Demonic beasts weren't idiots, the stronger they were the smarter they would be. As such, Huang Ying was certain that this dog-like Demonic beast could understand his words and intent. The beast's growling intensified after Huang Ying spoke up and stepped into the clearer, growing louder with each step that Huang Ying took closer.
By the time he had taken the third step forward the beast that resembled a winged rottweiler stood up, its fur bristling while its growling had practically turned into a roar. But even so, Huang Ying didn't halt his steps and continued to walk forward, his hands held up to his shoulders with his palms facing the beast. The four dragonfly-like wings on the back of the beast suddenly trembled slightly when Huang Ying was only seven steps away from the beast, a warning from Li Jun swiftly echoing out in his mind.
"Take two steps back!"
Huang Ying didn't follow Li Jun's advice, choosing to crouch down and bend forward so far that he looked like an animal standing on all fours. A strong gust of wind blew over the area where his chest had just been and grazed his back slightly, a shallow cut appearing on the lower part of his back.
Taking two steps back wouldn't have been enough to dodge the attack, it would have only weakened it to the point of making the wound a bit shallower, this was why Huang Ying chose to dodge as he did. He raised his head slightly while still remaining on all fours, his slight grin turning ferocious and excited.
"Alright, but don't forget that you're the one that started this."
His arms and legs exerted force and he shot forward like a sprinter, running on all fours for two steps before straightening his body up into a normal sprint. Three more steps were crossed in an instance, Huang Ying drawing forth his two blades just as the wings of the beast trembled once more, another warning sounding out from Li Jun.
"Up, go up!"
This time Huang Ying followed the warning, a bit of wind surging around his legs as he stepped into the air and created just enough wind beneath his legs to run a few steps through the air. Another gust of wind whistled through the air beneath him just as he ran through the air, leaving a cut on the right leg of his pants.
The last two steps between him and the beast were crossed with Huang Ying running through the air, allowing him to reach the back of the beast. His gaze locked onto the two sets of wings as he used a gust of wind to push himself downward, grabbing the two blades as if they were stakes that he was trying to stab into the base of the beast's wings.
"Are these what allow you to mess with the wind like that? But hey, that's a pretty neat idea, thanks for that!"
Huang Ying had spent some time in the academy by now, but most of his time was spent learning more about actual cultivation and broadening his horizon, he had yet to study any ways to actually utilize his elements of wind and earth. So seeing this dog-like beast compress the wind until it was the thickness of a needle tip and sending it forth like a sharp blade, he managed to learn a little.
His two blades pierced forward towards the base of the upper pair of wings on the back of the beast, but there was no way it would let him attack it so easily. The wing closest to Huang Ying moved like a blur, slamming directly into his chest and neck, actually making him feel like he was hit by a large hammer. The wings looked thin and fragile, but as they were part of a Demonic beast there was no way they would be that weak.
But as his body was pushed aside by the wing and was about to be launched down to the ground, he quickly assembled his spear underneath the wing and stabbed one end into the base of the wing. The handle of his spear pressed against his chest and the other speartip sliced into the top of his shoulder, but the other end managed to stab rather deeply into the flesh of the beast.
His body was then naturally pushed downward thanks to the wing, serving as a fulcrum that pushed the other end of the spear upwards. The entire wing was completely uprooted just as Huang Ying was smashed into the ground, the Demonic beast letting out a pained howl while also smashing out with one of its front paws.
Huang Ying was smashed aside by the paw just as he crashed into the ground, the handle of his spear just barely protecting him from the sharp claws of the beast. He spat out a large mouthful of blood as he flew back, his chest screaming in pain due to the attack while his shoulder was aching due to the fact that his spear had cut him while he uprooted the wing of the beast.
He hit the lake and bounced off it like a skipping stone, crashing back first into a tree on the other side of the small lake. Just as he crashed into the tree, the dog-like monster arrived in front of him and opened its large maw to bite down on him. Now Huang Ying truly understood why they said that Demonic beasts were stronger than cultivators of the same rank, this power and speed were far above what this beast should have considering what realm it had reached.
The jaws clamped shut around Huang Ying, who was able to just barely disassemble his spear and place the two blades vertically in the maw of the beast. One blade pointed down and the other pointed up, the beast biting straight down on them and driving them deep into its flesh. But contrary to what Huang Ying had expected, the beast didn't open its jaws in response, it actually bit down even harder, several of its long fangs piercing into his flesh.
His legs, shoulders, arms, and even his abdomen and chest were slowly pierced into, a mad glint flashing in the eyes of the beast. The taste of blood started to flood Huang Ying's mouth, a sigh from Li Jun distantly echoing inside his mind. But as the fangs started to pierce deeper and deeper into his flesh, Huang Ying felt like the sound of the outside world was getting further away, an indistinct whispering ringing out incessantly within his head.
