Chapter 99: The Breakthrough of the Bird Strike

As a monster in the Monster Forest, the concept of fear was not unfamiliar, but to feel it toward a human was a truly unprecedented experience.

Under the terrifying onslaught of a thousand cuts, the giant bear had completely lost its composure. In its panic, its already dull mind suffered a complete short circuit. Without a second thought, it immediately began to weave a spell. A gust of black wind descended from the sky. Having been thoroughly cowed, it no longer cared about its mission; its only desire was to flee this place and escape the human who filled it with such dread.

"Trying to run? How naive. Truly a blockheaded bear."

Hu San’s spiritual perception clearly sensed the bear's movements. However, he did not approve of casting spells during close-quarters combat. Unless one was a highly advanced cultivator, casting a spell would inevitably cause a momentary lapse in one's own defense. Furthermore, for a creature like the giant bear, such an act would likely severely shorten the duration of its other active enchantments.

Therefore, the moment the bear summoned the black wind was its most vulnerable moment. Hu San realized this, while the bear was clearly past the point of caring about anything else.

As Hu San’s *Ten Paths of Breaking Slaughter* began to achieve a seamless harmony, his body drifted into the air. Supported by terrifying *Gang* energy, he felt as if he possessed the transcendent ability to tread upon the void.

The black wind descended abruptly. The giant bear’s already precarious Earth Armor spell shattered completely, and the sluggish yellow glow that had surrounded its body vanished entirely. It seemed the influence of this black wind summoning technique was even greater than Hu San had anticipated.

The giant bear felt the stinging sensation of the black wind against its body. Yet, this sensation, which usually caused it much grief, now felt strangely wonderful. Based on its past experience, it would soon be able to lift off the ground and escape the human who terrified it so. As for the fact that the remaining peacock and other monsters did not know how to ride the demonic wind, the bear had no time to ponder; saving its own life was the only thing that mattered now.

"That’s the feeling! That is the aura that suppresses all things!"

The slightly relieved bear could never have dreamed that the enemy it feared had just reached the critical threshold to enter a certain state—or rather, the conditions required to unleash a specific divine ability.

*Bird Strike!*

Condensing the techniques of the *Ten Paths of Breaking Slaughter* into a single point, channeling all his *Gang* energy into his right arm, and pouring everything into the black long-blade in his hand, Hu San felt as if he had returned to the realm where he once captured a great dragon in the void.

After long periods of tempering, Hu San had finally managed to imitate a fraction of the essence of *Bird Strike*. In reality, his entire body and the long-blade seemed to vanish.

Even the black demonic wind summoned by the bear came to a complete standstill. Hu San transformed into a streak of blade light that merged into the black blade in his right arm, from which a shimmering cyan blade aura protruded. Although the black long-blade turned to dust the next instant, the blade aura formed by its essence remained.

With the blade aura as the center, the air within a five-zhang radius seemed to contract violently. All energy within this range seemed to instantly convert into the blade aura, including the power of the giant bear itself. The bear felt a sudden weakness wash over its entire body. Not only did the summoned black wind dissipate, but its Giantization spell also completely faded away.

The bear, returned to its original size, had not even realized what had happened before it saw a brilliant streak of cyan blade light.

"What is this? It looks like the starry river in the sky... quite beautiful."

This was the giant bear's final thought. A moment later, its massive head soared into the sky. Its spirit, which had achieved some level of cultivation, did not even have the chance to escape before it was completely annihilated within a brilliant expanse of starlight.

*Whoosh!*

The blade light retracted. Hu San appeared behind the bear’s massive, headless corpse. His eyes remained glazed, as if he had not yet awakened from the state of *Bird Strike*.

"Gathering all usable power, even tapping into the enemy's own strength, and focusing it into a single strike capable of rending heaven and earth. Not only strengthening oneself but infinitely weakening the opponent—is this the true essence of *Bird Strike*? Or could it be considered a divine ability?"

A few breaths later, Hu San awoke from his daze. The immense backlash from *Bird Strike* forced him to hunch over and cough heavily, yet this could not dampen the joy in his heart. The strike had consumed thirty percent of his *Gang* energy and even left his hardy body somewhat damaged, which showed just how much power was contained within that single blow.

However, turning to look at the rock-smooth incision on the bear's neck, Hu San felt it was all worth it. By his usual standards, such an attack would have at most cut a third of the way through the bear's neck, let alone with such precision. Calculated out, *Bird Strike* seemed to amplify his attack power five to eight times over.

