Lican held the Blackmist Talisman in his hand, willing it to activate before throwing it out. The moment it left his hand, puff! The talisman burst, and Lican's face paled as he thought he had failed again. But the next moment, thick mist drowned the cave, spreading everywhere until he couldn't even see his own hands. His eyes lit up as he tried to walk through it, only to stumble almost immediately, but he was too excited to care.
"Yes!"
After a hundred tries, he finally succeeded. Lican laughed heartily, his voice echoing through the thick mist. Then he scratched his head, his excitement slowly turning into confusion. "How am I going to cancel this now?" His lips twitched before he simply sat down. "I'll just wait."
After a few seconds, the mist finally disappeared. Lican wasn't disappointed. A few seconds could change many things in a fight. He stood up and stretched before heading for some food. He was hungry and had already used up most of his energy. From tomorrow, he decided, he would start training his rune refinement properly. He was also going to conduct a battle test soon.
His eyes lit up as he slowly chewed his food. He couldn't wait to test out his new ability, but patience was the rule of the jungle when hunting.
Only if Father knew how useful what he gave me was. But... did he really not know how great that manuscript was?
Lican sighed and turned onto his makeshift bed before slowly closing his eyes. Outside the cave, the chirping of night birds and the cries of horned bats echoed through the night like distant sirens.
Boom! Crack! A figure flew out from the distance, crashing through several trees before finally hitting the ground.
"Shit!"
Lican groaned as he tried to stand. His hair was haggard, and his breathing was deep and heavy. He wiped the blood from his lips. If this had happened before, his body would have been a mess, but now his flesh and skin had become much stronger.
The chains wrapped around his hands tightened as he stared into the distance with bloodshot eyes. He tapped his pouch, pulled out a piece of jerky, and started chewing without taking his eyes off the spot.
Thump!
A massive figure suddenly came flying out of the trees and slammed into the ground. Its four-meter-tall body radiated a terrifying aura.
Boom!
The Mountain Ape slammed its fist into the ground, sending vibrations through the earth and forcing Lican to adjust his footing. He continued chewing his jerky slowly as he released part of his chains onto the ground, letting them slither around him like snakes while he tightly wrapped the other end around his fist.
He had escaped from this Mountain Ape before, but this time, the beast was even closer to Qi Condensation. Lican could already feel the pressure coming from its body as small gusts of wind formed around it, stirred by its terrifying aura.
Lican lowered his body into a fighting stance.
The Mountain Ape noticed his reaction and slammed its fists against its chest before releasing a thunderous roar. The sound shook the forest, sending birds and smaller beasts fleeing from the area.
The beast grabbed a nearby tree and ripped it out of the ground before swinging it toward Lican.
Shrill!
Lican narrowly dodged the flying tree, but one of its branches grazed his biceps, making him wince. Before he could catch his breath, the Mountain Ape was already upon him, its massive fist coming straight toward his face.
Lican quickly raised his chained hands to block.
Boom!
The impact sent him flying off the ground. His body crashed into a tree behind him, snapping the trunk in half.
His arms vibrated from the impact, and it felt as if his bones had cracked. He had already been thrown out of the forest and was now at the side of the mountain, one knee still pressed against the ground. He couldn't swallow the blood rising in his throat, so he spat it out, feeling the impact still shaking his organs.
The Mountain Ape was still holding the tree by its trunk. With a furious swing, it hurled it toward the kneeling Lican.
Shrill!
Feeling the incoming wind, Lican decided not to hesitate. He poured all his strength into his legs and pushed himself sideways just as the tree came crashing down. The trunk slammed into the ground, sending debris and small rocks flying into the air.
Seeing that its attack had missed, the Mountain Ape immediately lifted the trunk again, preparing to deliver another blow.
But while it was raising the tree, Lican's chain shot forward and wrapped around the trunk. Using the momentum of the rising tree, he pulled himself into the air and landed on it.
He sprinted across the trunk.
Within seconds, he reached the other end and launched himself toward the Mountain Ape. As he flew through the air, he pulled out a talisman and slammed it onto the beast's head.
The Mountain Ape, already annoyed that its attacks had repeatedly missed, swung its arm and flung Lican away from the trunk. In its frustration, it completely ignored the talisman stuck to its head.
Lican smiled as he was sent flying through the air.
Three more talismans slipped from his hand and drifted through the air around him.
The beast is too careless. After all, it is still a beast.
A smirk appeared on Lican's face as he snapped his fingers.
The three talismans suddenly burst.
"Puff!"
The Ape stared at the paper that had gone out of existence before turning toward Lican as if mocking his move, its eyes filled with ridicule. It spun the tree trunk in its hands, wanting to land a better hit this time, but suddenly paused as it felt its surroundings blur.
It stared around in confusion as smoke spread through the area, blocking its senses. Thick smoke covered the surroundings within seconds, completely obscuring its vision.
Lican grinned as he stared at the confused beast before the smoke eventually covered both of them.
Lican had been practicing rune inscription for days while hunting less. His success rate had now reached seventy percent, meaning he had a good chance of producing a working rune whenever he attempted one.
He had discovered that he couldn't see inside his own Blackmist either, so he had created a Light-Tracing Rune that allowed him to track his opponent. As he stared into the distance, he saw a faint seal glowing through the smoke, revealing the location of the beast's head.
During their fight, Lican had already planted several runes across its body. He only needed to place the last one on its head.
He looked at his handiwork in the distance, the glowing seals outlining the beast's massive frame.
Lican wrapped all his chains around his fist and moved.
He threw a punch with all his strength.
Bang!
His fist collided with the beast's jaw, making its head jerk backward with tremendous force. The strength behind that punch alone would have been enough to break its neck if the beast wasn't so powerful.
The Mountain Ape staggered before blindly swinging toward the attacker, but its claws struck nothing.
Lican smirked and moved again, this time with the jade pin in his hand.
His eyes remained fixed on the rune above the beast's head.
With a sudden pull, his chains wrapped around the Mountain Ape and dragged it off balance. The beast frantically struck at the air, desperately searching for the invisible attacker.
Lican stood several steps away before moving toward the beast again. He stomped against the ground and drove the jade pin toward its neck.
The pin struck its neck artery, causing blood to flow from the wound.
But Lican wasn't going to let the beast recover.
He immediately dove toward its face and struck both eyes at the same time, piercing them with the jade pin.
The beast released a furious roar as its madness intensified. Lican pulled the jade pin back, both of the Mountain Ape's eyeballs hanging from its tip.
The sight was grotesque.
The Mountain Ape swung wildly around, attacking anything it could reach, but it could no longer see its target
The beast released a furious roar as its madness intensified. It swung wildly around, attacking anything it could reach, but never managed to hit its target.
While the beast struggled, Lican had already wrapped his chains around its legs. He pulled with all his strength, making the Mountain Ape lose its balance and crash heavily onto the ground.
The beast tried to get back up, but Lican was already there. He stepped onto its neck and began using his chained fists to bash its skull.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He struck the beast multiple times within seconds, each blow further damaging its senses.
The beast's neck was too thick for the jade pin to kill it immediately. Its powerful muscles had already contracted around the wound, closing it and stopping the bleeding.