Escalation

Fearsome roars shook throughout the forest ripping apart the eerie blanket of silence that had covered the entire region a while ago.

With terrifying howls and screams that announced their presence to the world inhuman monstrosities were stirring deep within the fathoms ; abominations that should have been left to their peaceful slumber had been awoken in the rudest manner possible and were know baying for blood.

Their noses quivered in excitement as they smelled the fragrance of fresh meat that caused nostalgic bitter sweet feelings to upsurge through their being.

It had been so long since they had tasted human flesh ... The memory of the exquisite taste made their mouths water at the very thought of biting and ripping such tender , soft meat some had fat others were lean some were sweet and others spicy and the marrow was in particular sumptuous .

They locked on the positions of the humans that were within reach.

It was time to feed.

After a long sleep the exacerbated hunger they felt was enough to burn down the skies itself if that were possible.

Now as we wonder the cause of the sudden awakening of these fearsome beasts at such an opportune moment to answer this we go back in time to a couple of moments earlier back to the clearing where Fang Xingchen was even then readying himself.

With the means he possessed he would always be aware of where his prey was.

Still it was quite a bother to chase helter-skelter for just a little mouse. It wasted too much effort.

In that case ...

Why not use the age-old tactic of using the hounds to hunt down the fox ?

A smile spread across his face at the thought.

He lifted his sword edge wise and concentrated intensely for a couple of moments as his aura sharp like a sword focused on the blade .

He then whirled around rapidly in a single fluid moment and then gathered almost of his available qi which he pooled into his sword executing a single linear slash that was so fine that it appeared to be nothing more than a thin string but in actuality due to the intense amount of Qi and the augmentation provided by the sword was far more fiercer than any normal attack.

His attack reached his target location piercing through the veil of foliage that lay in-between his current location and the lair of the rabid hounds.

Luckily , his location was in the optimal location to execute the strike any further and the effect would be less intense and further in could be potentially hazardous.

As it was he didn't have to wait for long for soon the pleasant roars that were like the sounds of music reached his ears .

Now , all he had to do was to let the hounds lead him to the running fox .

After that ..

Hmm.

He hadn't thought so far.

Who cares ?

At worst he would pretend to be dead , the monsters wouldn't like to eat corpses right ?

Probably .

********************************

When he heard the roars Ling Yun's brow wrinkled.

Although he estimated that there was considerable distance between him and the truly troublesome regions from what he could hear there was only one conclusion the bubble of safety that he held was going to burst.

He paused for a bit on a treetop so that he could get his bearings right.

It appeared that he had shaken off that troublesome fellow from the Fang Clan but he wasn't sure.

Knowing how crafty that person was he would surely be onto him as soon as possible ; worse there would be no way that he would attack directly without ascertaining the situation .

Therefore not only were half of his measures unusable he also had to guard his back hoping that it did not get stabbed in the dark.

In that case the only hope for him was to use his trump card which offered a slim hope of using an overwhelming advantage to completely get control of the situation that was every instant spiralling out of control.

The variables were too much .

Although the sudden spurt in activity of the Demonic Beasts appeared to be entirely a coincidence in the worst case what if it wasn't ?

Then he would be cornered like a pig ready to be slaughtered !

As if confirming his worst fears an almighty roar which appeared to have originated nearby shattered through the surroundings , the wind blowing in the aftermath being sufficient enough to rip out entire branches from the sturdy evergreen tress.

The colour in Ling Yun's face drained rapidly.

The worst case in his imagination had been made real.

There was no way a beast as powerful as that would have come so close without facing that bastard from the Fang Clan , the fact that he had no detected no sounds of fighting led to only one possibility.

There had been no fight at all !

This was possible in only two cases :

Case 1: The beast was so strong that that fellow had been unable to put up any resistance . But the probability of this situation occuring was too low since there was no way that fellow would stay back at a situation like that plus if the beast was as strong as that based on his speed and the time that it awoke it would have caught up to him already . Clearly it hadn't yet.

