38: Chapter 38 Lu Jinghan vs. Black Iron Bear

"Senior Brother, let's go together!" Qin Muchuan gripped his longsword, ready to charge forward.

"Step back." Lu Jinghan raised his hand to stop him, his voice steady.

"You all move further back; I will deal with this bear."

Qin Muchuan was stunned and was about to speak, but was held back by Zhou Tianchen.

"Listen to Senior Brother." Zhou Tianchen's expression was grave as he pulled Qin Muchuan back several yards.

After all, this is a Nascent Soul Mid Stage, and if they went up, they would only distract Lu Jinghan.

Su Fuguang also retreated to the side, his gaze fixed tightly on the battlefield, ready to provide support at any moment.

Seeing that the prey had decreased by three, the Black Iron Bear did not care; its pair of blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Lu Jinghan, and it let out a low growl.

It sensed the Aura of the human before it, which was much stronger than the other three, but that was all.

In its eyes, a human at the Early Nascent Soul Stage was nothing more than a slightly harder bone to chew.

"Roar—!"

The Black Iron Bear roared at the sky, the sound waves causing the bamboo leaves to fly everywhere.

Immediately after, it planted its four limbs on the ground and charged fiercely toward Lu Jinghan like a moving mountain.

With every step it took, the ground trembled.

Lu Jinghan's gaze narrowed as he channeled his spiritual power to its full extent.

He did not retreat; instead, he charged forward to meet the Black Iron Bear.

The Jinghan Sword left its sheath, and a cold light suddenly appeared.

"Frost Condensation!"

Lu Jinghan let out a low shout, and the Jinghan Sword traced a mysterious arc in the air.

In an instant, with him as the center, the temperature within a ten-yard radius plummeted.

Layers of ice crystals condensed out of thin air, covering the ground, the Purple Bamboo, and the air in a layer of white frost.

As the Black Iron Bear charged into the range of the ice crystals, its speed slowed down visibly to the naked eye.

Its limbs, torso, and even eyelashes were covered in frost, and its movements became sluggish and stiff.

"Good!" Qin Muchuan couldn't help but cheer.

However, the Black Iron Bear simply shook its body violently, and those ice crystals shattered one after another, turning into ice shards that filled the sky.

Its fur was too thick; the frost couldn't freeze through it at all.

Lu Jinghan frowned slightly and swung the Jinghan Sword in his hand again.

"Jinghan Sword Strike!"

A sword light suddenly erupted, and an ice-blue Sword Qi, condensed to the extreme, tore through the air and struck directly at the Black Iron Bear's chest.

"Clang—!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out, and only a shallow white mark was left on the Black Iron Bear's fur.

Lu Jinghan's expression darkened.

The defense of this Black Iron Bear was even more terrifying than he had anticipated.

Against an ordinary Yao Beast at the Nascent Soul Mid Stage, even if this sword strike couldn't cause heavy damage, it should have at least broken through its defense.

Yet, against this Black Iron Bear before him, it only left a white mark.

The Black Iron Bear was enraged by this sword strike; it let out a roar, raised its huge front paw, and slammed it down fiercely toward Lu Jinghan.

The wind from the paw whistled, carrying a foul, bloody stench.

Lu Jinghan's figure darted away like lightning, barely dodging it.

The Black Iron Bear's front paw slammed into the ground, sending mud flying, and a pit several feet deep was smashed into the ground.

"Senior Brother, be careful!" Su Fuguang shouted loudly.

The Black Iron Bear missed its strike, turned around, and swung another paw.

Lu Jinghan dodged again, his figure weaving through the bamboo forest while the Jinghan Sword swung out repeatedly.

Streaks of ice-blue Sword Qi struck the Black Iron Bear, producing clanging sounds.

But those Sword Qi could not break through the Black Iron Bear's defense at all.

Qin Muchuan watched with burning anxiety and couldn't help but want to rush up to help.

Zhou Tianchen pressed down on his shoulder and said in a low voice: "Don't move; Senior Brother hasn't used his full strength yet."

Qin Muchuan was stunned and looked toward the battlefield.

Lu Jinghan suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed tightly on the Black Iron Bear.

He was observing, searching for the beast's weakness.

In his previous life, he had seen Black Iron Bears and had also killed them.

The weakness of those Black Iron Bears was in the abdomen, where the fur was thinnest.

Yet this Black Iron Bear before him was larger than any he had seen in his previous life, and its Aura was even more ferocious.

The Black Iron Bear seemed to have sensed Lu Jinghan's intention and no longer gave him the opportunity to observe.

It stomped its four hooves on the ground and charged at Lu Jinghan once again.

This time, its speed was faster and its power was greater.

Lu Jinghan did not retreat; he stood his ground, his gaze fixed tightly on the Black Iron Bear.

Ten yards.

Five yards.

Three yards.

Just as the Black Iron Bear was about to collide with him, Lu Jinghan moved.