What he didn't know was that his left pupil actually shrank slightly the moment the whispering started to ring out within his head. Another pupil formed next to his own, this one the same crimson as the eyes that dotted his law of devouring when he brought it out. The Demonic beast froze slightly when its gaze met Haung Ying's now two-pupilled left eye, its mouth opening slightly in what seemed to be fear.
Huang Ying was not one to let a chance like this slip him, exerting as much force as he could with his arms and pushing open the maw of the beast. He spun his body the moment the fangs left his flesh, actually positioning his own head within the maw of the beast, his face resting against the wet and warm tongue of the monster.
He opened his mouth and bit down on the tongue with all his might, sludge-like darkness covered in maws and eyes welling out of his mouth and covering the entire tongue. He pulled back his head and tore out a small chunk of the tongue, the Demonic beast swiftly spitting Huang Ying out and using some wind to push him away.
But as he flew backward, the sludge-like darkness remained connected to him and actually tore out the entire tongue of the beast. It was as if the law of devouring served as an extension of his own mouth, copying his action of tearing out a chunk of the beast's tongue with his teeth.
Huang Ying flew back a bit while the beast let out a distorted howl in pain, his body quickly landing on the ground and rolling around for a bit before he managed to correct his position. He was still chewing on the tough tongue as he corrected his stance, blood dripping out of his mouth and from all the wounds across his body. The second pupil within his left eye swam around aimlessly, the sludge-like darkness that stretched out from him quickly eating up the entire tongue of the beast.
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The wounds on his body stopped bleeding and slowly started to close up as the tongue was devoured, his law of devouring using the resulting energy to repair his body, pushing him to continue fighting. The beast finished howling and spat out the two parts of Huang Ying's spear, its eyes starting to flood with crimson as it turned its gaze onto Huang Ying and growled deeply.
The beast slowly took several heavy steps forward, but it was Huang Ying who made the first move this time. He ignored his regenerating wounds and dashed forward with a bloody grin on his face, crossing the distance between him and the beast in no time. The remaining three wings of the beast trembled fiercely when Huang Ying reached its front, several sharp gusts of wind blowing directly at him. The beast also lunged forward at the same time, opening its maw in an attempt to crush Huang Ying's upper body with its jaws.
But Huang Ying threw himself down just as the beast was about to reach him, sliding underneath its head and body. He had the earth beneath him move forward and pull him along to assist him in the smoothness of his slide, quickly sliding underneath the entire body of the beast and reaching its rear. He raised his arms just as he slid beneath the back legs of the beast, grabbing onto its testicles and giving them a heavy squeeze, crushing them within his palms.
He decided to test out what he had just seen at the same time, wind gathering just behind his hands and getting compressed into five needle-thin blades that shot forward. Three of the blades disperse before they reached the testicles, one dispersed when it clashed with the testicles, but the fifth one managed to cut a deep wound into the testicles, nearly severing them completely.
The beast howled in excruciating pain and Huang Ying's law of devouring flooded out of his hands and surrounded the testicles as he slid out from underneath the beast's body. The testicles vanished and he gave the earth a tap with his right hand, two tilted pillars of earth erupting from beneath the two parts of his spear and launching them both into the air and towards him.
He then pushed himself up off the ground and kicked off, boosting his jump with the power of his wind and launching himself up above the beast. He grabbed onto the two parts of his weapon and assembled his spear, giving his body a slight twist to angle one of the speartips downward in a diagonal angle. A gust of wind blew down on him and pushed him down, his speartip aimed at the position of where the beast's heart should be.
The beast continued to howl in pain but still unleashed several attacks, its wings trembling fiercely and unleashing several sharp blades of wind. Huang Ying's bloody grin still hung on his face as he ignored the blades of wind, only altering the position of his spear so that the handle was covering his throat and face.
Several deep cuts appeared on his body and splashed forth blood that stained both him and the beast beneath him. But the pain didn't even register in Huang Ying's mind, an incomparable excitement and hunger flooded his entire being and pushed aside everything else.
He landed on the back of the beast and stabbed his spear deep into its flesh, pushing it as deep as his strength allowed him. But the body of the beast was too tough so he became unable to push it further before he even pushed half the spear in. But Huang Ying remained undeterred, he immediately disassembled his spear and raised his right arm, a layer of solid earth covering his fist.
He slammed down his fist onto the butt of the blade that was stabbed into the beast, pushing it further into its body. The beast roared in agony and created several more blades of winds, unable to reach Huang Ying with its wings because he was right on its back this time. The blades once again left several cuts on his body, but he simply raised his right arm again and brought his fist down onto the butt of his blade, piercing it even deeper into the beast.
