I Shall Steal the Heavens 25 Chapter 24: Nemesis

The Lunar Rabbit stared back, as if curious about the reason why I was wearing glasses despite no longer needing them to correct my now cured myopia. I didn't know why either, but I probably retrieved them because they reminded me of my past life, a symbol of myself before I turned into this. And they were the thing that my classmates would recognize me by when I returned – especially that bastard Qi Fu Ren.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I asked the Lunar Rabbit. I had decided to go out on a limb and confront one of these fuckers. Even though I had spent countless hours practicing Lunar Rabbit kicks over and over again, I knew my replicated techniques were far from perfect. Regarding the mission to spar with the Lunar Rabbits, I had two objectives right now.

The first one was to locate any flaws I had in my current version and learn the original moves of the Lunar Rabbit. The second objective was to see if my improvised version could somehow surpass the original.

They might seem contradictory, but they were not. Just because my improvised, imitated version had already surpassed the Lunar Rabbit's original did not mean there were no flaws or that there was nothing I could learn from the Lunar Rabbit. There was always room for improvement.

However, this Lunar Rabbit was cautious. Probably I had changed tremendously ever since I had devoured the Silverback Wolf, and clearly my kicks possessed more destructive power than before. Furthermore, I was much faster and my body felt lighter despite the increased muscle mass and enhanced bone structure.

"Ku!"

The Lunar Rabbit finally discarded its hesitation and launched itself at me. Bringing an arm up, I blocked its kick while observing its movements.

Thud.

If it was a few days ago, I wouldn't have been able to withstand the powerful kick. Two weeks ago, a single kick from a Lunar Rabbit had broken both my arms when I crossed them to block them, but now I was effortlessly parrying its powerful hind leg with a single arm without taking much damage. It stung a bit, but nothing worse than a light bruise appeared.

I wasn't that bothered. If I did suffer any heavy injury by chance, I could just recover from drinking water from the Green Dragon Spring that I had capped in the bottle that Teacher Jiao gave me all those weeks ago.

Backing off, I traded a few blows with the Lunar Rabbit, allowing it to press in on the offensive. That wasn't because I didn't dare to attack. On the contrary, I was carefully monitoring its movements, trying to learn as much as possible. The angle of its kicks, the flow of its qi, how it moved in midair or changed its direction swiftly, the form, and the subtle shift of its body as it used its hips to rotate its entire body forward to deliver the full impact of its body weight rather than just using only its hind legs. Everything…as much as I could notice, anyway.

"I see…so this is how it is…I should have moved like this. If I did that, I would be able to put more power behind my kick. It's almost the same as Shadow Kick. Ah…that footwork, that's similar to the ones Teacher Jiao taught me. I can integrate that into my current techniques. Hmm? That's a new kick…"

Mumbling to myself, I mentally took notes and absorbed as much kicks as I could from the Lunar Rabbit.

Amazing…I can actually keep up with the Lunar Rabbit now!

I was also impressed at how I was able to react to the Lunar Rabbit's attacks in time. A month ago, the Lunar Rabbit was clearly much faster than me, able to catch up and surpass me even when I used a footwork technique. But right now, I was matching it blow for blow, blocking and parrying every kick with refined reflexes.

I was finally fast enough to fight the Lunar Rabbit on equal grounds. Sure, it was tiring to keep up with the Lunar Rabbit's blurry and speedy movements, but it was still something I could manage.

Realizing that, the Lunar Rabbit grew impatient. Growling cutely, it flipped itself up and dove under me, and then threw a leg out to kick my jaw. Its paw would have connected with my chin if I hadn't reacted in instinct and backed off. As it was, the kick almost took off my nose, whistling past the front of my face by just a hair's breadth.

"That's dangerous!"

Heaving in panic, I countered in reflex by jumping back, spinning around and delivering a roundhouse kick that I learned from the Lunar Rabbit. The Lunar Rabbit managed to dive away in time by springing itself back with its arms, and then landed on its two feet once more. That agility…those reflexes, they were excellent.

I couldn't believe I was saying this, but there was so much I could learn from the Lunar Rabbit.

