chapter 34 “The Hunt Part 4”

The beast vanished.

No sound. No motion. Just—gone.

Lu Yan didn't blink. Instinct screamed, muscles tensed. He didn't need to see it.

He felt it.

A flicker. A shift in the air. A whisper of movement too fast for the eye to follow.

There.

Behind.

His blade lashed out. Too late. Claws raked across his ribs, the impact hurling him sideways. He twisted mid-air, roots bursting from the ground to catch him before he crashed. His feet barely touched down before he moved—Forest Manifestation.

The world obeyed.

The ground convulsed, ancient roots snapping free, twisting like serpents. The trees warped, branches stretching, sharpened to spears. The entire forest turned on the beast.

The shadows around him shook.

The world recognized him.

And so did the thing hunting him.

The air sharpened. Cold. Still. Too still.

His breath curled white against the night air. His pulse slowed. His body knew before his mind did—something was watching. Not from a distance. Not from hiding.

It was right there.

Lu Yan stopped.

A figure loomed in the clearing ahead. No sound. No warning. Just there. A silhouette, black against the pale sliver of moonlight filtering through the canopy. The forest itself seemed to shrink away from it, light swallowed into its presence like a dying star.

The Irregular.

Level 13.

It had not come with the pack. It had never needed them. This thing—this creature—was something else.

It moved.

Not a shift. Not a step. Just—closer.

Lu Yan's hand tightened on his sword.

The beast grinned.

Not an animal's snarl. No, this was worse. Amused. Calculated. The kind of expression you'd see on something that had already decided how you were going to die.

Then—

It attacked.

The world tore apart.

Lu Yan barely reacted in time—his body moving before thought, instincts screaming. A shadow blurred past his vision. The trees behind him exploded, bark splitting open like brittle glass. Something flashed. Claws. He twisted, his sword cutting the air—empty.

Too fast.

A whisper of movement. He ducked. Something—a limb?—sliced through where his head had been, shearing through a tree behind him like it was made of paper.

Lu Yan landed in a crouch, eyes locking onto it.

The beast tilted its head. Unimpressed. Still grinning.

Then it spoke.

Low. Rough. A voice that shouldn't exist.

"Faster than I thought."

Lu Yan's blood ran cold.

It could talk.

It wasn't just strong. It wasn't just fast.

It was something else entirely.

The air cracked.

Lu Yan's body moved before thought—his sword lashed out, silver streaking through the darkness. Metal met flesh.

Lu Yan wiped blood from his lips. His grip tightened around his sword, knuckles white.

He was Level 6. This thing was Level 13. The difference wasn't just power—it was absolute.

A normal hunter? They'd be dead already.

But Lu Yan wasn't normal.

The forest remembered him.

The trees moved for him.

The earth obeyed him.

He breathed in. The wind shuddered. The ground stirred beneath his feet.

Forest Manifestation.

Roots tore from the soil. Branches twisted like serpents. The entire forest came alive.

The Irregular's grin faltered.

For the first time, it felt it.

Not fear. Not yet.

But acknowledgment.

Lu Yan raised his sword. The trees answered. The ground shook.

And the hunt began again.

The Irregular vanished.

A flicker of black—then attack.

Claws sliced. Shadows twisted. Lu Yan ducked, a fraction too slow—pain burned across his arm.

But he wasn't aiming for a clean dodge.

He was aiming to catch it.

The instant the Irregular landed—the forest moved.

Roots snapped upward. An entire tree bent, its trunk warping into a spear.

The beast's eyes widened.

It twisted—too late.

The sharpened root PIERCED THROUGH ITS LEG.

A snarl—raw, furious. It tore itself free, blood splattering against the bark.

Lu Yan was already there.

His sword came down.

Steel met flesh.

A clean, brutal strike.

The Irregular staggered.

The forest roared.

The ground split apart, roots lunging, twisting, snapping. The trees closed in, suffocating, crushing. The night itself collapsed around the beast.

It snarled.

It fought.

But Lu Yan kept moving.

Sword flashing. Power pulsing. The forest crushing.

The beast's movements slowed.

Its strength? Still overwhelming.

But it was bleeding now.

And Lu Yan?

Lu Yan did not stop.

The forest did not stop.

This was his domain. His kingdom. His hunt.

One final step. One final breath.

His sword drove through its heart.

The Irregular froze.

The light faded from its eyes.

Then—

The system rang.

DING!

[You Have Defeated: Irregular (Lv. 13)]

|LEVEL UP! | 

[Level 5 to Level 11 XP 50,000/300,000]

Stat Points Available: +13

Ability Points Available: +7

Item: Irregular Crystal (Unknown Level)

Type: Cultivation Catalyst

Effect: Can be refined to accelerate cultivation breakthroughs. Capable of forcefully surpassing natural bottlenecks. Potentially unstable at higher realms.

The beast collapsed.

Lu Yan stood over its corpse.

His breath slow. Steady.

Before Lu Yan could check the reward, something began to surge into him.