Covered in wounds and reeking of blood, Loa dared not linger for even a moment. He pushed Gentle Breeze Caressing Willow to its limit, his figure flitting like a ghost through the deepest darkness before dawn. He deliberately chose difficult paths thick with thorns and tangled vines, leaving behind a few bloodstained scraps of shattered leather armor in the hope of misleading any predators that might follow his scent.
He ran roughly five kilometers without stopping, until the first faint light of morning appeared. He found a hollow partly enclosed by several enormous, weathered rocks. A thin trickle of water seeped through the cracks, forming a small patch of damp moss. The spot was secluded, with a rock wall at his back. Though the boulders blocked his view ahead, both sides and the area above were easy to observe.
He quickly stripped off his blood-soaked, tattered leather armor and threw it far away into a patch of bushes downwind. Using the seeping water, he carefully washed the dried blood from his face, arms, and the areas around his wounds, then rinsed and wrung out his bloodstained clothes as thoroughly as he could. Little remained of the scent-neutralizing powder Bob had given him, so he carefully sprinkled some around the area and over himself. Once he finished, the heavy stench of blood had finally faded considerably, replaced by the fresh scent of stream water and the faint earthy smell of moss.
Mental exhaustion washed over him in waves. The intense concentration of his life-and-death struggle with the Shadow Cat had drained much of his mental energy. His eyelids felt so heavy they almost stuck together. But he gritted his teeth and sat against the cold rock wall, his longsword across his knees, forcing himself to stay awake. Falling asleep now would be no different from handing his life over to the unknown. He could only maintain a half-waking doze, his ears still pricked for any unusual sound beyond the rocks.
Time passed slowly in the tug-of-war between vigilance and drowsiness. Morning birds gradually began chirping in the forest, and faint light spilled through the cracks between the rocks. The night passed, and aside from a few curious little rodents peering around nearby, no fierce predators followed his trail. Loa's taut nerves finally relaxed a little, allowing him to rest more deeply, though his body remained poised to spring up and fight at any moment.
When the next day's sunlight fully illuminated the crevices, Loa woke to sharp pain throughout his body. Every breath pulled at the wound in his ribs, while the claw marks on his arms and back burned fiercely.
"Hiss-that beast really played rough." He sucked in a breath and cursed under his breath, his voice hoarse with thirst.
He struggled to sit upright, took a few small sips of water, then closed his eyes and slowly began the Great Circulation. Within his dantian, Wind Element and Lightning Element battle-qi intertwined with Weapon Combat Battle-qi. Though the overall amount had diminished from last night's exertion, it seemed to circulate a little more smoothly. He carefully guided the battle-qi toward his worst injuries. As the warm energy flowed through them, it brought waves of tingling itchiness-a sign that his wounds were beginning to heal faster under its nourishment.
At the same time, he opened his pack and took out several herbs he had gathered and crudely processed during his time in the forest. There was "Blood-Clotting Grass," which reduced inflammation and stopped bleeding; he crushed it and applied it to the deeper wounds. There were also Calming Spirit Flower leaves, which relieved pain and soothed the mind; he chewed them and swallowed a little of their juice. Bob's medicinal powder worked well, but his supply was limited. He had to save it for critical moments.
After several Great Circulations, combined with the herbs' effects, Loa felt the pain diminish noticeably. Though moving was still difficult, at least it no longer interfered with basic movement. A powerful hunger promptly surged through him, and his stomach let out a loud growl, reminding him that he had gone more than twenty-four hours without eating. Last night's fierce battle had consumed an enormous amount of energy as well.
I have to replenish my energy. Leaning on his sword, he slowly stood and listened closely to his surroundings. Only after confirming that it was safe for the moment did he carefully leave the rocky hollow and begin searching among the nearby trees.
He was looking for small prey that was easy to catch and had relatively safe meat, avoiding species that might be poisonous or live in groups. After searching for nearly an hour, he spotted a Soft-Bone Rabbit nibbling tender grass with its head lowered on a sparsely wooded bank beside a stream. It was a Rank 1 Magical Beast with almost no offensive power, but its bones were exceptionally flexible and its meat delicious. It was also agile and difficult to catch.
Normally, Loa might have tried a more cautious approach. But he was in poor condition and needed food as soon as possible. He held his breath and focused, gauging the distance and wind direction.
Now!
He unleashed Gentle Breeze Caressing Willow. Rather than drifting with ghostly elusiveness, he incorporated the new understanding of his Wind Element battle-qi's circulation that he had gained while treating his injuries. His body seemed to truly become a gust sweeping over the grass-fast, light, and following an elusive curve, crossing several meters in an instant!
