The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, the Oriole Follows Behind

"It's a misunderstanding! Good sirs."

"We're leaving right now, we won't disturb you at all!"

Three figures scrambled out from behind the trees in a panic and fled without looking back—they were clearly martial artists from a martial arts hall who had also been drawn by the commotion.

They had originally only come to investigate after hearing the beast's roar, intending to pick up some easy spoils if they saw both sides suffer heavy losses. They hadn't expected the situation to be settled so quickly, and having exposed their tracks while retreating, they had no choice but to flee in a panic.

"Rats, where do you think you're going? Pursue them!" Seeing this, the scarred leader's fury flared up. They couldn't afford to have their tracks exposed, so how could he let them go?

He didn't even bother to check the demon bear, instead leading his subordinates in pursuit.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several figures streaked past not far above Qin Meng's head, the force of the wind causing the grass to flatten.

Qin Meng lay deathly still, pushing his environmental integration talent to its limit. His heartbeat slowed to a near stop, making him seem like nothing more than a lifeless mountain rock.

As the pursuers moved into the distance, only four bandits remained in the clearing.

Three were heavily injured, and one lightly injured man with a horse-like face was left in charge of processing the bear carcass.

He stumbled over to the black bear's body, greed flashing in his eyes. He raised his steel blade and hacked down at the wound on the bear's neck, preparing to drain its blood.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

The demon bear, which had already "breathed its last," suddenly had red light flare in its pupils. Bursting with one final surge of strength, it slammed its paw fiercely toward the horse-faced man.

The horse-faced man had quick reflexes; in the critical moment, he rolled to the side.

Crack!

"Ah—!" A shrill scream rang out.

Although the horse-faced man had dodged a lethal blow to the head, his left arm was clipped by the edge of the bear's paw. It twisted and deformed instantly; it was clearly shattered.

"You beast, I'll slaughter you!"

The horse-faced man's face twisted in agony. Together with the short bandit who had barely managed to rush over, he began frantically hacking at the black bear as it struggled to rise.

The black bear was truly making a death throe, its strength greatly diminished. After a chaotic, desperate struggle, the short bandit was swatted away, his fate unknown.

The horse-faced man plunged his blade deep into the black bear's abdomen and twisted it with all his might.

The black bear let out a final, unwilling whimper and crashed to the ground once more. Blood gushed out like a fountain; this time, it was truly down to its last breath.

The horse-faced man's face was as pale as paper. He gasped for air, staring at the giant bear carcass twitching inches away, and let out a savage, manic laugh.

"Damn it, die for me..."

However, a flash of cold light appeared behind his neck without any warning.

The sinister grin on the horse-faced man's face froze instantly. He felt the world spin, and to his horror, he saw his own headless body collapse with a thud.

Nearby, a burly young man was retracting a blood-stained ghost-head blade.

It was Qin Meng!

Seeing the scarred leader lead his men away in pursuit, his mind had begun to race.

The moment the iron-backed demon bear and the bandits were both battered and exhausted, and the horse-faced man let his guard down, he struck.

His environmental integration talent allowed him to reach the pinnacle of stealth, while his minor mastery of the eight blade breaking techniques granted this strike extreme speed, precision, and lethality.

[life source +9%]

With a single decapitating strike, that familiar warm energy surged into him.

After killing the man, Qin Meng did not stop for a second. He thrust his blade fiercely into the gash on the black bear's neck, driving it in up to the hilt to precisely pierce its heart.

A faint, almost imperceptible red light bloomed from his palm, coating the blade as it frantically devoured the massive essence of blood and energy within the demon beast.

In an instant, the black bear's massive body withered, shrinking by a significant margin.

[life source +25%]

[deprived iron-backed demon bear bloodline talent: iron back, thick skin and fleshy]

The prompt appearing before his eyes invigorated Qin Meng.

With no time to examine it closely, he quickly pulled out his blade and finished off the three heavily wounded bandits.

[life source +8%]

[life source +9%]

[life source +8%]

Next, Qin Meng nimbly searched the bandit corpses, pulling out several money pouches and stuffing them into his clothes without even glancing at them.

He rushed back to the demon bear's carcass, used his hunting knife to forcefully cut open its chest, and extracted a dark red bear heart, larger than a coconut and still pulsing. He wrapped it in oil paper, then dug out the golden bear gallbladder and placed it into a bamboo tube.

The entire process took no more than a few dozen seconds.

Having finished all this, Qin Meng did not dare to delay for even a moment. He did not covet the rest of the demon beast's carcass; instead, he identified his direction and vanished into the dense forest.

Not long after he left, the scarred leader returned with several of his men, his expression grim. They had failed to catch everyone, having only managed to capture and kill two of them after interrogating them for information.

