. He simultaneously channeled spiritual energy throughout his body, guarding against the brown bear's roar attack.

To his surprise, the roar did not come.

A hint of surprise flashed across Yuan Ming's face. Using both hands and feet, he quickly climbed to the upper reaches of the giant tree.

He was now about thirty feet above the ground, safe from the brown bear's roar.

The brown bear fierce beast was unwilling to let Yuan Ming escape. It rushed to the giant tree and fiercely struck it with both paws, alternating left and right.

The giant tree shook violently, its bark cracking, and large amounts of leaves were shaken off. However, apart from a few claw marks on the bark, it showed no signs of falling.

"It can shake such a massive tree. This brown bear is likely a mid-tier level one fierce beast. Too bad it's not very intelligent," Yuan Ming muttered. He took out a stone from his body and threw it down from above.

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

With a dull "thud," the stone shattered. It didn't cause much damage to the brown bear, but it enraged it further, making it attack the giant tree even more frantically.

The giant tree shook even more violently, but it was so massive that it wouldn't fall anytime soon.

Yuan Ming's lips curved into a smile, and he watched from above like watching a monkey show, occasionally throwing stones to provoke the brown bear below.

As time passed, the brown bear was no longer as fierce as before. Its chest heaved, and it panted heavily. The rage in its eyes had also diminished significantly.

After a while, the brown bear let out a resentful growl at Yuan Ming, lowered its head, and turned to leave.

Yuan Ming took out another stone and threw it, hitting the back of the brown bear's head precisely.

However, the brown bear seemed to have learned its lesson. It ignored Yuan Ming's provocation and continued to run away without looking back.

"It's not entirely stupid, but it's too late to escape now!" Yuan Ming stopped watching from the sidelines. With a few leaps, he was above the brown bear. His body plunged down, his ape claws transforming into two sharp, cold glints, slashing fiercely at the brown bear's back.

The brown bear fierce beast sensed the unusual wind behind it and rolled to the side to dodge. Unfortunately, it was still grazed by the claw marks.

The tough bear hide was torn, revealing a shallow, half-foot-long wound. Not much blood flowed out, but the wound was stained with a faint purple hue.

It was the Soft Bone Poison that Yuan Ming had exchanged from Wulu earlier, which he had stealthily smeared on his claws.

The brown bear fierce beast was enraged again. It swung a paw and slammed it towards Yuan Ming's head.

However, the bear's stamina had been greatly depleted earlier, and its movements were more than a beat slower. Yuan Ming, transformed into the White Ape, shrank its body and slipped under the bear's paw.

As they passed each other, the White Ape's right claw extended, swiping across the brown bear's waist, leaving another shallow wound.

"Roar..." The brown bear fierce beast grew even more furious, wildly swinging its paws and charging at Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming had no intention of engaging it head-on. He used the nearby trees to dodge and weave, occasionally leaving small wounds on the bear with his sharp claws.

The brown bear fierce beast was far stronger than Yuan Ming. Unfortunately, it had wasted too much energy on that giant tree earlier, and coupled with its lack of speed, it was now at a disadvantage. Small wounds continued to appear all over its body, leaving it covered in blood.

Furthermore, as the Soft Bone Poison gradually took effect, its movements became increasingly sluggish.

The brown bear seemed to realize the situation was dire. It completely abandoned all defense and evasion, its massive body lunging directly at Yuan Ming in a desperate final struggle!

In this last desperate attack, the bear's speed was considerably faster than usual.

However, Yuan Ming was prepared. He moved towards a large tree, two people's embraces around, using it as a shield.

"Roar..."

The brown bear fierce beast's charge did not slow. Its eyes suddenly turned blood red, and it let out a world-shaking roar.

"I knew you'd use this move." Yuan Ming was prepared. The spiritual energy in his dantian surged out, flowing throughout his body.

His entire body flickered almost imperceptibly. His footwork was not significantly affected, and he dodged just before the brown bear reached him.

"Bang!"

The brown bear fierce beast couldn't stop its momentum and crashed straight into a large tree. Its massive body was repelled and it sat down on the ground, dazed.

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

The brown bear fierce beast struggled to get up and tried to flee. However, after only a few steps, it stumbled and fell to the ground.

Yuan Ming's figure shot out from the dust, instantly appearing beside the brown bear. He grabbed down with his right hand.

