Run!

The instant Lin Fan set off to flee into the distance, the Iron-Clad Tyrant moved too.

Rumble!

The ground shook violently.

It lowered its head, the glowing red horn gleaming like a battering ram.

Its several-ton frame suddenly burst into terrifying speed that belied its size. With an unstoppable momentum, it charged straight at Lin Fan!

It was too fast!

The burst speed of a Lord-level Monster was in a completely different league from that of a high-level Beast General!

If Lin Fan had faced this attack before, he would have had no choice but to take it head-on and wait for death.

But now...

Sky Splitter appeared behind Lin Fan in an instant. His Spiritual Force surged wildly into the wings on his back.

Clang!

The silver wings unfurled behind him in an instant.

At the critical moment, Lin Fan's feet left the ground. With Sky Splitter and his Spiritual Force aiding him, he shot straight upward.

Whoosh!!

It was the sound of death passing close by.

The Iron-Clad Tyrant's terrifying charge skimmed right beneath Lin Fan's feet.

Rumble!!!

With a deafening crash, the enraged Lord smashed through the load-bearing pillars on the ground floor of the abandoned mall behind Lin Fan.

The entire building collapsed amid billowing clouds of dust, burying the spot where Lin Fan had stood.

Hovering thirty meters above the ground, Lin Fan looked down at the ruins and felt cold sweat soak his back.

"That was close! If I'd been half a beat slower, I'd be a bloody pulp right now!"

But before Lin Fan could catch his breath, the Iron-Clad Tyrant shook the rubble off its head and looked up from the dust.

Its blood-red eyes locked onto Lin Fan in the air, and its gaze turned murderous.

"Roar!"

The Iron-Clad Tyrant pawed at the ground with its forelegs. The scales covering its body began to vibrate strangely.

Then the dark red glow in the crystal horn atop its head drew inward, and...

Pfft!

Pfft!

Pfft!

Three dark red beams shot toward Lin Fan in the air in a triangular formation, like lasers!

"Holy crap! It can attack from a distance, too?"

Lin Fan's pupils contracted.

Although he was in the air, dodging wasn't all that difficult.

He focused his thoughts and slightly adjusted the angle of the Sky-Splitting Wings on his back. Instead of dodging widely, he darted through the air like a swift, making an incredibly strange Z-shaped leap.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The three lasers flew past so close that they almost grazed his body, then blasted into an overpass in the distance, blowing a section of it to pieces.

"Damn, you're strong. I'm done playing with you."

Lin Fan knew that although his equipment had improved, his strength hadn't increased by much.

His chances of defeating an Elementary Lord with maxed-out defenses and a rage-filled temper were practically zero.

Besides, the commotion here was so loud that other Lord-level Monsters, or even other Scavenger Hunter teams, would soon be drawn to it.

If he waited until then to leave, it would be even harder to get away.

"Go!"

Riding the momentum from his dodge, Lin Fan unleashed his Spiritual Force to its fullest.

At that moment, the increase in Spiritual Force granted by Sky Splitter's feedback was on full display.

He turned into a silver streak, rising rapidly toward the dense cluster of buildings in the distance.

The Iron-Clad Tyrant watched Lin Fan fly away and let out an unwilling roar.

But it didn't give up. It galloped after the speck in the sky, smashing countless cars and walls as it pursued him relentlessly.

The wind howled in Lin Fan's ears.

He glanced back at the tireless "bulldozer" charging across the ground and shook his head.

"You're strong, and your defense is unmatched, but if you want to catch me, you'll have to grow wings first."

As he poured more Spiritual Force into his wings, Sky Splitter vibrated again, shining with a brilliant silver light.

Air surged beneath the wings, lifting him sharply and sending his speed soaring.

He didn't just fly straight upward anymore. He turned in midair, tracing a perfect arc as he headed for the densest, most complex part of the abandoned district.

Below, the Iron-Clad Tyrant continued its thunderous rampage.

It furiously smashed into one tottering building after another, but it had clearly underestimated the terrifying maneuverability of a spiritual force user in complex terrain.

Lin Fan's figure traced a series of strange zigzags through the air.

At times, he skimmed along the outer wall of a collapsed building at full speed. At others, he tucked himself in like a swallow piercing the clouds, darted through a narrow window, and passed straight through the entire building.

To the Iron-Clad Tyrant, which could only charge across the ground by brute force, its prey was like a slippery loach. It couldn't get a lock on him.

After just a few sharp turns, the human who had enraged it and carried the scent of a youngling vanished completely into the labyrinth of ruins.

"Roar!!!"

