Weight of Life

Weight of Life

The distance between Quan Yi and the Exploding Rhino had shrunk to just over a hundred meters.

The Exploding Rhino had already noticed Quan Yi. Facing him, it repeatedly stomped the ground, warning him not to come any closer.

Quan Yi paid it no mind and continued forward, nearly entering the fifty-meter range.

Seeing that its warning could not drive Quan Yi away, the Exploding Rhino charged straight at him, intending to pierce its enemy with its Rhino Horn.

The Exploding Rhino's explosive power was astonishing, and it was incredibly fast in a straight-line sprint.

But Quan Yi did not panic. Or rather, he had been waiting for this very moment.

As the Exploding Rhino picked up speed, Quan Yi immediately raised the spear in his right hand. The red patterns on the Blazing Sun Gauntlets lit up, and flames suddenly burst forth from the spear, wrapping tightly around it.

Quan Yi planted his left foot forward and, using the strength of his arm, hurled the Flame Spear viciously at the Exploding Rhino's face.

Startled by the sudden attack, the Exploding Rhino hurriedly shut its eyes, but its charge did not slow in the slightest.

That was because it had absolute confidence in its tough hide. Indeed, the Exploding Rhino's skin was extremely hard and highly resistant to fire-attribute attacks. Quan Yi's strength alone could not possibly harm it.

But that was not Quan Yi's goal. The spear smashed into the Exploding Rhino's face at high speed, and the instant it made contact, a violent explosion erupted. A searing blast wave and a thunderous boom burst from the spear.

The Exploding Rhino was completely disoriented by the move. In an instant, both its hearing and sense of smell failed, leaving it unable to determine Quan Yi's location.

Quan Yi did not continue forward. The moment he threw the spear, he swiftly darted to the left.

This time, Quan Yi stepped forward with his right foot and raised his left hand, carefully watching the Exploding Rhino. The instant it tried to open its eyes, he repeated the same trick and threw the shield from his left hand.

The round Flame Shield spun rapidly through the air like a flying disc, hurtling straight toward the Exploding Rhino's eyes.

Although the Exploding Rhino's hide was incredibly tough, its eyes were still very fragile. Therefore, when the spear came flying at it, it could only close its eyes to protect them.

But the moment it opened them again, the flaming disc was flying directly at its eyes. Terrified, the Exploding Rhino hurriedly shut them again, and this time, its charge came to a complete stop.

Since they were already extremely close, Quan Yi's shield slammed viciously into the Exploding Rhino's eye socket. Accompanied by an explosion, it left the beast's right eye in unbearable pain.

The pain completely ignited the Exploding Rhino's fury. It desperately forced its eyes open, wanting to tear apart the human who had toyed with it.

But the instant it opened its eyes, its right eye caught sight of a blurry figure standing before it.

It was Quan Yi, who had been waiting for this moment. His right hand was clenched into a fist, Soul Power condensed into a sharp point at his knuckles. His entire right arm seemed to have become a sharp spear, raised high before stabbing swiftly into the Exploding Rhino's right eye socket the instant it reopened its eyes.

This time, the Exploding Rhino failed to react at all.

Quan Yi's entire forearm sank directly into the Exploding Rhino's head. He immediately poured all of his Soul Power into its brain and detonated it.

Just like that, Quan Yi took the Exploding Rhino's life with lightning speed.

The final image in the Exploding Rhino's mind was that blurry figure, before it sank completely into darkness.

Because Quan Yi's move had been swift, ruthless, and precise, striking directly at the Exploding Rhino's head, it died before it could even feel pain.

The Exploding Rhino's massive body crashed heavily to the ground. Only when Quan Yi saw the yellow ring slowly emerging from its body did he finally relax and pull his arm from its eye socket.

The entire process had been extremely fast and seemed effortless, but it had been fraught with danger.

The Exploding Rhino had almost no weaknesses across its entire body. The only weaknesses Quan Yi could exploit were its poor eyesight and clumsy movements.

Because of its poor vision, it could usually only rely on its sense of smell and hearing to locate enemies. Therefore, the Flame Spear had not been aimed at its eyes, but had been intended to overwhelm its sense of smell and hearing with high-temperature heat waves and the sound of the explosion, forcing it to rely solely on sight to find its enemy.

At that point, he threw out the shield and repeated the same tactic. If it had struck the eyeball directly, Quan Yi could have fully detonated the flames and burned the Exploding Rhino's brain to ashes.

But his timing had not been precise enough, and at the final moment, the Exploding Rhino noticed it.

But it did not matter. Everything was still within Quan Yi's expectations.

Though the second strike had not killed the Exploding Rhino, it had thrown it into a state of confusion. Moreover, it was now very close to Quan Yi.

With the weapons in both hands spent, Quan Yi had fallen into a highly disadvantageous position. The Exploding Rhino realized this as well, and in its rage, it desperately wanted to find Quan Yi and kill him.

But it had not expected that the unarmed Quan Yi would actually dare approach it.

Its Rhino Horn was the very symbol of its intimidation.

Only Exploding Rhinos had ever approached their enemies; no enemy had ever approached an Exploding Rhino. That long-held confidence ultimately led to its doom.

What it did not know was that Quan Yi possessed the rare Fire Immunity Attribute, which gave him the confidence to approach the Exploding Rhino.

Looking back on it now, the entire process had been extremely perilous. If he had made even one mistake, Quan Yi might have been sent flying by the Exploding Rhino's immense strength.

But at the time, Quan Yi had only one thought in his heart: become stronger.

To achieve that goal, Quan Yi had to overcome the hesitation and fear in his heart. He forced himself to face the Exploding Rhino head-on, trying to awaken the courage within himself.

Under the pressure of death, Quan Yi broke through the limits of his heart and calmly defeated his opponent.

Quan Yi quietly looked at the fallen Exploding Rhino, complex emotions rising within him.

Quan Yi reached out and touched the Exploding Rhino's cheek, feeling the warmth that had yet to fade.

Quan Yi understood that this was the only path to becoming stronger, but at that moment, he truly felt the weight of life.

If he wanted to become a Spirit Master, Quan Yi could only carry that weight and continue onward.

With a heavy heart, Quan Yi closed the Exploding Rhino's eyes. He did not choose to forget what he felt in that moment, but instead chose to firmly etch it into his mind.

In this world, becoming stronger meant continually bearing the weight of life.

Quan Yue and Su Ling'er appeared behind Quan Yi. Seeing his solemn back, the two of them unconsciously fell silent.

Quan Yi sensed the movement behind him.

"Father, Mother, please stand guard for me. I'm going to start absorbing the Soul Ring."

"Alright. Don't worry."

After saying that, Quan Yi sat cross-legged. He first restored the Soul Power within his body, then calmed his complicated emotions.

This place was not far from the volcano. For Quan Yi, it was a Simulated Cultivation Environment, and his Soul Power recovered very quickly. A quarter of an hour later, Quan Yi opened his eyes.

He summoned the Blazing Sun Gauntlets and brought his hands close to the Soul Ring. Sensing the Martial Soul's pull, the Soul Ring immediately shrank and tightly encircled the Blazing Sun Gauntlets.

Quan Yi immediately felt a scorching current flow from his hands into his body, where it rampaged wildly.

The enormous Soul Power instantly filled Quan Yi's body, making him feel as though he were about to burst.

Fortunately, Quan Yi's physical fitness was astonishing. He locked the Soul Power within his body and focused all his attention on the incoming Soul Power, wrestling against it.

Relying on his astonishing willpower, Quan Yi made it through the hardest moment. The Soul Power within his body gradually calmed, and after two hours, Quan Yi slowly opened his eyes.