Trial by Combat

Things weren't going as expected for Xue Chang.

He glanced at his surroundings while walking upon the path through the forest made from the trampling of all the beasts. Leaves fell from their branches as a cool night breeze whispered by.

His crimson saber glinted with light from the night sky as its reflective surface glittered with the stars in the sky.

Bringing his blade up, Xue Chang kept it close to himself. For some reason, an extreme foreboding feeling kept welling up inside of his chest. He had already been traveling for a short distance but he has yet to see any signs of the demon bear.

It was almost as if the prior wave was just a distraction for it to run away, yet why would such a formidable monster run without even testing the waters of his strength?

As he stepped deeper into the forest, the foreboding feeling became even stronger until it reached the point where it was suffocating him. And finally Xue Chang had the chance to lay his eyes upon the beast.

A chill swept down his skin as he watched the beast before him.

It was neither ready for combat nor was it on guard at all. It was just lying there on the ground sleeping soundly without a hint of movement. Yet Xue Chang dared not approach it.

Because he could tell that things weren't as simple as it seemed. And like he thought, a prickly feeling suddenly started to pinch at his skin. It was like having and ant bite you except there were several dozen of them at once.

He had felt this sensation before, this occurred when he attempted to absorb spiritual force into his body years ago despite knowing he had no obelisk. This was the exact same sensation of having an invasive power enter through his skin and then be rejected by his body. The area he was in was having large amounts of energy being sucked toward it.

And at the epicenter of the event was the bear!

It wasn't just sleeping there, it was breaking through to the first level of Qi refinement!

This was extremely bad.

There was nothing wrong about fighting a monster at the first level of Qi refinement. In fact if he were to use all his strength he should be able to match up against such a beast. But this wasn't normal.

Demonic beasts were known for advancing their cultivation through body cultivation. But the sensation he felt now was clearly that of an internal cultivator like his father.

The difference between the two types of cultivation was significant. Some could have talent in one while being trash using the other, and this was because of the different process.

Body cultivation increased the body's strength while sacrificing the amount of Qi that could be stored in the dantian. As such body cultivators were usually sturdier and faster than internal cultivators physically, but their Qi reserves were more shallow. In a battle of attrition.

They were the best pick for group battles as their recovery speed was much greater. Plus, because of their strong physical defense, they would become an unbeatable group of cockroaches when swarmed together.

Internal cultivators had much weaker bodies, but their Qi reserves were quite deep. They generally practiced powerful, high consumption techniques that would suit them. Although they couldn't last long in battle, the amount of power they displayed instantaneously was much greater than even body cultivators!

In reality though, they were more like glass cannons. Not only that but internal cultivation was many times more dangerous than body cultivation in the beginning stages. The tribulation one faced as an internal cultivator was greater than that of a body. Yet body cultivators also had to put several times more effort into breaking through a single level compared to internal cultivators.

It wasn't until the later stages where the drawbacks of these two different methods would lessen, but until then they each had quite a few differences.

Demonic beasts generally absorbed spiritual force into their body to strengthen themselve. In layman terms, they were more like body cultivators. In fact, it wasn't impossible to say they were the original body cultivators. It was said the first ever body cultivation technique ever developed was founded from experimenting on many demonic beasts.

And because of their simple minds, an internal cultivating demonic beast was virtually never seen. That was why things were bad!

Xue Chang was well aware of the differences between a body cultivator and an internal one when breaking through to the first level.

Thunder and lightning snaked across the sky as dark clouds suddenly covered the moon. The winds were howling fiercely and all the hair on his body was standing on its end. This was clearly the lightning tribulation of an internal cultivator!

A demonic beast was actually breaking through in internal cultivation!

He wasn't sure how such a creature could find, much less comprehend, a cultivation technique, but he could not allow it to continue. Facing a body cultivating monster was hard enough, he didn't even want to think of what an internal one with its increased attack power could do.