Sharp ape claws pierced into the brown bear's cervical vertebrae, sinking in with a "splat." Then, he forcefully slashed downwards.

The brown bear's neck was severed halfway, and blood gushed out. Its massive body twitched twice before it breathed its last.

Yuan Ming took out a blood storage bag and extracted the brown bear's blood. He didn't have time to refine it before collapsing onto the ground, panting heavily. It was clear that the recent fierce battle, which he had narrowly escaped, had nearly exhausted his last ounce of strength.

The physical strength of this brown bear fierce beast was truly terrifying, and its fur provided astonishing defense. If he hadn't used a trick to deplete most of its stamina, coupled with the Soft Bone Poison, he would definitely not have been its opponent.

At this moment, Yuan Ming felt his entire skeleton ache, making even moving difficult.

However, the area was covered in blood and was definitely not a place to linger.

Yuan Ming bit the tip of his tongue hard, using the pain to stimulate his senses. He used a large tree nearby to support himself as he stood up and returned the way he came.

However, he hadn't gone far when an unexpected change occurred.

His entire body suddenly felt as if struck by lightning. The White Ape fur on his body began to writhe, and a wild aura seeped out.

The little spiritual energy remaining in his body suddenly became restless, and his eyes also began to show traces of blood. A desire for slaughter surged into his heart.

"It's happening again."

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

After circulating it for a full three major cycles, this murderous desire was only slightly suppressed.

He condensed spiritual energy in his left hand and touched the incense burner mark on his right arm.

The mark flashed with green light, and the mysterious incense burner appeared, falling into his palm.

As a stream of warmth emanated from the incense burner, it integrated into his body, seeping into his head.

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

A quarter of an hour later, the anomaly caused by the White Ape fur completely disappeared.

Yuan Ming's expression relaxed. He deactivated the Fur Transformation Technique and looked at the incense burner in his hand, remaining silent.

Similar situations had occurred twice in the past three months, both after experiencing fierce battles that severely depleted his spiritual energy and stamina.

Currently, this bloodthirsty desire for slaughter was very strong, and the Nine Yuan Art could only resist it, not make it disappear. When he first encountered it, he didn't know how to deal with it. Later, he recalled that the warmth from the incense burner had the effect of nurturing the soul and quickly took it out, which then suppressed it.

"Could it be that by transforming into a White Ape and staying in this mountain forest for too long, I've unknowingly developed some ferocity? Fortunately, I have the incense burner." Yuan Ming secretly felt fortunate, but at the same time, he was worried that this desire might increase day by day.

He had previously intended to ask Hu Huo Chang about the anomaly of the White Ape fur, but he hadn't found a good opportunity.

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

Even without transforming into a White Ape, he climbed trees much faster than before. He quickly reached the middle of the tree and found a relatively flat spot to sit cross-legged, circulating the Nine Yuan Art to recover his spiritual energy.

A moment later, he took out the blood storage bag and used his spiritual energy to activate the refining function. The brown bear's blood rapidly decreased, soon transforming into a mass of essence blood.

However, this mass of essence blood was a full circle larger than that of the Green Fox and the wild boar fierce beasts, and the fluctuation of spiritual energy it contained was also much stronger.

"It seems this brown bear is likely a mid-level Class 1 fierce beast." Yuan Ming gripped the blood storage bag.

After this battle, he finally had a preliminary understanding of the true strength of a mid-level Class 1 fierce beast. Although powerful, it was not entirely impossible to deal with.

After putting away the blood storage bag, he once again used the Fur Transformation Technique to transform into a White Ape and continued heading deeper into the forest.

An hour later, a rather wide stream appeared ahead. This stream meandered out from a mountain ravine not far away. The stream water was very clear, and a cool, moist air wafted towards him.

After traveling for so long, Yuan Ming was a bit thirsty. He bent down and drank a few mouthfuls of stream water. Just as he was about to continue, his steps suddenly paused, and he looked at the ground beside him.

Several green fruit shells had fallen there, very fresh, clearly having been peeled not long ago.

Yuan Ming recognized this fruit. It was sour and sweet, a rare delicacy in this forest, and he had eaten it a few times before.

It was normal for fruit shells to be dropped in the forest; many monkeys also ate wild fruits. However, when monkeys eat wild fruits, wouldn't they peel the skins less completely?