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After killing the guard, John's heart pounded violently against his ribs, its frantic rhythm echoing in his ears like war drums.

His breath came in sharp, controlled bursts—each inhalation steady despite the adrenaline surging through his veins.

The forest around him blurred as he sprinted, branches whipping at his arms and legs, the underbrush crunching beneath his hurried footsteps.

The scent of damp earth and pine filled his nose, mingling with the metallic tang of blood still clinging to his hands.

Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, stinging his eyes, but his body showed no signs of exhaustion.

Thanks to his mastery of Level Five Breathing techniques, his lungs processed oxygen with inhuman efficiency, fueling his muscles with relentless stamina.

Beyond that, his Bone Refinement Realm cultivation fortified his physique—every sinew, every bone reinforced to withstand strain far beyond mortal limits.

His legs carried him effortlessly, each stride devouring the distance between him and safety.

He didn't slow until the earth beneath him gave way to the roar of rushing water.

Before him stretched a wide, churning river, its currents fierce and unrelenting.

The water glistened under the pale moonlight, its surface broken by jagged ripples as it carved its way through the wilderness.

From where he stood, the opposite bank seemed at least twenty meters away—a formidable obstacle for any ordinary man.

John's mind raced. 'If I stay here, they'll catch up. But if I cross… I can disappear into another town, vanish before they even realize I'm gone.'

His jaw tightened in resolve. "I should cross this river and go to a different town," he muttered, nodding to himself.

There was no time for hesitation.

Without a second thought, he adjusted the strap of the spirit stone box secured to his back and leaped into the icy embrace of the river.

The shock of cold water hit him instantly, but his reinforced body barely registered the discomfort.

His powerful strokes cut through the current, his muscles working in perfect harmony to propel him forward.

The river fought back—waves crashed against him, threatening to drag him under—but his Bone Refinement Realm strength held firm.

A normal man would have drowned within seconds.

The river's flow was merciless, its depths swallowing weaker swimmers whole.

But John was no ordinary man. With each determined stroke, the opposite shore drew nearer, until at last, his fingers clawed into the muddy bank.

He hauled himself onto solid ground, chest heaving not from exhaustion, but from the thrill of survival.

John turned back one last time, his gaze slicing through the dense wilderness behind him.

The river roared in the distance, its turbulent waters now a barrier between him and the Blue Sapphire Clan's wrath.

A slow breath escaped his lips—relief, but fleeting.

His fingers flexed, still remembering the weight of the blade he no longer carried.

Unarmed… but not defenseless.

"I'm still too close," he muttered, the words barely audible over the rustling leaves.

The Blue Sapphire Clan wouldn't take the death of their guards lightly.

They would send trackers, hunters—perhaps even cultivators stronger than him. His jaw tightened.

"If I keep moving in this direction… will I find a village? Another clan? Or just more wilderness?"

The forest ahead stretched endlessly, a sea of towering trees and tangled undergrowth, their shadows shifting in the fading light.

No choice. No retreat.

"I can't go back," he whispered.

"So forward it is." With a sharp nod, he stepped deeper into the unknown.

At first, his movements were cautious—each footfall deliberate, his senses sharpened to a razor's edge.

The forest was too quiet. Too still.

The air hummed with an unnatural tension, as if the trees themselves were watching. Every snapped twig, every rustle in the bushes made his muscles coil, ready to fight or flee.

But nothing came.

After half an hour of tense silence, his nerves began to settle.

Maybe the wilderness was truly empty. Maybe luck was on his side for once.

With a grunt, he pushed into a sprint, his Bone Refinement Realm cultivation lending him inhuman agility.

Branches whipped past him, the ground a blur beneath his feet. He moved like a shadow—fast, silent, untouchable.

Then—

A shape.

A flicker of movement in the gloom.

His body locked mid-step, instincts screaming.

Before him, the darkness twisted, unfolded, revealed itself.

A beast.

Not just any beast—something monstrous, something wrong.

Its body was a mass of matted black fur, stretched over a frame too large, too alien.

Six legs dug into the earth, each ending in claws that gleamed like polished obsidian.

Three yellow eyes burned atop its forehead, pupils slitted like a serpent's, unblinking as they fixed on him.

Its face was canine—but distorted, elongated, lips peeling back to reveal rows of needle-like teeth.

A growl ripped through the air, low and guttural, vibrating in John's chest.

The creature's muscles tensed, its hackles rising like spikes.

John's blood turned to ice.

What the hell is this thing?!

The beast roared.

The sound was deafening, a primal force that shook the trees and sent birds exploding into the sky.

Saliva dripped from its jaws as it crouched ready to lunge.

The creature exploded into motion, its six muscular legs driving it forward with terrifying speed, kicking up clods of earth and shredded foliage in its wake.

John's survival instincts screamed at him to move—now.

At the last possible instant, he twisted his torso violently to the side, feeling the deadly claws whistle through the air mere centimeters from his exposed throat.

The near-miss sent adrenaline coursing through his veins like liquid fire.

The beast's rancid breath washed over him, a putrid mixture of rotting flesh and something distinctly unnatural.

Its hot exhalations prickled against his sweat-slicked skin as it whirled with frightening agility for something so massive.

Before John could regain his footing, a powerful backhanded swing from one of its forelimbs connected with his ribs, sending him tumbling through the underbrush.

