I rubbed the bridge of my nose after lifting up my gla.s.ses a little. Somehow I was confident that I had been through this way before, but I just couldn"t place my finger on where exactly I was. It felt like I had been walking in circles for a while right now.

"How long has it been already?"

Probably about three or four days after killing the Ghost Bear. With the apex predator in this cavern dead, I was free to roam about the entire place without anything to fear. Of course, I maintained a great deal of caution. I wasn"t about to underestimate the Lunar Rabbits and Silverback Wolves roaming the area just because I had killed their brethren before.

Underestimating one"s foe was a quick route to death.

Fortunately, the Lunar Rabbits and Silverback Wolves had recognized me as the new ruler of the underground cave and had largely left me alone. Apart from a few foolish ones who pounced on me when they mistakenly thought I was vulnerable, I was free to explore the cavern undisturbed. Without having to fear for my life as much, I had done an extensive search of the cavern and still had yet to find anything. There seemed to be no route upward.

Yet.

On the other hand, there was a pa.s.sageway that contained a set of staircase that led downward instead.

If I still can"t find any other route, I"ve no choice but to proceed downward, huh…

It was entirely possible that the only route to this level was through falling down the abyss. The trap that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d Qi Fu Ren had triggered all those weeks ago. That was the only reason why I couldn"t find any other route leading down to here. I wondered how the creatures inhabiting the cave ended up here in the first place. Perhaps their ancestors fell in here and couldn"t get out, and they adapted to the underground s.p.a.ce. That sucked, because it meant I was trapped with them. Furthermore, instead of finding a way out of the cave, I discovered that I could still proceed deeper downward.

d.a.m.n it. I wanted to go up and get the h.e.l.l out of here, not go down!

I was aware that the deeper caves would be even more dangerous than this level. But the other option was to stay here for the rest of my life, never moving forward. I would rather risk it and get killed than stay static forever.

Besides, the stronger opponents I meet, the more I can learn from them. I might be able to become more powerful after surviving encounters with them…and learn how to defeat them eventually.

That was my goal. It wasn"t just to survive. Surviving was just the first step. My ultimate goal was to return to the surface and take my revenge on all those who mocked me. Qi Fu Ren. His cronies. The other students who bullied me back in Wu Ling Academy.

The heavens themselves, for putting me in such a ludicrous situation.

"I guess I don"t have a choice…"

Returning to my burrow, I began to pack up. Using the bottle that Teacher Jiao gave me right before the first year students ventured into Sen Lin Forest, I scooped up as much Green Dragon Spring water as possible, filling it to the brim. No more magical healing liquid if I used this up, so I had to be careful with rationing it. I had to make sure it lasted me the journey back to the surface.

Yet I"ll probably have to go deeper before I can go up again.

I wasn"t very pleased with how things turned out, but at least I was progressing forward. There was no turning back. There was no staying still. If I wanted to change my fate, I had to keep moving forward and find a way out of here.

"Let"s go."

After packing as much frozen meat as possible into a leather satchel that I had sewn and shaped into a backpack using the Silverback Wolves" pelt and fur, I looked around the burrow that had been my home for the past month or so, and then bowed toward the Green Dragon Spring.

"Thanks for everything."

With that, I left the burrow for the last time.

*

"This is the place, huh?"

I found myself standing right outside the pa.s.sageway that housed the staircases leading toward a deeper region of the cave. The stairs looked as if they were in bad shape, and it would be more accurate to describe the "stairs" as an uneven slope that tapered downward. The mouth of the pa.s.sageway itself was creepy, with stalact.i.tes and stalagmites facing each other like the fangs of some monstrous jaw. The slope disappeared into inky darkness, with the absence of the qi stones that normally adorned the walls of the subterranean cavern providing no illumination whatsoever.

Walking down the stairs felt like I was strolling down the gullet of some monstrous creature. I couldn"t help but shiver.

Well, whatever happens will happen. No use worrying about it. I"ll just have to fight whatever stands in my way and find a way to survive…

Unfortunately, I wasn"t as edgy as Nagumo Hajime, so I wasn"t going to declare confidently that I could kill and devour whatever got in my way. It would be hilarious if I stumble upon a blond loli vampire girl sealed at the bottom of this cavern, however, but I doubted that would ever happen.

After walking down the slope cautiously for a while, my vision turned blur when dim light suddenly bust across the s.p.a.ce at the bottom. It seemed that I had reached the next level or something, and once again I found myself in vegetation.

This time, the next level wasn"t a forest but more of a plains where the trees were spa.r.s.e. It wasn"t exactly a desert. It looked more like a gra.s.sland that belonged to an African plain. The ones with lions and giraffes and all that.

