Chapter 35: Mirage Lynx

Su Chen waited at the peak of the mountain for three days.

However, only Wild Beasts came in those three days. Not a single Vicious Beast appeared.

This made Su Chen wonder if the location that he had selected was too out of the way. Should he continue to head deeper?

But the deeper he went, the more dangerous it would be. There were many more Vicious Beasts within, but the danger was also greater. If he messed up, he could attract three to five Vicious Beasts all at once, and his life would be difficult to keep.

Success always favored those with diligence. Thus, it was best just to diligently wait.

This wait lasted for four more days.

The seventh evening.

Deep into the night, the wind was very cold.

Su Chen was sweetly sleeping at the peak of the mountain.

A lynx landed agilely on the cliff.

It prowled elegantly on the mountain, drawing ever close to the human, who was fast asleep. Its vividly green eyes stared at its target, exuding an unspeakable, sinister creepiness.

As it arrived behind its target, it lifted its front paw. Three sharp claws gleamed in the moonlight.

A barrier suddenly rose behind Su Chen and blocked the attack just as the claws were about to pierce through the back of his head. Su Chen hastily flipped around and the edge of a blade flashed through the night.

The lynx jumped up with a shriek, leaving behind multiple afterimages as it swiftly retreated with shocking speed. As the light from the blade brushed past its body, a vibrant, crimson splash appeared.

“Oowo!!” The lynx howled. It turned its body in the air and landed on the ground.

There was a shallow cut on its chest.

The strike had only nicked its skin.

“A Mirage Lynx?” Su Chen’s heart sank when he got a clearer glimpse of his attacker.

A Vicious Beast!

One had finally appeared.

Although he’d been looking forward to fighting a Vicious Beast, Su Chen was still inevitably nervous now that one had actually appeared.

The Mirage Lynx had mediocre close quarter combat skills, but it was terrifyingly fast and was a Vicious Beast that was very difficult to evade.

When the lynx saw that its ambush had failed and it had been the one injured instead, it was incensed.

It leered toothily at Su Chen and abruptly pounced towards Su Chen, flying through the air

Su Chen had long since anticipated this as he dashed away to the side, evading the lynx’s pounce. Mid-dash, the blade in his right hand cleaved downwards, but the lynx was so agile that it could actually switch directions in midair. It dodged Su Chen’s blow with a twist and slapped a paw onto the steel blade, diverting its motion off to the side.

The greatest difference between Vicious and Wild Beasts was that the former could use Origin Energy to strengthen themselves.

In terms of physical strength, the Mirage Lynx was one of the weakest Vicious Beasts. However, it was still unwise to underestimate it. Its claws were enough to contend against a steel blade and it moved so quickly that it made one’s hair stand on end. The Mirage Lynx obviously possessed a speed-related Origin Skill. It could create multiple afterimages of itself as it glided through the air, making it difficult to determine which was the true form. No wonder it was called the Mirage Lynx.

The lynx made use of the leverage that it had gained when slapping the steel blade away to dart through the air again. It elongated its body, making it difficult to guess where the true body was.

It appeared behind Su Chen in an instant and prepared to strike him from behind.

This strike was both swift and fierce. Su Chen had no time to dodge at all. Right before the claws slammed into Su Chen, the barrier suddenly appeared once again behind him, shining with a splendid radiance. The Mirage Lynx' strike slammed into the shield, resulting in psychedelic shimmers of light. Su Chen attempted to slash downwards with a backswing, but the lynx was prepared this time and was already into motion. The blade only struck an afterimage. Not a hair on the lynx was touched.

However, this narrow brush with injury provoked the lynx’s ferocious nature and enraged it.

It shrieked loudly and jumped up again as soon as it landed, its movements a bit faster than before.

When Su Chen saw this, he hastily used the Snaking Mist Steps to evade his opponent.

The Snaking Mist Steps was a technique of the Gu Clan, and Su Chen had practiced it to the peak of not possessing a bloodline. However, it was still noticeably lacking when compared with the lynx's speed. He was unable to dodge in time and the lynx’s claw connected with his left arm, the sharp claws leaving behind three deep, bloody gauges. It jumped away before Su Chen’s next blow had even arrived and then flew in for another pounce, aiming for Su Chen’s face. Once again, its speed was so fast that its figure blurred.

