Han Lin watched the skeleton before him, a drop of cold sweat trickling down his forehead. He had ventured deep into the Snow Toad Temple Training Ground in front of the temple to map the environment. By the time his smart brain issued a warning, Han Lin was less than ten meters away from the skeleton.
“It’s too close, but who would have thought this skeleton wasn’t dead? It had transformed into an undead creature, and it even possessed Innate Realm cultivation!” Han Lin’s expression immediately turned grim.
Han Lin stopped and slowly retreated towards the temple gate behind him, his movements light, fearing he might startle the skeleton before him.
The next moment, the skeleton slowly raised its head, and two clusters of green ghostly flames ignited within its empty eye sockets. The skeleton stared at Han Lin, then sprang up from the bluestone slab like a coiled spring, pouncing towards him.
“It’s over!” Han Lin’s hands and feet turned cold, and a look of despair appeared on his face. He instinctively wanted to turn and run, but he knew in his heart that turning his back on the enemy at this moment was absolutely the worst strategy. He could only bite the bullet and face it, enduring a few moves, and then see if there was a chance to escape.
Han Lin gritted his teeth, stomped his right foot, and pushed forward. Instead of retreating, he charged forward rapidly.
Wild Horse Mane Split!
This was a move from Ancient Beast Fist. Han Lin pushed his speed to the limit, seemingly about to punch, but actually, he lashed out with a leg, attacking explosively from the skeleton’s side!
Fast, accurate, ruthless!
These were the characteristics of the Wild Horse Mane Split. Relying on rapid impact, it concentrated all the body’s power into the right leg, instantly unleashing powerful damage!
Catch them off guard, attack when they’re unprepared!
If one wasn’t familiar with this move from Ancient Beast Fist, it was easy to achieve success with a single strike. Moreover, the target of this move was the opponent’s left rib. With a full-power burst, and Han Lin’s cultivation at the fifth layer of Acquired Realm, if the opponent was caught off guard, there was a high chance of breaking several of their ribs. It was truly insidious and ruthless!
Han Lin’s purpose in using this move was not to injure the opponent, but to seize the opportunity of the opponent dodging and parrying to retreat. Han Lin guessed that since this skeleton had been sitting cross-legged on the bluestone Snow Toad Temple Training Ground in front of the temple, it should be a guardian-like existence. As long as he left the temple, this skeleton should not pursue him.
Of course, this was just Han Lin’s guess. It was also possible that if he left the temple, the skeleton would still pursue him until it killed him, but Han Lin had no other option now. He could only take a gamble.
Snap~
The skeleton extended its left palm, transforming it into a blade, and chopped towards Han Lin’s right leg. If this palm strike connected, with the skeleton’s Innate Realm cultivation, it would be enough to shatter Han Lin’s right leg into a comminuted fracture. Helplessly, Han Lin had no choice but to change his move mid-way. His left leg, which had been supporting his entire body as a pillar, bent downwards, and the Wild Horse Mane Split, originally aimed at the skeleton’s left rib, smoothly transformed into a sweeping leg similar to a snake exploring the path, with the target changing from the left rib to the lower legs.
Also a move from Ancient Beast Fist, Han Lin’s change of moves was smooth and fluid, without any sense of stagnation, as if it was meant to be that way. This was the Grandmaster Realm of Ancient Beast Fist; every move had been refined through countless trials, completely becoming an instinctive body reaction.
The skeleton’s hand-blade struck empty air, and its body tilted to the left. With a beautiful side aerial flip, it dodged Han Lin’s snake exploring the path move. Their movements were as fast as if a fast-forward button had been pressed, so quick that ordinary people would find it difficult to catch the details.
Han Lin and the skeleton fought fiercely, locked in an evenly matched battle. The set of fist techniques the skeleton used was ancient and grand, appearing simple, even somewhat crude. Chopping fists and kicking legs, it was just those dozen or so movements repeatedly, but with the skeleton’s constant changing combinations, Han Lin couldn’t find a single flaw, only able to barely contend with it using Ancient Beast Fist and Willow Leaf Movement Technique!
