The thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's surging momentum did not frighten Lin Nuo. Instead, it made him even more excited.
"Just what I wanted!"
"Fourth Soul Skill: Rock Armor!"
Lin Nuo shouted, and his fourth soul ring lit up. A suit of armor formed from rock covered his entire body.
He stood ready to meet the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's attack at any moment!
"Heh, heh, heh! Go on, try running again!"
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang let out a suggestive laugh as he watched the young Swiftshadow Leopard he had forced to a halt.
Luo Sanpao stood before his master, waiting attentively for his command.
"Xiaogang, look out!"
Before Yu Xiaogang could recite his soul incantation, he heard Lin Nuo's alarmed shout. (I consider "Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao" a kind of soul incantation.)
Just as Lin Nuo braced himself for an attack, the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard abruptly changed direction, twisting at an uncanny angle to pounce on Yu Xiaogang.
"No!"
Lin Nuo's eyes nearly split with fury. He finally understood the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's true intention, but he was too far away to reach him in time.
No longer caring how much soul power he consumed, Lin Nuo raced toward Yu Xiaogang, praying only that he would be safe.
Hearing Lin Nuo's voice, Yu Xiaogang turned his head, only to see a black shadow hurtling toward him.
His body moved faster than his mind!
Every hair on his body stood on end. Yu Xiaogang kicked Luo Sanpao toward the black shadow, then turned and ran.
The thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard swatted the airborne Luo Sanpao away with one claw. Just as she prepared to give chase, a tree dropped from above and blocked her path.
Although Luo Sanpao had inflicted no damage, he had slowed the Swiftshadow Leopard for a split second. Lin Nuo seized that opening to hurl an ancient tree he had snapped, forcibly cutting off the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's attack.
The heavy trunk crashed down, sending dust billowing everywhere. Grit flew into the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's eyes, leaving her momentarily unable to find her bearings.
Lin Nuo rushed in to intercept her, unleashing another Rock Bear Claw before the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard could react!
This blow landed squarely on the Swiftshadow Leopard's hind leg. Unable to dodge in time, she had the limb torn clean off.
"Roar!"
Hearing the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard's agonized roar, Lin Nuo feared she would fight like a cornered beast and unleashed his soul skills faster and faster.
As for the fleeing Yu Xiaogang, he had yet to escape his miserable fate.
Without Luo Sanpao to protect him, he could not even have trussed a chicken. His attention was also fixed on the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard, leaving him completely oblivious to the young Swiftshadow Leopard's movements.
"Aaaah!"
Panting from exhaustion, Yu Xiaogang let out a piercing scream.
The young Swiftshadow Leopard had just seized the moment when Yu Xiaogang slowed down to launch a sneak attack.
By the time he noticed the young Swiftshadow Leopard pouncing, Yu Xiaogang's legs had gone weak and heavy, as though weighted with blocks of lead.
As the saying went, if you could not face danger, turn your back on it!
With nowhere left to retreat, Yu Xiaogang turned his back on the young Swiftshadow Leopard's attack, as though that would let him escape it.
The young Swiftshadow Leopard did not care which way he faced. It opened its jaws wide and sank its teeth straight into Yu Xiaogang's backside.
Although Yu Xiaogang had thrown Luo Sanpao to the wolves, Luo Sanpao remained fiercely protective of his master. Ever since being knocked away, he had been scrambling anxiously back to his side.
Seeing his master being bitten, Luo Sanpao heaved himself forward and rammed into the attacker.
The impact left the young Swiftshadow Leopard reeling, forcing it to release its jaws.
Yu Xiaogang's will to survive flared as adrenaline surged through him. He scrambled and tumbled straight behind Luo Sanpao.
With protection at last, he cautiously looked toward the young Swiftshadow Leopard. The sight of the bloody flesh in its mouth nearly drove him mad.
As the adrenaline rush faded, a heart-rending pain suddenly tore through his buttocks. Every stab of agony reminded him that the bloody flesh in that beast's mouth had been ripped from his own backside.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes turned bloodshot, a hysterical madness flickering in his pupils.
"Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!" Forcing himself to endure the pain, he unleashed his soul skill recklessly. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill this damned soul beast.
In the distance, Lin Nuo's battle was nearing its end.
As his final Rock Bear Claw struck, the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard collapsed helplessly. After a few twitching struggles, a brilliant purple soul ring slowly rose from her body.
Once the battle was over, Lin Nuo wiped the blood from his face. Without pausing to recover, he hurried to help Yu Xiaogang.
He had heard that scream too. He truly had not expected someone on the verge of becoming a Soul Elder to get bitten by a hundred-year soul beast. Had he not seen Luo Sanpao step in, he might have had to go rescue him!
Realizing its mother had been killed, the young Swiftshadow Leopard let out a furious roar, turned, and fled!
"Trying to run? In your dreams!"
"Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"
Yu Xiaogang roared in fury. He would avenge this grudge, and there was no way he would let it escape.
Luo Sanpao's farts now fired like a machine gun-"Rat-tat-tat!"-blocking the young Swiftshadow Leopard's retreat.
As it leaped from side to side, Lin Nuo arrived.
"I couldn't match your mother's speed, but you think I can't match yours?"
Muttering under his breath, Lin Nuo used Rock Bear Claw, enhanced by two boosting soul skills, to rip the young Swiftshadow Leopard in half.
Perhaps the heavens had truly begun to pity Yu Xiaogang and wanted to let him take revenge with his own hands, for even that failed to kill the young Swiftshadow Leopard!
With the danger over, Lin Nuo could finally relax his nerves a little. He softly exhaled the stale breath in his chest.
"Urgh!"
Lin Nuo took a few deep breaths, only to dry-heave at the pungent stench.
Helplessly, he took out a cloth and wrapped it around his face before checking on Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes were bloodshot as he shuffled toward the young Swiftshadow Leopard, his backside swaying from side to side.
Once beside it, he drew a sharp knife and hacked at the young Swiftshadow Leopard over and over in revenge.
"That'll teach you to bite me! Let's see how you like having your flesh torn off!"
With that, Yu Xiaogang began hacking at its rump.
Seeing him in such a frenzy, Lin Nuo left him alone and quietly began replenishing his soul power.
There was beauty in symmetry!
Just as Yu Xiaogang lost himself in his hacking, the young Swiftshadow Leopard's upper body slowly twisted around and bit the other side of his backside, making both sides symmetrical at last.
"Aaah!"
Yu Xiaogang was truly on the verge of madness. Surely no one could fall for the same trick twice.
As though it had fulfilled its final obsession, the young Swiftshadow Leopard closed its eyes and breathed its last. A pale yellow soul ring rose from its body.
Yu Xiaogang, who had been about to exact a brutal revenge, froze. Its death seemed to mock his incompetence.
But he paused only briefly before resuming his grand knife-wielding undertaking with even greater fury.
Lin Nuo sighed. After recovering his soul power and checking that the thousand-year Swiftshadow Leopard he had killed had not dropped a soul bone, he began planning the next leg of their journey.
A quarter of an hour later, seeing that Yu Xiaogang had finished venting, Lin Nuo said softly, "Xiaogang, we need to go. The smell of blood is too strong. We'll be in trouble if it attracts other soul beasts!"
At his words, Yu Xiaogang blankly put away his knife and joined Lin Nuo in cleaning the smell of blood from their bodies.
Before you continue