Chapter 67: (1): Ma Wus Scheme
“Roar!”
At this moment, a low growl of a spirit beast suddenly came from afar, causing everyone to change their expressions.
“How is it possible? It's an Earth Bear. This creature is born as a second-tier spirit beast with strength comparable to a marrow cleansing Gu cultivator. Logically, such a powerful spirit beast should never appear in this area. Could a beast tide be imminent?”
Hearing the roar of the spirit beast, Long Qilin turned pale with fright.
Upon hearing this, the group of rogue cultivators who had been eager to try their luck immediately deflated, their excitement vanishing without a trace.
They had just been jumping around wanting to hunt large carnivorous spirit beasts. Now that their target had appeared, they all turned into cowards.
Their legs naturally became weak; after all, this was a second-tier spirit beast equivalent to a marrow-cleansing Gu cultivator. They might handle hunting rabbits, but facing this second-tier spirit beast was like delivering themselves on a platter, and the beast might not even get full.
“The Earth Bear is a solitary spirit beast with a rare ability called Earth Spike. If we kill it, we might gain this ability.”
After a brief shock, Long Qilin showed excitement again. Killing beasts to acquire skills was his kind of game, so he ran towards the direction from which the sound came.
The rogue cultivators, with bitter expressions, reluctantly followed.Long Xuan shook his head helplessly. He had just taken a glance at the Earth Bear. It looked impressive; with a wave of its hand, the ground could instantly sprout sharp earth spikes, leaving prey no chance to dodge, resulting in a fatal blow.
This ability to make spikes grow from the ground was probably the Earth Spike mentioned by Long Qilin. No wonder he was so excited; it was indeed a terrifyingly powerful ability that could tempt anyone.
But Long Xuan had already seen through it with his Eye of Heavenly secret; there was no insect in the spirit core of this Earth Bear.
Such a top-tier boss yielding nothing, not even a low-grade spirit worm, was unimaginable.
Therefore, Long Xuan didn't recommend provoking this big guy.
If you waste a lot of effort and end up injured, only to find that nothing dropped, your mentality would definitely collapse.
This was destined to be a losing deal, not worth the fight.
However, he couldn't reveal his ability to see through loot drops, so even though he wanted to warn them, he didn't know how to do so. After pondering for a long time without a solution, he could only follow reluctantly.
When he arrived, Long Qilin had already engaged in combat with the Earth Bear. The rogue cultivators couldn't intervene in such a high-level battle and could only watch from the side.
At this moment, Long Xuan truly realized the terrifying strength of Long Qilin. The Earth Bear was a behemoth, four meters tall, and yet Long Qilin's power could challenge this giant beast.
The Earth Bear's massive paw clashed directly with Long Qilin's fist, and they were evenly matched, neither side gaining the upper hand.
There was even a moment when the Earth Bear almost got knocked down by Long Qilin. Enraged, it let out a deafening roar and became even more violent.
The ground occasionally sprouted Earth Spikes, but Long Qilin seemed very familiar with this move, always dodging in time and continuing to grapple with the Earth Bear.
To avoid injuring itself, the Earth Bear had to stop using Earth Spike and engage in close combat with Long Qilin.
The massive body shook the ground with every movement, creating a ground-shaking, dust-raising spectacle that made Long Xuan's heart race.
Through this battle, Long Xuan truly realized how terrifying human strength could be in this world.
However, he also saw that although Long Qilin and the Earth Bear were evenly matched in direct clashes, if the fight continued, Long Qilin would inevitably lose.
A huge body had a massive advantage in pure physical confrontations. The opponent had to endure not only its strength but also the inertia of its large body.
The larger the mass, the greater the inertia. This principle also applied in this world.
So Long Qilin had to bear both the Earth Bear's strength and the impact of its four-meter-tall body, making his energy expenditure much higher than that of the Earth Bear.
Moreover, spirit beasts naturally had more stamina than humans. If Long Qilin continued this way without another plan, the situation would become dangerous.
Long Qilin was not foolish; he knew his situation well and couldn't afford a prolonged fight with the Earth Bear.
So he found an opportunity to distance himself and adopted a different tactic. He clasped his hands together, aligning his pinky, ring, and thumb while raising his index and middle fingers. Suddenly, massive hands formed from the earth and slammed towards the Earth Bear.
The Earth Bear nimbly dodged, evading one giant hand after another. Each time a giant hand hit the ground, it caused a thunderous boom and left a massive handprint on the ground, a shocking sight.
Long Xuan was astounded by this battle scene. Such massive combat, such destructive power – was this the strength of a marrow cleansing Gu cultivator?
These giant hands rising from the ground were definitely a talent ability of a Gu. No matter how advanced a spirit technique, it couldn't achieve such an attack.
