A sudden change struck!
Druck's warning was instantly proven right!
A dense, piercing chorus of cries rang out from the distant night sky. A dark mass like a death omen swept toward the helicopter!
The flock consisted of dozens of raptors, each with a wingspan of over two meters and feathers that shimmered with an ominous metallic sheen!
Thunder Feather Falcons—second-tier pack beasts. Individually, they weren't strong, but they were violent by nature.
"Hold on tight!" Druck roared as he yanked the controls, but the flock's suicidal assault was already upon them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The fuselage shuddered violently. The windshield shattered, and the rotor blades let out a piercing crack!
The helicopter spun out of control and plunged toward a pitch-black area below.
Chen Kefa and Druck wore identical looks of terror.
Boom!
Amid a tremendous crash and the mournful screech of tearing metal, the helicopter finally slammed into the ruins of a silent town.
It seemed to have crashed into an abandoned warehouse.
Chen Kefa came to his senses. By moonlight, he spotted several giant bears in the distance, gnawing at a mangled corpse that was impossible to recognize.
The rusted roller shutter was smashed apart with ease, and a gaping hole had been torn in the roof. The cold wind swept in, carrying a revolting stench of decay.
"Damn, that beast-habits teacher was right. These birds stink like hell."
Chen Kefa checked himself all over and confirmed he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
"Cough... cough... You okay, brother?"
"I... I'm fine."
Fortunately, at the last moment, Chen Kefa and Druck had both channeled all their blood energy to protect themselves, avoiding fatal injuries.
That was what it meant to be a professional martial artist.
At their level, both their defenses and their ability to withstand danger had improved substantially.
But the tremendous impact still left their organs churning and their blood energy in disarray. They were in terrible shape.
"It's too soon to let our guard down. Forget the gear. Grab your weapons and move!"
The two men kicked open the twisted cabin door with all their might and struggled out of the wreckage.
The sharp stench of blood and burning mingled with the air's foul, musty odor, making them want to vomit.
Directly beneath the fuselage, several unlucky Spine Hyenas had been crushed flat.
Chen Kefa raised a hand and pulled a piece of metal shrapnel from a wound on the outside of his thigh.
But there was no time to catch their breath.
All around the ruins, greedy eyes gleamed in the darkness, and low growls surged in from every direction...
The tremendous noise of the crash had roused the predators throughout the town's ruins!
"Cough, cough... Off to a bad start." Chen Kefa wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze sharp.
He knew the two of them were in no condition to be surrounded and slowly worn down.
"Clear a path and break through!" he whispered, holding out his right hand.
A slender sword, thin as a cicada's wing and shimmering with blue lightning, abruptly appeared in his hand.
Lightning rippled along its blade, crackling softly.
At the same time, Druck slammed his fists together, and a pair of dark metal knuckle guards covered his huge fists.
Blood energy surged around him, unleashing a fierce, violent aura.
It was the opening stance of the Eight Extremes Fist.
"Stay close!" Chen Kefa moved, his sword shooting forward like a dragon!
He unleashed the Azure Underworld Awakening of Insects sword art. Swordlight wrapped in bolts of lightning swept out with the speed of a spring thunderclap!
The first few Spine Hyenas to lunge at them were instantly shredded by the lightning, their bodies charred black.
Druck followed close behind, throwing both fists.
The Eight Extremes Fist's explosive power erupted—simple and direct, yet domineering beyond compare!
One punch tore a Earth Scale Python that had attacked from the side to pieces, scales and all!
The two fought as they retreated, one wielding a sword with nimble grace, the other striking with brute force, trying to carve a path through the beasts.
But more and more gathered, and among them were even several powerful fourth-tier leaders!
If this continued, they'd eventually be worn down and killed!
On an ordinary day, beasts of this rank wouldn't have been a match for either of them, but there were simply too many.
These beasts had lived in a constant state of hunger. Now that living prey had appeared, their ferocity was instantly unleashed.
The beasts couldn't even wait to hunt the two men; they began tearing into one another.
Worse still, the noise of the battle was drawing dangerous creatures from farther away.