When Su Chen saw that the lynx was going for a fatal strike, a haze of light suddenly appeared at his feet.

Su Chen increased his speed in that very instant, turning into a beam of light and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding that claw.

He breathed out a long sigh of relief. He’d used the Cloud-Stepping Battle Boot's Origin Skill just now along with the Snaking Mist Steps, managing to barely avoid the lynx’s slash.

The lynx came at him again in the next moment, and Su Chen activated his Cloud Stepping Battle Boots once more along with the Snaking Mist Steps to keep pace with the lynx’s speed.

One human and one big cat traded strikes back and forth. Neither was able to gain the upper hand in ten rapid exchanges.

Su Chen had finally begun to understand how strong Vicious Beasts were. If it wasn’t for the Origin Tools that he was using, he would not have had the right to fight a Vicious Beast head on merely with the strength that he’d gained during his cultivation period.

However, the more his condition was such, the more he needed to temper himself.

Wasn't his original goal in coming here to face off against strong enemies and continually improving himself in battle?

Su Chen’s footwork became faster and more agile, the blade in his hand dancing so quickly that even the drops from a splash of water wouldn’t touch him.

However, the lynx’s speed was astonishingly fast. It kept blurring into afterimages in the air, making it difficult to see where its true body was.

Would he need to utilize the Black Streak Battle Blade or the Flaming Hunter Blunderbuss if he wanted to win?

No. The lynx was only a lower level Vicious Beast, an existence on the same level as Lin Xie.

If he had to use all his trump cards against a lower level Vicious Beast, what would he do when facing stronger Vicious Beasts?

Relying too much on Origin Tools would do away with the meaning of tempering himself anyways.

His speed was on par with the lynx and their strength were similar. These were the best conditions to do battle in. Only in this kind of a situation would he be tempered and enhanced the most!

When he thought of this, Su Chen gritted his teeth and continued fighting, desperately trying to capture a hint of the lynx’s movements.

The lynx continued to dart to and fro, leaving illusions of itself behind and making it so that the naked eye couldn’t capture its figure.

It was at this time that a strange light suddenly shone out of Su Chen’s eyes.

Time seemed to slow for him as movement in his surroundings appeared to slow as well.

The Mirage Lynx was no longer too fast to see and its figure began to sharpen in his eyes.

Su Chen could clearly see the path of its movement and could even see the its tail swaying as it glided through the air. He could see the whiskers at the edge of its lips and its sharp claws raking through the air, ripping through the void. He could see its grimacing face......

Whoosh!

The blade flashed by again, solidly connecting with the lynx’s tail.

Hiss! The Mirage Lynx emitted the most desolate wail it had since their battle had begun.

This blow was much heavier than the previous blow that Su Chen had landed.

“Still a bit too slow.” Su Chen was quite dissatisfied.

Although his eyes could catch traces of the lynx’s movement, his own movement speed hadn't been heightened. The blow that was aimed at its head ended up landing on its tail instead.

But that was fine. His next blow would be a bit more accurate.

Su Chen hacked in its direction again.

The lynx jumped up in evasion, once again drawing out a long string of afterimages.

Su Chen once again accurately pinned down its location and hacked, anticipating the path that the lynx would take. The Mirage Lynx was simply too fast and couldn’t reduce its speed even if it wanted to. The injury to its tail also prevented it from changing direction in midair, and thus it crashed directly onto Su Chen’s blade.

“Oowo!!” The Mirage Lynx screamed raspily, a deep wound on its head.

Su Chen hurled a firm and powerful Flaming Tiger Fist at the lynx’s relatively soft abdomen before it had time to react. The lynx's vision went dark upon impact. Su Chen then hacked down with his blade again, dazing the lynx with a barrage of fierce attacks. Even with this Vicious Beast’s tough skin and flesh, it couldn’t withstand the constant damage and fell down in a bloody pool, never to stagger to its feet again.

“Why don’t you try jumping around now?” Su Chen pointed his blade at the lynx and spoke coolly.

The lynx quirked its lips in a final grimace.

The blade fell.