Curtain of Flesh and Blood I

The lush, dense forest was filled with towering trees that reached toward the clouds, while the ground was blanketed in withered yellow leaves and humus.

Occasionally, a dead branch would fall, becoming half-buried in the piles of leaves, or sometimes disappearing into them entirely.

If you didn't want to sustain unnecessary injuries while moving quickly through the jungle, it was best to be wary of these tripping hazards.

On Dongyuan Planet, which was teeming with exotic creatures, some of these dead branches could be harder and sharper than metal; you certainly wouldn't want to kick one of them...

Village Chief Shenghui and the "Wise Star" Sijian hovered between the leaves. One was a Universe Rank 9, the other a Universe Rank 3; they were powerhouses who could easily defy gravity and fly freely!

The rest, who were Flying Star Rank (Star Rank) and below, were clinging to the tree trunks in various postures. The lucky ones had branches to stand on, while some were even bear-hugging the trunks entirely.

They had done all this to secure the best front-row seats to watch Yuan, who was fully armed and brandishing an elegant longsword, as he slowly approached his first-ever desolate beast opponent: a Fang Beast (pig-type).

Sijian, with his hands on his hips and wearing armor made of irregular light-blue iron plates—which looked much more pleasing to the eye than the multicolored mess Shenghui wore—smiled and commented.

"It's not easy to find an Earth Rank 5 desolate beast. This Fang Beast must have gotten separated from a herd fleeing a hunt..."

Yuan's spiritual force could currently control an array of thirteen A9-grade metal throwing knives, and he could easily slaughter this "wild boar," but that would defeat the purpose of honing his skills.

"How many moves do you think it will take for Yuan to defeat it without using his spiritual force?" someone in the trees whispered, issuing a subtle challenge.

"Quiet, watch closely how a true intent-level genius attacks. This might help you gain insights into intent!" Shenghui interrupted sternly.

Everyone finally fell silent, waiting quietly for Yuan's performance.

Yuan moved like a nimble leopard, quickly darting behind a fallen dead tree to observe the Fang Beast not far ahead.

The Fang Beast's entire body was covered in black fur that resembled black steel needles, and a single dark-gray horn looked just like a sharp sword!

Under the faint light scattering into the jungle from the accretion disk of the Tuya black hole at noon, the horn-sword refracted a cold, icy glint.

This is my first battle; I have to make it look good! Yuan stared intensely at the Fang Beast as it hunted for prey.

"Hoh~~ Hoh~~"

The Fang Beast let out a series of hisses, its eyes flashing with murderous intent as it scanned its surroundings.

It found me. Yuan's heart raced, but instead of the panic he had expected, he felt a surge of excitement!

"Boom~~" The Fang Beast suddenly bolted, transforming into a high-speed heavy-duty mecha as it charged directly at the dead tree Yuan was using for cover.

Yuan dodged with the agility of a monkey. With a loud crash, the dead tree was sent flying, spinning through the jungle and slamming into several other trees.

Having been weathered by wind and sun for decades, the cracked dead tree shattered upon impact, the sound of wood splintering and the rustling of branches and leaves echoing far into the distance...

The moment he dodged, Yuan immediately lunged toward the Fang Beast.

"Die, you beast!" Yuan let out a low growl, his body turning into a bolt of lightning as he shot toward the Fang Beast.

The source-energy weapon in his hand traced a cold arc, thrusting directly toward the Fang Beast's neck.

The Fang Beast, having just crashed through the dead tree, seemed unable to turn in time, but just as Yuan closed in, it struck.

Whoosh! A black shadow whipped toward Yuan's head.

So fast. Yuan jumped in alarm, forcing his feet to push off the ground as he barely twisted his body to avoid the shadow.

The shadow was none other than the Fang Beast's tail, which acted like an iron whip!

"Puff! Puff!"

After lashing out with its tail, the Fang Beast's agility soared, and it lunged violently at Yuan.

Its thick iron hooves and sharp horn-sword thrust forward simultaneously.

Damn, this Fang Beast is too fast. Yuan immediately stepped back, forced to use his palm to brace against the blade near the tip to push it forward.

"Bang!"

The blade collided violently with the Fang Beast's iron hoof. At the moment of impact, Yuan used the recoil to fly backward in a dive, rolling on the ground to dissipate the force.

The Fang Beast pursued him at high speed, but Yuan rolled and stepped onto the trunk of a nearby tree, then dodged behind another tree.

The obstruction of the trees prevented the Fang Beast's high-speed charge from being effective.

Not far away, the "Starship Humans" watching the scene nodded slightly.

"Chief, Yuan's reaction is good. After these ten days of training, he doesn't look like a novice at all!" Sijian laughed.

Village Chief Shenghui nodded with a smile. "I thought he would suffer a bit when facing this Fang Beast for the first time!"

Sijian evaluated, "His on-the-spot reactions are extremely fast, and his fundamentals are excellent. Using the flat of the blade to dissipate force was very clever; his movements are as smooth as flowing water!"

"I have a feeling he will soon master the practical combat techniques of Light Intent!" Shenghui's eyes burned with intensity.

With Shenghui's Universe Rank neural reaction speed, the battle between Yuan and the Fang Beast looked like a "sloth" moving—it was as slow as watching a frame-by-frame comic strip!