"I should use this sparingly. The consumption of *Gang* energy is truly too great, but as a trump card, it is excellent."

While feeling his body rapidly recover under the aid of a warm current, Hu San secretly mused to himself. He extended his arm and withdrew a jade bottle from his storage stone to begin collecting the bear’s essence blood. Although the *Bird Strike* had caused significant damage, this bear was much stronger than the leopard demon, and the remaining essence blood was quite substantial.

While Hu San was busy collecting the blood, the other battlefields had become chaotic. Although everyone had seen Hu San's advantage, not even those who held him in the highest regard believed he could kill the giant bear, let alone do so cleanly and swiftly. So, when Hu San slew the bear in a single stroke, it not only sent a shockwave through the monster side, causing their movements to falter, but also left the human side stunned, causing them to miss their hard-earned opportunity.

"Is... is he even human? Could he be a monster himself?" This was the simple thought of Zi Tong.

"Could he be an immortal from the legendary cultivation world? But he is far too young." This was the thought of the expert in black.

"Damn it! It must have been him who killed Bao Cong. There's no mistake; he even took Bao Cong's essence blood. Who exactly is he? No, if I don't fight with my life on the line, I'll truly be trapped here." This was the thought of a cornered peacock.

"How can there be such a terrifying expert? I must find the True *Gang* Flower immediately. Once I reach the Void Sea Immortal Path, with my Master's arrangements there, no matter how strong he is, he won't be able to catch me." This was the thought of the young master surnamed Shen.

"It seems there is hope for salvation this time. I just wonder what his origins are, and whether he, too, has designs on the True *Gang* Flower?" This was the thought of Lady Gong, who had been struggling against the young master surnamed Shen.

*Peacock Yin-Yang Great Rotation!*

Witnessing the giant bear's demise and seeing that Hu San was not immediately coming to their aid, the peacock no longer dared to hold back and unleashed its signature technique.

The five-colored feathers that had been circling the peacock suddenly shrank, wrapping tightly around its left wing to form a thick, black wing. Simultaneously, the peacock’s body swelled rapidly, and a beam of white light burst from its nostrils. The light possessed eyes and features, resembling a small peacock, and after circling its body three times, it fused into its right wing, solidifying into a flickering white light-wing.

With a heaven-shaking cry, the peacock closed its black and white wings, completely enveloping its body. In the blink of an eye, the stationary black-and-white sphere began to rotate violently. A black-and-white region, resembling a Taiji diagram, emerged from the spinning sphere, gradually engulfing an area of three or four *zhang*.

"Be careful!"

All of this happened in a flash. By the time the others reacted and the old man in black, the primary attacker, issued his warning, Ren Tang and the Twin Violets, who were assisting, had already been caught within the black-and-white zone.

Before everyone's eyes, the three of them went blank. The color drained from their faces, replaced by black and white. Within a few breaths, the colors spread from their faces across their entire bodies.

*Crack!*

Driven by the rapid rotation of the central sphere, the three experts, now consumed by the black and white, did not even have the chance to cry for help. They shattered like stone, crumbling into pieces and dissipating into the air, leaving not even a bone behind.

"Awoo!"

Having succeeded with one strike, the peacock seemed to receive some form of feedback; the sphere rotated even faster. In an instant, the black-and-white zone expanded, engulfing those who had failed to retreat in time.

Other than the old man in black, whose *Gang* energy had already materialized, everyone else caught in the zone—save for the seven-star sword array formed by Zi Tong and the others—fell into the same dazed state as Ren Tang, their faces draining of blood and turning black and white.

"Senior, please lend us your aid!"

Seeing the light of their sword array beginning to fade, Zi Tong lost his composure for the first time and pleaded for help from Hu San, who was still collecting essence blood nearby.

Hu San bit his lip slightly. While finishing the final steps of his collection, he scanned the battlefield but was in no rush to intervene. Perhaps, the fewer people left, the better it would serve his own interests. After all, he had revealed most of his strength; if his true identity were linked to him, the forces of that "Master" might implicate the people of the Wolf Fang Stronghold in the Qilian Mountains.

Moreover, while the peacock's strength was not equal to the giant bear's, it clearly possessed its own bizarre traits. Rather than rushing in to fight for his life now, it would be better to wait until they had both exhausted each other.

Hu San made his decision with a mere flicker of thought.