As expected of a genius Gu cultivator from a major family, his Gu insect's strength far surpassed that of regular cultivators. This was the power of a major family's exclusive Gu insect? Long Xuan thought in shock.
Just then, the Earth Bear was caught off guard, attacked by a hand that suddenly emerged from the ground and grabbed its ankle, immobilizing it.
Unable to move, the Earth Bear could no longer dodge the giant hands' attacks.
One massive hand after another landed on the Earth Bear, pinning it firmly to the ground.
As the Earth Bear was pinned down, the ground shook violently, sending dust and rocks flying, obstructing the rogue cultivator's view. They could only hear the Earth Bear's continuous, deafening roars from within the dust.
However, the battle was not over yet.
Although Long Qilin's move was terrifying, stunning the rogue cultivators, it had a fatal flaw.
To use this ability, a Gu cultivator needed to control it from a distance. Although Long Qilin could move, he couldn't use another ability while maintaining the Earth Hands, or they would dissipate due to interrupted spiritual energy.
So while the Earth Bear roared in the dust, Long Qilin had no follow-up attack means, and the scene was at an impasse.
Long Qilin shouted anxiously, “My Earth Hands didn't kill it; they can only restrict its movement.”
“Anyone or any beast bound by Earth Hands is immobilized and unable to use any abilities. But I can't use any other abilities while maintaining the Earth Hands.”
“Now it’s up to you. Hurry and kill the Earth Bear. Don't worry, under the Earth Hands’ restriction, it can no longer use Earth Spike!”
The scattered cultivators looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and ran towards the Earth Bear.
Since it had lost its mobility and couldn't use any abilities, there was nothing to fear.
The Earth Bear was now like Sun Wukong trapped under the Five Elements Mountain, with only its head exposed and the rest of its body pinned down, unable to even stretch out an arm.
Seeing this, the rogue cultivators felt relieved and took out their low-grade spirit swords to attack the Earth Bear's head.
However, their attacks were akin to giving the Earth Bear a massage, barely scratching its defenses.
Despite all its abilities being restricted by the Earth Hands, the Earth Bear, with its thick hide, could withstand all attacks from the spirit gathering-stage cultivators.
The rogue cultivators tried their best but couldn’t inflict any significant damage.
Old Ma and Zhang Ling released their Gu worms to bite the Earth Bear's face, but even after a long time, they couldn’t penetrate its defenses. Instead, the Earth Bear stuck out its tongue, pulled the worms into its mouth, and crushed them before swallowing.
The old woman named Han mei tried to pierce the Earth Bear's eyes with her silver needles. Eyes were a weak spot for all creatures, but when the Earth Bear closed its eyelids, the needle couldn't penetrate.
This angered the Earth Bear, which roared, creating a gust from its gaping mouth that blew the old woman away. She crashed into a giant tree and fell to the ground, severely injured.
Seeing this, Long Qilin almost spat blood. He knew rogue cultivators were weak, but he didn't expect them to be this useless, getting severely injured by a single breath from the spirit beast.
Ma Wu, hiding at the Earth Bear's side, wasn't blown away and showed a disdainful expression, laughing coldly inside.
Long Qilin had overestimated the strength of these rogue cultivators. The Earth Bear was famous for its tough hide and thick flesh, not something that scattered cultivators could easily break through.
No exaggeration, even if the Earth Bear lay down and slept, the scattered cultivators wouldn’t be able to harm it; their attacks were like massages, making the Earth Bear sleep even better.
“I'll do it!”
Long Xuan could no longer stand it and finally ran over.
Being part of the same team, they would share glory and defeat. If the rogue cultivators and Long Qilin suffered too much, it would directly impact his safety.
So he couldn't just watch; he had to find a way to deal with the Earth Bear quickly.
Seeing Long Xuan rush over, Ma Wu’s disdain grew. Among them, he had the lowest cultivation level and the weakest strength. What could he do – get blown away by a breath?
Long Qilin didn’t hold any hope for him either.
Long Xuan learned from Han mei’s lesson and didn't approach the Earth Bear's front. Instead, he circled to its side and stood at its left temple.
At close range, Long Xuan could clearly feel the heat radiating from the Earth Bear's body and its powerful heartbeat.
He was shocked at how terrifying this spirit beast was. It was frightening even when motionless. How did Long Qilin manage to confront this monster head-on?
There was no time to think. He aimed at the Earth Bear’s temple.
The temple was a small weak spot for most beings. The Earth Bear’s temple pulsed with blue veins, following its heartbeat.
Long Xuan struck the temple with a palm.
“Life-destruction Palm!”
His left palm followed.
“Life-destruction Palm!”
Long Xuan was overly cautious and paranoid. Fearing the Earth Bear might play dead or not be thoroughly killed, he attacked with both palms, striking repeatedly.
“Life-destruction Palm!”
“Life-destruction Palm!”
“Life-destruction Palm!”
…
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