Mu Tai took a step back. He knew he was only slightly stronger than Wang Min, not nearly strong enough to match Li Yun at this moment. But he also didn't want to be eliminated. Gritting his teeth, he came to a decision.
"Take the core of the Fourarmed Berserk Ape and leave me alone," Mu Tai quickly offered, retrieving the core from his storage ring and presenting it to Li Yun.
Li Yun fell silent, as if contemplating something important, before nodding to Mu Tai.
"Alright, leave the core and run. I'll give you five seconds."
Li Yun agreed and gave Mu Tai an ultimatum.
Mu Tai hurriedly nodded, placed the core on the ground, and bolted, disappearing from Li Yun's sight.
Once Mu Tai was gone, Li Yun immediately dropped to his knees and took deep breaths.
'The pain… it's too much… and my body… it can't handle Raging Heaven even… for a minute…'
The moment he activated Raging Heaven, he gained profound strength, but it also brought excruciating pain. It felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside—every cell, every tissue, every organ—felt like they were breaking apart from inside and the pain still lingered.
'Let me re—'
He couldn't finish his thought, as he suddenly felt an overwhelming thirst—thirst for blood.
'No, what's happening? Why now? It was only yesterday that I drank four or five bottles full of blood, so that should have calmed the thirst for at least a week. But this thirst… it's much more feral and voracious than ever.'
Li Yun couldn't understand the sudden surge of hunger. The thirst he felt now was stronger than anything he had experienced since arriving in this world.
'Damn! I don't have any beast blood left either.'
Another problem arose as he realized he had no more beast blood. Every week, he used spirit stones to buy bottles of beast blood to quench the thirst that struck him, but the last week had only ended yesterday, and he hadn't bought more before the thirst returned.
'What should I do? I'm losing control of myself.'
Li Yun began to lose his sense of self as time passed. He could feel instincts other than his own started to kick in, but they were wild, like those of a beast. These instincts started to overpower his clarity.
'No, I can't let that happen.'
He bit his lip hard, drawing blood and causing enough pain to keep himself in control for the time being.
'Now, what should I do? I can only hold out for so long.'
Desperation set in as he searched for a solution until he remembered the corpse of Zho Quan in his storage ring.
However, the moment that thought crossed his mind, the hunger and thirst for blood intensified, nearly pushing him over the edge.
"No!"
He immediately stabbed his left hand with his sword, the jolt of pain bringing him back to his senses, though it came at the cost of more suffering. But it was better than losing control.
'No, not human blood. The way my body reacted to just the thought of it nearly drove me mad. I can't drink human blood; it might make things worse. But what else?'
His feral instincts flooded his mind, pushing him to the brink. He only had moments left before he lost control, either from the thirst for blood or from the overwhelming instincts.
'Damn, what should I do? Thi—Wait, what's that smell?'
Suddenly, Li Yun detected a potent yet delicious scent in the air.
'It's the smell of blood—a beast's blood!'
Excitement surged within him as he searched for the source, but another thought crossed his mind.
'Why can I suddenly smell blood?'
He looked around, pondering this new ability, but found no beasts nearby.
'Right! The Fourarmed Berserk Ape. It died here, but where is its corpse? Did Mu Tai and Wang Min take it? No, I wouldn't sense such a strong scent if they had. That means it's still in the forest behind the plain.'
Using his newly heightened sense of smell, Li Yun began tracking the corpse while wondering why he had suddenly gained this ability.
But as he did, he noticed his vision sharpening, and not only that he could also now hear the roars and growls of beasts far in the distance.
'What's happening to me?'
Overwhelmed by the sudden enhancement of his senses, Li Yun struggled to focus. The roars of beasts, distant conversations, rustling leaves—everything was loud and clear.
However, it was also at that moment that he finally felt like he would lose control. The feral instincts began to cloud his mind fully, and if he didn't drink blood within the next minute, he would go mad.
But luck seemed to favor him.
"I finally found it!"
Li Yun sighed in relief as he tracked down the corpse of the Fourarmed Berserk Ape. But his relief quickly turned into excitement, and like a beast, he bent down, bit into the flesh of the ape, and tore out a chunk with his teeth.
"Puui!"
He spat the flesh out immediately as he regained his senses.
"I almost lost control at the last possible moment."
Li Yun forced himself to calm down, his excitement fading as he realized what had happened.
The sight of beast blood pouring from the flesh he had just bitten triggered his instincts, pushing him to the brink of madness.
But he gritted his teeth and calmed himself down.
He quickly took out a jade bottle and held it beneath the ape's wound, letting the blood fill the bottle.
Moments later, the bottle was full, and he gulped down the blood in one go.
But instead of quenching his thirst, the blood only seemed to intensify it. Panic welled up inside him, but he remained focused.
Without hesitation, he filled the bottle again and emptied it in a single gulp. He repeated the process several times, draining the blood from the ape's corpse until the thirst and hunger finally began to subside.
When the last drops were gone, Li Yun collapsed to his knees, exhausted but relieved.
'It's over.'
He could feel the feral instincts receding, leaving his mind clear once again. The overwhelming thirst had finally been quenched, and peace of mind returned.