Chapter 44: Meteor Fist

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Ye Lan's entire body was enveloped in golden light—soul power fully amplified to 100%! With no one around the Star Luo Great Forest, Ye Lan could let loose and fully explore his limits. He intended to test the extreme boundaries of his soul power amplification.

Though Ye Lan's martial soul was only Blue Silver Grass, it was an Ultimate Life-Attribute Blue Silver Grass, significantly boosting his physical stats.

Combined with his perfected soul power amplification technique, Ye Lan's base strength was comparable to a battle-type soul master of the same level, his speed rivaled agility-type soul masters, and his defense was on par with a Soul Elder.

Still, even with these advantages, his base strength was slightly inferior to that of the thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear. After all, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was no Soft Boned Rabbit. While the latter only knew how to flee, the former was a powerhouse known for its ferocity. A thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's combat strength could rival a top-tier battle-type Soul Elder.

As Ye Lan sprinted toward the bear at full speed, his external brain analyzed the difference in their power.

In the blink of an eye, the two—already close—collided.

The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear opened its bloody maw, attempting to swallow Ye Lan's head whole.

Facing that terrifying gaping mouth, Ye Lan held his breath, ducked down sharply, and avoided the bite. With soul power surging into his right arm, he threw an uppercut. His right fist struck the bear's lower jaw hard, but the feedback felt like punching a flesh cushion that absorbed all the force.

The bear's head tilted up slightly—barely reacting. Then, using the momentum from Ye Lan's punch, it rose to its full height. The bear's right arm swung toward Ye Lan, generating a howling gust in the air.

Through the lens of his Golden Eye, Ye Lan watched the bear's claws slice through the air in slow motion, leaving behind a faint wind trail. Calculating the bear's attack arc, Ye Lan narrowly sidestepped, just evading the powerful blow.

At that moment, his mind flashed back to the meridian diagrams that had appeared when his Blue Silver Grass evolved. Soul power surged into his right arm. Ye Lan struck the bear's lower waist with a powerful punch! The bear's belly quivered slightly, instantly absorbing the impact.

Clearly, his self-created soul technique hadn't succeeded yet. But Ye Lan wasn't discouraged. Even if his punches had little effect, the more durable the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear proved to be, the better it was as a living training dummy.

After taking the hit, the bear turned and launched a flurry of palm strikes at Ye Lan. Relying on his Golden Eye and boosted speed from soul power, Ye Lan skillfully dodged each strike. Between each attack, he used the gap to focus soul power into his arms, continually developing an offensive-type soul technique.

As time passed, the bear grew increasingly agitated. The pain it was experiencing intensified with every hit. Driven to madness by the repeated blows, it let out a thunderous roar. Its eyes turned white—it had completely lost its reason. Its muscles bulged dramatically. Now, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear resembled a demonic muscle-beast. Not only its strength but its speed increased significantly.

Ye Lan didn't mind the increase in strength—his Golden Eye allowed him to read the bear's movements too well for it to land a hit. However, the increased speed was problematic. Previously, the bear's speed had only matched his own. Now, with its enhanced mobility, the bear's bites and claw swipes grew faster and faster. Although Ye Lan could still see the movements, his body couldn't react quickly enough to keep up.

"This is getting interesting," he said, stomping down hard and activating Instant Step, instantly widening the gap between him and the bear by several meters, dodging a deadly cross-slash from its claws.

"Let's try this—Continuous Instant Step." Ye Lan reduced the power of each stomp, exchanging distance for a higher frequency of use.

With the further evolution of Blue Silver Grass and his rising soul power, his Instant Step count had increased from five to eight uses. In its continuous version, the step range shortened to just half a meter, but he could now use it 24 times a day. Currently, Ye Lan still had 21 Continuous Instant Steps remaining.

"Round two, little bear," Ye Lan said casually.

As if it understood him, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear snorted steam from its nose, vowing to crush him. It charged forward in fury, leaving deep craters with every step, grass flying in the air with each thunderous stomp.

Ye Lan focused soul power into his eyes. The golden glow in his pupils grew brighter and brighter as more energy flooded into them. In his vision, the bear's movements slowed even further.

This time, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear seemed to have learned. It didn't use its gaping jaws or massive paws. Instead, it opted to ram Ye Lan head-on—like a walking mountain of flesh charging straight at him.

Ye Lan smiled helplessly. "This bear…" He kicked off the ground, leaping onto the bear's head.

"Echo Shift!"

Boom!!

A burst of soul power erupted from the top of the bear's skull. The massive beast crashed to the ground, its belly scraping against the grass as it slid more than ten meters. Landing lightly, Ye Lan immediately rushed forward to follow up, attempting his self-created soul technique again.

The flesh on the bear's back began to deform under his relentless strikes. Even if its muscle could absorb impact, there was a limit to how much it could take. In a matter of seconds, Ye Lan threw over a dozen punches. Each strike was an experiment in developing his offensive technique.

When he finally felt the right connection, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear roared, opening its bloody mouth wide. A stream of white flames burst out toward Ye Lan.

Feeling the intense heat, Ye Lan muttered, "Weren't we doing hand-to-hand combat?"

Thirty strands of Blue Silver Grass shot from his body, instantly smothering the flames. And with them, the bear itself—tied up like a giant meat dumpling by the entangling grass.

Ye Lan focused on the feeling from earlier. Golden soul power surged into his right fist.

"Meteor!"

His right fist lit up with brilliant golden light. As it punched forward, it tore through the air, leaving behind a long golden arc. Like a meteor streaking across the sky, the friction ignited a dazzling crimson flame trail.

Boom!

The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear instantly vanished from its position, tumbling across the grasslands like a rolling mountain of meat. It coughed up a mouthful of blood, the world spinning around it. Blind and dizzy, the bear was filled with overwhelming terror.

Ye Lan, having completed his new technique Meteor, retracted the Blue Silver Grass.

Feeling the bindings lift, the bear's fear dissipated. Ignoring the pain wracking its body, the giant beast lay on all fours, eyes welling up with tears, staring at Ye Lan pitifully, trying to beg for mercy with its expression. The poor beast didn't even know what it had done to provoke this golden-haired human. It had just been trying to make little bears in peace—only to be interrupted and then brutally beaten.

(End of Chapter)