He lowered his body and slid underneath the Black Iron Bear's abdomen.

At the same time, the Jinghan Sword slashed upward, its edge cutting across the Black Iron Bear's abdomen.

"Sshhh!"

This time, there was no sound of metal clashing, only the sound of a sharp blade cutting through skin and flesh.

The Black Iron Bear let out a miserable shriek, its huge body trembling violently, and it nearly collapsed to the ground.

A three-foot-long gash had been cut into its abdomen by the Jinghan Sword, and blood gushed out.

"The weakness is in the abdomen!" Qin Muchuan shouted excitedly.

Su Fuguang also breathed a sigh of relief, a flash of admiration appearing in his eyes.

Senior Brother is indeed amazing; he found the beast's weakness so quickly.

However, the Black Iron Bear only stumbled a few steps before steadying itself.

It turned around, its blood-red eyes staring fixedly at Lu Jinghan, the ferocious light in them even more intense than before.

The wound on its abdomen was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"This beast can even self-heal!" Zhou Tianchen's expression darkened.

Lu Jinghan also noticed this, his brows knitting tightly.

This Black Iron Bear was even more troublesome than he had imagined.

Its defense far exceeded that of an ordinary Black Iron Bear, and it also had self-healing capabilities.

This was definitely not an ordinary Black Iron Bear, but rather one that had awakened some kind of Bloodline and become a variant.

Lu Jinghan took a deep breath, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He gripped the Jinghan Sword, and the spiritual power within his body began to circulate in a mysterious trajectory.

Time Mark Sword Art, First Form—Late Twilight.

Lu Jinghan closed his eyes, no longer looking at the Black Iron Bear.

His Divine Sense was fully released, reflecting every movement of the Black Iron Bear in his mind.

Seeing Lu Jinghan close his eyes, the Black Iron Bear thought he had given up resistance and roared as it charged over fiercely.

Its huge body was like a moving mountain, carrying an Aura that could destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

The three of them, Qin Muchuan, Su Fuguang, and Zhou Tianchen, held their breath.

They could feel that something was brewing in Lu Jinghan.

It was an indescribable feeling, as if the flow of time had become slow.

Lu Jinghan suddenly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, a silver light was faintly flowing.

That was the power of time.

"Late Twilight!"

Lu Jinghan let out a low shout and swung the Jinghan Sword.

This sword strike had no Sword Qi and no sword light.

Yet, this seemingly unremarkable sword strike made the Black Iron Bear stiffen all over.

It sensed the Aura of death.

The edge of the Jinghan Sword gently grazed the Black Iron Bear's abdomen.

The Black Iron Bear just stood stiffly in place, unmoving.

Three breaths later, its fur began to turn grayish-white and lost its luster.

Five breaths later, its muscles began to atrophy, and its bones began to become brittle.

Ten breaths later, this three-yard-tall behemoth collapsed to the ground with a boom.

The moment its body fell, it turned into a pile of grayish-white powder and drifted away with the wind.

In its place, only a pile of powder remained, with some bits of flesh that had not yet completely decayed.

Qin Muchuan's eyes widened, and Su Fuguang gasped, his eyes full of shock.

Zhou Tianchen's pupils also constricted, staring fixedly at that pile of grayish-white powder.

A single sword strike killed a Nascent Soul Mid Stage Black Iron Bear variant!

What kind of sword technique was this? What kind of power was this?

The three of them looked at Lu Jinghan simultaneously, only then realizing that his face was as pale as paper and his body was swaying unsteadily.

"Senior Brother!" Qin Muchuan was the first to rush up and support Lu Jinghan.

Zhou Tianchen also stepped forward quickly, took out a Medicinal Pill from his bosom, and handed it to Lu Jinghan's lips.

"This is a Spirit Pill for energy recovery; it can quickly restore spiritual power."

Lu Jinghan opened his mouth to swallow the Medicinal Pill, closed his eyes, and began to regulate his breath.

A moment later, his complexion improved slightly.

"What a powerful sword technique." Su Fuguang sighed in a low voice.

Lu Jinghan opened his eyes and shook his head: "This sword technique consumes too much; it cannot be used easily unless it is a last resort."

Zhou Tianchen nodded, but his heart was surging with turbulent waves.

Although he did not cultivate the sword Dao, he could tell that the sword strike just now was definitely not an ordinary one.

Lu Jinghan stood up, walked to the pile of powder that the Black Iron Bear had turned into, and crouched down to search carefully.

A moment later, he picked up a dark golden Yao Beast core from the powder, about the size of an egg, emitting a faint spiritual light.

"A Nascent Soul Mid Stage Yao Beast core; it is worth quite a lot of money."

He put away the Yao Beast core and took another look at the dense Purple Bamboo Forest.

"Let's go." Lu Jinghan stepped forward and walked toward the Purple Bamboo Forest.

"The heart-cleansing bamboo is inside."