ZIP! ZIP!

Lighting was zapping out from the Thunder Mantis vehemently. Lin Yuan and Chen Ming slithered on the ground, watching the mantis.

LEAP!

Thunder Mantis leapt again towards Lin Yuan, a thunderous boom echoed in the forest for a few paces. Lin Yuan barely dodged the attack. The right side of his neck has a small cut, blood slowly dripping from the edge of the cut in a sluggish manner. The Mantis stood still in front of them for a few moments, and performed side-by-side peering movements. The mantis’ abdomen pushed downward while the back legs rotate upward, ensuring the center of mass remains stable. And it launched again. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Chen Ming!!! DODGE!!" Lin Yuan yelled, his voice cracking with pain from his neck wound.

Chen Ming reflexes are quite good even in the exhaustion. He dodged the mantis attack instantly, listening to the warning from Lin Yuan. Forthwith, Lin Yuan rushed towards Chen Ming and helped him to stand.

"I understand a thing about that Thunder Mantis," Lin Yuan elucidated, his words are faster than usual. "Prepare to dodge again."

Thunder Mantis launched again, and Lin Yuan dodged easily now. Again and again, he dodged the mantis’ next five attacks.

"The mantis moments are slowing down," Chen Ming ascertained, his voice shaking with exhaustion.

Lin Yuan smirked, heeding the words of Chen Ming, but his eyes were fixated on the Thunder Mantis.

"I know it will happen, Chen Ming," Lin Yuan dodged another leap from the mantis, illustrating his observations to Chen Ming, "This beast taking some time between attacks... I think it is to replenish its beast essence to make a stronger attack with thunder every time. I found this after three attacks of the Thunder Mantis. But it’s different now, even though it was a Rank 6 beast after many attacks it will get exhausted due to low beast essence in its core. And this mere beast is a Rank 2 beast, it can’t hold the speed of the attack the same as its previous attacks."

Chen Ming fascinated, darting his eyes towards the Mantis.

’It is the same as mana... One can replenish mana by taking gaps between magical attacks. But continuous mana usage for many times, even though they take time between attacks, will lead to depletion of mana — Mana Exhaustion.’ Lin Yuan scrutinized, a fierce look locked onto the mantis.

The mantis leaped towards Lin Yuan again. "Now!!" Lin Yuan yelled, creating the Shell guard in an instant after the mantis launched.

SHRIEK!

The moment the mantis was slammed onto the invisible shield, an obscuring, thin laser beam pierced through the abdomen of the mantis. Mantis froze, petrified in the mid-air for a second, and fell to the ground. The yellowish liquid dripped from the hole in the mantis’ abdomen, the thunder light flickered before it was totally snuffed out.

Chen Ming and Lin Yuan fell to their knees after defeating the Thunder Mantis. They both have less beast essence in their aperture. Both of them require replenishment before they move further into the forest. Lin Yuan exhaustively reached the mantis, and he took the mantis’ beast core and stored it.

Chen Ming lay flat on the ground, seeing the bright sun hanging in the sky.

"Half day completed, Lin Yuan," Chen Ming gasped, his eyes glinting with bright sunlight. "Need three more Rank 2 beast cores and Spirit Herbs to complete our trial."

"Humph..." Lin Yuan muffled, closing his eyes while leaning on a nearby maple tree. "Before that we need to replenish our beast essence. Haha."

"Hehe..!"

Lin Yuan and Chen Ming laughed hard, and took a small nap near the maple tree. The warm afternoon breeze whipped their long hair in a messy pattern.

****

Crunch!

A young, elegant cultivator chomped the neck of a brown Baby bear – Rank 2 beast with wind attribute. His long hair was pitch-black, his eyes were crimson red burning with a rage. The young male name is Gu Shiyan – Baby Beast Realm: Peak Stage cultivator, same as Lin Yuan. Gu Shiyan is a Serpent beast holder – Rare beast with fire attribute.

The moment Gu Shiyan’s fangs, shimmering with a sickening, viscous violet light, chomped the baby bear’s neck, a geyser of thick, boiling crimson blood sprayed across his face and dripped down on the bear’s fur. The attack name is ’Venom Bite’, as he was a serpent beast holder, his teeth are like fangs of a serpent which have toxic venom. Gu Shiyan jerked his head back, with a sheer force tearing away the bear’s flesh. With a flick of wrists, Gu Shiyan hurled the bear down on the ground, gnawing the flesh into the stomach with a gulp.