The creature, however, clearly did not share the sentiment. Emanating a hostile air, it launched itself at me again, its legs disappearing into a blur.

Now!

I waited for it to close in on me, and then I delivered a second roundhouse kick that connected this time. The Lunar Rabbit was flung in the opposite direction and slammed into a nearby tree, causing the trunk to crack and the poor thing to shake. Countless leaves rained down as the branches trembled from the violent impact.

The Lunar Rabbit slid down motionlessly, leaving a slick trail of blood over the broken bark and bent trunk. It was clearly dead.

"Whoops…"

Pushing up my glasses, I sighed. I had no intention of killing the poor Lunar Rabbit so soon. I originally thought I could spar with it a bit more, teasing out more techniques from the ferocious creature and expand my repertoire of kicks. It seemed like I had been too optimistic.

"Well, it can't be helped…"

Shaking my head, I ventured over and picked the dead Lunar Rabbit up by its long ears. Without looking back, I proceeded back to my burrow, where I cooked the rabbit and began to eat it. As I chewed, I grimaced.

"Ugh…even the Lunar Rabbit meat tastes awful."

I had half-expected the Lunar Rabbit to taste a bit better than the Silverback Wolf, but it still tasted just as bad as any type of demonic meat. Even though roasting it had caused the flesh to tenderize and soften, the texture and taste didn't improve much.

It was still a lot more edible than when I ate the Silverback Wolf meat raw, though.

Without realizing it, I had ended up devouring the entire Lunar Rabbit in one go. I was pretty hungry. Practicing, cultivating, sparring – all these physical and spiritual activities consumed a lot of energy and qi, and I had to constantly replenish those vital forces through eating other organisms. I suddenly understood why the grass and plants didn't provide the nourishment I needed. They didn't contain the necessary natural essence and nutrients that a human or magical beast required. Especially cultivating – the plants and trees provided almost no qi at all, in contrast to the demonic creatures. They did contain vital natural essence, but such essence didn't get converted into innate qi during the digestive process.

It was quite the delicious ironic, but now the hunter had become the prey. When I first arrived here, I was toyed with by these kicking bastards. But now I was kicking their asses – quite literally – with their own kicking techniques and hunting them for my own meals. If I survived this ordeal and escaped Sen Lin Forest, I would surely look back at this and laugh.

"Ugh…"

That said, probably because this was the first time I had eaten a Lunar Rabbit, I didn't feel so good. There was a dull pain in my stomach, which faded away after I rested for a while. And once again, I felt robust and full of vitality.

"Time to practice!"

I had learned a few new kicks from the Lunar Rabbit today, which was the objective of sparring with it. Taking a deep breath, I imaged those kicks in my mind before putting them into actual practice. Spinning around, I smashed my foot against a boulder.

Pow!

Since there were no sturdier or larger boulders, it was difficult to trace my progress ever since I consumed the Silverback Wolf. Nonetheless, I had the feeling that I did improve a lot after eating the Lunar Rabbit, but I couldn't be sure.

Too bad there wasn't a convenient function where I could consult my status screen and check how much my stats had gone up. Even if there was, I wouldn't have trusted it anyway. Strength and power weren't something you could accurately quantify.

"Speaking of which, in terms of cultivation levels and stages, I wonder where am I right now?"

In all those weird wuxia stories, the protagonists would always go, "hey! I've reached so-and-so Stage" or "I've attained so-and-so Level!" after making a breakthrough in their cultivation thing. But how the fuck did they know what level was what? Or what stage was what? Did they have some sort of innate detector or measuring machine that could accurately estimate the amount of qi in their opponent and thus correlate the Stage to that amount? And what if the opponent was hiding his strength and only emanating part of his qi? All of these Stage and Level measurement things made no sense to me, especially since I was an advocate of how a human's strength couldn't be quantified.

Yeah, it didn't matter. All these Stages and Levels were totally meaningless to me. All I cared about was whether I was stronger than the opponent or not. If I was weaker, I would have to find some way to compensate for my physical inferiority using tactics, or escape. If I was stronger, than I would defeat my opponent.