"…"

Already my sense of danger was heightened. If the previous level was of any indication, then this level was sure to be dangerous as well. I could imagine monstrous lions and humongous leopards roaming the plains.

Casting my gaze over the plains cautiously, I stepped into the new region. For now, I didn"t see anything, but that didn"t mean there wasn"t anything lurking within the tall gra.s.s. Trying to make minimal movement, I wove through the plains and did my best to lessen the noise.

"!"

At that moment, I spotted a movement to my left. Twisting around, I caught sight of a black shape darting about. Then it vanished as quickly as I glimpsed it. Tensing up, I stared at the direction where it disappeared into, holding my breath and waiting.

No sudden movements now…I didn"t want to unintentionally provoke whatever that thing was and get attacked. After all, I wasn"t an edgelord or typical wuxia protagonist who went around killing whoever and whatever was unfortunate enough to cross my path. If it didn"t bother me, then I wouldn"t bother it. There was no need to stir up unnecessary trouble.

"…"

Exhaling in relief after nothing happened for what seemed like an eternity, I cast another cautious glance around before taking another step forward.

Hiss!

"Whoa!"

I quickly jumped back as something flew toward me. Stumbling back, I caught sight of a long, serpentine figure uncoiling in the gra.s.s. Behind me, whatever that missed began eating into the gra.s.s, sizzling as fumes erupted from the corroded part.

That"s acid!

It wasn"t just acid. It was venom. Glancing from the acid-eaten gra.s.s and soil toward the source, I saw the unwinding serpentine figure crawling into view. It was, as I expected, a cobra. Its long body was covered in ominous black scales, and it seemed about ten meters long, about as long as a python and twice the length of most cobras.

This is most likely this timeline"s a.n.a.logue of the Africa Spitting Cobra. If I remember correctly, it"s the Black Spitting Cobra.

With the ability to spit venom, there was no mistaking it. I stumbled back, getting ready to use my footwork techniques to evade if necessary. Hissing, the Black Spitting Cobra reared back to fire off another one of its ranged acidic attacks.

It never got to.

The dark shape I saw from earlier blasted out and slammed into the Black Spitting Cobra, all teeth and claws. I caught a glimpse of black fur and a ferocious face of fang and claws before the two tangled monsters rolled into the gra.s.s.

Hiss!!!

Gr…!

Mesmerized, I watched as the newcomer rear back to its feet before pouncing on the Black Spitting Cobra, which spat out another glob of acid. The acid splashed against the new creature, but it ignored it, merely grumbling in pain before slashing at the armored scales of the Black Spitting Cobra and knocking it to the ground.

Screeching, the Black Spitting Cobra wrapped its coils around the fearsome creature and sank its fangs into the latter"s neck, but to no avail. I realized that the fangs weren"t able to penetrate the thick coat of armored fur that protected the beast"s neck.

That"s…a h.e.l.lfire Badger!

Based off the Honey Badger from Earth, the h.e.l.lfire Badger was a ferocious and fearless creature that did not hesitate to attack anything, even those monsters larger than it. For good reason too – it was equipped with lethal claws and deadly fangs, and its thick coat of armored fur rendered it impervious to any sort of attacks, whether it was tooth, claw or qi blasts. Furthermore, even if the Black Spitting Cobra succeeded in sinking its fangs and injecting venom into the h.e.l.lfire Badger, it wouldn"t have worked. The h.e.l.lfire Badger was immune to any venom and poison found in this world.

Amazing…

On the other hand, the h.e.l.lfire Badger was one of the most dangerous magical beasts in the world. Even a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner wouldn"t dare tangle with a h.e.l.lfire Badger if he could avoid it.

Those things were incredibly tough to kill. Not only were they impervious to all blades, arrows or spears, they fought like a demon, refusing to give up and resisting to the bitter end. Fighting a h.e.l.lfire Badger was a surefire way of ensuring n.o.body wins. Those claws could tear through steel, and those fangs could crush boulders into dust.

Right now, the terrifying Black Spitting Cobra was on the wrong end of those horrifying claws and teeth, its blood splattering across the gra.s.s as the h.e.l.lfire Badger tore through it. Fiery qi blazed around the h.e.l.lfire Badger as it attacked, leaving a scorched trail across the plains. The Black Spitting Cobra tried to bite the h.e.l.lfire Badger again, and this time managed to sink its fangs into the burning paw of the latter and pumped venom into its system.

Bad move.