Pain blossomed across his side, but his Bone Refinement Realm cultivation proved its worth—where an ordinary man's ribs would have shattered like kindling, his reinforced skeleton merely ached with the impact.

Dirt filled his mouth as he skidded to a stop, but he was already moving, rolling with the momentum to come up in a crouch.

Just in time. The beast was upon him again, its multi-eyed visage twisted in bestial rage.

This time, John didn't retreat.

With a roar of his own, he launched forward to meet the charge.

His right fist became a piston, driving upward with all his enhanced strength to smash into the creature's lowest eye.

The impact produced a sickening wet pop, followed by an ear-splitting screech that echoed through the forest.

Thick, black ichor sprayed from the ruined orb, splattering across John's face with a coppery tang that made his stomach churn.

The beast recoiled, but John pressed his advantage.

His hands shot out to seize one of its thrashing front legs.

Muscles bulged beneath his skin as he wrenched with all his might—a terrible tearing sound filled the air as tendons and muscle fibers gave way, followed by the unmistakable crack of breaking bone.

The creature's howl of pain was deafening, but its retaliation came swiftly.

Even wounded, it twisted with unnatural flexibility, its jagged fangs glistening as they sought the soft flesh of John's shoulder.

In that critical moment, his cultivation techniques saved him. Level Five Breathing synchronized with Level Six Meditation, flooding his system with oxygen and mental clarity.

The world seemed to slow around him as his perception sharpened to an almost preternatural degree.

He could see the attack coming in perfect detail—the way the beast's muscles tensed, the precise trajectory of its snapping jaws.

With flawless timing, John ducked beneath the bite, feeling the wind from its passage ruffle his hair.

As he rose, his elbow smashed upward with devastating force, connecting squarely with the creature's lower jaw.

The impact sent fragments of broken teeth flying, and the beast staggered back, momentarily dazed.

But the reprieve was short-lived—its whip-like tail lashed out with viper speed, opening a deep gash along John's thigh.

Warm blood immediately began soaking through his pants, but he barely registered the pain.

Instead, he embraced it.

Gritting his teeth until his jaw ached, John channeled the pain into focus.

He feinted left, drawing the beast's attention, then pivoted with his entire body weight behind a perfectly executed palm strike to its exposed throat.

The crunch of collapsing cartilage was immensely satisfying.

The creature gagged, its breath coming in wet, choking gasps as it struggled to draw air through its ruined windpipe.

John knew this was his only opening.

With a powerful leap, he mounted the beast's back, his corded arms wrapping around its thick neck in an unbreakable chokehold.

What followed was a nightmarish rodeo as the creature went berserk, bucking and twisting with enough force to uproot small saplings.

It slammed him repeatedly into tree trunks, each impact sending jolts of pain through his already battered body.

Branches snapped around them like gunshots as the beast desperately tried to dislodge its attacker.

But John held on with the tenacity of death itself.

His Bone Refinement muscles strained to their absolute limits, every fiber screaming in protest.

Yet through it all, his Level Five Breathing maintained perfect oxygenation, steadying his racing heart and clearing his mind even as his body approached its breaking point.

Slowly, inexorably, the beast's struggles grew weaker.

Its three remaining eyes bulged grotesquely, veins bursting in the yellow sclera to paint crimson spiderwebs across their surfaces.

A final, pathetic wheeze escaped its crushed throat—

Then came the decisive crack of vertebrae separating.

The massive body beneath him went suddenly limp, collapsing like a marionette with its strings cut.

John rolled free, his chest heaving as he gulped down great lungfuls of air.

His hands trembled slightly as he raised them before his face—they were coated in thick, black blood up to the elbows, some of it already cooling and growing tacky against his skin.

Silence descended upon the forest, broken only by John's ragged breathing and the occasional drip of fluids from the corpse.

Then, from somewhere deep in his chest, a laugh bubbled up—disbelieving at first, then growing in strength until it echoed through the trees.

The sound was equal parts triumph and near-hysterical relief.

Against all odds, against this nightmare made flesh...

He was alive.

As his breathing gradually steadied, John's gaze fell upon the fallen beast.

Now that the adrenaline was fading, he could properly examine his kill.

The creature was even larger than he'd realized in the heat of battle—easily the size of a small horse, with strange, almost metallic-looking patches interrupting its otherwise matted fur.

His fingers brushed against something hard lodged in the creature's chest.

Prying apart the matted fur, John's eyes widened at the discovery of a faintly pulsating core embedded just beneath the sternum.

It glowed with a sickly yellow light, radiating an energy that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

"A spirit beast core?" he murmured, wiping blood from his face with the back of his hand.

This changed everything. Such cores were incredibly valuable to cultivators, and this one felt... different. More potent.

But before he could examine it further, a new sound froze him in place—the distant but unmistakable baying of hounds, followed by shouted commands. The Blue Sapphire Clan's hunters. They'd picked up his trail.

John's fingers closed around the core. He had minutes, maybe less. The river had bought him time, but now...

He looked down at his battered body, then at the glowing prize in his hand.

A grim smile touched his lips. The wilderness had tried to kill him twice today. First with water, then with tooth and claw.

Let it try a third time.

With renewed purpose, John pocketed the core and vanished into the deepening shadows of the forest.