Chapter 76: Intent
Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Intent
"Human Race, stop!"
"Eat, eat, eat! I’m going to eat that kid!"
"Tender, smooth, and oh-so-slick! A human! Haha!"
The wails and howls grew closer from behind as the horde of demons chased after Zhu Ge.
Zhu Ge tried to get his bearings.
It was late at night, and the moon was about to set. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of all kinds of Demon Beasts.
In an instant, Zhu Ge chose a direction.
He didn’t run north. North was Yuan Yang City, and the Plague God Sparrow was there.
To the south was Jianshan Village. At the very least, he was more familiar with the roads around there.
’No, I can’t run south either,’ Zhu Ge realized.
These Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters were mostly drawn from the south; that was their territory.
’I have to run west or east!’
Zhu Ge immediately turned and ran east.
"ROAR!!!"
"AWOOO!!!"
"HISS!!!"
A tide of Demon Beasts swarmed behind him. A single glance back sent a shiver down Zhu Ge’s spine.
"PFFT! PFFT!!"
With a soft sound, two long, thin quills flew through the forest obstacles toward Zhu Ge.
It was an attack from a Second Realm hedgehog!
"THWACK!!!"
The long quills were incredibly fast. Caught off guard, Zhu Ge felt two of them pierce his shoulder blades, burrowing into his flesh.
"Hss..." Zhu Ge hissed in pain, but his muscles instantly clenched, clamping down on the two quills.
This hedgehog was of the Second Realm, a natural-born shooter.
It shot fast, hard, and accurately, and it had a huge supply.
Previously, when they had besieged the Raincoat Fisherman, this hedgehog had been firing potshots from the perimeter.
But when the Raincoat Fisherman fled, the hedgehog was too slow to keep up. By the time it arrived, the fight was over, which was why it was chasing him now.
’That thing...’
Zhu Ge glanced back, and the hedgehog, feeling his gaze, immediately ducked behind a large tree.
Zhu Ge reached back, pulled out the two quills, and picked up his pace.
’I have to find a better place to fight!’
’Otherwise, forget the other Demon Beasts—I might not even be able to beat this hedgehog!’
Besides, he couldn’t use his "Kunpeng" or "Spider" abilities right now.
’If I get surrounded, I’m dead!’
Fortunately, these Demon Beasts knew nothing of strategy. None of them thought to encircle him; they just charged one by one, only to be beaten back one by one.
He was already quite proficient in the use of the >.
After killing the Raincoat Fisherman, his mind had cleared, allowing him to advance to the late stage of the Anger Realm. Now, with a seemingly endless supply of Blood Qi, his use of the Furious-Eyed Vajra Palm was more masterful than ever.
Though he was tied down, he wasn’t in a hopeless situation yet.
"BOOM!!!"
He thrust out a palm, and an owl diving from the sky was sent flying by the faintly glowing golden palm-strike.
It was a First Realm owl!
A single strike was enough to terrify the owl. After being knocked away, it immediately flew off.
And it was because of this display that another Second Realm existence, besides the hedgehog, finally decided to act.
"Not bad, kid. You’re a Martial Artist, so your flesh must be delicious! Let me have a taste!"
A massive water buffalo, over five meters tall, opened its giant maw, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
The Transformation Realm!
A Transformed Demon Beast!
This Demon Beast had clearly chosen to magnify its size many times over during its transformation. It was far larger than a normal water buffalo, standing four or five meters tall like some kind of monster.
Despite its great size, the water buffalo was not slow. With a sudden burst of power, it charged right in front of Zhu Ge.
"Blocking my way? You deserve to die!"
Zhu Ge held his breath and focused, changing his palm into a finger-strike, thrusting his joined middle and index fingers forward.
Seeing this finger-strike, the water buffalo’s eyes widened, and it rapidly retreated.
"Well, I’ll be! You’ve got some power, kid. Given time, couldn’t you grasp Fist Intent? You’d better just die here!"
As the great water buffalo spoke, it raised its forelegs high and then stomped them violently onto the ground.
"BOOM!!!"
The ground cracked, and large chunks of rock jutted upward, instantly halting Zhu Ge’s momentum.
’Fist Intent?’
The Raincoat Fisherman had his so-called "Fisherman’s Song Intent." He once said that the First Realm was for condensing Qi, the Second Realm for condensing the heart, and the Third Realm for condensing intent.
’Does this mean Fist Intent is something similar to Sword Intent or the Fisherman’s Song Intent?’