Lunging forward, he shot up into the air and brought his blade back ready to slice the bear's neck open.

Yet when his blade made contact with the creature's fur, the sound of two metallic objects smashing into each other rang out into the air.

A silver sheen encompassed its fur and a metallic gleam stretched across its entire body. The physical defense of the bear was far greater than Xue Chang expected!

He couldn't even leave a scratch on the monster.

And it only took him a split second after to realize why.

To his horror, this wasn't just an internally cultivating demonic beast.

Tattoos stretching across the body would sometimes appear and usually be the best indicator of a body cultivator's level. And the bear had two such tattoo like markings on its body.

It was a level two Qi refinement body cultivator, breaking into the first internal level!

Before he could even do anything else, a bolt of lightning flew down from the sky striking the bear squarely on its chest. A loud roar escaped from its mouth and the sound waves actually knocked Xue Chang back a couple of steps.

This single exchange already allowed Xue Chang to realize the difference between their strength. And things weren't looking good from there as after the first bolt came crashing down, a couple more followed soon after.

Loud crashing sounds reverberated through the air as an increasing number of strikes landed in the bear. Although it appeared to be in extreme pain, it was evident that the tribulation held no threat to its life.

After all, how could a monster wielding a level two body possibly die from a level one tribulation?

The thought of this beast dual cultivating two different methods made Xue Chang realize that he and the guild had made a huge mistake.

He thought it was just some average demon beast as its group strength was near what he predicted, yet in reality it was a tiger hiding in sheep's clothing.

How could a demonic beast of its caliber possibly be only an A rank danger?!

It was clearly far beyond that. It had used the posse to hide its true strength and must've held back when killing the other hunters to not gain any suspicion. Yet its strength was not that simple. The speed of a demonic beast's cultivation was not quick, yet how old was it to possibly be already at the level it was at now?

Xue Chang wasn't very knowledgeable in the aspect of monsters, but he was sure the demon bear wasn't even a half a century old. Yet how was it so powerful? Plus, no matter what treasure it could have, there was no way it could be this strong and go unnoticed.

There was definitely more to this story, but he wouldn't be able to find any answers if he were to be killed. He had to defeat this beast and report it to the guild.

Without any more hesitation, he charged back into the fray. This time he wasn't holding back. Flinging himself into the air, he brought the saber down with all his might.

The quality of the weapon, plus his full force behind it, made this attack one that the demon bear couldn't just take without guarding against.

The monster was enraged by his action and quickly brought its paw around to intercept his attack. But Xue Chang was already prepared for that. Being attacked from both lightning and him, Xue Chang knew that striking it now would be the best chance for victory. As his blade fell down above it, another bolt flew down and struck the bear on its back.

The strike didn't injure it much, but it forced it to pause its movement for just a split second. This was all within Xue Chang's calculations. Because of that slight pause, his saber clashed with its arm and even inflict a deep cut in it.

Swiping the blade down, the gash opened even further, and with a swift kick, he knocked the bear's head aside while allowing himself to step back and get into a defensive position.

But things weren't going to be so easy to speak with. The bear didn't even flinch at its injury. It charged forward without any delay and plunged its teeth, which were larger than his forearm, right into his right shoulder.

He could feel a thick wetness form on his shoulder as the sight of red liquid began to pour out of his wound. A scream of intense pain was let out as Xue Chang started to kick at the beast wildly in order to get it to release him. The kicks bounced off the bear's chest as his injured body was unable to affect it.

He could feel the hot breath of the beast puffing into wound as the rancid was of its breath filled his nostrils.

Clenching his teeth and calming down, tossed his weapon from his right to left hand, he reacted swiftly by bringing the sharp point forward in an attempt to plunge it into the monster's gut.

The beast immediately felt his muscles contract and twist around as it looked over to see him stabbing toward it.

Releasing its grasp on the shoulder, a thin razor sharp edge sliced a bloody line into the bear's stomach as it was frantically stepping back.