Behind him, the Iron-Clad Tyrant let out an enraged roar after losing sight of its target.

Amid a tremendous rumble, it smashed another building dozens of stories tall in its fury, filling the air with dust.

But the sound grew more and more distant, until the wind howling past Lin Fan's ears drowned it out completely.

Several kilometers away, on the top floor of an unfinished building, Lin Fan slowly touched down. His toes tapped the ground, and Sky Splitter folded shut with a metallic clang before he stored it in his Space Ring.

As soon as he was safe, he didn't check his own body.

Instead, he immediately took off the bulging backpack and gently set it on the ground before unzipping it.

Inside, the three scale-covered younglings were still huddled together, fast asleep, their bellies rising and falling with each breath.

The violent jolts of the flight and the changes in air pressure at high altitude hadn't even woken them.

"As expected of a Lord-level bloodline. Their vitality is astonishingly tenacious."

Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief and zipped the bag back up.

He stood and walked to the edge of the rooftop, gazing toward the depths of the Wilderness Zone.

That life-or-death chase had quickly cooled his earlier urge to take advantage of his sudden increase in strength and his weapon's evolution to venture into the core zone.

"Forget it. I can't let this go to my head."

Lin Fan slapped his cheeks, reflecting on his actions.

"My physical abilities and Spiritual Force have both improved tremendously. I can even use Sky Splitter to toy with a Lord."

"But when I faced the Iron-Clad Tyrant's enraged attack just now, the pressure of death was all too real."

"If I'd been stunned by that sonic attack for even a second, I'd probably be a puddle of meat by now."

"But since I'm already here... I can't just head back like this. There are still a few hours until dark."

Lin Fan glanced at the sky.

"I can't go to the core zone, but there's no reason to spare the Beast Soldier-level Monsters out here on the outskirts."

Lin Fan made his decision quickly.

He wouldn't venture any deeper into the Wilderness Zone. Instead, he'd hunt Beast Soldier-level Monsters along the edges.

Over the next few hours, the low-level monsters on the outskirts of City 003 had a nightmare.

Pfft!

A streak of black flashed.

A Tiger Bird was gnawing on a corpse in the corner of some ruins. Before it even had a chance to react, its enormous head flew into the air, and hot blood sprayed across the wall.

Wielding Calamity, Lin Fan darted through the monster horde like a ghost.

He didn't use his Spiritual Force or Sky Splitter.

Relying only on his greatly enhanced physical abilities and Calamity, he slaughtered the weak Beast Soldier-level Monsters.

Even the Double-Horned Horses, famed for their thick hides, were like toys made of paper before Calamity. A touch shattered them; a graze killed them.

It was a complete massacre.

Of course, after each intense battle, Lin Fan would find some scrap metal to feed Calamity.

Its growth bar didn't budge at all, but the energy it returned rapidly restored his spent stamina, allowing him to get back into the fight sooner.

After an unknown amount of time...

The leaden clouds on the horizon sank lower. The dusky sunset shone through gaps in the clouds, casting blood-red afterglow over the abandoned city and making it seem even more desolate.

Dozens of monster corpses lay scattered across the ruined streets.

Lin Fan skillfully plucked the valuable fangs from the last Black-Feathered Eagle Rabbit and tossed the spoils into his Space Ring.

He glanced at the communicator on his wrist.

"It's past five. Time to head back."

In one corner of his Space Ring, materials from low-level Beast Soldiers had piled up into a small mountain.

They weren't worth much individually, but there were a lot of them.

His backpack was heavy, too, and the three younglings seemed to have woken up. They were starting to squirm restlessly.

He'd earned enough. There was no need to get greedy.

Staying alive was what mattered.

"Go!"

Without the slightest reluctance, Lin Fan stored both Calamity and Sky Splitter in his Space Ring with a thought.

Then he pushed off hard with his feet and sped toward the human Base City.

Just ten minutes later...

The towering steel walls, as imposing as a mountain range, came into view. Massive searchlights crisscrossed in the sunset.

The heavy cannons and laser cannons mounted on the walls, each with an enormous barrel, gleamed coldly in the evening light, giving him an unparalleled sense of security.

Looking at those familiar steel walls, Lin Fan let out a long breath, and his taut nerves finally began to relax.

He had only been outside the city for less than a day, but the experience had been thrilling, and his gains had been substantial.

"Next, I just have to turn all this stuff into cash."

As he watched the city gates draw nearer, Lin Fan thought it over.

"With money, I'll be able to buy higher-grade metals."

He adjusted his breathing, slowed down, and merged with the group of martial artists queuing to enter the city.