It was really that simple. All those Stages and Levels thing was just an overly complicated way of saying someone was stronger or weaker than you, and it really was unnecessary. Probably served as some sort of plot device for the author to tell the readers, "hey! The protagonist has made remarkable progress and grown a lot stronger!"

Show, not tell. What was the use of telling us that this magical beast was this rank, or this practitioner was this Stage/Realm/Level, espouse great detail about how they were supposedly powerful or strong, but then have the protagonist beat them up anyway with Deus Ex Machina or godlike Mary Sue powers? The Realms and Ranks had no meaning then. If the protagonist had actually lost closely to an opponent before instead of breezing through supposedly superior enemies as if they were nothing, then it would be much clearer to follow their progress when they finally won. It was not a shameful thing for one's protagonist to lose, but it seemed that certain authors didn't understand that, especially when their protagonists were blatant self-inserts.

Worse, there were stories where people like Li Fu Chen were supposedly of lower levels or realms than his opponent, but he made use of his Mary Sue godlike powers to defeat allegedly superior opponents so that the author can impress upon the readers how ungodly overpowered and obnoxiously Mary Sue the wuxia protagonist was. Why even bother with setting the rules of levels and realms in your story if you were going to break them anyway?

Oh, right. To show how the protagonist is such a special snowflake who can beat up people stronger than him. And repeat that process ad nauseam until the readers get tired of it or mindlessly lap it up because they love Mary Sues and overpowered protagonists and don't get sick of reading the same thing over and over again.

Unlike them, I wasn't ashamed of losing. Failure was the mother of success. If I lost, if I was defeated, then I would retreat and train to become stronger. I didn't care if readers called me weak or complained that I wasn't strong or an overpowered protagonist. I was a realistic one who had to deal with the limits of my reality instead of relying on asspulls and Deus Ex Machina or plot conveniences to allow me to win all the time. I was going to lose a lot before I got a lot stronger.

Bam!

As I reduced another boulder into dust, I realized that I had been rambling on and on again. That wasn't good. Cultivating meant that I had to focus. Good thing I was just mindlessly practicing my kicks, or I would have wasted my time fruitlessly trying to cultivate. Unlike meditation, my physical training had drilled all those kicks into me that they had become like second nature to me, almost like breathing. I could kick and replicate the Lunar Rabbit's form on reflex without even having to think it.

I really have come so far…

Heaving deeply, I took another swig from the Green Dragon Spring, and then sat down to meditate. It was time to focus, so fortunately for the existences beyond the fourth wall, they wouldn't have to listen to another round of my ranting and rambling.

*

And finally the day had come.

"Where is it?"

Traversing through the forest, I searched for the Ghost Bear. I knew it was here somewhere. I had seen it prowling about, and had avoided him the previous few days, biding my time until I perfected the kicks I learned from the Lunar Rabbits I had continuously sparred with. But weeks had turned into a month and I didn't want to stay holed up in the burrow forever.

The isolation was driving me crazy, and I still had to return to the surface not just for human amenities and contact, but also to take my revenge on Qi Fu Ren, as well as all those arrogant martial artists who looked down on me.

For me to do so, the first step was to break my nemesis and prove to myself that I was no longer the same person as before. That I was no longer a weak, untalented One Star Constitution cultivator who was useless.

I couldn't be too complacent, though. I had to remain cautious, despite the improvement to my constitution. I didn't want to get caught off guard and get ambushed by a monster, and die to an absolutely ridiculous attack because I was too arrogant to think they couldn't hurt me. This wasn't a game, nor was it some absurd wuxia story where lower rank magical beasts or cultivators couldn't hurt you because you were in some higher Stage or level. Lower your guard down for a moment, and even the weakest creature could exploit the opening and kill you with an attack at the right spot. The so-called Achilles's heel.

"!"

As I expected, a pack of Silverback Wolves loped out of the forest, snarling when they caught sight of me. Despite my best attempts at stealth, I couldn't escape their keen sense of smell or hearing. Resigned, I turned to face them.

