The she-bear let out a fierce roar at Henry and the Tai cultivator. Henry had never witnessed such a technique, though his experience with techniques was limited. His thoughts drifted to the possibility of merging with other animals. Could someone merge with a dragon? Who indeed controlled the body—the beast or the human?

  The Tai cultivator cleared his throat, bringing Henry back to reality. The man introduced himself as Yung Tai and mentioned he was the sixth son of the Tai family. They exchanged a brief handshake, an action that puzzled the clan cultivator, but he chose to go along with it regardless.

  “We must act decisively. Brother Hen Ri, beast cultivators cannot sustain their fusion for long. If we endure her initial onslaught, we may have a chance of surviving until her technique expires."

  This guy, no matter how he looked, really knew his stuff. Sure, he might have had it all wrong during their first encounter, but Henry couldn’t help but feel slightly offended about his lack of confidence. And what was all this talk about surviving? Everyone knows dragons don’t just survive; they conquer!

  “Don’t sweat it, big guy; we got this. Just follow my lead,” Henry said jovially.

  “Hey, you old folks, what’s the chatter about? Let’s fight," the girl exclaimed, clapping her hands before jumping at the two of them.

  She was swifter than the maids, and even Henry realized this as he rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a paw swipe that could have decapitated him. The force of the attack displaced the air and uprooted a nearby tree. Yung Tai plunged his sword into the spot Henry had been, aiming at the beast girl. Although Yung aimed carefully, she was too agile. She evaded him and then lunged back at him. He blocked her blow with the flat of his sword but was sent crashing into a tree, which shattered on impact.

  This girl was a force of nature. He was trying to fight her with a scalpel when he needed a sledgehammer. He charged her with a flurry of fists. She tanked them just like he expected; he tried to inject his ki into her meridians and found that he couldn’t. This girl had shifted ki points that Henry’s ki could not pinpoint. It was like there were two sets of points in her body that were in constant flux.

  “Oh, I see what you're up to, sneaky boy. My little spies have told me all about it. I think you should reconsider trying that ki disruption of yours.”

  She slapped Henry, sending him flying to where Yung Tai lay.

  “Ok, this chick is pretty tough; you seem knowledgeable. Do you have any plans?” Henry said as he spat a glob of blood out of his mouth.

  “I'm not sure how poultry relates to our issue, but we require a different strategy than simply confronting her,” Yung remarked wisely.

  The bear girl charged at them again, forcing both men to scramble to avoid her. She slammed her powerful paws into the ground, unleashing a seismic wave of rocks that hurtled toward Henry and Yung. Henry narrowly dodged some, but one struck his arm, shattering his forearm painfully. Yung Tai fared much worse as a massive rock smashed directly into one of his eyes, leaving him in grave danger.

  The beast girl was breathing heavily now. She hadn’t taken any damage from either cultivator, yet she was hunched over, dripping in sweat. She lifted her head, her eyes emblazoned with madness.

  “Not much time left, gonna eat you two, gonna tear your limb from limb,” she snarled.

  Henry did the only thing that he could think of in a situation like this. He jumped over to where Yung Tai was lying, threw the man over his shoulder, and dashed into the forest.

  “Fuck that. I’m not fighting that crazy ass broad,” Henry said to Yung Tai.

  Yung groaned in agreement as he chugged an elixir and ripped the rock out of his eye.

  Henry heard the girl barreling through the forest behind him. She was gaining quickly, so he launched his rings into the trees, toppling them to slow her down.

  She barreled through them effortlessly, hurling wood pieces at Henry as she advanced.

  Henry’s legs were burning. Not only was he carrying Yung Tai, but he had taken quite a bit of damage from the little girl. He could feel her breathing down his neck; she was so close. He saw a break in the trees and pushed through with the last of his strength.

  Mui was in combat with a big, burly cultivator in the clearing. He kept the giant man at bay with a slash of his blade, dancing gracefully away from his opponent’s double-headed battle ax. They both paused from their fight to stare at Henry.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “What the fuck is going on? Is this an ambush?” the burly cultivator said.

  “She’s on her way, you fools. Prepare for a battle," Henry shouted to the two fighters.

  Right on cue, the bear girl burst into the clearing, howling and thrashing wildly against the sky.

  “Brother Hen Ri, what is that thing?” Mui asked, edging toward Henry, blade still raised in a ready position.