The two exchanged hundreds of blows. Just as Han Lin felt that the skeleton before him was nothing special, the skeleton’s aura suddenly surged. It stepped forward in a bow stance and suddenly pushed out a palm towards Han Lin. This seemingly ordinary palm strike made Han Lin feel as if a mountain was pressing down on him. No matter what his reaction, he would be crushed to dust by this palm.
Bang!
Han Lin was sent flying over ten meters by the palm strike, crashing into the courtyard wall next to the temple gate, then bouncing off and lying on the ground, unable to move.
After a long time, Han Lin spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and managed to sit up. At this moment, Han Lin’s face was as pale as paper, and he was severely injured. Only then did he realize that the reason he had been evenly matched with the skeleton earlier was that the skeleton had suppressed its cultivation to the fifth layer of Acquired Realm, the same realm as him. Only that last palm strike had unleashed its true Innate Realm cultivation.
“If it had fought me with Innate Realm cultivation from the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have been able to take even one of its moves!”
Han Lin gave a bitter smile and looked up. The skeleton hadn’t pursued him to finish him off. After sending him flying with a single palm, it had returned to the center of the Snow Toad Temple Training Ground, sat cross-legged on the bluestone ground, and the ghostly flames in its eye sockets had disappeared, its gaze lowered, as if it had fallen back into slumber.
“It doesn’t kill people?” Han Lin struggled to stand up, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. This skeleton actually hadn’t pursued him to kill him. Didn’t the textbooks say that undead monsters would fight relentlessly once they encountered living creatures?
Han Lin checked his body: broken sternum, chaotic breath. With such injuries, he wouldn't recover for at least half a year. But tomorrow he had to start learning the Visualization Method, and the College Entrance Examination was in three months. In his current state, how could he possibly go to school to learn the Visualization Method, and how could he possibly participate in the College Entrance Examination in three months? By then, let alone Two Star Deity Sect University, he probably wouldn't even be able to get into a third-tier Dao Academy university.
“It’s over. Ordinary high schools don’t allow repeating a year. If I don’t get into university, I’ll have to graduate high school and participate in the Blue Star Alliance’s pioneering war. Participating in a pioneering war as a Martial artist of Late Heaven Realm at the fifth layer is a ninety percent chance of death!” Han Lin thought dejectedly.
Pioneering wars were extremely dangerous. They involved going to areas occupied by wild beasts, exotic beasts, and even fierce beasts to fight them and reclaim the territories they occupied. It seemed like the same job as an outdoor hunter, but the intensity was worlds apart.
Han Lin’s father was an outdoor hunter. As long as he didn’t go to areas occupied by fierce beasts, hunting some exotic beasts was quite easy, and he always had a good harvest. For over ten years, Han Lin’s father had only suffered a few minor injuries. But pioneering wars were different. According to post-war statistics over the years, the death rate for Martial artist of Late Heaven Realm in pioneering wars was as high as seventy-nine percent. The lower the cultivation, the higher the death rate; they were completely cannon fodder.
Just then, an old voice suddenly sounded in Han Lin’s ear;
“Failed to defeat the Guardian Shami Skeleton within ten minutes. Challenge failed!”
The voice seemed to carry a hint of regret, as if lamenting Han Lin’s unsuccessful challenge.
The next moment, a faint golden light descended from the sky, enveloping Han Lin. In a few seconds, it completely healed the severely injured Han Lin, restoring his state to peak condition.
Han Lin felt the changes in his body with surprise. This healing speed was superior even to the latest medical pods developed by the Blue Star Alliance. With his previous injuries, if he had used a medical pod for treatment, he would have had to lie in it for at least three hours, and the treatment cost would have been hundreds of thousands of star coins, something a poor student like him could not afford.
“Since I can fully recover and don’t have to fear injury, isn’t this Guardian Shami Skeleton the best practical combat training opponent? This is much better than the school’s training rooms!” Han Lin couldn’t help but think excitedly.
The next moment, Han Lin clenched his fists and actively charged towards the Guardian Shami Skeleton in the center of the Snow Toad Temple Training Ground.
…