The Strange Flame Rekindles in Battle Through the Heavens

Chapter 41 Monster Mountain Range

In the Monster Mountain Range, a young man carrying a massive black sword was swiftly traversing a dense forest. Suddenly, a series of beast roars echoed behind him.

A snow-white leopard leaped out of the woods and pounced on the boy, its sharp teeth and claws viciously attacking his neck.

Just as the leopard was about to reach the boy's back, the boy turned around instantly, threw a punch, and landed a blow to the leopard's head. Then he threw another punch, and the leopard screamed and flew backward.

Seeing the leopard sent flying backwards by the blow, the boy did not press his advantage but instead fled quickly.

"Awoo!"

After the leopard was driven back, a snow-white tiger chased after them again, opening its blood-red maw and roaring at the boy. Its claws were as sharp as knives as it pounced on him. This tiger was huge and muscular, its eyes gleaming with ferocity, and its long, powerful tail could easily shatter rocks.

Faced with the tiger's attack, the boy dared not be careless in the slightest. Unlike a leopard, which could be easily knocked away by the boy's fists, the tiger was much larger than this one. Even if the boy exerted all his strength, he could only match the tiger's power at best.

The boy swiftly drew the greatsword from his back and parried. Sparks flew as the tiger's claws touched the sword, and the boy was forced back several steps. The tiger roared, its claws again aimed at the boy's chest, but the boy dodged to the side, avoiding the attack. He then raised the greatsword with both hands and slashed it down on the tiger's back with immense force, snapping the tiger's spine in two.

"Awoo~"

The tiger let out a miserable howl and lay on the ground convulsing.

"Awooo~" Another beastly roar came.

"Damn it! This is never going to end!"

The boy glanced at the tiger resentfully, then slung his black greatsword over his shoulder and turned to flee again. This time, he was pursued by a wind wolf. This wind wolf was agile, its fur shimmering with a silver light. Its eyes revealed a cunning and ferocious glint, and its tail swung constantly, creating a powerful whirlwind in the air.

The wind wolf was incredibly fast. Before the boy could run far, it caught up with him and gripped his back tightly with its sharp claws. The wind wolf was a wind-attribute magical beast, incredibly fast, and its attack angles were extremely tricky. The boy couldn't dodge in time and was scratched on the back by the wind wolf, blood flowing continuously from his body.

A searing pain shot through his back, and the boy couldn't help but groan, though he forced himself to endure it. He stomped his feet on the ground, moving forward a few steps quickly, and taking advantage of the opening, he pushed forward with his palm.

"Cloud-Dispelling Palm!"

A powerful gust of wind, mixed with several bursts of energy, slammed into the wind wolf.

With a scream, the wind wolf was sent flying, tumbling through the air before finally landing on the ground.

Just as the boy was catching his breath after defeating the wind wolf, a dark shadow darted out of the woods and slammed into him, sending him flying backward. The shadow's strength was immense; the boy crashed through several trees before landing heavily on the ground.

A mouthful of blood spurted out, and the boy clutched his chest in pain. The attack from the shadowy figure had not only seriously injured him, but also left two deep wounds on his chest, from which blood flowed uncontrollably.

The boy stared at the black beast before him—a massive wild boar. The boar was enormous, its skin rough, and its eyes gleamed with a ferocious light. Its tusks were long and sharp, capable of easily piercing rock. It was these very tusks that had given the boy two holes in his body.

"Teacher! This is too much! This is the fourth one already!" the boy said angrily.

Unfortunately, there was no response from the surroundings, only the low growl of the wild boar.

"Damn it! Since I can't escape, I might as well not try!"

Xiao Yan let out a low roar, took the black giant sword from his back, and stared intently at the black boar in front of him.

The wild boar pawed at the ground with its hind hooves, its eyes gleaming with ferocity. With a sudden burst of strength, it charged towards Xiao Yan.

Just as the wild boar was about to reach them, Xiao Yan raised his black greatsword with both hands and slashed it down hard on the boar's head. After a loud crash, Xiao Yan was once again violently thrown back, and the greatsword instantly slipped from his hands.

However, as the greatsword left his hand, the boy seemed to break free from some kind of restraint. He stretched his limbs, stomped his feet on the ground, and charged towards the wild boar that he had beaten into a daze.

A massive fist struck the wild boar's head, sending it flying backward and crashing into a tree, blood spurting out. The boy, however, didn't stop. He continued charging forward, delivering a powerful elbow strike to the boar's neck before it hit the ground.