What was rare was witnessing the process of an ethereal intent entering the realm of practical combat!

One had to know that the strongest person in Shenghui's village had only barely evolved his intent into a domain when he stepped into the Universe Rank thousands of years ago.

Even now, he was still only at the seventh level of the Flame Domain, with only a slim chance of ever reaching the Domain Lord Rank.

Yuan was extremely focused, secretly shocked in his heart: This Fang Beast is so cunning. It deliberately acted weak at first, then suddenly attacked me with its tail, followed by its hooves and horn-sword in quick succession.

Plus that final crazy charge... these chain attacks. It's a good thing I've made progress in practicing the Die Feng Sword Art over the last ten days, allowing me to control my strength with greater precision!

If not for the fact that he had been obsessively practicing the Die Feng Sword Art for the past half-month, Yuan would likely have had to use his spiritual force to avoid injury during that wave of attacks.

"Hrrgh~~" The Fang Beast let out a hiss, not foolishly crashing into the sturdy trees, but instead weaving through them in a series of leaps before charging rapidly toward Yuan.

"You beast, this time, you're done for!"

Yuan slammed his foot into a piece of shattered deadwood nearby; the wood flew like a projectile from a catapult, hurtling toward the Fang Beast.

The Fang Beast didn't slow down at all, merely lowering its head slightly. Its sharp horn easily sliced the deadwood in half, and the debris fell away.

As for Yuan, he had already charged toward the Fang Beast the moment he kicked the wood.

"Hrrgh~~" As it smashed through the wood, the Fang Beast immediately whipped its head around, its horn thrusting like a sharp sword toward Yuan.

"Die!" At that moment, Yuan's body spun with the agility of a butterfly, dodging the horn with exquisite precision.

While spinning, Yuan used the momentum to swing his Force Weapon sword, striking in an instant!

The blade of the Force Weapon accelerated along an arc!

"Pfft!" Fast as lightning, the spinning strike slashed directly into the neck of the Fang Beast.

Squelch. Yuan clearly felt the hardness of the beast's fur and the toughness of its hide.

As expected of a wild beast from Dongyuan Planet, its body density was comparable to that of a typical Star Rank beast in the star sector!

Bright red blood seeped out, but Yuan's sword had only managed to bite about five centimeters into the neck before it could go no further.

"Roar~~" The Fang Beast roared madly, violently whipping its head around to ram into Yuan. The severely wounded beast was even more frantic!

Light! Light! Light! A strange, profound intent began to spread around Yuan, causing the pupils of Shenghui and Sijian to constrict sharply!

Fully focused, Yuan did not notice the strange changes occurring within himself.

Light began to distort. To the onlookers, the scene of Yuan and the Fang Beast confronting each other looked like a stone thrown into a calm pond, beginning to ripple with a rhythmic pattern!

Even the Flying Star Rank and Earth Rank experts present noticed the anomaly!

Plip! Plop! Foul-smelling blood rolled down the thick skin of the Fang Beast's neck, dripping onto the leaf-strewn ground.

Its eyes glowed with madness, and amidst low, guttural roars, the Fang Beast charged at Yuan again and again like lightning.

Hooves, horn, and tail—the three types of attacks came in an endless stream.

"With a neck injury, its turning agility has dropped significantly." Yuan dodged nimbly.

Whoosh! Instead of retreating, Yuan advanced. With an elegant sidestep, the tip of the Fang Beast's horn missed his body by a mere three centimeters.

Yet, those three centimeters were like a chasm, rendering the Fang Beast unable to land a single blow on Yuan.

Yuan brought his Force Weapon sword down in a swift, vertical chop from above! Accompanied by a piercing whistle, the Fang Beast let out a startled, furious roar, its four hooves digging into the ground as it tried to dodge the strike.

But—the speed of Yuan's sword was too great; only the sound of steel biting into flesh was heard.

"Chhh—" It struck the neck again. Although it wasn't the exact same spot, this time the blade bit in nearly eight centimeters deep!

"Hmph, with the previous injury, its neck muscles can't exert full force to resist. The next time, its neck defense will be even weaker."

As he withdrew his sword, Yuan immediately dodged, easily avoiding the beast's frantic, retaliatory attack before closing in once more!

"Hrrgh~~ Hrrgh~~" The Fang Beast let out angry, maddened roars.

"This is the last one!" Yuan shifted his feet three times in rapid succession, creating a blurred afterimage.

He dodged the beast's attack once more. Accompanying those nimble steps was Yuan's fierce sword strike!

"Squelch!" The blade was difficult to drive in at first.

Suddenly! A dazzling silver-white light coated the blade, and the entire Force Weapon sword erupted with a brilliant silver-white glow!

The resistance plummeted instantly. Yuan's Force Weapon sword acted like a hot knife through butter, slicing nearly two-thirds of the way through the Fang Beast's neck. He then pulled the blade free and retreated rapidly!

Blood sprayed from the massive wound like a fountain!

"Awoo-roar~~" With a shrill cry, the Fang Beast convulsed, its four hooves kicking out uncontrollably, churning up the dead leaves and humus into the air.

The unconscious beast then lunged forward, crashing into a thick tree nearby, shaking loose a flurry of leaves.

Dead leaves rained down from the sky! Ignoring the scattered lethality and the terrifying Fang Beast, the scene was actually quite beautiful.