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Chapter 45: Earthquake Berserk Bear

The academy library described the three-eyed demon wolf as having a copper head, an iron back, and a tofu-soft waist.

Its weak point was precisely that waist, so Ashura had managed to kill 2 three-eyed demon wolves in a single strike.

The remaining 3 three-eyed demon wolves leaped back at once, baring savage fangs at the human before them, and their comrades’ bloody deaths only fanned their ferocity.

The 3 demon wolves instantly surrounded Ashura.

Ashura dared not act arrogantly; he pressed his back to the tree, faced the 3 wolves, held the Twin Swords in regular and reverse grips, and took a guarding stance.

Unable to wait any longer, the three-eyed demon wolves attacked; 2 of them sprang for Ashura’s throat while the last snapped at his calf.

Ashura chopped at the airborne wolves’ heads with the Twin Swords while twisting aside to evade the one lunging for his leg.

Metal clanged in midair, yet the 2 struck wolves merely tumbled away, shook their heads, and stood up again.

Seeing that, Ashura confirmed the books were right… the three-eyed demon wolf’s skull was truly hard.

He therefore pressed the attack toward those 2 wolves, aiming his swords at their waists.

But the wolves were sly enough to rely on speed to dodge blows that threatened their waists, even using their heads and backs to take Ashura’s strikes head-on.

The three wolves fought Ashura to a standstill until a crisp crack sounded; his right-hand sword snapped against a wolf’s back, and the other was already nicked and near ruin.

Seeing the human’s weapon break, the three-eyed demon wolves howled even more viciously and stalked toward Ashura.

Cursing his luck, Ashura tossed the ruined sword aside and drew the dagger Lan Yu had given him from his right boot.

The dagger was no ordinary item, its icy blue sheen able to slice iron like mud; Ashura had withheld it until now because he feared ending the fight too quickly and losing the value of the training.

In his estimation, his combat experience already far outstripped that of the academy students; few of them could have performed better while besieged by 3 three-eyed demon wolves.

He noted that dusk was near, licked his lips, and decided to finish the beasts off with a fatal blow before night fell.

Yet before he could strike back, the 3 three-eyed demon wolves suddenly bolted as though frightened by something.

Ashura was baffled… did those beasts somehow sense his killer move and flee before his overwhelming aura?

Before he could ponder further, the light around him dimmed and the sound of splintering trees rang out behind him.

Ashura spun, leveled his sword, then shouted, “Damn!” when he saw what lay behind, and dashed away using Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork just like the three wolves.

A tier-5 Earthquake Berserk Bear, 5 meters tall and as huge as a hill, was standing upright, glaring at the human who had trespassed into its territory.

The bear roared and unleashed its innate skill, Gravity Mire.

All beasts above tier 5 possessed innate skills; the bear’s Gravity Mire created a 100-meter zone of swamp-like gravity centered on itself.

Any creature weaker than it would be slowed by the effect.

The greater the gap in strength, the heavier the suppression, so the far weaker Ashura instantly felt a thousand-kilogram weight pressing down, his speed dropping sharply.

Ashura had read about tier-5 Earthquake Berserk Bears in the library, and under normal circumstances the chance of meeting one on the forest’s outskirts was extremely low.

Yet the unlikely event had occurred, perhaps because his battle with the wolves had lured it over.

A bitter taste filled Ashura’s heart; for the first time he felt his life threatened, and seeing the bear charging on all fours he knew he could not outrun its domain.

Continuing like this was hopeless; rather than be shredded from behind, he might as well gamble everything on a desperate strike.

Ashura was not indecisive; once he chose, he drew a deep breath and forced the fear from his mind.

He suddenly turned, wielded the dagger like a sword, unleashed Tower Ascension sword art at full power, and sprinted toward the bear with Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork.

The pursuing bear saw the frail human ahead whirl and draw his sword in counterattack.

It froze, its big head unable to understand; this was not how humans it had slain before behaved.

Before it could react, Ashura’s first Tower Ascension slash struck its shoulder, the dagger tip slicing through its thick pelt and making blood spurt.

Though the cut was only skin-deep, it was enough to enrage the bear… this puny human had wounded it.

The bear bellowed, the roar splitting Ashura’s eardrums and leaving him dizzy.

Yet he dared not slacken, evading a paw swipe and chaining the second and third slashes onto the bear.

This time he could not target a single spot; the bear’s massive frame and vicious claws kept him dodging, so to maintain the rhythm he desperately scattered the Tower Ascension sword art across its body.

By the eighth slash Ashura was already bleeding; a mere brush of the bear’s claws carved bloody grooves in him, yet given the range and level gap he had still avoided fatal wounds.

He was in dire straits; under Gravity Mire his vital energy drained twice as fast, and blood loss further sapped his strength.

Fortunately, the magic stored within him was ample enough to let him keep using Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork without pause.

Ashura knew his only chance lay in the final strokes of Tower Ascension; he could reach the 16th cut and had never executed the 18th, so he had no idea whether those last strikes could buy him a sliver of life.

As for the bear, its many wounds were all superficial, and it was not known for speed.

The monkey-like agility of the boy before it caused every swipe to miss, which only fueled its wrath.

But when Ashura unleashed the 9th slash the bear shuddered, a lightning-like numbness coursed through its huge body, and it realized the human’s sword art had suddenly grown far more lethal.

Understanding it had to finish the black-haired brat quickly, it raised both forepaws and slammed them into the ground.

The sudden smash made the ground quake, nearly toppling Ashura; as his stance wavered, the bear’s right paw whipped toward him.

Ashura had underestimated the beast’s intellect; if he dodged, he still had a chance to avoid the blow.

Yet if he dodged the momentum of Tower Ascension would end at the 10th cut, and he would never have a chance to restart the art.

In that split second Ashura made a mad decision.

With his right hand he slashed the 10th cut of Tower Ascension toward the bear’s chest, while his left gathered power and launched the family’s strongest martial technique, Thunderclap Fist, straight at the incoming paw…

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