PNB 118. Cleverly obtain
118. Cleverly obtain
Battles are never simply a contest of strength.
This is a truth that Xinlai learned through countless life-and-death battles.
Force can shatter stone walls and break steel, but it can never strike a true gust of wind.
And now, deep within this ironwood forest, he will once again put this truth into practice.
Ironback Bear's third heavy blow missed.
The giant hand, covered in iron-gray bristles, slammed down with immense force, but only struck the afterimage left behind.
The ground trembled violently, sending dirt and leaf fragments flying in all directions, leaving a palm print several inches deep in the spot.
Sin Lai herself had already slid three steps away to the side, her steps as light as if she were walking on water, without making a sound.
He changed his strategy.
The initial encounters made him realize the reality: the brute strength of this ironbacked bear far exceeded his expectations.
Each swing of that seemingly clumsy giant hand carried the power to shatter stone and split rocks. Even when he parried with his sword, the recoil was enough to make his hand go numb.
To confront such a monster head-on is tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.
Therefore, he no longer stood still and confronted the Ironback Bear head-on, but instead made the most of his agility.
Xinlai's figure began to move.
That wasn't ordinary movement, but a kind of almost eerie wandering.
His footsteps lightly tapped the ground repeatedly, each step precisely landing in the blind spot of the Ironback Bear's attack, his figure flickering like phosphorescent light in a cemetery at night.
The dim light in the ironwood forest filtered through the layers of dark canopy, casting dappled shadows on him and making his position even more elusive.
The behemoth let out an angry growl, its four thick lower limbs grinding against the ground, and its massive body began to spin, trying to keep up with Xinlai's movements.
But it was so big that every turn it made carried a huge amount of inertia, and Xinlai always happened to appear on the opposite side of the direction it was turning.
The first strike landed on the Ironback Bear's left shoulder.
Xinlai's figure vanished abruptly from the front of the giant beast, and reappeared on its left side the next moment.
He flicked his wrist, and the longsword drew a smooth arc in the air. Deep purple flames suddenly surged up on the blade, leaving a scorching trail in the darkness.
Blazing Slash Lv.2
The sword's edge sliced into the fur on the ironback bear's left shoulder.
The thick layer of iron-gray bristles seemed to lose all its defensive power in the face of the purple flames. The hissing sound of the flames burning flesh and the muffled sound of the blade cutting through the skin rang out almost simultaneously.
A charred sword wound stretched from the shoulder blade all the way to the upper part of the forelimb. The fur around the wound instantly carbonized, emitting a strong burnt smell.
The Ironback Bear, in pain, let out a deafening roar and fiercely swept its left forepaw to the left.
But Sinlai is no longer in that position.
He stepped back the instant the sword fell, lightly touching the ground with his toes, and slid to the right.
A huge bear paw swept past him less than half a meter away, the force of the wind whipping up the stray hairs on his forehead.
Without pausing, he used the momentum of his side slide to get behind the Ironback Bear.
The behemoth was still turning left to pursue the spot he had just been standing in, its back completely exposed to his sword.
The second sword strike aimed at the right rib.
Spinning Slash lv.6
Xin Lai's body spun half a circle around her left foot, and her longsword slashed horizontally as she rotated, cutting a wound across three ribs on the Ironback Bear's right side.
This strike went deeper than the first; the blade cut through the skin and fur, continuing to penetrate and severing the thick layer of subcutaneous fat, reaching the muscles beneath.
Purple flames then surged into the wound, burning deep within the fissure, scorching and sealing the blood vessels while also bringing unbearable pain.
Blood gushed from the wound, some of it vaporizing into a pale red mist under the intense heat of the purple flames, while most of it flowed down the iron-gray fur, drawing shocking crimson trails on the massive body.
The ironback bear was completely enraged.
Its roars grew louder and louder, turning from a deep, muffled growl into an almost piercing howl, causing the hard, iron-like leaves of the surrounding ironwood trees to fall in a rustling sound.
It began frantically waving its four giant hands, spinning in place in an attempt to grab the constantly moving, despicable human.
Four giant hands took turns slapping the ground and the surrounding space, each slap causing the earth to tremble and sending dirt and gravel flying in all directions.
Its movements were completely chaotic, driven solely by primal rage.
But the angrier it gets, the less accurate its attacks become.
Xin Lai moved with the agility of a venomous wasp circling a giant beast, weaving lightly between the rise and fall of its paws. His breathing was steady and long, and his heartbeat remained at the optimal frequency for battle.
All the noise from the outside world—the roar of bears, the trembling of trees, the rustling of mud flying—was filtered into the background by his consciousness.
His world consisted only of his prey's every movement, every breath, every muscle twitch, and the sword in his hand.
The third sword, the fourth sword, the fifth sword.
His figure flashed around the Ironback Bear constantly, each strike precise and deadly.
The Ironback Bear was struck in the back of its left hind leg by a sword, which severed the tendon there, causing the bear to limp noticeably in its left hind leg.
A half-meter-long gash was cut open on the side of his abdomen. Although it was not deep, the skin in that area was the thinnest, and the burns caused by the purple flames were the most severe, sizzling as the subcutaneous fat layer burned. Two intersecting sword marks were also left on his back, with the intersection so deep that the bone was visible.
The Ironback Bear attempted to use its innate abilities to turn the tide. The hardest patch of iron-gray fur on its back gleamed with an earthy yellow light, a result of the hardening effect of the earth element.
The light spread outwards along its back, making the fur darker and harder wherever it passed, as if a layer of rock armor covered its body.
But Xinlai's sword was burning with the fire of the Fiery Demon.
It was a flame inherited from the ancient fire element, with a temperature far exceeding that of ordinary flames, and it also possessed a mysterious property that was able to suppress the earth element.
The moment the purple flames came into contact with the earthy yellow light, it was like a hot knife cutting into butter; the earth element's blessing crumbled and dissipated layer by layer in the face of the flames.
The sword still cut into the flesh without any resistance, leaving a wound that was even more charred than before. Due to the backlash from the broken earth element, the burns were even more severe than before.
Three minutes later, the ironback bear's movements began to slow down.
Massive blood loss is rapidly draining its vitality.
The ground beneath it was already covered with countless dark red pools of blood, which continued to expand and merge together, turning the surrounding grass into a chilling deep red.
The continuous high-temperature burns are constantly destroying the moisture and vital energy in its body. The edges of those charred wounds are still radiating residual heat, continuously damaging the surrounding tissues.