The lead Silverback Wolf lunged at me. I sidestepped its pounce and then launched a kick that cleanly snapped its spine into two despite the Silverback fur armor. As I said, even if the Silverback fur was impervious to blade and spear, it afforded little protection against brute force and raw power. As such, a single Shadow Kick was enough to finish it off.

While I crushed the first wolf, its brethren had already spread out to surround me. They were cunning indeed, trying to make use of their numerical superiority to overwhelm me. Against a normal opponent, they would surely succeed in intimidating and hunting the poor prey.

Unfortunately, I was no longer "normal". True, I could be killed, but as long as I killed them first, I would survive.

The law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest.

My feet moved and I disappeared from sight, causing the Silverback Wolves to glance about, confused.

They were looking in the wrong direction.

Appearing behind and above one of the Wolves, I descended and struck its spine with my foot, pulverizing it instantly with the force of gravity. The Silverback Wolf went down, but before I landed, I was already spinning in midair and altering my trajectory – much like how I saw the Lunar Rabbit did before – and ramming my other foot against another Silverback Wolf that was nearby. Its neck snapped and it toppled over.

That left two more.

Another Silverback Wolf launched itself at me when I landed, thinking that I was vulnerable. But I did a backflip and brought my legs up, much like how the Lunar Rabbit did against me a few days ago, and my foot connected with its chin. There was a sharp crack and the Silverback Wolf's head snapped back unnaturally.

The last one turned and fled. I didn't pursue. I wasn't a psychotic, merciless murderer who went around slaughtering everyone who crossed my path. If it didn't attack me, I had no reason to track it down and kill it.

Besides, I had no time to waste. I had another target in mind, one that I held a grudge against ever since it assaulted me all those weeks ago. Or was it already a month? I had been stuck down here in the depths of the subterranean cavern that I had lost all track of time.

My feet crunching against the leaves of the forest, I proceeded. Occasionally, a Lunar Rabbit or another pack of Silverback Wolves would slink out of the darkness to ambush me but thanks to me being cautious, I was able to avoid their lethal strikes and wasted no time retaliating and slaying whatever dared to attack me.

And just like that, I finally found my target.

The Ghost Bear was currently indulging in its meal. Apparently it was chewing on the half-eaten carcass of a pitiful Lunar Rabbit, which were truly bountiful in this level. Studying it, I nodded and confirmed that it was truly my nemesis, the one who tried to eviscerate me on my first day in this underground cavern.

Yeah, that's him all right. This qi…the energy signature…there's no mistaking it.

Even among the same species, individual magical beasts emitted unique qi signatures that belonged to them and them alone. The Ghost Bear was no exception. There might be slight differences if I met another member of its species, but I clearly remembered the fearsome, overpowering, suffocating tinge that permeated its qi.

As expected of the lord of this level.

In terms of game mechanics, the Ghost Bear was essentially a floor boss. It was the strongest monster in this region of Sen Lin Forest, and it was the only member of its species here – a stark contrast to the countless Silverback Wolves and many Lunar Rabbits that populated this space. Here, the Ghost Bear ruled uncontested, invincible and unrivaled. Every other demonic beast took extra precaution to avoid it, choosing to escape rather than fight back if they ever encountered it. Not that they survived. Any monster unfortunate enough to run into the Ghost Bear would most likely die. There was no exception, at least none that I knew of.

Well…except me. Not only did I escape from the Ghost Bear all those weeks ago, I was even striding toward it fearlessly and issuing a challenge. If the Ghost Bear was human, it would surely display a perplexed expression.

"Hey, Ghost Bear. It's been a while. Enjoying your meal?"

The Ghost Bear narrowed its eyes as it scrutinized me with those fearsome, ferocious crimson eyes. Its gray fur bristled as it reared to its full height, towering me in a show of intimidation. Such tricks did not work on me, however. I had lived through hell and crawled out of the abyss of despair. A mere Ghost Bear was nothing compared to all that I had suffered through.

I took a stance and beckoned for the Ghost Bear to come at me.

