The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 165: Conflict
It wasn’t just Adrian who had spotted the beast. The Ember Earth Bear, at Rank 4, had a very heightened sense. Just as Adrian spotted it, the bear turned to face the human and the wolves that were charging toward it.
ROAR!
With a loud roar, it charged toward them, fury evident in its mind. Seeing the human and the wolves charging toward it, they must not put it in its eyes. How dare these weak beings challenge its authority?
That was what was going through the mind of the Ember Earth Bear as it charged toward Adrian and the wolves. With a burst of surprising speed, it charged toward them, rapidly closing the distance between the two forces.
Adrian and the wolves that were chasing him were both stunned at the action of the Ember Earth Bear. We had just met, yet you’re charging toward us with hate-filled eyes. Isn’t that a bit too unreasonable?
Of course, there was no way to know what was going through the mind of the Ember Earth Bear. In only a few breaths, the Ember Earth Bear was only a few meters away, giving them no time to react or change direction.
Adrian was now in a peculiar situation. The Ember Earth Bear was in front, and the Flame Wolves were at his back. How was he supposed to escape such a situation? In just a few breaths, his situation had gone from bad to worse.
At least, that would have been the case if it were a normal Foundation Establishment realm cultivator.
WHOOSH!
Just before the Ember Earth Bear was about to descend upon them, his figure vanished into the void before appearing dozens of meters in the distance.
Turning around, he could see the Ember Earth Bear clash with the Flame Wolves. The Flame Wolves were too slow and didn’t have enough time to react before Adrian’s figure was replaced with that of the Ember Earth Bear.
They were forced into a confrontation with the bear, and in just a few breaths, the six Flame Wolves found themselves in dire straits. Don’t even mention the Rank 2 Flame Wolves; even those at Rank 3 found themselves facing death when confronted with the Ember Earth Bear.
In just a few breaths, the Ember Earth Bear had torn through two of the Rank 2 Flame Wolves. The third was already on its last breath, with deep gashes tearing through its side.
Seeing this, cold sweat dripped down Adrian’s back. He realized that these Flame Wolves were not even enough to buy him time. He turned around, and just as he was about to continue running away, a new idea formed in his mind.
An utterly crazy idea. However, when he turned around to gaze at the Ember Earth Bear, his eyes hardened with resolve. Without further hesitation, he dashed forward.
Not away from the Ember Earth Bear; rather, he was running toward it. No, that was not right. He wasn’t running directly toward it. He was running back in the direction he had just come from.
Luckily for him, the Ember Earth Bear was too engrossed with killing the Flame Wolves, so it wasn’t able to pay attention to him.
The Rank 3 Flame Wolves, having no other options, could only fight desperately for their lives. They thought that if they fought together, there would at least be a chance for them to escape. As for defeating the Ember Earth Bear, that thought never even crossed their minds.
However, they severely overestimated themselves. Similar to the Rank 2 Flame Wolves, the Ember Earth Bear tore through them until there was only one left standing.
It was at this moment that the blurry figure of Adrian whizzed past them, drawing the attention of the Ember Earth Bear. It suddenly remembered the human that had been charging toward it earlier. Its frenzy toward the Flame Wolves had caused it to forget this human previously.
Now, upon seeing him, its anger was once again reignited. Unfortunately for the Rank 3 Flame Wolf, it was going to be the recipient of this anger. The paws of the Ember Earth Bear crashed down toward the Flame Wolf, who was already injured and couldn’t react to the attack.
BOOM!
The paw crashed upon the skull of the Flame Wolf, crushing it into a bloody pulp. Suffice it to say, the Flame Wolf was dead. After killing the Flame Wolves, the Ember Earth Bear didn’t stop to feast on their flesh. Rather, its snout twitched as it caught the faint scent of the human, whose figure was rapidly disappearing in the distance.
Then, with another roar, it began chasing Adrian down, determined to end him. Turning his head, Adrian found that the Ember Earth Bear had begun to chase him. Rather than fear, he was actually delighted to see the bear coming toward him.
He hadn’t forgotten the disciples of the Cloudcrest Sect. This was the second time the disciples of the Cloudcrest Sect had used him as bait. At first, he thought that those disciples were just bad eggs, rotten ones from the bunch.
However, now it seemed that it wasn’t just an isolated case. It seemed that all the Cloudcrest Sect taught its disciples was how to use others as bait.
Fine! If that was how they did things, then there was no need for him to hold back as well. He wanted to see their faces when they saw a Rank 4 Ember Earth Bear barreling toward them.
However, before that, he actually had to survive and lead the Ember Earth Bear back toward the Flame Wolves’ territory. He also wasn’t doing this purely for revenge.
There was no chance before, but now, with the commotion that the Ember Earth Bear would cause, would it be possible to snatch the Vermillion Spirit Grass?
This was a Rank 4 herb. With it, Adrian might finally be able to break through and increase the cultivation of his Diamond Sovereign Physique.
BOOM!
The sound of a tree being shattered by the Ember Earth Bear snapped him out of his daydreams. He turned his head to find that the bear was closing in on him rapidly. If this continued, he wouldn’t even be able to reach the wolves’ territory before the bear descended upon him.
He infused more Qi into his limbs, increasing his speed to far more than what was expected from a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator. He didn’t use his Astral Steps movement technique. While it was powerful, every use cost him Qi, and he had already used it a few times in a short period.
If it was not necessary, he didn’t want to waste his Qi. However, it seemed like he would need to use it soon. Hearing the commotion behind him that was getting closer with every passing breath, Adrian could only grit his teeth and run faster.
Right now, his running speed had already reached the initial stage of a Golden Core realm cultivator, leaving behind only a blurry figure. However, it was not fast enough to escape the Ember Earth Bear.
After an incense stick’s worth of time, the Ember Earth Bear was already very close. Adrian could even swear that he could feel it breathing down his neck. He was finally forced to use his Astral Steps to increase the distance between them once again.
Meanwhile, the Ember Earth Bear was seething with fury. It had been chasing this human for a while now, yet it hadn’t been able to catch him. Worse still, just as it had gotten close to him, he suddenly vanished, only to appear in the distance.
Now it was truly angry. This human was very weak, not even as strong as the Flame Wolves it had killed before. It remembered the scene of him being chased by those wolves before they appeared before its noble self.
Now it had killed the Flame Wolves, yet this human kept eluding it. If other magic beasts were to learn of this, they would surely make fun of it. With that thought, it increased its speed in pursuit of Adrian.
Meanwhile, the disciples of the Cloudcrest Sect were locked in battle with the Rank 4 Flame Wolf. Their robes, which were previously neat, were now caked with mud and dirt. They were not injured, but their breaths were ragged, with their chests heaving up and down.
Even though the Flame Wolf was injured, it was still very strong. The four disciples, being at the Golden Core realm, were only strong enough to fight it to a standstill. However, their situation wasn’t all that terrible.
Across the body of the Flame Wolf were numerous injuries. There was even a deep gash near its neck. The wound was ghastly and was still dripping with blood. The battle with the Rank 4 Flame Wolf had been a terrible one.
After being injured, it had only wanted to recuperate slowly. After it had regained its strength, it would consume the herb it had found and break through to a higher realm. However, these damnable humans had disrupted its plans.
It had thought it was only one of them, so it sent its pack to hunt him down. Who knew that there were more that were hiding, taking advantage of its solitary status to attack it.
