Slaying the Savage Bear

Opportunities did not come around forever. Ling Li raised Dark Night in his hand and brought it down on the Savage Bear's nape.

"Hiss!"

"Eh?!" Ling Li cried out in surprise.

The Savage Bear's hide was unexpectedly tough. Ling Li had already experienced this when he cut into its forearm; he could feel a clear resistance as his blade entered. Yet he had not used his full strength in that strike, and with the bite wound on his left arm, he could only exert sixty percent of his full power. Even with over five hundred, nearly six hundred jin of force behind it, plus the sharpness of Dark Night, he had failed to sever the Savage Bear's head. He had not even reached the vertebrae in its neck, much less injured them.

A magical beast reaching the Second Tier was equivalent to a human advancing to the Dou Master realm. When humans became Dou Masters, they formed a Dou Qi Garment. Magical beasts possessed one as well, except humans manifested theirs outside their bodies, while magical beasts' existed beneath their skin. Although this Savage Bear had not yet reached the Second Tier, it was not far off. Its physical strength was naturally not much inferior.

Without wasting another moment, Ling Li gripped Dark Night with both hands and struck at the Savage Bear's nape as quickly as he could. His arms blurred into afterimages, accompanied by sprays of blood, creating an unusually dazzling sight.

Blood splashing onto Ling Li no longer made him uncomfortable. Instead, it stirred a bloodthirsty impulse within him, and Dark Night moved even faster. This thrill of slashing was something he could never feel while practicing against the air or cleaving the magical beasts he had faced before in two with a single blow.

"Roar!!!"

The Savage Bear howled in pain. Its other massive paw swept toward the back of its neck with a howling gust of wind.

Ling Li did not dare let his guard down. With a twist of his wrist, he reversed his grip on Dark Night and leaned backward, driving the blade downward along the Savage Bear's back. It carved a gash nearly two meters long.

"Bang!!"

The Savage Bear's paw slammed heavily onto the back of its neck. The already mangled flesh was smashed into an even bloodier mess, with chunks of meat sticking to it like paste, making for a particularly gruesome sight.

"Roar!!!"

The Savage Bear roared again. Ignoring the blood constantly seeping from behind it, it lunged at Ling Li with scarlet eyes. Blood flowed all over its body, mingling with the crimson mist steamed up by the strange black fog, making the Savage Bear appear exceptionally vicious.

It had already had its territory stolen by other animals and had suffered serious injuries. It had only wanted to recover in this area before returning to reclaim its territory.

It had thought it could run rampant here without restraint, yet it had encountered this human. Its instincts told it that if it did not fight with everything it had, it would likely die here!

Why would Ling Li confront this Savage Bear head-on? Its old and fresh wounds were all spurting blood, but its health bar was simply too long. Ling Li could not possibly hack it to death anytime soon. Yet if the Savage Bear landed even one slap on him, he would be seriously injured if not killed outright.

The Savage Bear was clumsy anyway. Wasn't it better to exploit his agility and keep chipping away at it from the edges?

Relying on his swift dodges, Ling Li constantly changed positions as he carved chunks of flesh from the Savage Bear with Dark Night, displaying the essence of attack-moving to the fullest.

The Savage Bear might have had thick hide and hard bones, but there were always vulnerable spots, such as those two round things—its eyes. Then there were the joints where bones met. Those places were often attached only by tendons and muscle, making them weak points as well. More importantly, this Savage Bear was already injured. As long as he struck its wounds, the damage would be greatly amplified.

Ling Li's blade techniques had only just entered the beginner level, and he was far from being able to control his blade so precisely. But he attacked quickly, swinging more than twenty times per second. Among those strikes, one or two were bound to hit vital points.

After Ling Li wore it down continuously for five minutes, the Savage Bear gradually weakened and slumped onto the ground like a limp heap. Its left paw had gone slack, the result of Ling Li repeatedly striking its elbow until he had gradually severed its tendons. Crimson mist covered its body, and even the hot breath from its mouth seemed tinged with red.

At some point, it had changed from hunter to prey!

It was not as though the Savage Bear had never considered fleeing. But whenever it tried to run, that demon-like human would cling to its back like a festering parasite, hacking at it relentlessly. It simply could not shake him off.

In its daze, the Savage Bear seemed to return to its childhood. Back then, Big Bear had not yet been hunted, and it had not yet been driven out of the tree hollow. Its entire life flashed before its eyes, and it was already beginning to regret why it had foolishly come into this area.

"Hiss!"

In the instant the Savage Bear lost focus, Ling Li closed in. Stepping on its bent hind leg, he rose level with its head and mercilessly drove Dark Night into its eye socket, ruthlessly shattering the Savage Bear's final memories. He then swiftly retreated, opening the distance between them.

"Roar!!"

The Savage Bear no longer had the strength to resist Ling Li's attack. Warm blood mixed with fluid from its eyeball streamed down its enormous bear face, making it look especially miserable. It could only let out a helpless roar.

"Why are you yelling so loudly? Couldn't your attitude be a little better?" Seeing that the Savage Bear did not counterattack, Ling Li closed in again and pierced its other eye, blinding it as well. He retreated once more, and only after confirming that the Savage Bear was truly at the end of its rope and no longer a threat did he finally relax slightly and shout.

Even with the dark attribute's deep and enduring nature, Ling Li was starting to struggle after such prolonged, intense slashing. If this dragged on any longer, he would probably be the one worn to death.

After catching his breath, Ling Li walked up to the Savage Bear again. This time, however, he did not retreat after landing a few cuts. Instead, he continuously hacked frantically at the back of its neck. After both its eyes were blinded, the Savage Bear had collapsed flat on the ground, making it difficult to pierce its heart from behind. That was why Ling Li chose to attack its nape.

Though the Savage Bear was under Ling Li's assault, it had completely lost the will to resist. With its right paw, missing two claws, it kept scraping at the ground, trying to move away from Ling Li.

But Ling Li stood on its back and never stopped striking. The Savage Bear's struggles appeared utterly feeble.

As the Savage Bear weakened, Ling Li felt its flesh loosen slightly. His strikes became somewhat easier, and from time to time, he could even chop small fragments from its vertebrae, sending them flying in all directions.

Even though Ling Li was giving it everything he had, he still had to strike the Savage Bear's neck three or four hundred times before finally severing it. As the Savage Bear's final twitch ceased and blood continued to spurt from its severed neck, the six-meter-tall Savage Bear breathed its last.

"Whew, that was terrifying. As expected of a High Star First Tier magical beast..." A smile involuntarily curled across Ling Li's lips. After storing the Savage Bear in the System Space, he headed toward the cave.

He had trained enough for today. What he needed now was a full night's sleep and rest to ease the pain and exhaustion in his body.