"Let's do this." taking a deep breath, I slid one leg back and put the other forward, getting ready to spring forward or backward, depending on how the Ghost Bear reacted. "We're going to settle this once and for all."

Blanking my mind out, I recalled the one-sided fight that we had a month or so ago. It couldn't even be called a fight, to be honest. I was completely crushed and forced to run away with my tail between my legs. Hell, I almost couldn't escape. It was only luck that allowed me to dive into a burrow and squirm out of the Ghost Bear's reach.

But now I confronted that monstrous adversary with not a shred of fear in my heart. There was only one goal in my mind. To destroy my opponent and graduate from this place without any regret.

A smile curled across my face and I pushed my glasses up, my eyes momentarily hidden behind my lenses.

"When this day is done, one of us will be dead."

Then I executed Jin and rushed toward the Ghost Bear. Kicking off the ground, I whirled around in the air and delivered an explosive roundhouse kick that was so fast that it actually produced a sonic boom as my leg broke the sound barrier.

"Grr…!"

The Ghost Bear reacted in instinct, diving to the ground to dodge my kick. It had already ducked even before I launched my kick – its combat reflexes were phenomenal. Its immense size belied its swift speed, but even so it was unable to completely avoid an injury. My foot grazed its shoulder, and just like the boulder that day when I practiced my kicking after devouring the Silverback Wolf, the Ghost Bear's shoulder exploded in a geyser of blood, a thick chunk of fur and muscle blown off and totally obliterated. The Ghost Bear bellowed in pain as it staggered backward.

I didn't pause and pivoted on my foot to throw another roundhouse kick that caught the Ghost Bear in the gut. Another sonic boom screeched across the air, and the immense bulk of the Ghost Bear was actually lifted off and sent hurtling across the clearing.

"Grr…!"

Roaring in agony, the Ghost Bear shakily rose to its hind legs and glared at me in fury. Surprise was replaced with vengeance, but there was a wariness that haunted its demonic eyes. It had finally acknowledged me as a threat…as an enemy on equal footing.

It had been too long since it had been hurt this badly by what it had believed to be mere prey.

"RUOOOR!"

Bellowing, the Ghost Bear dropped to all fours and began charging at me with a frightening speed.

I flipped myself up and above the Ghost Bear, and just like the Lunar Rabbit before me, spun like a whirlwind before swinging my leg down in an axe kick.

Boom!

The Ghost Bear reacted in time – while it didn't fully dodge the kick, it avoided a blow to its vitals. Consequently, my kick landed not on its spine but its side, pulverizing its innards and driving it into the ground. A crater opened up beneath the shrieking Ghost Bear.

But it was still alive. As expected, the Ghost Bear was on an entirely different level from all the Silverback Wolves and Lunar Rabbits that I had fought so far.

Fortunately, I had wounded it grievously and impeded its movements. Spinning high up in the air, I hurtled back toward the Ghost Bear like a meteor and swung my leg around to deliver the finishing blow.

"!"

The Ghost Bear was waiting for that exact moment. I caught sight of a flash, and an invisible ripple in the air. The Ghost Claws!

"Kuh!"

I twisted my body in midair and altered my trajectory. Just in time too. The extended reach of the Ghost Claws lashed out and cut deeply into my side, casing a burst of blood to spray out onto the ground. I hit the ground and rolled, fiery pain burning into my sides. Heaving, I got to my knees and spat out a glob of blood.

"Argh…"

The pain was terrible…but compared to the agony I suffered when I ate the Silverback Wolf for the first time, it was nothing. Furthermore, I knew that I was lucky to escape only with such a deep cut. If I hadn't dodged that attack in time, I would have been sliced apart into several pieces. When that happened, not even the Green Dragon Spring could save me.

The Green Dragon Spring could heal even the worst of injuries, but it obviously couldn't bring the dead back to life.

The Ghost Bear growled triumphantly and crawled to its feet. Now that the both of us were deeply injured, it had equalized our situations and neutralized my advantage. Cunning bastard…I realized that the Ghost Bear was a lot smarter than I gave it credit for.

I can't afford to underestimate this bear bastard.

