Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, a Painful Lesson

The fifth day, an unnamed Valley.

The sunlight was pleasantly warm, filtering through gaps in the branches and leaves, radiating a warmth no less than Nako's.

"Roar!" A deafening roar suddenly rang out. On a distant mountainside where the trees were relatively sparse, Lin Manshan, who had been walking while enjoying the morning sunlight, immediately turned to look. Eight hundred meters ahead, the treetops rustled and swayed as birds scattered in all directions.

"That roar carried all the way here. It must be a powerful Ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast." Lin Manshan turned to leave, but then remembered that his Soul Perception range was six hundred meters. As long as he went another two hundred meters, he could determine the Spirit Beast's cultivation.

He immediately turned back and quickened his pace.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" A series of thunderous roars rang out one after another, lasting several seconds before abruptly stopping.

Not long after, Lin Manshan looked surprised. "It's actually a Thousand-year Spirit Beast!?"

His gaze immediately flickered. "Such a powerful roar... it might be an exceptionally high-quality Power Type Spirit Beast."

"I'll know once I take a look." With that thought, he moved even faster.

Shortly afterward, Lin Manshan arrived on a tree branch a hundred meters from the source of the sound. Peering through the gaps between the leaves, he froze.

It was a gigantic bear standing three meters tall, covered in thick Dark Gold fur. Its arms were knotted with muscle and incomparably thick, its shoulders as majestic as city walls. From the front of its broad bear paws extended a pair of enormous Dark Gold claws, stained with a bloody sheen beneath the light.

Beneath its feet lay a tiger-type Spirit Beast on its side, several long bloody gashes across its waist. Fresh Blood pooled beneath it like a small pond.

Clearly, it had been smashed to death with a single swipe from the giant bear.

"Holy shit, a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear!?"

Though greatly shocked, Lin Manshan could not help feeling excited. Yet he quickly calmed down.

"The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear has unmatched strength and defense, and its claws are terrifyingly lethal. One with a Thousand Year cultivation can easily tear apart most ordinary Ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts. I have no chance of winning in a frontal clash, and Hidden Weapons cannot break its defense. I can only outsmart it."

With that thought, Lin Manshan hurriedly retreated to a more distant mountainside.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's attributes were close to Ultimate Metal. Its strength, defense, and offensive power all stood at the pinnacle among Spirit Beasts. This one had only a Thousand Year cultivation and could not be more than fifteen hundred years old. No Spirit Beast was more suitable to serve as his Second Spirit Ring.

If he missed this opportunity, he would not be able to sleep.

He took the backpack from his back, spread it out on the ground, and quickly pulled out several Porcelain bottles.

He had already spent over four days in the Star Dou Great Forest. One reason he had not found a suitable Spirit Beast before now was because he had spent time collecting the contents of these Porcelain bottles along the way, delaying both his schedule and journey.

They were not particularly rare items, merely the innate venom of Deadly Poison-type Spirit Beasts with around four hundred years of cultivation. Most Thousand-year Power Type Spirit Beasts attacked with extreme ferocity, and he might very well be unable to defeat them. He had considered this long ago. Using Hidden Weapons together with Deadly Poison to wear them down was undoubtedly a good method.

In terms of strength, defense, and attack power, he truly was no match for the Thousand Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. But in terms of speed, within this forest filled with trees and complex terrain, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear might not be faster than him with his Void Evasion Technique.

After arranging all the Porcelain bottles, Lin Manshan hurriedly took out a belt from his backpack. Since he had no Soul Tool, he had personally crafted a segmented iron belt to conceal Hidden Weapons. Each segment had narrow pouch-like slits that could be used to hide needle-type Hidden Weapons.

Besides that, there were several small leather pouches that could be hung from either side of the belt, meant for concealing more Hidden Weapons as well as bottled poison, Snake Repellent Powder, wound medicine, and the like.

After fastening the belt around his waist, he pulled out silver needles one after another and began opening the Porcelain bottles to prepare the poison.

The process was simple enough. He merely needed to find an empty Porcelain bottle, mix several types of venom together, then use the silver needles to stir and coat them.

After finishing everything, Lin Manshan packed up again and stood up.

To conceal his scent and avoid being discovered, he took a detour from downwind and headed toward the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

When he was within twenty meters, he stood on a tree branch and looked through the gaps in the foliage. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was crouched down, enjoying its Meal.

With a light swipe of its claws, a huge piece of tiger meat was sliced off, then tossed into its mouth.

"With claws that sharp, one hit would definitely split my body in two." Lin Manshan's scalp tingled as he watched.

He weighed the sharp stone he had picked up from the ground earlier, took a deep breath, and threw it with all his strength without hesitation.

"Scattered Like Birds!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two streaks of light flashed past, passing through gaps between the branches in strange arcs.

"Slap! Slap!" They struck the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's rapidly raised claws dead-on.

"A stone was still just a stone. Its surface area was too large, and the distance was too great. As expected, it was blocked." Lin Manshan sighed inwardly.

Being discovered was exactly what I wanted. With that thought, he stepped forward and revealed himself.

Bears might not have the best eyesight, but a Thousand Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear certainly did not have poor vision. With a single glance, it clearly saw the small human standing on a branch twenty meters away. Though only 1.71 meters tall, he had dared to throw stones at this three-meter-tall giant. The bear immediately flew into a rage.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" After several furious roars, it dropped onto its forelimbs and shot forward.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Crashing sounds erupted continuously. Shrubs flew everywhere in its wake; with one swipe, a massive tree collapsed, and with one charge, wood chips scattered through the air.

"Holy shit, it's that fierce!?" Lin Manshan was startled and immediately turned to run.

He glanced back and felt slightly relieved.

"This brute is charging in without any regard for the terrain. I was originally worried that I might not be fast enough to widen the gap, but now I'm completely at ease. It only has a Thousand Year cultivation, not a Ten Thousand Year cultivation. Its intelligence is really something."

Although the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear possessed astonishing strength and defense, and its claws had absurdly high attack power, it still had to pause when slicing through or directly ramming apart a giant tree that several people would need to encircle. That brief pause gave him enough time to widen the distance and keep them roughly fifteen to twenty meters apart—the kind of situation where it seemed about to catch him, only for the gap to widen again the next instant.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was clearly dissatisfied with this situation. It roared and violently pushed off with its hind legs.

"Whoosh!" Lin Manshan flicked his hand, and the leaf-shaped Hidden Weapon, the Willow Leaf Blade, shot out at once, stabbing straight toward the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's groin.

From his earlier observations, he had already determined that it was male.

"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!" The enormous bear immediately dropped onto its forelimbs and sprawled on the ground. Then its body suddenly curled up as it rolled in place.

Lin Manshan was certain beyond any doubt that its balls hurt.

The next second, without hesitation, he rapidly pulled several Porcelain bottles containing the remaining poison from the pouch at his waist and threw them over. Several silver needles followed right after. "Pop! Pop! Pop!" The Porcelain bottles shattered, and several kinds of black, green, and purple Deadly Poison poured over the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's head before quickly falling. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, which was rolling around and roaring in pain with its mouth wide open, immediately inhaled several mouthfuls.

Then, as though it had eaten shit, it shook its head wildly while rolling its body over, leaving its back facing Lin Manshan.