An Electric Massage

"Awooo..."

Faced with the attack of the primordial remnant radiating golden light, the Carved Bear immediately roared and swung its arms, making a show of meeting the attack head-on.

Of course, it had no intention of truly doing so. From their earlier exchanges, it knew all too well how terrifying those two beams were. Having already suffered at their hands, it was merely putting on a bluff.

The primordial remnant radiating golden light had no idea what the Carved Bear was thinking. Seeing such a forceful response, it immediately braced itself to meet the enemy, expanding the area covered by its Precious Technique.

Yet, just as it expected the Carved Bear to launch a vicious counterattack, something wholly unexpected happened. The bear deftly used those two beams to break free of the area covered by golden light, then charged into the depths of the mountains without looking back.

"Roar!"

The primordial remnant radiating golden light was first stunned, then furious. Yet it did not pursue, remaining exceedingly cautious. It could not be certain whether the Carved Bear was truly fleeing in defeat or deliberately luring it into a chase.

"What is it wary of?" Di Yi was somewhat surprised.

The Carved Bear had clearly been at a disadvantage. First, its abdomen had been stomped through. Then, although it had cleverly used the two beams to escape, it had paid a price, with blood spilling from ghastly wounds.

He could not understand why, under these circumstances, the primordial remnant radiating golden light would choose not to pursue and claim the final spoils of victory.

"Moo..."

Suddenly, a bovine bellow sounded from the direction in which the Carved Bear had fled. Flames surged skyward in an instant, burning the heavens crimson.

"Awooo!"

The Carved Bear folded its wings at lightning speed, narrowly evading the ambush.

Although it avoided a direct hit and escaped, it could not completely shake off the effects of the surging flames. Its wings looked scorched, trailing black smoke.

"I actually failed to sense it. Was that because it bore me no ill will?" Di Yi looked toward the sudden disturbance. A massive creature had been lying hidden there, yet he had not noticed it at all.

Boom!

At the same moment, the primordial remnant radiating golden light saw what had happened. The light around it blazed, mysterious patterns rose, and mighty power gathered before it launched a ranged strike in the direction of the fleeing Carved Bear.

Splat!

With its damaged wings slowing it down, the Carved Bear took the ranged attack squarely in the back-a blow it could otherwise have avoided. In an instant, the left side of its body was sheared away, sending blood and bone flying.

Ordinarily, even a vicious beast would have been beyond saving with such injuries. Yet a breath of life remained in it. It kicked hard enough to split the earth, using the force to propel itself forward while the resulting chaos obscured it from sight.

"Such vitality... No wonder Shi Yunfeng said it would be useless no matter how many people from Stone Village faced a primordial remnant. The gap is simply too great." Di Yi marveled, thinking of the villagers. Had they suffered such wounds, they would certainly have died.

Of course, that was only a difference in strength. When it came to tenacious vitality, he felt that Stone Village as a whole might not fall short of these primordial remnants at all.

After all, battles between such powerful creatures could make the earth quake and the mountains tremble. The fact that the people of Stone Village could survive in such an environment and continue to raise new generations said everything.

At the same time, he considered their chances of survival now that Stone Village had lost its Sacrificial Spirit and its new Sacrificial Spirit was half-dead.

"Roar..."

As the Carved Bear disappeared into the distance, only the primordial remnant radiating golden light remained on the battlefield. It raised its head and roared, proclaiming its victory. Bathed in golden radiance, it resembled a king.

Then its cold eyes swept over the powerful creatures that had survived, and it gave a soft cry.

At that soft cry, the surviving powerful creatures reacted as though granted a royal pardon. They bowed low in submission, then began moving away in search of new, safe habitats.

Only after a long time did the place fall silent.

The light gradually dimmed. "Pfft!"

Abruptly, the primordial remnant radiating golden light faltered and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Clearly, it had suffered considerable internal injuries during the battle. It had simply endured them well enough to keep the Carved Bear from noticing.

"Hm?" Di Yi had not expected it to be wounded. It had seemed so fierce earlier, its body made even tougher by the golden light, and had held the upper hand even when clashing physically with the Carved Bear.

He had originally wanted to go over and test his skills against it. After all, it had looked perfectly fine, as though that fierce battle had left it completely unscathed.

Now, however, he decided against it. Testing himself against it at this point would not give him a clear measure of his limits. He knew full well how greatly one's condition differed when injured rather than healthy.

He himself was no exception.

But while he had abandoned the idea, the primordial remnant radiating golden light stirred. He had moved just moments earlier, and in the silence, its keen senses had detected him, drawing its attention.

"Roar..."

The primordial remnant radiating golden light let out a low growl, a warning of battle and expulsion, its eyes gleaming with ferocity.

Ordinarily, primordial remnants ignored humans. Humans were simply too weak, their meat tasted sour, and the vital blood essence in their bodies was not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

Even when they were in a foul mood and wanted to vent, encountering a target such as a human would merely prompt them to kill it outright or toy with it at will.

But things were different now. It had just fought a great battle and exposed the fact that it was injured. Without knowing what its opponent was capable of, it remained extremely cautious, even toward a human it would normally dismiss.

"If I said I was just passing through, would you believe me?" Di Yi did not know whether the primordial remnant could understand him, but he hoped it could. After all, it looked rather cute.

He had never harbored any killing intent toward such a cute creature and did not want to hurt it.

"Roar..."

Unfortunately, although the primordial remnant possessed considerable intelligence, it plainly did not understand human language. Unable to understand Di Yi's words, it took them as a provocation. Tense and alert, it struck first.

It moved swiftly, bearing golden might, boundless golden light pouring down like a torrential storm.

"I really mean you no harm." Once Di Yi entered his combat state, the primordial remnant's movements seemed almost frozen in his eyes, as though time itself had stopped.

The next moment, as casually as if he were strolling through a quiet courtyard, he caught the primordial remnant's foreleg, seized it, and gently pressed it to the ground.

"Roar!"

Although all of this seemed slow to Di Yi, it was completely different from the primordial remnant's perspective. His movements were so swift that there was no countering them.

At that moment, it could only count itself fortunate that it had made the right choice-not attacking recklessly at once, but gathering its strength before striking.

Yet in the very next moment, the primordial remnant was bewildered. It was certain it had unleashed its follow-up attack. The golden runes had already joined together, looking so much like lightning that anyone who failed to look closely would mistake them for it.

But those golden runes, that thunderous power, merely wound around the enemy's hand and spread over his entire body, failing to produce any of their intended might or effect.

"Oh, you can discharge electricity too? That actually feels quite nice." Di Yi was astonished. He had not seen this primordial remnant display such a wondrous ability earlier. The tingling sensation felt novel and very comfortable.

"Roar!"

The primordial remnant had never encountered anything like this. It struggled violently, its massive body raising clouds of dust. Its tail lashed hard enough to split the earth, yet it still could not break free.

In the end, it seemed to resign itself to its fate, tears of regret spilling from its eyes.