As I said earlier, it didn"t work. The h.e.l.lfire Badger roasted the Black Spitting Cobra from the inside out, causing the poor serpent to release its grip and topple over, smoke billowing out of its scorched mouth. The h.e.l.lfire Badger shook its paw irritably, as if it suffered nothing worse than a small bruise, and then clamored over to bite the Black Spitting Cobra"s neck, finishing it off for good. Blood sprayed the gra.s.s, and the demonic serpent lay still, unmoving. Unlike the Black Spitting Cobra, the h.e.l.lfire Badger was still moving around vigorously without even slowing down. It didn"t seem the least affected by the Spiting Cobra"s venom.

The duel was over hardly before it even began.

Wow.

Realizing that there was no use sticking around, I quickly backed off before the h.e.l.lfire Badger could notice me.

Unfortunately, it was already aware that I was there. Snarling, the h.e.l.lfire Badger raised its head to glare at me. Before I could even take a step back, it shot forward like a b.l.o.o.d.y cannonball, its fur blazing furiously with fiery qi.

"!"

I quickly used Duo to evade, turning around and appearing behind the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s back. The h.e.l.lfire Badger hit the ground where I had been standing on a few seconds ago, and then flipped itself around to face me. It growled and launched forward again, tearing at the air where I was occupying a millisecond ago before I used Tui to jump far back.

"I"m leaving, all right? Geez. You can have your territory to yourself."

I knew h.e.l.lfire Badgers were territorial creatures who didn"t hesitate to attack any creature, living or undead, that intruded upon its territory – even if it was several dozen times larger. I wasn"t that much bigger than the wolf-sized h.e.l.lfire Badger, but I doubted it would have made a difference even if I was as large as a Ghost Bear.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the h.e.l.lfire Badger was persistent. It refused to allow me to leave, pouncing on me once more.

"Whoa!"

I tried to dodge it once more using Duo, but the h.e.l.lfire Badger suddenly spun around in midair and caught me while I was speeding away.

"Ugh!"

Blood burst out of my arm and I crashed heavily onto the ground, my footwork broken in the midst of me executing it. Rolling across the gra.s.sy plain, I came to a stop and glanced at my wound. It appeared that the h.e.l.lfire Badger had torn out a huge chunk of flesh, and boy did it hurt.

But not as much as that time I almost died from consuming monster flesh.

After going through that excruciating experience, nothing could faze me any longer. Pushing my gla.s.ses up, I ignored the blood dripping from my burning wound and rose to my feet. Not patient enough to wait for me to get ready, the h.e.l.lfire Bader was already lunging toward me, the sheer heat of its fiery qi incinerating the gra.s.s around it.

"You asked for it…"

All bets were off. I was going to leave without bothering the h.e.l.lfire Badger despite encountering it, but if it was h.e.l.l-bent on mauling me to death, then I would retaliate. Not that I was enthusiastic about fighting it. I was aware that the h.e.l.lfire Badger was a tough opponent, and would make things extremely difficult for me.

Twisting around to avoid the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s claws by a hair"s breadth, I whirled my body around to deliver a roundhouse kick to its midriff, knocking it out of the air and into the ground. The h.e.l.lfire Badger grunted as it hit the earth, but rolled back to its feet immediately. Hissing fiercely, it then lunged at me once again.

Bending my back, I allowed the h.e.l.lfire Badger to sail above me, then straightened and delivered a strong Shadow kick to its hind flank, causing it to spin helplessly. The h.e.l.lfire Badger struck the ground, but then rolled back to its feet. This time, it didn"t pounce on me – instead, it unleashed a volley of fireb.a.l.l.s that incinerated gra.s.s and scorched the earth.

"Whoa!"

Using Tui, I retreated to a safe distance, but the h.e.l.lfire Badger had already antic.i.p.ated that. Jumping from point to point, it lashed out with fiery claws that both cut and burned my flesh when I was a millisecond too late in evading. I staggered back, clutching my severe wounds, but retaliated with a knee into its belly, knocking it away from me.

"Kreee!"

Shrieking, the h.e.l.lfire Badger flipped itself in midair and landed on all four feet, its armored fur bristling in rage.

"I know you"re a h.e.l.lfire Badger, but you really have to stop badgering me," I snapped at the annoying little creature. The h.e.l.lfire Badger spat in response, and then lunged at me again. I sidestepped, and then kicked it away.

This is going nowhere.

My attacks clearly weren"t doing any damage to the highly resilient magical beast. As the h.e.l.lfire Badger launched fireb.a.l.l.s at me, I conjured a wall of ice that froze the flames. Stamping my foot on the ground, I turned the plains into a chilling tundra.

"?!"

The h.e.l.lfire Badger glanced around at the ice, taken aback by my new move. Snarling, it sprang at me, uncaring of the new phenomenon that had taken its homeland. However, the moment its paw slid against the slippery surface of ice, it skidded across uncontrollably. I took the moment to kick it in its head, snapping its skull back and causing it to spin across my recently sculpted tundra.