"Damn! Now we're in for it!" Druck spat out a mouthful of bloodied saliva.
Chen Kefa parried a beast's lunge and rapidly scanned his surroundings.
His gaze suddenly fixed on an inconspicuous Rift deep in the ruins, its faint glow flickering unsteadily.
"Over there! There's a Rift!"
He shouted urgently, but his expression changed at once.
"Wait! This energy fluctuation... it's extremely unstable. It seems to be fading!"
"Temporary Rifts like this are the most dangerous. We might not be able to get back out once we go in!"
Druck slammed into a beast with a shoulder charge and roared between gasps:
"Damn it! We can't worry about that now! We'll die if we stay here! Let's go in and figure it out later!"
The glow around the Rift was visibly dimming and shrinking, while the tide of beasts behind them surged closer like a flood.
"Now! Go!" Chen Kefa acted without hesitation!
The two exploded into motion. Chen Kefa swung his sword, and lightning burst forth, clearing the obstacles ahead for a moment!
Seizing the brief opening, they threw themselves at the Rift's entrance, now so small that only one person could pass through at a time!
The instant they vanished into the Rift, its flickering glow abruptly contracted.
It shrank to a tiny point of light, then disappeared completely, as if it had never existed.
The surging beasts rushed forward, only to roar in frustration at the empty ruins.
Chen Kefa and Druck had escaped into the Rift...
But their crash and the brief battle that followed had completely shattered the fragile balance that had long held in these town ruins, igniting every lurking beast's most primal desire to kill and devour.
That night, snarls, roars, and the crunch of breaking bones rang out without pause.
The already perilous ruins had become a bloody inferno.
Beasts of different species fought a horrific battle for the "intruders'" lingering scent, their wreckage... and the energy in one another's flesh and blood.
The weak were swiftly eliminated, becoming food for the stronger.
The battle reached its peak in the darkest hour before dawn.
In the end, an extraordinarily huge fifth-tier Earth Scale Python emerged victorious, thanks to its tough defenses and cunning patience.
It devoured all its competitors.
Now, the Earth Scale Python coiled on the small square at the center of town, looking wretched and terrifying.
Nearly half its scales had fallen off, exposing the bloody flesh beneath. Even the scales that remained were covered in deep bite marks and claw scratches.
The square's ground had been soaked in sticky blood, turning a strange dark red, yet not a single bone remained.
Its once-slender body had become grotesquely swollen around the belly, like a skin pouch about to burst.
After confirming that nothing nearby could threaten it, it struggled to move and slipped into the shadows of a relatively intact factory building, preparing to digest the spoils of its astonishing night.
Had an expert in beast studies been there, they would have excitedly realized that the Earth Scale Python was at a crucial stage of rapid molting!
Its damaged old skin was being pushed up and separated by new tissue. The process required an enormous amount of energy.
All the flesh it had devoured last night was nourishment for its attempt to reach a higher level.
The old skin it was about to shed was rich in the energy it had accumulated, making it extremely valuable for medicinal use.
In truth, to humanity, almost every part of a large, high-tier beast was a treasure.
Everything seemed to be going in the Earth Scale Python's favor.
If it completed its molt and fully absorbed the energy it had devoured, it would grow new scales that were harder and more lustrous, officially cross the threshold into the sixth tier, and become the true ruler of this region.
However, just as the giant beast let down its guard, focusing all its strength on enduring the pain and weakness of molting...
In the wreckage of the overturned helicopter not far away, an apparently abandoned scroll case began to move on its own.
Its lid slid off quietly, and a scroll unfurled by itself.
Then, a figure slowly emerged from the painting.
He looked to be in his early twenties, stood about a meter eighty tall, and had handsome, refined features.
He wore no clothes, and his skin was like newly formed jade.
He calmly surveyed the wreckage and carnage around him, then fixed his gaze on the battered tactical backpack.
He took out a set of clothes stained with blood and dust and pulled them on. They were a little tight.
Then his gaze pierced the shadows of the factory and locked precisely onto the Earth Scale Python as it molted in its weakest state.
The young man's lips slowly curled into a silent, savage grin.
Before you continue