By the time the Soft-Bone Rabbit raised its head in alarm, Loa's palm had already brushed the back of its neck with a touch both light and incredibly swift. He released a pulse of hidden force, dislocating its neck. Before it could even struggle, it crumpled limply to the ground.
Loa picked up his prey and quickly returned to the vicinity of the rocky hollow. He chose a clearing sheltered from the wind and covered by a thick canopy overhead, then carefully built a small fire from dry twigs and moss. He kept the flames low and controlled the smoke as much as possible. After skinning and gutting the Soft-Bone Rabbit, he washed it by the stream, skewered it on a sharpened branch, and set it over the fire to roast slowly.
Fat dripped into the fire with an enticing sizzle, and the aroma of meat mingled with a distinctive spice gradually spread. As Loa turned the roasting rabbit, he let his thoughts drift back to last night's battle.
The Shadow Cat's ghostly speed, its tricky angles of attack, and that final, desperate Shadow Dive Ambush... Every detail replayed in his mind. He reviewed his responses: abandoning reliance on sight had been correct, but the range and precision of Listening to the Wind remained insufficient, especially when his opponent deliberately moved at the very edge of its range; deliberately exposing an opening to lure his enemy had been risky, but it had also been the only way to break the stalemate, with the key lying in his timing and his confidence in his own defense-the Thunder Collapse punch with his left hand; and the footwork that had let him evade the final killing blow, that feeling of "flowing with the wind"... He seemed to have touched the threshold of a deeper level of Gentle Breeze Caressing Willow.
"The wind doesn't always flow the same way," Loa murmured, his gaze resting on the dancing flames, as though he could see the paths of invisible air currents disturbed by the heat. "There are fast currents and slow ones, eddies and gaps... No matter how fast the Shadow Cat moves, it still disturbs the 'wind' around it. What I sense isn't sound, but the subtle changes as the wind is 'pushed aside,' 'torn apart,' or 'carried along'..."
He considered these scattered insights together with the circulation of battle-qi and the execution of his movement technique, and a vague direction gradually took shape in his mind. How could he apply this perception of the wind's flow more actively to detection, anticipation, and even changes in his movements? That would require extensive practice and testing in actual combat.
Sizzle-
The rabbit's skin turned golden and crisp, and the rich aroma of meat reached its peak. Loa swallowed and stopped thinking. He took the roasted rabbit off the fire and, heedless of the heat, eagerly tore off a hind leg and took great bites.
The meat was indeed exceptionally tender, rich with fat and carrying a faint, fresh fragrance of vegetation. It practically melted in his mouth. The scalding juices made him suck in breaths, but he could not bear to stop. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed a hot meal so heartily. Most of the time, for safety's sake, he could only gnaw on cold dried meat or risk eating raw prey he had confirmed was not poisonous.
He devoured the entire rabbit in short order, even carefully crunching the bones and sucking out the marrow. A full stomach brought immense satisfaction and warmth, and even the pain of his injuries seemed to ease a little. He carefully extinguished the fire completely and buried it, leaving no trace.
With his hunger and thirst satisfied, drowsiness rose again, but Loa knew this was no time to sleep. He sat cross-legged once more, with his palms, soles, and the crown of his head facing upward, and began another round of battle-qi circulation, both to heal and to cultivate.
His awareness sank into his dantian.
After last night's life-and-death struggle and this morning's healing and recovery, he could clearly feel that the mist-like battle-qi, which had already filled his dantian quite amply, now actually seemed... to have reached some critical point of saturation.
The Wind Element battle-qi circulated lightly, like an invisible vortex; the Lightning Element battle-qi was more condensed, with faint, tiny arcs of electricity flickering into existence and vanishing within it; and the distinctive Weapon Combat Battle-qi served as a steady foundation, accommodating and harmonizing the other two. The three vortices intertwined, filling the entire space of his dantian and producing a distinct feeling of swelling as they circulated.
The swirling mist had grown even more condensed.
He had reached the absolute peak of a Rank 4 Warrior.
Loa slowly opened his eyes and released a long breath. In the chilly morning air, it condensed into a straight white ribbon that lingered for a long time.
He looked down at his palms, covered with scars old and new, clenched his hands, then relaxed them. He felt the power surging within him, eager to burst forth, and that clearly perceptible thin membrane separating him from becoming a Rank 5 Warrior.
"Soon..." he whispered, a sharp, expectant gleam flashing in his eyes.
The forest's trials were far from over, but his next breakthrough was already close at hand. In the days ahead, besides continuing to hunt and survive, he needed to find somewhere relatively safe where he could focus entirely on breaking through that barrier. Before then, he had to restore himself to his best condition and turn last night's insights into the "wind" into tangible combat strength as quickly as possible.
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