Wind howled in his ears, mingling with the sound of trees shattering like rotten wood behind him and the Thunderhorn Zheng's furious roars. Ling Feng pushed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to its limit, his figure becoming streaks of distorted afterimages among the dense trees as he desperately surged forward.
With Purple Demon Eye circulating, his vision was clearer than ever, allowing him to anticipate obstacles a few tenths of a second ahead and choose the best escape route. Every change of direction, every evasive movement, narrowly avoided the lightning and flying rubble shooting toward him from behind.
But the gap was too great!
A Thousand-Year Soul Beast's stamina, speed, and abundance of Soul Power were far beyond those of a Soul Grandmaster like him, whose level was only in the teens. Even with Purple Demon Eye and a top-tier movement technique, the distance between them was shrinking at a rate visible to the naked eye!
Fifty meters! Thirty meters! Ten meters!
That foul wind, carrying the scorched smell of lightning, was already blasting against the back of his neck. The bone-piercing killing intent nearly froze his blood!
"Roar!"
The Thunderhorn Zheng had clearly lost its patience. Silver light blazed from the single horn atop its head, and a thicker, more concentrated bolt of lightning than before tore through the air like a silver snake shooting out of its hole, striking straight at Ling Feng's back! This attack was faster, stronger, and covered a wider area, cutting off most of his angles of escape to either side!
There was no way to dodge!
Ling Feng's pupils abruptly contracted. The instant Purple Demon Eye caught that deadly trajectory, he knew that simply evading was no longer possible!
He could only take it head-on!
"Haaah!"
At the brink of life and death, the Soul Power within Ling Feng circulated frantically at an unprecedented speed, and a deep, furious shout burst from his throat! He abruptly halted, twisted at the waist, and turned to face that lethal lightning!
The Clear Sky Hammer instantly appeared in his hand. As Soul Power poured into it, its pitch-black body seemed to come alive, exuding a heavy, domineering presence!
I can't hold anything back!
His First Soul Ring abruptly lit up, its yellow light dazzling!
Earth-Shaking Blast!
But this time, he did not simply unleash his Soul Skill with a smash. The instant he swung the Clear Sky Hammer, he planted both feet firmly in the ground and exerted his waist and abdomen, driving his waist with his legs and his arm with his waist. His arm traced an arc brimming with power!
Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, first strike! Combined with his First Soul Skill!
This was an instinctive attempt born of sudden inspiration under the pressure of life and death! Through the force-generating techniques of Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, he gathered and unleashed as much as possible of his own strength, his Soul Skill's might, and the Clear Sky Hammer's own weight and domineering power!
Hum!
The instant the Clear Sky Hammer swung out, even the surrounding air seemed to hum under an unbearable burden! A ring of transparent ripples, visible to the naked eye, even appeared in front of the hammerhead!
BOOM!!!!
The Clear Sky Hammer crashed head-on into the silver lightning bolt!
Rather than the expected explosion, a muffled, thunderous boom rang out! It was as though two great mountains had collided!
Blinding light erupted instantly, illuminating a small patch of forest as brightly as day!
Ling Feng felt an indescribable force, mingled with violent lightning energy, surge along the Clear Sky Hammer and slam into his body like a flood bursting through a dam!
Crack!
He clearly heard the teeth-grating groan of his arm bones! The web of his hand split open instantly, streaming blood! His internal organs felt as though an invisible hand had seized them tightly, then shaken them violently!
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed out uncontrollably. His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, snapping two saplings as thick as bowl rims before slamming heavily into the ground. He rolled several more times before coming to a stop.
Agony wracked his entire body! His right arm in particular had almost lost all feeling. His Soul Power was in turmoil, and his vision kept darkening.
But he had actually blocked it!
He had blocked a Thousand-Year Soul Beast's furious, full-force strike!
Though the price had been terrible, leaving him with considerable internal injuries and his right arm temporarily crippled, he had survived after all!
Dust and smoke filled the air.
The Thunderhorn Zheng was clearly stunned for a moment as well. It had never expected this insignificant human to withstand its lightning blast head-on without dying! A trace of uncertainty joined the fury in its slit pupils. There was something strange about the hammer in this human's hand! That heavy, domineering presence made even it feel a flicker of instinctive unease.
But that unease was immediately replaced by even stronger killing intent! This boy could not be allowed to live!
"Roar!"
The Thunderhorn Zheng growled, bending its four legs slightly as it prepared to launch its next-and fatal-attack! It would tear this wretched human apart with its own claws!
Ling Feng struggled to get up, but the bones throughout his body felt as though they had fallen apart. His Soul Power was severely depleted, and he could exert no strength with his right arm. He watched the Thunderhorn Zheng approach step by step, bloody foam spilling from the corner of his mouth. Yet his eyes held no fear, only icy madness and unwillingness.
Am I... going to die here?
No!
I still have trump cards I haven't used! The system... the sign-in rewards...
Just as he reached out to the system with his mind, ready to throw caution aside and try to see whether he could use certain life-saving measures!
Just an instant before the Thunderhorn Zheng pounced!
A figure appeared between Ling Feng and the Thunderhorn Zheng without warning, like a phantom.
The newcomer was tall, dressed in somewhat worn gray clothes, his hair so disheveled that his face could not be made out. Yet merely standing there, he seemed like a mountain that had existed since time immemorial. An indescribably heavy, oppressive presence, even carrying a measure of dejection and deathly stillness, instantly enveloped the entire area!
The moment this figure appeared, the previously savage, frenzied Thunderhorn Zheng reacted as though a bucket of icy water had been poured over it from head to foot. Its forward charge froze abruptly! Every scale on its body stood on end, and whimpers of extreme unease and terror rose from its throat. Its legs involuntarily took a step backward, its slit pupils fixed on the newcomer, filled with incredulous horror!
It was like a rabbit encountering a lion-absolute suppression on the level of life itself!
The gray-clad man did not even glance at the Thunderhorn Zheng. His gaze seemed to fall upon the Clear Sky Hammer that had yet to dissipate in Ling Feng's hand, lingering for a moment, his eyes complex and unreadable.
Only then did he slowly turn his head toward the trembling Thousand-Year Soul Beast. His voice was hoarse, yet carried an unquestionable authority as he spoke mildly:
"Beast, you dare hurt someone?"