Spiritual Herb Competition, Chaos Fierce Beast Suddenly Appears

The Chaos Giant Bear's roar echoed through the rocky valley like thunder, making Lin Yue's eardrums buzz. He instinctively took half a step back, his gaze sweeping over the bear's mountain-sized body. This fierce beast stood about three zhang tall, its limbs as thick as stone pillars, its jet-black fur covered in a faint grey sheen, clearly indicating extremely strong defense. Most terrifying were its pair of crimson eyes, currently flickering with greed and brutality, locked dead onto the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma on the ground.

"High-level fierce beast..." Su Qingyan's voice carried a trace of imperceptible solemnity. She sheathed her flame sword, but the flames around her burned even brighter. "How could a being of this level be around here?"

Lin Yue didn't answer, his attention entirely on the giant bear's movements. This beast clearly saw them as rivals for the spirit herb, letting out a low growl from its throat, its front claws digging into the ground, kicking up clouds of gravel, ready to attack at any moment.

"Deal with it first?" Su Qingyan tilted her head to look at Lin Yue, her tone still carrying hostility, but with less of the previous confrontational edge. She knew very well that in their current state, neither of them stood a chance against the Chaos Giant Bear alone.

Just as Lin Yue was about to nod, the Chaos Giant Bear struck first. It roared violently, its front claws slamming into the ground with immense force, sending a visible shockwave that instantly collapsed the ground into a pit several zhang wide, launching countless pieces of gravel like cannonballs at the two of them.

"Dodge!" Lin Yue shouted, pulling Su Qingyan's arm and lunging to the side. His reaction was incredibly fast, narrowly avoiding the densest hail of gravel, but a small stone still hit his back, making him wince in pain.

Su Qingyan stumbled as he pulled her, and after regaining her balance, she immediately shook off his hand. A flash of anger crossed her face, but she said nothing—if Lin Yue hadn't pulled her just then, she would likely have been hit in a vital spot by the gravel.

As soon as they steadied themselves, they saw the Chaos Giant Bear pounce next to the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma. It lowered its head, its massive bear paw stomping down without hesitation, as if crushing an ordinary stone.

"No!" Su Qingyan's eyes widened in fury. She watched helplessly as the spirit herb, imbued with countless strands of Chaos life force, was crushed under the bear's foot. The golden leaves instantly became tattered and broken, the rich aura of vitality dissipating at a visible rate. She instinctively moved to charge forward but was held back firmly by Lin Yue.

"Are you crazy?" Lin Yue hissed, "Going up now is suicide!"

Su Qingyan struggled a few times, seeing the bear lick the crushed spirit herb with its rough tongue, its eyes filled with even greater greed. Finally, reason overcame impulse. She took a deep breath, her gaze towards Lin Yue becoming more complex. "What do we do now?"

"What else can we do?" Lin Yue stared at the Chaos Giant Bear, his mind racing. "This beast's defense is incredibly strong; a direct confrontation is out of the question. We need to find a way to lure it away, or..." Before he could finish, the Chaos Giant Bear raised its head, its crimson gaze turning towards them, clearly including them in its attack range.

"Roar!" The bear roared and charged at them. Its speed was disproportionate to its massive size, carrying a foul wind as it closed the distance in an instant.

"Split up and run!" Lin Yue decided instantly, darting towards the rock wall on the left. Su Qingyan reacted swiftly, heading towards the right. The two of them, one to the left and one to the right, tried to distract the bear.

The Chaos Giant Bear didn't choose to pursue either of them. It stopped abruptly and slammed its front claws into the ground again. This time, its target wasn't the ground but the area between the two of them. With a thunderous "boom," an earth wall several zhang high erupted from the ground, completely separating Lin Yue and Su Qingyan.

"Damn it!" Lin Yue cursed inwardly, surprised the beast had such a trick. The earth wall was made of hard rock, covered in a grey sheen, clearly infused with Chaos Energy, making it difficult to break through.

From the other side of the wall came Su Qingyan's angry shouts and the crackling sound of flames, indicating she had engaged the bear. Lin Yue was anxious; he knew Su Qingyan's flames, though powerful, might not be able to break through the bear's defense, and she wouldn't be able to hold it off for long.

He tried attacking the earth wall with a Chaos Little Light Orb. The orb struck the wall, leaving only a shallow white mark, not even dislodging a single piece of gravel. "Hardness comparable to a high-level defensive magic artifact..." Lin Yue frowned, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. He suddenly spotted a relatively weak seam at the top of the earth wall—a flaw left by the bear when it hastily formed the wall.