It was unbearable to lose to a bear. Gritting my teeth, I mustered up my determination and rose to my feet. At the same time, the Ghost Bear swung its paw, slashing at me with its deadly triple Ghost Claws.

Duo!

I evaded the Ghost Claws and kicked the Ghost Bear from behind, but as always the Ghost Bear managed to avoid another direct hit to its vitals. It retaliated with another slash from its other paw, but I ducked under the Ghost Claws and slid downward, hooking my leg underneath its hind leg and tripping it. The Ghost Bear was sent toppling over in an undignified heap.

"!"

I was almost cut apart by another strike when the Ghost Bear twisted around to slash me with its right paw. Blood splattered across the ground, my uniform hanging loosely as the already ruined fabric was cut open again. Not that I cared. I had neither the time nor the tools to mend my uniform, and another rip or tear didn't mean much.

But the fresh wound across my chest was pretty bad. I panted heavily as I used Tui to retreat. At this rate, I would bleed to death before I defeated the Ghost Bear.

I can't afford to let this turn into a battle of attrition.

Judging that the Ghost Bear possessed a superior and sturdier physique to me, I knew I would run out of time and blood long before it did. I had to end this quickly.

Again!

I dashed forward, luring the Ghost Bear to use its Ghost Claws again. It roared and slashed at me, but I disappeared from its sight, using Duo to circle it from behind…

"!!!!"

And almost got my head cut off as the Ghost Bear swung its other paw behind, having anticipated my tactic. I hit the ground and rolled, a slight trickle of blood streaming down my neck. A millisecond slower, and I would have lost my head.

Damn…the bastard is learning very quickly…

I smiled ruefully as I clamped my palm on my neck wound to stem the bleeding. Even though I had only used that move once, the Ghost Bear had already figured out my pattern of attacks and reacted accordingly.

Isn't this too unfair?! This is way more difficult than a boss battle in a game…

At least in a game, the boss's movements and attacks were predictable, restricted by rigid programs and set patterns coded into the game by designers. But this Ghost Bear was a living, breathing entity that could think, learn and adapt.

The difficulty setting was way too high!

Calm down. The question now is…how do I defeat it, even if it's smart?

That still didn't change my goal. The Ghost Bear's incredible intellect was just another obstacle to overcome. An annoyingly difficult hurdle to overcome, admittedly, but not one that was impossible to prevail over.

The Ghost Bear didn't give me time to think of a strategy. It was already charging toward me again, swiping its claws at me. Remembering the grisly end the Lunar Rabbit met when attempting to dodge it and getting sliced apart by the Ghost Claws, I immediately retreated with my Tui technique. The Ghost Claws barely missed me, slicing the sleeve of my uniform.

"Kuh…"

However, the Ghost Bear had anticipated my evasive maneuver, and the moment I landed, it slashed at me with its other paw. To my surprise, the Ghost Claws extended twice as long as usual and almost cut me apart.

Swoosh!

"Ugh!"

I staggered back, blood dribbling from my mouth and fresh wounds. Again, if I hadn't twisted at the last moment, I would have been completely eviscerated. To my amazement, the Ghost Bear was moving faster than even the Lunar Rabbit. It was taking me everything I had just to keep up with its speed, to maintain an even pace with it.

But the Ghost Bear wasn't done yet. It was spinning around, slashing with its other paw again. In my mind, I could visualize these maneuvers as sword techniques. The Ghost Bear wasn't merely mindless attacking in bestial fury. It was performing elegant maneuvers, its spinning almost a dance, and its Ghost Claws not an animalistic set of claws but rather swords. I was reminded of Sharpened Sword Force, the level 5 technique I saw once in Wu Ling Library, but couldn't access.

In other words, the Ghost Bear was just as much a swordsman as any human swordsman. I could see a human martial artist interposing and overlapping with the image of the Ghost Bear. A dual sword wielder, huh?

That fitted the Ghost Bear right now.

No choice…!

Even though I still wasn't confident with this technique, I had no choice but to use it. Unable to evade in time, I accumulated all the frosty qi my body and manifested it. Thick frost armor wreathed my body, protecting me from the Ghost Bear's deadly blow.

