Blood Moon

Before he could figure it out, Gu Yue suddenly accelerated.

She charged toward the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, her speed astonishingly fast.

Then, she raised her hand.

Nothing happened.

But the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear suddenly let out a miserable shriek, its massive body tilting to the side.

A deep fissure appeared on its shoulder.

It looked as if it had been torn open by something invisible.

Yun Jingheng was stunned for a moment.

Spatial power.

He suddenly recalled that in the original work, Gu Yue's martial soul was the Elemental Controller, capable of manipulating multiple elements.

But how old was she now? Eight? Nine?

And she could already injure a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear?

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was enraged.

It stopped retreating and lunged toward Gu Yue instead.

Gu Yue dodged to the side and raised her hand again.

Another gash appeared on the bear's other shoulder.

But it didn't stop this time; its giant claw swept horizontally across.

Gu Yue retreated, but she was still caught by the wind of the strike, sent tumbling to the side.

"Gu Yue!" Tang Wulin shouted as he rushed forward.

Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi exchanged glances, then gritted their teeth and charged in as well.

Yun Jingheng stood where he was, watching the scene unfold.

He suddenly remembered something.

These people were all from the Zero Class.

In the original work, they were Tang Wulin's first companions, experiencing many things together.

Now, they were risking their lives against a century-old Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

He sighed.

The Moonlight Sword coalesced in his hand.

Then, he also charged forward.

The battle was chaotic.

Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw struck the bear's leg, leaving only a few shallow white marks.

Xie Xie was fast, but he couldn't break through the defense, so he could only circle around to harass it.

Wang Jinxi landed a punch, causing the bear to sway, but it then swatted him away with a single blow.

Zhang Yangzi... currently, he didn't seem to be of much use.

Gu Yue's spatial elements were the most effective, leaving wounds on the bear every time.

But her face was turning paler by the second, and fine beads of sweat were breaking out on her forehead.

Yun Jingheng landed a Crescent Slash to mark the target, flashed behind the bear, and thrust his sword toward its nape.

This time, the tip of the blade sank half an inch into the flesh.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear roared in pain and swung its claw around.

Yun Jingheng dodged, his footsteps unsteady as he landed.

His soul power was nearly bottomed out.

He glanced at the others.

Tang Wulin was still gritting his teeth to hold on, Xie Xie could no longer run, Wang Jinxi was struggling to climb up from the ground, and Zhang Yangzi could barely stand.

Gu Yue stood at the very front, her hand still raised, but her fingers were trembling.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear stared at them, its eyes filled with killing intent.

It let out a roar and charged toward Gu Yue.

Gu Yue raised her hand, and a spatial blade slashed out.

The bear dodged to the side, its giant claw already swinging toward her face.

"Gu Yue!" Tang Wulin rushed forward, his Golden Dragon Claw striking at the bear's leg.

The bear ignored him entirely, swatting its claw toward Gu Yue.

At that very instant, a hand grabbed Gu Yue's shoulder and yanked her backward.

Yun Jingheng.

He flashed over and pulled Gu Yue away.

But the bear's claws had already arrived.

He had no time to dodge, so he could only turn sideways and take the blow with his shoulder.

"Bang—"

A massive force surged through him, sending his entire body flying until he slammed into a tree.

His chest felt stiflingly heavy, and a surge of metallic sweetness welled up in his throat.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear stared at him and began to stride forward.

Xie Xie rushed up to intercept it, only to be swatted away by a single claw, dissolving into specks of light.

Wang Jinxi gritted his teeth and charged, but he too was swatted away by a single claw.

Zhang Yangzi stood frozen in place; before he could even run, the bear's claw had already landed on him.

The specks of light dissipated.

Yun Jingheng propped himself up against the tree and watched this scene.

Three.

Three strikes.

Three people were gone just like that.

He gripped his sword tightly and took a deep breath.

He glanced at the patterns on the blade—it was already at the Crescent Moon phase, still a distance away from the Full Moon, so he had to stack his passive first.

