C16 Life and Death

Laojiu emerged unscathed, and upon regaining consciousness, his senses swiftly returned. The Celestial Dragon Guidance, a formidable cultivation technique, enabled his body to recuperate rapidly once the Origin Energy flowed through him. In the time it took to sip a pot of tea, the parched feeling in his mind began to fade.

He scrutinized the Water Shadow Beast in the pond briefly before resolving to return to his prime before facing this formidable adversary again.

A mealtime later, Laojiu was back on his feet.

"Senior Brother, did Master leave behind any Peerless Divine Weapons? This Dragon Trapping Staff is merely standard issue, and it lacks the power to make a dent in that creature."

Laojiu felt disheartened. The primary advantage of the Dragon Trapping Staff was its force, yet this seemed ineffective against the Water Shadow Beast. He was in search of a sharper weapon to counter it.

"There are no sharp weapons! I've said before, Master didn't rely on weapons, yet he still reigned supreme. It's really about perfecting your technique. If you master the Stacking Wave Staff Technique to the fifth wave, you could take it down with one blow," Patriarch Lieshan advised, emphasizing the importance of self-strength over reliance on weapons.

"How am I supposed to fight it then? This feels like a losing battle," Laojiu lamented, feeling the sting of frustration.

"Who asked you to kill it? If you did, how would your Primordial Spirit advance?" Patriarch Lieshan retorted.

"Senior Brother, are you taking its side? Even armed with a Peerless Divine Weapon, I doubt I could kill it. I'd be lucky to defend myself."

"Save your breath. The longer you wait, the tougher it gets," Patriarch Lieshan timely reminded him, noting the creature in the pool was steadily regaining strength.

With no alternatives, Laojiu gripped the Dragon Trapping Staff and charged at the Water Shadow Beast once more. Though the weapon was of little use, it bolstered his courage.

Laojiu launched himself with great speed, but the Primordial Spirit Attack from the Water Shadow Beast matched his pace. As they closed in on each other, Laojiu's head began to throb as if a giant bell tolled within, leaving him reeling. Stars swirled chaotically around him, and his body once again teetered on the brink of collapse.

"Kid, hang in there! Don't go down!"

Patriarch Lieshan called out with all his might, sensing that Laojiu was making progress. The onslaught was more intense than before; previously, Laojiu would have been down for the count.

"I won't fall, I won't fall. I can withstand it."

Laojiu instinctively replied to his senior brother's call, his body retreating uncontrollably. In a flash, he found himself over sixty feet from the Water Shadow Beast.

"Ah, finally a bit of relief."

Laojiu exhaled deeply, realizing that the effective range of the Water Shadow Beast's Primordial Spirit Attack was around sixty feet. Beyond that, the potency of the attack waned significantly. The catch was that the creature didn't pursue him.

"Take a short break, then try again."

Lieshan was rather pleased with Laojiu's performance. With the Water Shadow Beast reluctant to leave its pool, it was an opportune moment for Laojiu to capitalize on the situation. As long as he kept improving, his Primordial Spirit was bound to emerge triumphantly.

Once he regained his composure, Laojiu launched another assault on the Water Shadow Beast. Each attempt was excruciating, pushing him to the brink of collapse until Patriarch Lieshan's timely reminders prompted him to withdraw to safety.

Laojiu had assumed he could keep up this strategy indefinitely, but after the fifth or sixth attempt, the Water Shadow Beast grew tired of the game and started to give chase.

"Damn, has this guy fully recovered?"

Laojiu cursed as he sprinted, desperately increasing the distance between them. It was clear that his resistance to the Primordial Spirit Attack had significantly improved through the repeated trials. The pain was still intense, but he no longer succumbed to fainting spells.

"Fully recovered? Impossible. It's been sealed for thousands of years; a mere trickle of water is hardly sufficient for its restoration. If it had truly regained its full strength, its Primordial Spirit Attack would be far more formidable."

Laojiu howled in agony, yet the Water Shadow Beast relentlessly pursued him. It was unclear whether it had regained some Origin Energy and was now seeking to prey on Laojiu.

Fortunately, the Martial Training Field was spacious, and Laojiu's speed was commendable. As he continued to evade, the gap between him and his pursuer didn't close by much.

Yet, the agony in his head came in relentless waves. He felt like a small fishing boat amidst a tempest, battered by fierce winds and towering waves, on the brink of capsizing at any moment.

"Die already!"

Laojiu dashed to the weapon rack, hurling whatever he could grab with all his might. Sadly, it was to little effect. The Water Shadow Beast only paused briefly before resuming its pursuit.

"Senior Brother, didn't you say that Primordial Spirit Attacks have their limits? Why doesn't this Fierce Creature show any signs of weakening?"

Laojiu was on the verge of despair. The hardships he had endured before seemed like paradise compared to his current ordeal.

"Hehe, I forgot to mention. No matter how much energy the Water Shadow Beast expends, once it returns to water, its Origin Energy instantly recovers by over fifty percent. In the time it takes to sip a cup of tea, it's fully rejuvenated. In water, even those who have achieved Saint Becoming status hesitate to confront a Water Shadow Beast of equal rank. They're nearly invincible."

"It probably hasn't even regained seventy percent of its strength. You're lucky there's so little water here; otherwise, it would have fully recovered by now. That's precisely why I had you release the Water Shadow Beast. In the Great Wilderness, if you ever came across such a Fierce Creature, fleeing would be your only option."