Clang!

The frost armor shattered into pieces as the Ghost Bear's Ghost Claws tore through it, but thankfully my hastily crafted armor protected me from the worst of the blow. Shallow cuts dripped with blood as I was hurled back from the impact. Twisting around in midair, I managed to land unsteadily on my feet.

But I had no time to recover. The Ghost Bear was charging at me again.

Fine then. Let's see if I can meet your blow head-on!

I waited for the Ghost Bear to reach within range, and then dashed toward it. As it slashed at me with its right paw, the Ghost Claws shrieking as they rend the air apart, I activated Duo and disappeared, only to reappear behind it. Anticipating my evasion, the Ghost Bear swung around with its other paw to tear the space apart with its vicious Ghost Claws.

Unfortunately, that very intellect had rendered the Ghost Bear's movements somewhat predictable. Having guessed that it would repeat the same movement that earned it success earlier, I had chosen not to appear behind directly behind the Ghost Bear, but at its 10 o'clock. Dodging under the wide swing of the Ghost Bear's paw, I materialized a frost sword by freezing the vapor in the air into ice and hacked its extended paw off.

"Grr…!!!!!"

The Ghost Bear bellowed in pain and stumbled backward, blood gushing out of its stump like a geyser. Its paw flew through the air and fell, landing against the ground in a dull thump.

"You can't bear the pain, eh, Ghost Bear?"

I mocked the Ghost Bear, but was unable to get near because of it was thrashing about in rage.

The damn thing was pretty tough.

"Still not dead, huh?"

The Ghost Bear glowered at me before charging forward. This time, I met it head-on, using my ice sword to clash with it.

The frost blade shattered instantly as the Ghost Claws collided against it. But it didn't matter. As the Ghost Claws swept the broken pieces of ice away, I smashed through the hail of icy fragments and froze a new weapon in my hands. The Ghost Bear tried to defend, but it realized that its left paw was missing, while it couldn't retract its right paw back in time to parry my strike.

This time, instead of a frost sword, I manifested an ice axe. Swinging the massive weapon with every ounce of strength that I had, I buried the axe deeply into the Ghost Bear's collarbone as I tried to decapitate it.

Alas, the Ghost Bear was too strong. Despite the blade embedding itself deeply into the Ghost Bear's neck, it refused to die. Lowering its shoulder, it slammed into me and sent me flying. Blood spurted out of my mouth as I crashed through several trees, blasted away by the sheer raw qi that the Ghost Bear violently emanated.

"Gah…kuh…!"

I coughed out blood as I struggled to my feet, only to fall to my knees. The Ghost Bear's counterattack had pulverized my insides and reduced my inner organs into jelly. If my constitution hadn't been strengthened from devouring so many demonic beasts, I would have died from the sheer impact alone.

The Ghost Bear dragged the ice axe out of its neck and crushed it with a paw. Growling, it lumbered toward me. Then it dropped onto all fours and charged forward, intent on finishing me off once and for all.

With my organs crushed and my body badly battered, I was in no shape to move or evade the attack. Heaving, I glanced around desperately, hoping against fucking Fate that there was something I could use to turn this around.

Then I caught sight of the Ghost Bear's disembodied paw, which lay in front of me. Blood had been gushing out of it, forming a massive puddle between me and the lunging Ghost Bear. A trail of blood had been expanding into a pool, connecting and merging with the river of blood that was snaking away from my battered body.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed my palm down on the pool of blood, not caring that I was creating a huge splash. The moment the Ghost Bear bounded over the puddle of blood that was leaking out of its amputated paw, I infused the blood with frosty qi. A violent surge of qi seared across the blood and it hardened, freezing into a gigantic crimson spear that lanced the Ghost Bear from below, impaling it and halting it in its charge.

"Gr…?!"

The Ghost Bear let out a shriek as its momentum was suddenly brought to an abrupt stop. It gazed down helplessly at the frozen blood spear that had pierced through its chest, gouging out a huge chunk of its heart. It struggled weakly and futilely, its strength slowly fading away.