Accompanied by curses, the bandits returned to the scene. Upon seeing the corpses of their companions, the disemboweled black bear, and the ransacked site, a brief silence fell over them.

Zhao Tianhu, the scarred man, erupted into a heaven-shaking roar:

"Ah—! Damn it..."

"You scum from Leiming Martial Hall, how dare you snatch the spoils from your Lord Tiger!"

"Murder and arson lead to golden belts; money really does come fast!"

In the woods on the outskirts of Luming Mountain, Qin Meng leaned against a giant rock, happily counting his spoils.

Seven money pouches, totaling over fifty taels of silver.

One demon bear heart, containing pure, concentrated blood energy.

That golden bear gallbladder was a rare "golden gall," the condensed essence of a demon beast.

However, the greatest harvest was the two talents he had stripped from the demon bear.

[Talent: Iron Back - Mid-tier (Compatibility 95%, can be fused)]

[Talent: Thick Skin and Fleshy - Low-tier (Compatibility 98%, can be fused)]

Stripping talents was the main reason Qin Meng had risked snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

He adjusted his breathing to calm his nerves and sank his consciousness into the panel in his mind.

In the center of the light screen, two blood droplets, red as blood jade, hung silently. They were the essence of the bloodline talents stripped from the demon bear.

"Fuse."

As soon as his thought moved, the two blood droplets suddenly burst into light, transforming into thousands of crimson blood threads that submerged into his limbs and bones.

The next moment, excruciating pain erupted. It felt like countless red-hot steel needles piercing his skin, fascia, and bones, churning, tearing, and restructuring them frantically.

Qin Meng grunted, gritting his teeth as the veins on his forehead bulged. He hadn't expected this talent fusion to be so painful, though he had experienced something similar during his life source strengthening.

The life source transformed into a gentle, warm current that surged out just in time, and the pain gradually subsided.

Following that, however, came an itch that seeped deep into his bone marrow, washing over him like a tide. It felt as if thousands of insects were crawling under his skin, gnawing at the gaps in his bones.

Qin Meng gritted his teeth until they creaked, refusing to make a sound or move a muscle.

His body was being scoured and tempered. His skin rippled and thickened, muscle fibers were torn and restructured, and his bones emitted a continuous, faint "creaking" sound...

Half a quarter of an hour later, the violent transformation process finally faded.

[Name: Qin Meng]

[Realm: mortal body]

[Innate Talent: divine valor]

[Talents: iron back-intermediate (1%), environmental integration-low (23%), thick skin and fleshy-low (1%)]

[Core Cultivation Technique: none]

[Martial Arts: eight blade breaking techniques-minor success (136/1000), chain arrow-mastery (423/500)]

Merging the talents had consumed quite a bit of life source, yet Qin Meng felt it was incredibly worth it.

A realization surfaced in his mind: compared to an auxiliary talent like environmental integration, the two talents he had just acquired belonged to the defensive category.

Iron back-intermediate: The density of the skin and flesh and the hardness of the bones in the back, shoulders, and arms were significantly increased, reaching a level "like iron."

Thick skin and fleshy-low: The skin became as tough as ox leather, fascia grew beneath the skin, and muscle resilience was enhanced.

Qin Meng opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance flickering within them. His blood and qi surged within his body. He picked up a rock from the ground, clenched his fist slightly, and crushed it into powder.

He drew his ghost-head blade and slashed and hacked at his arm, producing the sound of metal scraping against metal. The iron back talent was truly worthy of being intermediate; its defense was formidable.

He then pressed hard against his abdomen with the blade, leaving only a faint white mark. Gradually increasing his force, it wasn't until he used seventy or eighty percent of his strength that the blade edge managed to carve a shallow cut, yet no beads of blood seeped out. The muscles of the wound contracted rapidly.

This defensive power... A burning heat flashed in Qin Meng's eyes.

In this dangerous world, powerful attack power was certainly important, but a meat-shield-like defense was even more precious. Being able to survive was the fundamental requirement.

Moreover, cultivation techniques could have their proficiency grinded, and talents had growth progress.

Such as [environmental integration-low (23%)].

Talent growth came from self-mastery and development, or by devouring similar sources to strengthen them. When it reached 100%, a qualitative change would occur.

Qin Meng was filled with anticipation for the advancement of the iron back and thick skin and fleshy talents. When that time came, to what extent would his body become formidable?

Having adapted to the new strength and defensive changes within his body, he felt light-footed and healthy, his energy overflowing. He strapped on his long blade, picked up his bow and arrows, and headed down the mountain.

He wove through the mountain forest, his environmental integration talent passively activated. His body temperature and aura were suppressed, his figure stalking like a ghost. Along the way, he shot plenty of prey, moving rapidly in the direction of Luming Fort.