After nearly an hour of walking, the sound of frantic hoof beats could be heard by the two cultivators. Based on the sound and the large cloud of dust that rose into the sky in front of them, Shao could tell that the divine beast was incredibly large and powerful before he even saw it.
“Why did it take us so long to find it? I thought the divine beast was supposed to be just a few li away from the village.” Shao complained to the green-clad cultivator as the two men peered around a tree in an attempt to see the divine beast.
“It started moving away when we approached,” Shen Jian answered quietly. “The divine beast must have sensed my ki and retreated in response. We were only able to get this close because I’m suppressing my ki output.”
Though Shao couldn’t see the divine beast, he could feel something coming from the direction of the large cloud of dust. For a moment, he felt like he was back on the Lin family boat, and some massive fish was disturbing the water. The feeling was very similar to the one he felt back during his fight with Shen Jian.
“I think I can feel its ki,” Shao said, uncertainty clear in his voice. “It feels like there’s a flowing current of water spreading out from the divine beast’s location.”
“Good, good. I didn’t even have to explain that to you. Cultivators can typically sense ki around the time they hit the fourth step, but this ki perception works differently for everybody. Some can ‘see’ ki, but most feel it through other senses. To me, the divine beast emanates a low buzzing sound. My ki perception works at great distances, but it’s not very accurate.”
“Huh, that’s…” Shao was about to admit his interest in the subject matter, but he stopped himself. He wasn’t going to Shigong Temple with Shen Jian, no matter how interested he was in the various aspects of cultivation. “Nevermind. So, what’s the plan? Are you gonna run in and chop the divine beast in half with your sword? Maybe you’ll use your ki to summon a storm of fire that will burn the beast to ash?”
“Nope,” Shen Jian said with a smile that worried Shao. “Killing the divine beast is your job.”
“What!? You said the divine beast is a realm above me! How am I supposed to kill something like that?”
Shen Jian pointed to the side of his own head before saying, “Use your brain. Humans have hunted beasts much stronger than themselves since the beginning of time.”
“That’s a nice platitude, but that doesn’t change the fact that the divine beast is much stronger than me. What are you going to do if I can’t beat that thing? I can’t be your student if I’m dead!”
“If you really want me to, I’ll kill the divine beast for you,” Shen Jian said with a carnivorous smile. “All you have to do is admit you’re not strong enough to protect Bluecrest Village and agree to become my student.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Shao clenched his teeth and a low growl escaped from his throat. “So that’s what this is about. You’re leveraging the safety of the village to get me to come with you to Shigong Temple. Well, it won’t work, because I’ll kill that monster and show you that I can protect the village without you!”
With his pace quickened and his shoulders squared, Shao began walking in the direction of the divine beast. As he walked, his anger at Shen Jian began to lessen and be replaced by a mounting fear. This fear reached a fever pitch when he got close enough to see the divine beast.
The creature was a massive brown bull. It must have been more than fifteen cun from head to hind, and its horns were nearly ten cun off the ground. Though its body was a light brown color, its head and horns were much darker. As Shao got closer, he noticed that this coloring was the result of the glistening blood that was dripping from its head.
On the ground near the beast was the corpse of a black bear that was completely dwarfed by the gargantuan bull. The bear’s corpse was completely eviscerated, and many of its organs littered the ground. Ragged sinew hung from the bull’s mouth as it chewed on the bear’s raw meat.
Disgust tightened Shao’s expression as the abnormality of the scene struck him. Bulls were not supposed to eat meat, making Shao wonder what had gone wrong with this bull. Was that what happened when a cow was fed meat? Would the cow begin to crave blood and be strengthened by its unnatural diet?
Before Shao could think more on the nature of divine beasts, the brown bull spotted him. It let out a high-pitched cry of anger, causing the bear’s meat to fall from its mouth. Shao widened his stance to prevent himself from taking a step backward. He stood about fifty cun away from the brown bull, waiting to see what it would do next.
Shao had heard stories of people fighting giant bulls in the past. He knew that the back legs of a bull were immensely dangerous, and they could easily kill a person if they made contact. This is not to say that the front of the bull was any safer. If there was anything that bulls were famous for, it was their horns. Shao knew that the bull would probably charge him and attempt to gore his body on those blood-soaked horns. He also knew, however, that bulls had a difficult time turning after they started charging. All he had to do, he thought, was wait for the bull to charge, dodge out of the way, and use the opening to counter attack.
Predictably, the massive brown bull reared up on its hind legs, causing its head to ascend high up into the air. Shao prepared to dodge the bull’s attack, but its next move caught him off guard.
The bull’s hooves slammed to the ground, and its head came low, almost touching the grass beneath it. The divine beast’s muscles tightened and strained against its leathery skin. A half-second later, the brown bull threw all of its momentum into its neck, causing it to jerk its head forward like it was trying to buck off a rider.
For a moment, Shao was confused by the bull’s actions. The bull wouldn’t be able to reach him with its horns without charging forward. This confusion disappeared as Shao sensed a massive wave of flowing ki fly in his direction.
The bull’s attack was completely invisible, but Shao could perceive it based on its interaction with the world around it. In an instant, a massive trough was dug in the ground between him and the brown bull as its attack tore through the ground.
Though he couldn’t see the attack, Shao could feel its unstoppable power, and he knew that it was far too fast for him to dodge.