Patriarch Lieshan's explanation left Laojiu utterly dumbfounded. Others wouldn't dare provoke a creature of equal rank, yet here he was, challenging a Twin Water Shadow Beast three Ranks higher. It was an utterly masochistic inclination.

The silver lining was that he no longer passed out at the drop of a hat.

After several laps around the Martial Training Field, the Water Shadow Beast began to show signs of fatigue. It couldn't fathom why the human before it was so different from its previous encounters. By its reckoning, this man should have already been its meal.

Yet the prey remained defiantly spry.

"Come on, Little Shadow, aren't you coming after me? Have you lost your nerve so soon?"

Observing the Water Shadow Beast's retreat back to the pool, Laojiu's confidence surged. His strategy mirrored that of a renowned historical figure: advance when the enemy retreats, and retreat when the enemy advances.

"Let it be. Allow it to recuperate for a while. And yes, toss it some of the carcasses from the beast ring. It's probably starving."

Patriarch Lieshan intervened to prevent Laojiu from further antagonizing the Water Shadow Beast. If it became too fatigued, how would Laojiu be able to train his Primordial Spirit?

"Are you serious? We're feeding it now? So it can come back and torment me once it's full?"

Laojiu was somewhat reluctant; he certainly wasn't a masochist.

"Make it quick. If you're content to stay here indefinitely, that's fine by me. But I can't promise your parents won't run into trouble. Plus, there are many more challenges awaiting you!"

Patriarch Lieshan's voice took on a sterner edge. He understood the pain Laojiu was enduring, but to achieve the extraordinary, one must be willing to endure what others cannot.

Taking Lieshan's words to heart, Laojiu relented. He had an abundance of tasks to accomplish and no time to squander.

Laojiu edged closer to the pool and discarded a few of the previously slain beasts nearby before swiftly making his exit.

The Water Shadow Beast found Laojiu's actions puzzling. They were adversaries through and through, so why would his foe offer sustenance?

Although the beast possessed a degree of intelligence, such a complex issue was beyond its comprehension. Nevertheless, it was ravenous. Once Laojiu had departed, its tentacles swiftly ensnared the carcasses of the fierce creatures and pulled them into its belly.

Crunching noises filled the air as its body writhed continuously. In no time at all, the fierce creatures vanished without a trace, bones and all.

Having fed, the Water Shadow Beast remained still in the pond. Meanwhile, Laojiu retreated to a stone chamber to practice the Celestial Dragon Guidance. His energy reserves were depleted, and he felt ravenously hungry.

After several hours, Laojiu emerged from the chamber and instinctively glanced toward the southern pond, only to find that the creature had truly vanished.

"Where could the Water Shadow Beast have gone? Did it slip into that passageway?"

Laojiu was perplexed, scanning the area, yet no trace of the creature could be found.

"It's lurking near the pond. Be on your guard!"

Patriarch Lieshan was cautious, knowing he could only detect this fierce creature by employing his Primordial Spirit. Now that the Twin Water Shadow Beast had access to water and food, it had fully recuperated. For Laojiu, it represented an insurmountable obstacle.

"Damn! It's completely invisible now! How am I supposed to fight it?"

An unseen adversary is the most perilous, especially one as formidable and challenging as this.

"This seems to be what sets the Twin Water Shadow Beast apart from its ordinary counterpart. No matter, I'll act as your eyes. Just concentrate on the battle."

"This isn't a battle; it's outright fleeing," Laojiu grumbled coarsely, his muscles tensing up as he readied himself for combat.

"Watch out, it's coming for you! No more than fifty meters away!"

"What? Its speed has increased that much?"

Laojiu bolted. Previously, he was ten to twenty percent faster than the Water Shadow Beast, but that edge had now vanished.

Boom!

Even at full speed, Laojiu couldn't evade. The range of the Water Shadow Beast's Primordial Spirit Attack had expanded significantly.

It unleashed a Primordial Spirit Storm within Laojiu's mind! He felt like a tiny blade of grass in the midst of a tempest, utterly powerless against the onslaught. Thankfully, he had withstood numerous Primordial Spirit Attacks before; had the beast's initial assault been this fierce, even Patriarch Lieshan might not have been able to save him.

Despite the turmoil in his mind, Laojiu pushed himself to keep running, relying solely on his muscle memory as his mind was no longer able to direct his actions.

The relentless Primordial Spirit Storm grew increasingly violent, eventually morphing into a colossal tornado that bore down on the metaphorical grass that was Laojiu's resolve.

This was definitely a strategy to eradicate the problem at its root!

The small blade of grass could be considered Laojiu's Primordial Spirit Main Body. Should it be truly destroyed, not even nine lives would be enough to save him.

"How dare you!"

Patriarch Lieshan's Primordial Spirit erupted with power, transforming into a colossal giant thousands of feet tall within Laojiu's mind. With a forceful push of his hands, a torrent of fierce flames surged forth, instantly piercing the heart of the tornado.

Boom!

Following the thunderous roar akin to the Nine Heavens, both forces dissipated into nothingness!

Outside, the Water Shadow Beast nearby emitted a piercing shriek as its cloak of invisibility faded, revealing its form.

Filled with dread, the Water Shadow Beast cautiously observed the person before it, but ultimately, it retreated swiftly towards the direction of the pool.