Yun Jingheng charged forward and slashed at the bear's leg, leaving a deep sword mark.

The bear roared and turned to swat at him.

He flashed away to dodge, then struck with another sword blow.

Flash again, another strike.

The bear was spun around in circles by him, its body accumulating more and more wounds.

But its hide was too thick; these minor injuries were nothing to it.

It suddenly stopped in its tracks and stared at Yun Jingheng.

Then, it opened its mouth.

A golden light began to condense within its maw.

Tang Wulin's expression changed.

"Dodge—!"

Before the words could finish, the golden light had already shot out.

Yun Jingheng wanted to flash, but he was out of soul power.

He stood rooted to the spot, watching that light grow closer and closer.

Then, someone blocked his path.

Gu Yue.

She spread her arms wide, shielding him.

The golden light landed on her.

She swayed, but did not fall.

However, her body began to turn transparent.

She turned her head to look at Yun Jingheng.

In those eyes, there was nothing.

No fear, no regret, no words left to say.

She simply looked at him.

Then, her body turned into specks of light and dissipated.

Yun Jingheng stood where he was, stunned.

He stared at the spot where she had vanished, his mind a complete blank.

Why?

Why did she block it?

How long had they even known each other?

They hadn't even spoken a word.

Why did she—

The footsteps of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear rang out.

It was walking over.

Yun Jingheng did not move.

He simply stood there, watching the spot where Gu Yue had vanished.

Within his sea of consciousness, that moon began to vibrate.

Not rotating, but vibrating.

Xiao Jiu's voice came through.

"Yun Jingheng—"

He did not hear it.

He only stared at that spot.

Then, he heard another voice.

"Yun Jingheng—!"

Ye Xinglan rushed out from the woods.

She ran over, her expression shifting the moment she saw the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, and then she stepped in front of him.

"What are you spacing out for?!"

She shouted, "Run!"

She gripped the Star God Sword, staring at the bear; her soul power had not recovered much, yet she did not retreat a single step.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear glanced at her and swiped a claw toward her.

Ye Xinglan raised her sword to parry.

"Clang—"

The sword went flying.

Her entire body was swiped away, crashing into a tree before dissolving into specks of light.

Yun Jingheng watched those specks of light drift away.

Ye Xinglan was gone, too.

He lowered his head.

In his sea of consciousness, that Full Moon was still vibrating.

Then, it changed.

The silver-white radiance slowly faded away.

Replacing it was a sheet of scarlet.

Full Moon → Blood Moon.

Yun Jingheng raised his head.

The silver-white blade of the Moonlight Sword was stained with a touch of red.

A touch of blood-red.

It was so bright and blood-red that it looked as if it had just been fished out of blood.

Behind him, a phantom image slowly emerged.

It was his shadow.

But the shadow was twisting, laughing.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear stared at him and suddenly halted its advance.

It sensed something.

That aura made it instinctively afraid.

But it did not run.

It lunged toward Yun Jingheng.

Yun Jingheng thrust out a sword.

One sword.

A very simple sword.

Without any flourishes, without any technique, it just stabbed straight forward.

The sword tip landed on the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

From the top of its head, to its chest, to its abdomen, down to the ground.

A line of blood split open right down the middle.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear remained in its lunging posture as it was cleaved into two halves mid-air.

Then, it dissolved into specks of light and vanished.

Yun Jingheng stood where he was, gripping that blood-red sword.

His eyes were red as well.

Not a faint shade of red, but a deep, profound crimson, as if something were burning within them.

Behind him, that distorted shadow was still laughing.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, Xiao Jiu was shouting something.

But he could not hear it.

He simply stood there, watching those dissipating specks of light.

For a long time.

It was not until the Blood Moon slowly faded, the sword blade returned to its silver hue, and his eyes shifted back to black.

He lowered his head, looking at his own hands.

Those hands were trembling.

Then, as the world spun around him, he slammed his palm onto the emergency device on his wrist.