Case 2:. Through some method unknown that bastard had managed to hide his presence from the beast . In the worst case scenario he was in fact in control of the beast . Either way the beast would be used to corner him like a hunting hound running down a fox.

Therefore by impeccable logic there was only one conclusion possible.

That was too run !

Even as he had thought that he had took off into the ether using his skewers and some much needed talismans such as the [ Quick Wind Talisman ] to.provided a much needed buff as he swung among the trees.

Not once did he turn back even though he could hear a sound akin to a superimposition of a hundred avalanches as the beast behind him rumbled and shook and tore down the forest in it's unabated [Battle Frenzy ] that prompted it to chase after him relentlessly.

If he ran ahead blindly he would be caught in a short time and made short work of , even in the exceptional case that he managed to somehow escape the bastard from the Fang Clan would be waiting to slid a dagger into his ribs or more likely skewer a sword right through him.

He didn't have the luxurious resources that would allow him to win a battle of attrition against a freakish lineup like that.

Thus , his only hope was to use his considerable accumulated experience in order to break out of this unfavorable situation.

A creepy smile was pasted on his face.

" Heh heh "

This would be enough to buy time until he could execute his trump card.

He suddenly jumped high above and swerved elegantly as he took an aerodynamic whirl that would have put the best of dancers to shame.

Not a moment too soon....

A blazing jet made of concentrated flame shot right through where he had been standing just a moment prior incinerating everything that stood in it's path.

Plumes of smoke ascended as an entire swath of the forest was reduced to ash.

Ling Yun who was still taking an evasive action in the air felt his facial muscles twitch in response.

There should be a limit to how freakish the [ Innate Talent ] of a Demonic Beast could be !

" BOOM ! "

Another massive jet of flame promptly tore apart the veil of foliage that had hid Ling Yun till then.

In a barren world full of sizzling embers and raging fire Ling Yun marooned high above in the burning sky came face to face with his adversary.

On top of the head of a Flame Red Salamander the size of a small hill an extremely familiar figure could be seen yawning unconcernedly.

He patted the back of the Salamander impatiently , " Next up, Little Flame get him entirely okay ? I'm going to take a little nap. "

Then he promptly laid down on the back of the Salamander looking as if he were but a sightseer out on a vacation.

Ling Yun barely had the time to comment on the naming sense of that fellow because he was faced with a far more urgent problem .

His [Levitation Talisman ] was able to run out of energy and without any support that would allow his skewers to grip in sight he was about to be barbecue soon enough.

That was as if he wasn't reduced to ash.

Wait a bit ...

It wasn't like there was no support in sight.

Unfortunately he didn't have much time to articulate his thoughts for just as his [Levitation Talisman ] ran out he could saw the now wide open maw of the Salamander glowing like the sun.

His body acted involuntarily and the skewers he possessed were thrown rapidly .

Time froze to a halt.

Even as the skewer and the massive jet of flame headed in opposite directions they appeared to be advancing ever so slowly.

The outcome was decided.

The skewers veered off course and we're heading far away on the contrary the flaming meteor was homing right on to the target with the epicenter of it's incoming strike right on the heart of a certain miserable wretch who was about to turn to ash.

Ling Yun exhaled involuntarily.

When the stars are aligned it appears that all is certain unfortunately there was a certain blot that couldn't be illuminated even by the light of the stars.

"Ba-Dump"

Ling Yun's heart pounded fiercely and the resulting tremors shook through the world.

Fresh strength poured into his limbs and the trajectory of fate shifted in an instant.

The skewers found their target and what was supposed to have been the corpse was no longer at the position ordained for it as the blazing comet crashed into empty air and headed out into the distant sky.

With a collosal leap that carried him deep into the firmament Ling Yun was now speeding away with the wind whistling in his ears towards his own goal.

The smile on his face only grew more twisted with joy as the pleasant pull of gravity suctioned him deep below.