  “That is a werebeast of Clan Ing. Why did you fools bring that thing here?” the burly cultivator asked.

  “She’s out to eat us, man; what do you want me to do?" Henry remarked, pointing at the girl.

  The girl gazed hungrily at the four cultivators, her bestial expression lacking all sanity and reason.

  “Brother Hen Ri, I'm delighted to see you! But may I ask why you've brought this creature here?” Mui said, turning to the bear girl, his sword aimed at her face.

  Yung Tai hopped off of Henry’s shoulder and also drew his sword.

  The burly man gripped his battle axe tight before nodding at Mui.

  “Truce?” the burly man asked.

  “Truce,” Mui said as he nodded his head in agreement.

  The four cultivators charged at the bear girl, who roared her challenge back at them.

  Henry threw his rings at the bear girl's head from different angles. At the same time, the muscular cultivator swung his axe, sending a flurry of icicles flying toward her.

  She ducked Henry’s rings deftly but was hit square in the chest by the icicles. Two swords plunged into her sides as she backhanded Mui, sending the cultivator sprawling.

  Mui spat blood out of his mouth as he flicked his finger in the air. His sword ripped from the girl's side before flying back into his hand.

  The girl howled in rage as Yung Tai took his chance and drove his blade into her eye. The portly cultivator was ruthless as he twisted the blade, tearing her eye socket open. The bear girl screams and backs away. She plucks the mishappen eye out and looks at it briefly before eating it.

  She stumbles back from the cultivator, gasping and releasing thick, acrid smoke. Blood seeps from the wounds on her body as her breaths quicken. As she collapses to her knees, more smoke escapes her. Her laugh echoes with a haunting anguish.

  “Hehe, I did my job, idiots. Bye-bye now,” she said, laughing that crazy laugh again.

  A bright light emanated from her chest. The head of a bear looked out before pulling itself fully out. It grabbed the now unconscious body of the girl and threw it over its back before bolting for the forest.

  The cultivators stood there in stunned silence, just trying to process everything.

  Henry was puzzled by the girl's remark. He recognized that haters existed, but could it be possible that someone had directed her to target him specifically?

  He was jolted from his thoughts when an axe whizzed toward his head. It was so swift that he could barely register its movement. Just before it could sever his head, a plump cultivator intervened.

  Henry threw his rings at the robust cultivator, walloping him. However, instead of bones cracking, the impact resonated like ice breaking. The man appeared to be an ice clone of the original.

  “Behind you, Brother Hen Ri,” Mui screamed from the floor.

  Another torrent of icicles rushed at Henry, but with Mui’s warning, he could send out his water threads to form a shield that absorbed most of the impact. However, the sheer number of icicles still sent him flying backward.

  “Hold on, hold on! Why are we even fighting? There are ten spots available, and I only see four of us here,” Henry said, raising his hands in a calming gesture.

  "While taking down the Scion of the North would be an honor, we are all wounded and vulnerable alone. Consider this: do you truly believe you can make it to the end by yourself?"

  Henry thought, "Man, Young Tai hit the nail on the head." The guy with the axe seemed to agree as he lowered his weapon.

  "What if I don’t take down this inflated Northern fool? Will you all make sure I escape from here?" the axe wielder inquired as he retrieved an elixir and drank from it.

  Henry walked over to Mui and helped him up. The guy was battered and bruised. Henry pulled one of the elixirs that Gram Gram had given him before the start of the tournament. He also grabbed three gold coins out of his stash of one hundred that he made betting on himself. He recharged his batteries and downed the elixir.

  His wounds gradually mend as the elixir's potent blend of beast and plant ki accelerates his healing. While it won't resolve critical injuries, it will sustain him until he can see a healer.

  “I'm fine with that if these boys are okay, but I'm still wondering how we can determine how many are left before we meet the quota?"

  All the cultivators pointed up at the sky, which Henry could finally see now in a treeless clearing—in the air hung a blood number forty-five.

  According to Henry, they have spent less than an hour in this location, and half of the cultivators present have already been eliminated. They must recover, regroup, and devise a more effective plan of attack.

  Henry had to be in the top ten and ensure his supposed “teammates” didn’t stab him in the back.

  That was when the four cultivators heard a bloodcurdling scream echo through the forest, and the forty-five dropped to thirty-five.

  The clock was ticking. Someone was cleaning house and fast.

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