He used his fist like a hammer and drove the blade into the back of the beast, a loud crunching sound echoing forth each time he pounded the blade and drove it through whatever bones blocked him from reaching the beast's heart. And upon the sixth hit, the beast let out one last mournful howl that was swiftly cut short as its heart was pierced and it collapsed dead to the ground. Huang Ying rolled off the back of the beast as it collapsed, laughing loudly.
"HAHAHA, I WIN!"
He was lying on his back and blood was pouring from the large wounds on his body, but none of that was able to stop his laughter. This was his most difficult and most dangerous fight yet, and not once had he felt more alive than he did right now. He had gotten far stronger than he used to be, strong enough to proudly stand on his feet and follow his beliefs, his victory here was a sign of that.
His shadow started to stretch out and turn into sludge-like darkness covered in eyes and maws that bubbled up into unstable tentacles that latched onto the body of the beast. More and more tentacles latched onto the beast, Huang Ying's left eye returning to normal as the body of the beast was eaten away at and the energy within it used to heal his wounds.
He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up into a standing position once his wounds had healed somewhat. He walked over to the corpse that was still getting eaten, pulling out the half of his spear that was stabbed into it and placing it back into its holster on his waist. He then picked up the other part and did the same, his head moving as he surveyed his surroundings. Li Jun, who had remained silent after giving his second warning, spoke up at this time.
"There's nothing else in the area, every other beast was too scared by the sounds of battle and have thus fled the area. You should have about half an hour or so of time to rest before any beast will dare come here to check the situation."
Huang Ying gave a slight nod of his head, but his gaze turned towards a tree that was about 12 meters to his left. He walked towards the tree with slow steps, his sludge-like shadow dragging the corpse of the beast behind him. It didn't take long for him to reach the tree and peek around it, his gaze landing on the thing that he had spotted in his perception.
Located on the ground behind the tree was an apple-sized sparrow that seemed like no more than a child, its right wing broken and bent at a highly unnatural angle. Looking at the state of the wing, it might have already been broken for a few days, it had already started to heal in this unnatural angle.
The sparrow's back was covered in brown feathers, its stomach in deep blue feathers, and it had three white stripes separated by brown stripes on top of its head. If it weren't for the thin red veins that ran across its entire body, Huang Ying might have thought that this was a normal white-crowned sparrow. As his gaze landed on it, Li Jun's voice echoed out within Huang Ying's mind.
"Oh, you actually noticed this little thing? You've got nothing to worry about, it can only barely be considered a Demonic beast. It seems too young to be on its own so it was probably abandoned by its parents during the battle, most likely due to its broken right wing, it would be too much of a burden to bring along as they fled. There's no point in bothering with it, but if you feel for it then I suggest putting it out of its misery. With how that wing is broken, it will never fly again and will crawl around until it gets eaten or starves to death."
Li Jun plainly laid out all the facts, guessing correctly that Huang Ying had noticed this bird after sensing the very faint energy it radiated due to being a Demonic Beast. But contrary to what he thought, Huang Ying didn't move after getting the facts stated to him, he simply tilted his head slightly while looking at the sparrow, a slight glimmer passing through his eyes.
He lowered his body and crouched at the side of the tree, his right hand reaching for the sparrow, who was cawing incessantly while flapping its still functional left wing. When his finger was right in front of the head of it, the sparrow actually gave a violent jerk of its head and pecked Huang Ying's finger. It hopped forward and continued to peck at his finger in an attempt to chase him away or at least leave a mark on his finger.
It knew that Huang Ying was far stronger than it, but since it was already pushed into a corner like this it might as well do its best to piss him off before it was killed. Huang Ying pulled back his arm and looked at his unharmed finger, glancing at the seemingly indignant sparrow as a small curve appeared on the corners of his mouth.
He reached behind him and used one of his blades to cut off a piece of meat from the corpse of the dog-like beast. He then cut the meat into several smaller grape-sized pieces and tossed them to the bird, who looked at the meat suspiciously. Huang Ying didn't bother with its suspicion, tossing it a few more pieces of meat while talking.
"Broken and abandoned but refusing to give up and determined to keep fighting, you really remind me of myself. What do you say, little fellow, wanna tag along with me?"
The sparrow moved its gaze between the pieces of meat and Huang Ying a few times, seemingly trying to understand exactly what his agenda was. But after it was unable to find anything but sincerity, it warily pecked at the closest piece of meat, quickly pulling its head back in case Huang Ying did anything. But he didn't make a single move, simply watching it with a soft smile as his own wounds were regenerating while the dog-like beast was being devoured. The sparrow then pecked the chunks of meat several more times and greedily devoured them, flapping its left wing in acceptance and agreement, the two broken and abandoned beings joining together.