Chapter 287: Piercing Through the Obstacle
"I wasted my freaking 25,000 experience points for this?! Are you fucking kidding with me?!" Yi Chen clutched his head in frustration and roared at the panel.
The Mountain Flipping Bear, who had been stunned for a second because of Yi Chen’s sudden outburst, recovered soon after and, realising that it had been momentarily scared by Yi Chen, growled at him in anger before charging with all his might.
GAHHHHH!
The thundering growl roused Yi Chen out of his thoughts, making him look at the colossal beast charging toward him with the intention of tearing him apart.
Knowing that if he dodged too early the beast would just follow after him, he waited for the moment when there was as little distance between the two of them as possible before using the Bursting Fire Steps.
BURST!
His figure shifted to the side, and the colossal beast was forced to keep moving forward because of its added momentum.
Despite successfully dodging this charge, Yi Chen’s expression was far from relaxed at the moment.
’Think...Yi Chen Think! There must be a way to get out of this quagmire!’
Yi Chen kept repeating in his mind as the charging bear finally came to a stop and, turning towards him, let out a frustrated growl.
Its entire body glimmered with green light that very moment, and just when Yi Chen was expecting an attack, the entire ground underneath him started shaking, developing large cracks all over.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
"!!!"
Using all his might and complementing it with Bursting Fire Steps, he took a huge leap and landed several meters away.
The moment he landed, the ground a few feet behind him, with all its trees and bushes, collapsed hundreds of feet below as an enormous crater formed in a twenty-meter-wide area.
Glancing down at the depth, Yi Chen couldn’t help but gulp his saliva.
’I can’t let this go on for any longer...’
Running wasn’t an option he was entertaining, and at the same time, if he were to face the beast for long, then he would soon be at a disadvantage.
It was truly a situation of choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Truly understanding the gravity of the situation, his mind also started working in overdrive.
While at it, he distanced himself from the crater by rushing towards the forested region.
Seeing this, the bear roared loudly and, with a large leap, crossed the crater it had just formed.
DHOOM!
Heavily landing on the ground, it started chasing after Yi Chen with all its might, thinking that he was trying to get away like before.
Meanwhile, knowing that he was being chased, Yi Chen didn’t look back and kept running. His intention was to be as far away from the crater so he wouldn’t end up falling in it while dodging the attacks.
While at it, several thoughts kept rushing through his mind.
’...think...there must be a way. I just need to find one weakness...just one weakness. Wait... it has a low peripheral vision...doesn’t that mean if I launch an attack from its extremities, it won’t be able to dodge them?’
Yi Chen’s eyes brightened in realization and his figure came to a pause that very moment.
Seeing this, the Mountain Flipping Bear firmly slammed its legs on the ground and came to a stop the very next instant, its eyes glaring at Yi Chen with anger and wariness.
"Take this!"
He conjured a huge wall of fire in front of it in an attempt to blind it, and using the Bursting Fire Steps, reached next to the bear’s left side, wanting to attack the underside of its belly.
However, what he didn’t account for was the fact that, despite having reached an extremely high level of comprehension, the Bursting Fire Steps still produced a loud enough sound in each use.
As a result, by the time Yi Chen’s figure had arrived at the bear’s left, it had its head already tilted in his direction.
"Shii-"
GROWLLLL!
Along with the growl came a barrage of razor-sharp stones that darted towards him with great intensity.
A spherical shield of fire was instantly conjured around him, burning all the incoming stones to ashes.
However, Yi Chen could visibly see a large chunk of his spiritual energy being drained as a result.
This only reinforced the fact that he didn’t have much time on his hands.
’I need to find a way to distract him if I want to take advantage of its weakness...’ Yi Chen thought with gritted teeth while trying his best to think of a solution, clearly knowing the longer he stalled, the lower his chance for a counterattack would become.
When the barrier collapsed, and the bear’s charging figure entered his view, an idea struck him all of a sudden.
"...Yes, it’s worth a shot!"
He exclaimed and dodged the charge at just the right moment.
GAHHHHHH!
An infuriated roar resounded as the bear immediately turned towards Yi Chen and started charging towards him again with bloodshot eyes.
However, this time, instead of readying himself to utilise the Bursting Fire Steps, Yi Chen took something out from his storage ring the very next instant and threw it to his right.
At first, the charging bear completely ignored what Yi Chen had thrown. However, a moment later, it couldn’t help but take a second glance towards it.
Seeing a fresh piece of fish lying on the ground to its left, the bear’s eyes couldn’t help but dilate, and like a dog that had seen its favourite food, lunged towards it.
"..."
GRRRRRRR!
However, this change didn’t last for long as the fish got swallowed by it in a single bite, and the next moment its gaze once again shifted towards him, letting out a familiar growl.
The growl clearly indicated its intention of tearing Yi Chen to pieces.
Flap!
Yi Chen threw another fish on the opposite side at that very moment and saw the killing intent disappear from its eyes the next second as it rushed in that direction as if it hadn’t eaten anything in months.
It was only after seeing it the second time that Yi Chen finally believed the system’s words.
"This...it really works."
He muttered in jubilation as a foolproof plan was immediately formulated in his mind.
"Hey!"
The beast had just taken a bite of the fish when Yi Chen’s piercing voice resounded in its ears.
With the fish still stuck in its mouth, the bear tilted its head in Yi Chen’s direction, dissatisfaction apparent on its face.
However, its eyes almost left its sockets the moment it saw a sight it had only dreamt of until now.
A mound...more than a hundred fish were lying in front of its eyes, forming a small mound.
Just this sight alone had slackened its jaws, and the headless fish trapped in its mouth fell down with a flop sound.
What followed next was the strong smell of fish that pervaded the air, making it finally lose all sense of control and rush towards the mound that very instant.
Seeing it rush towards the pile of fish, Yi Chen, who had been standing next to the pile, nodded in satisfaction.
Without wasting a single second, he immediately circulated his Qi and, using the Bursting Fire Steps, moved away from the charge.
While at it, his gaze remained plastered at the bear’s eyes.
’Just like I had anticipated...’ Yi Chen thought in relief, seeing that the bear’s eyes were still focused entirely on the fish and not at his moving figure.
The bear soon reached the pile of fish and began devouring them like this was his last meal, savouring each bite to the fullest.
Meanwhile, just a few meters behind it, Yi Chen’s figure came to a stop.
Seeing his target as clear as day from the spot, his eyes narrowed and locked onto it.
’I bet you don’t have stone armour in there now...or do you? Let’s find out!’
Yi Chen exclaimed internally as all his pent-up rage and frustration concentrated towards his right hand, as a wide Qi blade extended out of it.
The very next instant, it stretched forth with tearing speed, darting straight toward its intended target, which was a tennis ball-sized orifice situated right under the bear’s tail.
The bear that had been completely absorbed in gobbling the fish suddenly felt a premonition and lifted its head.
Immediately remembering Yi Chen, it was about to search for him, but before it could even move an inch, a piercing pain sent a shock throughout its body, and not even a second later, a bloodied blade burst out of its mouth.
SPLATTER!
A weak groan momentarily escaped its throat before vitality drained from its eyes, and its colossal body fell on the ground with a loud thud.
Seeing this scene, Yi Chen’s eyes finally relaxed, and as they did so, his gaze fell on the black, solid-like objects that were sticking to the Qi blade along with blood.
A wave of revulsion zipped through his body that very moment as he immediately dispersed his Qi.
"Thank god it wasn’t a physical sword...Otherwise, I would have been forced to use a tainted sword."
Just thinking of that possibility caused him to cringe.
He had never been more grateful for achieving expert-level proficiency in swordsmanship until now.