"Phew…it actually worked."

Having read about the h.e.l.lfire Badger in the monster encyclopedia, I was aware that it was used to inhabiting a warm, temperate gra.s.sland akin to that of Sahara Africa or the great Saharan plains in Africa. If that was the case, it wouldn"t be able to adapt to the sudden cold and slippery surface of the ice. I was counting on that to rob the h.e.l.lfire Badger of its balance and thus nullify one of its greatest strengths – its mobility.

Unfortunately, the h.e.l.lfire Badger was an intelligent creature. Realizing that the terrain was now to its disadvantage, it sought other paths of attacks. Its fiery qi intensified and transformed into a gigantic, blazing inferno that instantly melted and vaporized the ice. In a mere instant, the entire plains turned into a burned out husk as flames raged through it. As much as I tried to extinguish the inferno with cold yin qi and ice, I failed to do so.

In terms of qi, this monster has me beat!

Honestly, I didn"t buy into the whole ranks or cla.s.s or stages thing that most wuxia novels love to espouse. A magical beast was a magical beast. It didn"t matter if it was a Cla.s.s 3 or Cla.s.s 4 magical beast which corresponded to Qi Fusion Stage or whatever. Magical beasts were still magical beasts, and while they often held the advantage over humans in terms of raw physical strength and speed or amounts of qi, humans have always circ.u.mvented those advantages by developing weapons and tools, or strategies and tactics.

Our greatest strength wasn"t cultivating enormous amounts of qi to reach divinity or whatever stupid stages that wuxia novels loved to conjure up. It was our intelligence and our great use of tools.

And right now, my greatest tool was knowledge. I had read about h.e.l.lfire Badgers. I should know what its weaknesses are.

"Kuh!"

Ducking under another swipe from the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s deadly claws, I tried to endure the blazing inferno by shrinking my cold qi into a thin layer of azure aura that covered only my entire body. Simultaneously, I kicked the h.e.l.lfire Badger again, much in the same way that I saw the Lunar Rabbit did. The h.e.l.lfire Badger grunted as the blunt force reverberated throughout its body and it crashed into the ground, only for it to roll up again.

Now!

I froze its limbs with thick ice. The h.e.l.lfire Badger wailed and struggled to break free, conjuring its flames to melt the ice. But even if it possessed superior amounts of qi and its fire was more powerful than my ice, it still required some time before it could free itself. Even though it was less than five seconds, those precious few seconds made all the difference.

Jumping high up into the air, I spun my body like a top, and then lashed out, using the tremendous centrifugal force to generate as much power in my kick as possible, and slammed my foot onto the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s head, obliterating its skull and destroying its brain with that single kick.

"Huff!"

I landed on the ground as the h.e.l.lfire Badger fell lifelessly onto the ground, slipping out of the half-melted ice and shuddering in its death throes.

"Phew…that was a difficult battle."

I winced as I clutched at my injuries, which consisted of both terrible cuts and burns. Turning around, I made sure that the h.e.l.lfire Badger was dead. Its skull had been caved in, its head deformed and flattened from my strongest Shadow Kick. Sighing in relief, I thought back to what I had read. In the encyclopedia, the text had warned readers about how difficult it was to kill a h.e.l.lfire Badger, with its armored fur rendering it impervious to blade, spear or arrow. There was no cutting through that armored fur. Its neck, which was usually a point of vulnerability for most other demonic creatures, was the most protected s.p.a.ce of its body.

Consequently, the most effective way to kill an armored h.e.l.lfire Badger was to apply overwhelming blunt force to its head. Instead of using a sword or spear, a blunt weapon such as a club, mace or hammer was more efficient in applying enough trauma to its cerebral cortex in order to kill. It was the same tactic with the Silverback Wolf. If I couldn"t penetrate its armored fur with a blade or arrow, then I just had to kick it to death using sheer force.

"Well…at least I"m able to collect two whole meals…"

Picking up the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s carca.s.s, I proceeded toward the corpse of the Black Spitting Cobra. After going through all that trouble, it would be a waste not to consume them. Not only that, after beating the h.e.l.lfire Badger, I got an extra monster for free. What did they say about a cunning hunter again? How we were supposed to wait after two fighting tigers tired each other out before swooping in and claiming both of them in one go?

But man…I really hope I won"t run into another h.e.l.lfire Badger…

They were so tough to kill that I honestly didn"t want to fight a second h.e.l.lfire Badger. My wounds still throbbed and even my foot hurt from applying that much blunt force to the h.e.l.lfire Badger"s tough skull. Limping through the plains, I glanced upward at the gently glowing qi stones embedded in the cavern"s ceiling and sighed.

Seemed like this was going to be another challenging area…