’But isn’t that something only a Third Realm master can grasp?’
A flicker of understanding lit up in Zhu Ge’s mind, but now was not the time to dwell on it.
"RUSTLE—"
A dozen or so Demon Beasts surrounded Zhu Ge completely. In the distance, several dozen more were rushing over, likely to arrive within seconds.
"PFFT! PFFT!!!"
Two more long quills flew in from a distance, aimed at Zhu Ge’s head. A closer look revealed they were aimed precisely at his eye sockets.
Zhu Ge, ever-wary of the hedgehog firing potshots from afar, immediately ducked his head and dodged the quills.
’I have to keep dodging these quills. If I don’t, I’ll end up looking like a hedgehog myself in no time.’
And just as he dodged, a huge field mouse burst from the ground beneath him, its sharp teeth snapping at his heel.
A First Realm field mouse!
"You’re courting death!"
Zhu Ge snorted, his right leg swirling with Blood Qi as he stomped backward.
"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!!!"
The field mouse shrieked, but in the next instant, its head was crushed.
In just a few moments, Zhu Ge had repelled numerous attacks.
’Maybe I really do have a talent for the martial arts.’
Understanding dawned on Zhu Ge, but then his thoughts turned to his cultivation technique, the >.
’Maybe it’s not that I have talent, but that my Body Refining Technique is just that powerful.’
After acquiring the > martial technique, killing ordinary jackals, wolves, and tigers had become as easy as crushing an ant.
As for naturally weak creatures like field mice, even a First Realm one could be dealt with in a single stomp.
What’s more, Zhu Ge was now in the late Anger Realm, with a ceaseless supply of Blood Qi.
’Six Transformed Demon Beasts, eighteen Spiritual Demon Beasts, and more on the way...’
Zhu Ge held his breath and focused, his eyes sweeping the area to get a rough count of the Demon Beasts surrounding him.
But he was not afraid.
’That Raincoat Fisherman wasn’t skilled in close-quarters combat. He didn’t pass on any real skills; all he gave me was the most basic of Martial Arts Techniques.’
’But he didn’t know that my cultivation technique is a Body Refining Technique. Even without Blood Qi, my physical constitution is extremely high. The only thing I was lacking was a martial technique.’
’By giving me this low-level >, he actually did me a huge favor.’
Not only was Zhu Ge unafraid, he was actually starting to feel exhilarated.
Combat!
He had discovered from his very first fight that he didn’t fear battle. On the contrary, it made his blood boil with excitement.
Ever since the incident with the Fungus God, he had been living in one desperate situation after another.
He was in a predicament now, but it wasn’t hopeless. How could he possibly give up?
He wasn’t afraid at all.
’It’s only death. Dying while wailing in fear and begging for mercy is far worse than dying in battle.’
"Hooo..."
Zhu Ge took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, searching for the feeling of donning his "Kunpeng" and "Spider" traits.
’Calm, violent, survival of the fittest, laying a trap...’
He had been constantly searching for a way to use these traits without consuming his lifespan.
He had made some initial progress. Once he could enter states similar to "Kunpeng" and "Spider" at will, he would no longer need to spend his lifespan.
"Hah!"
Zhu Ge let out a breath and instantly struck.
"Vajra Palm!"
His palms, fierce and swift, swept out and chopped toward a wild boar at his side.
All the Demon Beasts present were power-types, each one incredibly ferocious.
And though this wild boar was a Second Realm Transformed Demon Beast, it was large, and there were no other beasts right next to it.
’If I can kill this boar, I can break through and escape!’
"Ignorant child!"
The wild boar roared, its two tusks aiming to gore Zhu Ge’s hands.
A normal pair of hands would have been pierced through, leaving two gaping holes.
However, Zhu Ge’s hands, glowing gold with Blood Qi, smashed viciously against the two tusks.
"BOOM!!"
The collision of tusks and palms created a deafening noise.
Zhu Ge felt a numbness in his palms and was inwardly shocked. ’The power of this Second Realm boar is no joke.’
But if he was shocked, the boar was even more so. Although its tusks hadn’t broken, blood was now trickling from the corner of its mouth.
Seeing the boar’s expression and the blood on its mouth, the corners of Zhu Ge’s lips curled up.
But at that very moment, Hua Liusha’s voice suddenly cried out in his mind:
"Brother, the fish basket is full of treasures!"
"And there’s a better martial technique here, too! A mid-grade Spirit Level one! It might be able to help you!"