The wild boar let out a miserable cry and was sent flying backward again. Taking advantage of this opening, Xiao Yan delivered a powerful Iron Mountain Lean to the boar in mid-air. The boar was knocked over and rolled several times before finally landing on the ground, lifeless.

Just as Xiao Yan was about to check if there was a magic core, the roar of beasts came again. The leopard, wind wolf, tiger and huge black bear that Xiao Yan had previously driven back quickly approached him.

Facing four first-tier magical beasts at once would require even a Dou Shi to be cautious. Xiao Yan was clearly no match for them. He shook his head helplessly, turned, picked up the black greatsword from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and quickly fled again. The four magical beasts behind him were no longer willing to let Xiao Yan go, as if he possessed some valuable item, relentlessly pursuing him.

"Now there are only four magical beasts left. I've already injured the wind wolf and the tiger. The leopard isn't very strong, and it's the weakest, only fast. Finally, there's the giant bear. Judging by its strength, it's clearly reached the advanced stage of Tier 1, making it the strongest. Now we need to speed things up, lure the leopard away, and then quickly take it down. After that, kill the wind wolf and the tiger, and finally deal with the black bear."

With a strategy in hand, Xiao Yan quickened his pace again. Fortunately, his Dou Qi could automatically recover, and at a remarkably fast speed. His injuries were also healing rapidly thanks to the strange fire. If it weren't for the strange fire and his cultivation technique, Xiao Yan wouldn't even be able to execute his kiting tactic; he'd probably be dead by now.

After creating some distance, Xiao Yan slowed down a bit. In just a moment, the leopard caught up. Because Xiao Yan's clothes were stained with blood, the leopard, spurred by the blood, pounced even more frantically, trying to tear him to pieces.

A disdainful smile appeared on Xiao Yan's lips. He quickly turned and delivered a powerful punch to the leopard, a punch imbued with the force of the Eight Extremes Collapse technique, which the leopard could not withstand. A spurt of blood flew out, sending the leopard flying. After being knocked away, the soft flesh on the leopard's neck exploded, splattering blood and flesh everywhere. It struggled a few times, but it was too late, and finally collapsed to the ground, motionless.

After the leopard died, Xiao Yan didn't linger too long, as the remaining three magical beasts were already very close. He sighed helplessly, glanced resentfully at the dead leopard, and turned to flee again.

During his escape, Xiao Yan used the same trick again to take down the tiger and the wind wolf. After killing four magical beasts in succession, Xiao Yan was exhausted in both physical strength and fighting spirit, but a black bear, a magical beast close to the second tier, was still following closely behind.

This giant bear was quite intelligent; while the other four magical beasts attacked, it conserved its strength, slowly following behind Xiao Yan, feigning slowness and clumsiness. Only after Xiao Yan dealt with the four magical beasts that had accompanied it did it finally reveal its claws.

The black bear suddenly accelerated, charging directly at Xiao Yan. Its speed even surpassed that of the renowned cheetah. Its heavy claws slammed into Xiao Yan's chest, unleashing a powerful burst of force. Xiao Yan had no time to dodge; he was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground, several deep wounds appearing on his chest, blood flowing freely.

"What a cunning monster! I thought you were only strong and had great defense, but I never imagined your speed was so terrifying, and you always chose to attack when my fighting spirit and stamina were exhausted. But so what! You will still die by my hand!"

Xiao Yan unsheathed the black sword from his back and plunged it into the ground. Although the giant sword had no blade, it still sank three feet into the ground, demonstrating just how heavy it was.

After the giant sword left his back, Xiao Ran felt all the cells in his body become active, greedily absorbing the energy between heaven and earth, and rapidly recovering.

The giant bear clearly wouldn't let Xiao Yan stay there to recover his strength, and quickly attacked him again. However, now that Xiao Yan was no longer bound by the heavy sword, his speed was more than twice as fast, and he dodged the giant bear's attack in a flash.

"Aww~"

Seeing that it had failed to attack Xiao Yan, the giant bear roared and increased its speed again, pouncing towards Xiao Yan.

However, Xiao Yan smiled slightly and dodged the giant bear's attack again. Like a matador, Xiao Yan toyed with the black bear. But he wasn't truly toying with it; he was merely using the opportunity to recover his fighting spirit and stamina.

(End of this chapter)