Without hesitation, Lin Yue circulated the Chaos Qi in his dantian and leaped upwards. His speed was extreme; as he leaped, he condensed three Chaos Light Orbs in his hand, firing them consecutively at the seam.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Three crisp sounds, and the rock at the seam shattered. Using this momentum, Lin Yue scrambled up the wall like an ape, reaching the top just in time to see Su Qingyan being forced back by the bear's paw, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth, clearly lightly injured.

"Su Qingyan, over here!" Lin Yue shouted, simultaneously throwing a Chaos Light Orb at the bear's flank. He remembered that the beast's abdomen was usually a weak point for defense; even a Chaos Giant Bear might not be an exception.

The Chaos Light Orb struck the Chaos Giant Bear's flank. Although it didn't penetrate the defense, it made the beast roar in pain, drawing its attention. Su Qingyan seized the opportunity, quickly retreating and meeting Lin Yue on top of the earth wall.

"How are you?" Lin Yue asked, his gaze warily fixed on the bear below.

"Not dying." Su Qingyan wiped the blood from her lips, her face pale. "This beast's hide is too thick; my flames can only scratch the fur, they can't break through its defense." She looked at Lin Yue, a hint of solemnity in her eyes. "This isn't working; we'll be worn down and killed sooner or later."

Lin Yue nodded, also realizing the gravity of the situation. The bear's strength and defense far surpassed theirs, and it seemed tireless. If this dragged on, their energy would dwindle, and they would end up as the beast's meal.

"We must find its weakness," Lin Yue said softly, carefully scanning the bear. "Did you try attacking its eyes or snout? Those areas are usually less defended."

Su Qingyan paused, then shook her head. "Its eyes are covered by thick eyelids, impossible to hit. I tried its snout, but every breath it takes releases a foul gust that blows away flames."

Lin Yue fell into thought. Just then, the Chaos Giant Bear attacked again, slamming its body into the earth wall. The entire wall shook violently, and countless pieces of gravel rained down from the top. Lin Yue and Su Qingyan quickly ducked, gripping the edge of the wall tightly to avoid being thrown off.

"If this continues, the earth wall won't hold for long!" Su Qingyan said urgently, feeling the rock beneath her feet loosening.

Lin Yue took a deep breath, suddenly remembering a saying Pangu had taught him: "All things have their momentum; follow the momentum and save strength, oppose the momentum and exhaust strength." He stared at the bear's action of hitting the earth wall, and a thought flashed through his mind.

"Su Qingyan, I have an idea," Lin Yue said softly. "Later, I'll lure it to crash into that rock face over there. You take the opportunity to attack its hind legs; the fur looks thinner there!" He pointed to a large, slanted rock not far away. "Its strength is immense; if it crashes into that slanted rock, it will surely lose its balance. That will be our chance!"

Su Qingyan looked in the direction he pointed, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. But seeing the constantly shaking earth wall, she finally nodded. "Alright, I'll trust you this time."

Lin Yue no longer hesitated. He leaped down from the top of the earth wall, landing not far in front of the bear. He deliberately fired a Chaos Light Orb at the bear's nose, his provocation evident.

"Roar!" The Chaos Giant Bear was indeed enraged. It abandoned hitting the earth wall and roared as it charged at Lin Yue. Its speed was incredible, its massive body carrying a world-destroying aura.

Lin Yue's heart pounded. Suppressing his fear, he turned and ran towards the slanted rock. He calculated the bear's speed, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far, luring it closer and closer to the rock.

Just as it was about to crash into the rock, Lin Yue rolled to the side. The Chaos Giant Bear couldn't stop in time, its massive body slamming hard into the slanted rock face!

"Boom!" A deafening sound, the rock shattered, and debris flew everywhere. But more importantly, due to inertia, the bear's body tilted uncontrollably to the side, one hind leg exposed in the air, having lost its balance.

"Now!" Lin Yue shouted.

Su Qingyan was ready. She gathered most of her remaining flame energy, transforming it into a scorching pillar of fire, which accurately shot towards the joint of the bear's hind leg. The fur there was indeed thinner; the flames instantly burned through the fur, leaving a patch of scorched blackness.

"Awooo--!" The Chaos Giant Bear let out a pained roar. Its unbalanced body crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Lin Yue seized the opportunity, rushing to the bear's side. He condensed all the Chaos Energy in his body into a single light orb and slammed it into its injured hind leg. Although the orb didn't inflict a fatal wound, it widened the bear's injury, causing it to roll on the ground in pain.

"Let's go!" Lin Yue pulled Su Qingyan and turned to run out of the rocky valley. He knew that while this attack had injured the bear, it was far from enough to kill it. Once it recovered, they would still be unable to escape death.

Su Qingyan didn't hesitate and ran out with Lin Yue. Their figures soon disappeared into the depths of the rocky valley, leaving only the Chaos Giant Bear roaring in pain on the spot, and the crushed Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma, gradually losing its last bit of life in the dust.