"Phew…"

I used the chance that my last-ditch counterattack had bought me. Uncapping my bottle, I took a swig of the Green Dragon Spring water that I had stored within it. In a few moments, my body was repaired and restored.

"Huff…"

Taking a deep breath, I rose shakily to my feet. Conjuring another ice sword, I leaped forward to deliver the finishing blow.

The Ghost Bear was far from done, however. Despite being immobilized and pinned to the ground by the frozen spear, it was still able to swing its remaining paw and lash out with its triple Ghost Claws to cut me in half.

But I had already expected that. My feet moved, and I disappeared into a blur. The Ghost Claws seemed to rip the last vestiges of my afterimage into pieces, but I had already dodged and reappeared by the Ghost Bear's left side. With a determined yell, I shoved the blade of my ice sword into the wound in its neck – where my ice axe had bitten deeply earlier.

Thunk!

"Ugh…!"

But I didn't behead the Ghost Bear. Knowing that the muscles that protected its neck were too thick for my meager strength to cut through, I instead shifted the point of my sword and pierced through its skull, the blade reducing the Ghost Bear's brain into mush before running through the other side.

"GUOOO!"

The Ghost Bear let out its final death throes, knocking me flat to the ground but fortunately not maiming me. This time, I was able to evade, having been fully healed by the holy waters of the Green Dragon Spring.

And I thought healing potions didn't exist in reality, or even if they did, it wouldn't be practical to drink them in the middle of a battle. Yet that was what I just did. Huh…I guess games weren't as impractical as they seemed, huh?

I waited for a long while until the Ghost Bear stopped thrashing and its death throes died down. Cautiously approaching the seemingly dead Ghost Bear, in case it was a trap, I then created another ice axe and beheaded it with a few strokes. It took a lot of effort and energy, and the muscles stubbornly resisted my blows, but after a few minutes, I finally decapitated it to ensure that it was dead for good.

"Huff…huff…I guess even the Ghost Bear couldn't bear my attack."

I dropped down to the ground beside the carcass of my kill, my frozen blood spear still holding it aloft like some kind of macabre trophy. Taking a deep breath, I carved a chunk of Ghost Bear meat out and ate it. After my experience in Sen Lin Forest, I had learned that consuming demonic beasts helped strengthen me. Of course, repeatedly eating the same type of demonic beast had less of an impact on enhancing my constitution, but devouring a new type of magical beast greatly improved my strength, vitality, speed and qi.

Since this was the first time I was eating Ghost Bear meat, I was sure that my power would increase tremendously.

After swallowing a lot of the meat, I suddenly felt the familiar sensation of agony. The intense pain stabbed my gut again and I doubled over.

"Ugh…eh?!"

Fortunately, it wasn't as excruciating as the first time. It was still horribly unpleasant, and not something I liked to go through. Uncapping the bottle, I downed another gulp of Green Dragon Spring water. It helped a little, but the pain was still debilitating. I could hardly stand on one knee, never mind move around freely.

I see…the Ghost Bear is much more powerful than the Lunar Rabbits or the Silverback Wolves. That's why there was quite a bit of pain when I consumed it…I should have known that eating Ghost Bear meat would be unbearable…

Breathing heavily, I waited for the intense agony to subside, then slowly stood up. Crafting another ice butcher knife, I began to…well, butcher the Ghost Bear. I was going to bring the meat back to my burrow, and I was going to consume the whole thing. Now that I had gotten used to eating it, I would complete the meal and raise my cultivation and power further.

As I went about my grisly work, it suddenly occurred to me that I had won. I had defeated the nemesis that haunted me ever since I was dumped into this underground cave. Yet…I didn't feel any sort of triumph or joy. I didn't feel hollow either. All I felt was…an emotion of necessity, an instinct of survival. I killed the Ghost Bear because it was the only way I could survive in this cavern. That was all to it.

And after securing my survival, I would find my way out of this godforsaken forest and return to Martial City. Once I achieved that…

I was going to obliterate this evil thing called Fate and usurp the Heavens from the Gods who laughed and mocked me.

Chapter end