And while that happened, another bolt of lightning once again flew down striking the demonic beast right in its head.

A loud roar materialized from its direction as the scent of charred flesh snuck into Xue Chang's nostrils.

He was sure that the last strike severely injured it from this and took this chance to catch his breath.

Although the bloody mess on his body looked bad, he could tell that it wasn't very deep. Wu Jie's robe was a blessing in this situation.

Despite the powerful attacks given by the bear, it could not fatally injure him thanks to the robe's defensive capability.

Added in with his own body's frightening regenerative ability, the wound wasn't even bleeding any longer after a few seconds.

Although he could say that the curse on him really wasn't good, at least it wasn't completely awful either.

Of course he'd prefer to have an obelisk to cultivate, but he was an optimist and enjoyed looking on the bright side.

Although there wasn't much bright about this situation. Even though the bear wasn't doing so well, Xue Chang's stamina wasn't limitless either. He strength was being swapped out at a rapid rate and he wouldn't be able to keep up this battle for long.

And there was no doubt in his mind that the bear was in way better condition than he was.

Plunging the saber into the ground, Xue Chang stared deep into the bear's eyes, which were now red with rage. The monster shot daggers in Xue Chang direction and the two of them entered into an odd sort of staring contest.

Finally the bear couldn't take it anymore as it released another roar full of rage and humiliation. It couldn't stand the fact that what seemed to be a human child was actually holding up to it!

As it released this screech, the aura surrounding it suddenly shot out as it's silver first became darker and even more metallic. It's claws, which were already big enough to slice clean through Xue Chang's body, became even thicker and their tips glistened with power.

If he looked closely, Xue Chang could even see ripples of energy exuding from the beast's body.

The worst possible situation that he imagined could happen actually happened. It was finished with its tribulation and was it the first internal level of Qi refinement!

Realizing the situation was getting out of hand, he decided to take some drastic actions. He would no longer hold back and would give it every he had!

Grabbing the silky robes around himself, Xue Chang began to strip down right in front of the beast.

Demonic beasts, although not as smart as humans at first, were incredibly smart. And the bear, who had cultivated to such a degree, had its mind develops even further than its peers. Yet this human in front of him seemed to be doing something it could not comprehend.

Xue Chang finishing removing the last of his garments and now stood in the middle of the forest in only his underwear.

Feeling the chilly breeze down in his groin, if it wasn't for the fact that he was in such a precarious situation, he would be extremely embarrassed right now.

But he ignored this feeling of awkwardness and continued to stare down the bear. And with the creature's puzzles gaze on him, he tossed his robes up into the sky over to the side.

However, they didn't float softly to the ground like most would expect. Instead the robe slammed into the ground with a shocking amount of force, enough to form a decently sized crater in fact.

The ground beneath them trembled as cracks formed under their feet. Trees shook and toppled from the force of the impact and the sound of destruction rang in their ears. Even the dust beneath them shot up into the air completely blinding the two combatants for a few seconds.

For the first time the entire battle, the demon bear actually felt a shiver travel down its own spine.

It was actually intimidated by the scene before it.

Looking at the crater closely, the bear could tell that this was the effect of an extreme heavy object falling onto the ground. Not only was the true weight of the robe a huge surprise to the monster itself, but the realization that the human in front of it had been fighting with all that weight was fear inducing.

Not even it was completely sure it could fight properly with that robe on top of it. Yet Xue Chang actually held his own the entire time! And not only that, but the injury it inflicted on Xue Chang's shoulder was almost already healed!

The tissue on his body was still pink and raw showcasing that the child had at one time been damaged, but now there was no blood flow or opened wound. Instead it was just a pink scar that was actually healing at a rate visible to the eye!

Without missing a beat, Xue Chang grabbed the hilt of his blade again. And with a light tug, pulled it out of the soft ground as if unsheathing it from its scabbard.

Holding the saber before him, he looked back at the bear with a merciless intent in his eyes.

"Ready for round two?"