The next thing Shao knew, he was flying through the air. As he coasted through the air in a low arc for the second time that week, he was confused to find that he felt no pain. When the beam of invisible ki was flying toward him, he was absolutely certain that it would kill him. If he had been knocked off his feet by the attack, he should have been in more pain. Well, he thought, there was the possibility that his body was so damaged by the attack that he couldn’t even feel pain.

Shao crashed to the ground, and the pain of the impact informed him that he was still alive. He rolled several times before springing up to his feet and trying to orient himself relative to the bull. Strangely, he found that the bull was still a few dozen cun away from him. It was as if he had flown sidewise relative to the bull rather than backward.

Interposed between Shao and the massive brown bull was Shen Jian. The green-clad cultivator stared directly at the bull, causing it to emit a loud snort and back away several steps. The bull kept its head low with its horns pointed forward like a prey animal warning a more powerful predator that it would defend itself if attacked.

“Please forgive me, honorable cow, but I must call a brief ‘time-out’ on this battle. Once I finish giving some advice to my wayward student, you can go back to tearing his guts out.” Shen Jian delivered these words to the brown bull as it stared intently at the swordsman.

“Can it understand you?” Shao asked, confusion furrowing his brow. It was his understanding that divine beasts still had the minds of animals, but so much of his pre-existing knowledge had been disproven over the past few days that he had learnt to not trust those assumptions.

“Not as such, no,” Shen Jian responded with a smile.

Now that he had a moment to think about the past several seconds, Shao realized exactly what had happened. At a speed that Shao couldn’t perceive, Shen Jian had grabbed him by the arm and thrown him out of the way of the bull’s attack. He knew that Shen Jian must have grabbed him by the arm because one of his sleeves had been torn off.

Shao considered whether he should thank Shen Jian for saving his life or shout at him for making him fight the divine bull before the swordsman began to speak.

“What you just saw was a ki projection attack. You should, uh, probably make sure you don’t get hit by one of those. LianQi can’t use ki, so they have no chance of surviving a ki attack.”

“I could sense that when I saw the attack coming for me,” Shao mumbled. “So are you going to tell me how I’m supposed to kill this thing, or what? I don’t see how I’m supposed to kill a bull that can shoot death beams out of its horns.”

Shen Jian turned his back on the bull and turned his attention to the teenager. “Remember what I said about Zhouji and Jindan? A Zhouji’s control of ki is not automatic, meaning that they can only fortify parts of their body with purpose and intent.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Speak plainly,” Shao commanded in an attempt to hide his confusion.

“Applying that concept to the bull, we know that it will only use ki to fortify its body when it knows an attack is coming. If you can hit it when it’s looking elsewhere, it will be vulnerable to your attack.”

“Hit it with a sucker punch; that makes sense,” Shao said, nodding his head in understanding. “But how am I supposed to avoid that beam attack? I can’t rely on you to get me out of the way every time.”

“I’m impressed that you noticed. You’re smarter than you look, Yang Shao.”

“Thanks,” Shao answered sarcastically.

“Regarding how you can avoid the bull’s attacks, remember that it is still just a bull. Like any other animal, its behavior is entirely instinctual. The tactics that work against a normal bull will work against this divine beast. Attack it from the sides, avoid its horns, and try not to get kicked.”

Shao thought about complaining. He considered throwing oaths at the man who had put him in this impossible position, but he remembered what Gongsun Bolin told him hours before. Shen Jian was set to leave that day, which would leave Shao as the only protector of Bluecrest Village. He wouldn’t be able to rely on Shen Jian’s power to get him out of trouble the next time a powerful divine beast wandered near the village.

Instead, Shao began walking toward the massive brown bull with his iron staff pulled back in a fighting stance. He could hear as Shen Jian backed away from the fight, and his retreat gave the bull a renewed confidence. With blood still dripping from its sharpened horns, the bull stared daggers at Shao and dragged one hoof against the ground in a threatening gesture.

Once more, the bull reared back on its hind legs, bringing its horned skull high up into the air. This time, however, Shao immediately began sprinting laterally relative to the bull, taking him immediately out of the path of the bull’s beam attack.

The bull snorted in anger as it canceled its attack and fell lightly back onto its forelegs. Not even a divine bull could change the angle of its charge once it started.

Within seconds, Shao had reached the bull’s exposed flank. He grasped his iron staff firmly in both hands and brought it up to strike at the bull from above. Rage flared in the bull’s eyes as it looked back at Shao’s attack.

The iron staff came down upon the bull’s back and lightly tapped against its ki-enhanced flank. Simultaneously, Shao’s real attack came from below. With all of the force he could muster, Shao kicked upward at the bull’s ribs, striking vulnerable flesh.

Shao smiled viciously as he felt his kick connect with a sickening crack. He must have broken at least once of the bull’s ribs. When he pulled his foot away, mangled flesh adhered to his leg, and a diagonal line of bleeding meat had formed on the bull’s underside.

This moment of joy was cut short as the bull cried out loudly in rage and pain. In response to Shao’s attack, it pulled one of its rear legs up and kicked violently at the young cultivator’s midsection. Once again, he didn’t have time to dodge the bull’s attack completely, and he knew that Shen Jian would not save him this time.