The river wound through the barren plane like a silver snake, the only sign of life in the dreary land. A gentle current rippled its surface like scales.
Tonight, its quiet, flowing gurgle was disrupted.
At one end, a young man was frantically propelling himself along its length with his water resonant power. He had a head of hair as silver as the river, and below it was a handsome face, taut with tension.
Behind him, a rampaging monster was charging at him, splintering the trees in its way like they were matchsticks.
It was never a fun business to be chased down by a Heavenly Dipper General Stage spirit beast.
“Roar!”
The good thing was that the current was with him. The bad thing was that it meant the wind was blowing from behind him, and on it he caught a whiff of blood-scented breath.
Behind him, the three-tailed beast pounded the ground furiously, bounding and loping towards its delicious little treat.
It had thought that getting out of the forbidden zone meant that things were over, but this little mouse was a lot faster than it had expected. Clearly weak—like a mouse—but somehow he flew like the wind across water.
In frustration, it spat out glowing orbs of energy at the fleeing figure, but at that distance, they lacked accuracy, faltering before they reached Li Luo.
They splashed into the water behind him.
Boom!
They exploded underwater, causing giant waves. Li Luo quickly used his water resonance to calm things, and his wood resonance stabilized his internal flow of energy.
Not once did he look back or stop.
He might have escaped its wild attacks, but Li Luo’s gut told him that the beast was closing the distance inch by inch.
He had underestimated this General Stage spirit beast after all.
Even with the current and his water resonant power, it wasn’t that easy to keep ahead.
“I’m still a long way away from the purified spot, especially at this speed,” he thought to himself. Could he keep it up? Staring death in the face was exhilarating.
A slight slip up would probably lead to his death.
Moreover, if he thought that those failed energy balls and a straightforward chase was all the spirit beast had, he would be as naive as a newborn baby.
Still, there was no point in wasting brainpower on what it might come up with. Li Luo was walking a tightrope, and it was best to focus on putting one foot in front of the other until something came up to prevent that.
He racked up his water resonant power a notch, until the river was spraying out from behind him like a motorboat.
Two hours passed in this fashion.
There was no more empty bellowing coming from behind any more. The beast had fallen silent, pouring all its energy into single-minded pursuit.
Both of them settled into a long race.
Li Luo started to feel a prickle of unease creep up the back of his neck. The silence was playing havoc with his imagination, more so than the roaring had.
He tensed and prepared his resonant palaces to burst into action at any time.
“Whoo!”
An eerie howling suddenly picked up behind him, and he started to sweat even more heavily.
He couldn’t resist it. He glanced back.
He caught a glimpse of three colossal tails, slowly heating up from cold black to a warm red.
Even at this distance, he could see the heat distortions in the air around them.
He didn’t know what was coming, but he knew he wasn’t going to like it. Full speed ahead, captain legs.
Weng!
Sure enough, he heard a humming sound from behind him. And then ahead of him.
He froze in his tracks all of a sudden, and his heart seemed to stop beating. Right in front of his eyes, space was warping, and suddenly a huge beast stepped out in front of him.
It stood astride the river, feral eyes surveying the puny human before it.
Through some mystic art, it had managed to teleport and close the distance between them.
Faster than light.
In that instant, Li Luo knew that strong spirit beasts were not to be underestimated.
BOOM!
It stomped one paw, a thunderous smash that sent a black slash of energy at Li Luo.
It was wider even than the river, and the entire section between them was smashed.
It charged right behind the attack.
The beast was closing in on him from the front, and this force was going to be unstoppable.
Hope trickled away.
Too strong.
He couldn’t even breathe.
Like prey paralyzed in shock and horror.
But something deep within him awakened. He shook off the fear and faced it grimly.
Not only did he not dodge, he even stepped forward!
The beast bared its teeth in surprise, but its charge did not slow.
Shoop!
“Foul beast, today I seal you for good!” Li Luo cried out, holding his palm out. The seal glowed.
The three-tailed beast skidded to an abrupt halt, sirens of fear wailing within its mind.
That familiar seal! It had been captive under it for all these years!
So the seal hadn’t disappeared, it had been transferred to this human!
But why?
A trap. Its hair rose out of instinct.
Uncertainty. Fear. After all these years of being imprisoned, it had grown to fear that seal’s power, and the man behind it.
A god-like presence that was well beyond its means.
Could it be that this weak-looking human was all part of the trap?
Lure it out and subdue it?
The human’s face was resolute… triumphant, even. There was not a shred of fear to be seen on his face.
With the seal, could the human be stronger?
Survival was the foremost instinct. It leaped out of the river, fleeing.
Escape first, think later!
Even as its legs carried it away, its bestial eyes were still intently watching Li Luo for danger. The human rushed forward to the spot where it had been…
And then kept on rushing forward.
Running away.
The three-tailed beast skidded around in confusion. The seal’s energy it had sensed was gone.
Suddenly left in silence, the wind howled gleefully in its ears.
Had it… just been pranked?