"Your skills are always brutal, Gu Shiyan," Another young male cultivator with orange hair, and light-blue eyes strolled towards Gu Shiyan. His name is Mei Jian Li - Baby Beast Realm: Mid Stage cultivator. He was a holder of Common Beast – Ape with earth attribute. "Biting it was okay... But eating it was way too brutal. Anyways, we will get our first Rank 2 beast core."

Gu Shiyan smeared the blood on his face into the wrist, and flicked his wrist leaving the blood splattering on the ground. Gu Shiyan took the shimmering green beast core of the Bear.

"Brutal? It’s natural for a serpent to eat the flesh of the bear after killing. Nothing is brutal if you see the phenomena from the causer point of view. Brutality is the mere word found by us. It only depends on the way we understand the situation." Gu Shiyan muttered, placing the beast core in the bag. "Humans tend to equate beauty with goodness and ugliness with badness. It’s just a fucking arrogance of human eye. For example... The cockroach and butterfly both are insects, both born in Great Dao. But if they die, the people will look one with loathing and other with grief. Why?"

He paused, adjusting the strap of the storage bag. "Because man does not look at the world to see the world. He looks at the world to see himself. The butterfly flatters his sense of beauty! It mimics his desire for elegance, for flying, for the grace of an immortal. To kill it is to shatter his own reflection. But the cockroach? It mirrors his darkest fears. It thrives in his filth, survives his wrath, and reminds him of his own disgusting nature. To crush it is an act of purification, one will not feel any grief of killing cockroaches."

"Haha... Talking philosophy again... Leave it, scholar Gu Shiyan!" Mei Jian Li sneered, patting the back of Gu Shiyan. "Let go further to kill four more Rank 2 beasts."

Gu Shiyan didn’t answer. They both started walking into the forest.

****

Middle path of the Blackwood Ravine forest.

"Be careful! It is a blood python!" A white-haired boy yelled, staggering backward in a frantic way. His name is Fenglian, a Baby Beast Realm - Mid Stage cultivator, and a Boar beast holder with earth attribute.

The blood python jerked its head forward, splashing the venomous liquid on a red-haired frantic student. His name was Huo Ren, a Baby Beast Realm - Mid Stage cultivator, and a Falcon beast holder with fire attribute. Huo Ren snapped his body sideways, dodging the splash. The liquid splashed on the ground, the grass was instantly melted away and dead.

"Mighty Boar-Punch!" Fenglian slammed his right fist onto the ground in front of the python. The sheer impact raised the tectonic plates beneath the python. Immediately, Huo Ren clapped his hands, aiming towards the python.

"Inferno beak!" Huo Ren yelled, his voice echoing across the trees. A raging, falcon-shaped fire appeared from the hands, and swallowed the python in a few breaths of time.

The blood python plunged down, fluttering fiercely on the ground. The scales of the python are burning red in the fire of Huo Ren’s attack. The blood python fluttered a heavy jerk before dying. Fenglian strolled to the python burning corpse, grabbing the Rank 2 beast core from it. He darted his body towards Huo Ren who fell on his knees panting heavily.

"We got one!" Fenglian patted Huo Ren’s back, offering a gracious smile. "You did great! Let’s take some rest before moving further."

Huo Ren smirked, watching the hanging sun above.

****

A few paces right from the middle pathway of the Blackwood Ravine forest.

A dead corpse of a fox laid flat down in a grotesque position. The legs of the fox are snapped in opposite sides, looking like it was hit with a devastating punch. Standing beside the corpse, a white-haired, elegant boy reached out the corpse sluggishly. His pale eyes locked onto the corpse and a second later, the green beast core formed on his hand. The white-haired boy’s name is Lian Nichang, a Baby Beast Realm - Mid Stage Cultivator, and a Wolf beast holder.

Thud! Thud!

A faint footsteps reached Lian Nichang.

"We got one beast core, Lian," A familiar black-haired girl grunted, dusting off her robe at her chest. Her medium-sized boobs are slightly jiggling as she walks towards Lian Nichang. Her name is Yun He, a Baby Beast Realm - Mid Stage Cultivator, and an Ape beast holder. "But where the fuck are these spirit herbs located?"

"Haha... it’s just a half day, Yun He," Lian Nichang smirked, standing up, keeping the core in the storage bag. "And you are already losing patience... We will find them soon."

They both walked into the depths of the forest. Every group found a Rank 2 beast core, but Lin Yuan’s group has 2 beast cores already. The assistant masters of Mo Qinghe had an eye on the groups.