The stoic Fang Xingchen was out of his stupor in an instant , with a swift kick he knocked out the skewer anchored to the Salamander's body that attracted Ling Yun so intensely .

With another Pat of the back the titanic mass of the Salamander stirred and it shifted in preparation for a scathing response.

Too late though.

Ling Yun's raised foot was already racing towards Fang Xingchen's face .

Naturally it was adroitly parried away but Fang Xingchen held no delight in his visage on the contrary Ling Yun's face was shining.

" What a crazy person ! " Fang Xingchen grumbled inwardly .

Ling Yun smiled in response as if he heard Fang Xingchen's inner thoughts .

He patted the back of the Salamander in mockery.

" It is as I thought there was no way that with your prowess at the Middle Stage of your Refining Qi you could manage to control a Peak Stage Refining Qi period monster ."

Fang Xingchen neither confirmed nor denied.

" For someone who is fresh off the boat to the Cultivation World you certainly have done your homework well."

His answer was an affirmation without doubt.

Ling Yun's face blossomed like a flower .

" Then can I have your head right now ? "

Fang Xingchen sneered in riposte.

" You may try ," was all he said succinctly.

Ling Yun sped forward in a rapid moment that shrunk the large distance between them by a significant extent.

Fang Xingchen with a swift jump took to the skies.

He wasn't worried at all.

Even if he were in a weakened state currently that was only temporary plus it was not as of he was lacking means to hunt down the elusive fox.

Still to be driven this far.

He couldn't help but admire him albeit grudgingly.

This [Flaming Salamander ] which had run into him by Providence was quite a special beast which was why he he had to expend more of his energy than should be normally required to forcefully control a beast of this stage using the special [Beast Controlling Art] that was on his possession.

The reason being it had a noble lineage that was said to lead to the Legendary [Flaming Phoenix ] itself !

Naturally as the saying went , " Rewards were proportional to Efforts " , there was no way his hard work taming a pedigree sheepdog was going to be wasted.

Apart from [ Flaming Wrath ] which was the Innate Ability it had used earlier it happened to possess a few more tricks up its sleeve.

One of them [ Blazing Skin ] was quite interesting ....

With a mental command the surface of the Salamander began to writhe and smoke .

An invisible covering wrapped around Fang Xingchen protecting him from the waves of steam and the spurts of fire that emerged without warning from the volcanic crater that had just mere moments ago been slimy reptilian skin.

Ling Yun was naturally thrown off by the sudden change as well , but he managed to recover quickly and leapt clear of the blazing pillar of flame that erupted right in front of him.

But that was fine .

His purpose had already been achieved.

He quickly picked up the steaming skewer from the boiling surface, imparted Qi to it and tossed it deflty regardless of the blisters that appeared on his palm due to the intense heat.

Fang Xingchen who was up in the air had a sudden moment of realisation and rushed forward even so he was unable to reach in time.

The skewer ran through the gigantic eye of the Salamander driving right inside till it's hilt was buried deep within .

The lizard roared in rage and began to balk in a vengeful frenzy as it did it's best to resolve the horrifying pain that affected it.

Fang Xingchen was unseated suddenly and was forced to fend off the fierce flames without the protection that had covered him earlier.

He was forced to do his best in order to ensure that his control over the Salamander wasn't lost and he didn't end up becoming a snack for it .

By the time he managed to regain some semblance of control he was left gasping for air .

He turned around but naturally Ling Yun wasn't there to be found.

He sighed and sat down cross-legged on the back of the Salamander and began to meditate.

He could slowly feel his strength returning , although he had been thrawted twice already that was all it was going to be .

His next strike was going to leave no survivors.

Meanwhile Ling Yun was racing against time as he sped into the forest , he had used his final [ Quick Wind Talisman ] and after the distraction that he had managed to pull off the resulting acceleration he obtained was enough to give him a chance to activate his trump card .

The opening and the middle game had been fun indeed but could it compare to what lay after ?

After all the end game was nigh.