The forest returns to it silences, as dai yaun passed out before the ritual could was even completed, unable to bear the pain, only the sign of his chest heaving up and down could tell that his was still alive, as lied their in the open with cuts and dried patches of blood all over his body.
And there, upon his skin of his chest a round dark shaped symbol etched over his broad torso, it was strange pattern which seems to have merged with the initial mark before the ritual commence.
The pattern glows in tandem with the rhythmic beating of his heart, seemingly to be alive.
It resembled the coiled image of a Tiger mid-roar, its scales formed from lines of intricate runes that shimmered faintly in the firelight. The mark pulsed once more, sending a ripple of vitality through his body. Causing his injuries to heal over time, leaving behind only scars as he snored thunderously in his sleep.
As the ritual continues, more blood essence flood out of the tiger into the strange pattern on his chest, making it look more vivid, the tiger mark resembling the black scale tiger which is disintegrating into ash,
Looking at the tiger body, which has become an empty husk as it essence has been drained and refined, the flesh dissolving into fine black ash that drifted upward before scattering into the night.
"mmn" a groin echoed out through the silent jungle sending birds flying and causing the chirping sounds to become silent.
Dai yaun, stirred from his slumber,struggling to open his eyes, the ache from the previous night still vivid on his face The first light of dawn brightening the canopy.
"what happened here" dai yuan muttered using his hand to prop himself up from the ground.
"oh" suddenly recalling the event that has transpired here the previous night, then yaun sprang on to his feet, with his mouth agape. Slowly turning to the sides to check for any beast in the vicinity.
Dai yaun heaved a sigh, from discovering the absence of beast around him.
He rose slowly, his body still aching from the ritual, yet he was filled with an unfamiliar vitality. The air around him seemed lighter. Every scent, every sound, every movement pf the wind against the grass within the forest was sharper than before.
For the first time, he could feel the presence of his environment, despite not having a certain cultivation, his physical ability seems to have been enhanced to two times it previous might.
Feeling the strength cursing through his, body dai yaun clenched his fist and releases it repeatedly, relishing in joy from the strange sensation.
"i feel I can punch that tiger to death..." dai yaun murmured in stupor, although quite aware that he lacks cultivation and the tiger was probably a high rank mortal grade beast, and he was being delusional, dai yaun allowed himself to be carried away.
Though having no cultivation, but through his improved instinct, He could feel it—the faint hum of energy beneath his flesh, a rhythm that wasn't entirely his own. The Tiger's strength, now intertwined with his blood.
He lifted his hand, flexing his fingers. The movement felt sharper, smoother. Even his breathing seemed deeper, and more stable.
He glanced back toward the Tiger's body. But all he could found there was nothing, even the blood stains from the circle he had drawn earlier seems to have mysteriously vanished with the wind.
"Strange...."
The words came softly, half disbelief, half awe.
Turning his sight back to his chest, where a dark looking pattern of a tiger reside on, dai yaun gentle used his hands to brush against the rune, but feels nothing from it, not bruises, not stubble it feels like it comes with him, if one did not no, one would think it was a large birth mark from a far, without the image of the tiger on it.
Looking down at the mark on his chest once more, dai yaun muttered tracing its faint lines with reverence. "From this day….. I will be different."
A faint smile tugged at his lips. Dai yaun closed his eyes, feeling the faint echo of the Tiger's spirit resting within the totem. Suddenly dai yaun conciousness was drawn into a black space.
"where is this?" looking all around the place, dai yaun could neither see nor hear anything.
All of a sudden the surrounding become bright, causing him to closed his eyes from the sudden intensity.
"Ahhh…!!" as he opened his eyes, dai yaun suddenly released a terrified scream, while quickly scrambling back, as the sight in front of him clear.
The Blackscale tiger, which has just died at his hand, stands there in his front with a crimson eyes filled with murderous intent, it hair dark and silky. The tigers aura fall down on his as he staggered back while it just remain standing starring at dai yaun.
As he look at the tiger in front of him, all of dai yaun previous pride and sense of elevation brought by the shamanic rune instantly evaporated from his mind and body.
"brother tiger… you are dead right" dai yaun waved at it while trying to put on a smile.
"why don't we just go our way, you to the neither world and me to the human world"
Silence was, all dai yaun got, as the tiger image stood their starring at him with a dead pan gaze, it took dai yaun few minutes to realize the what was in front of him was nothing but a vivid phantom of the dead beast.
"damn it bro… you almost caused me to piss myself"
Cursing louldy, dai yaun patted his chest, stepping closer to the beast, dai yaun examined it in amazement at how vivid and life like it look, except for it stillness without sign of breathing everything look alive, even the tigers eyes followed him as he moved around it body.
"stop doing that…. that eerie" dai yaun muttered.
"how do I get out of this place" screeching the back of his head, dai yaun turned to examine the beast again, after his futile attempt at returning to his body.
As he stared at the tiger's phantom, it suddenly stepped back and released a deafening roar from it throat, the sound was so loud and heaven shaking, causing the blood in dai yaun's body to run chaotically and suppressed. It was loud, deafening and more intimidating than when it was alive.
With the roar comes, understanding of what the phantom is, as it began dis-integrating and merging into his body, and dai yaun found himself back into his body.
"so this is the skill that comes with the shamanic rune" close his eyes as his consciousness returned to his body, dai yaun mused to him self as a smile crossed his lips.
"with this skill, hunting beast would definitely become easier for me" musing to himself, at how amazing the shamanic runes is to even bestow one with skill, after the physical enhancement.
As he finished examining the ability called "tiger roar" dai yaun began tiding up his belongings to leave when suddenly his gaze fall on the body of the python a short distance away from him. And then something pulsed on his chest giving him the urge to get closer to the beast.
Sensing no ill intent from the urge and surrounding, dai yaun decided to trust the feeling as he moved towards the gigantic and coiled body of the python on the floor.
"strange…." dai yaun muttered.
"why has no beast been drawn here" as he approached the laying beast, dai yuan pondered on the perplexity of the situation, as with the way the blood leaking out of the dead python has pooled around on the ground, it should have attracted some wild monster her, as they are attracted to the scent of blood. But looking at the surrounding dai yaun failed to catch a glance of any animal, even that of a lowly birds although it might be attributed to how dark the surrounding is but, that shouldn't have masked away their noise, if there was any.
Turning back He inhaled deeply, feeling the forest air fill his lungs.
Then he opened his eyes and looked around.
Only now did he truly notice how empty the clearing was.
No scavengers circled the dead assassins. No low-grade beasts lurked nearby, drawn by the scent of blood. Even insects seemed reluctant to approach.
Dai Yuan frowned slightly.
Blackwood Forest was dangerous precisely because it teemed with life. To see such emptiness was unnatural.
Then his gaze shifted.
Not far away lay the massive corpse of the Ironclad Dark Python, its body coiled in death, scales shattered and split open by savage claw marks. Only then did understanding dawn.
"Their battle…"
Two high-grade beasts, both carrying potent bloodlines, had clashed with murderous intent. The moment they unleashed their full power, their auras would have collided, surged outward, and crushed everything weaker within range.
For low-ranking beasts, that kind of pressure was no different from divine wrath.
They would flee and hide from the area where two said beast clash. Avoiding the place at all costs, creating a temporary dead zone.
Dai Yuan nodded in understanding and then his gaze returned to the python. Although he felt strange at the absence of beast within the vicinity, he heaved a sigh of relief it.