Chapter 32: The Flower-Marked Marten

With this thought, Qiu Han strode forward quickly, intending to find a safe place before making further plans. Above, the bright moon hung in the sky, its light sometimes obscured by drifting clouds, sometimes spilling across the land. Apart from the occasional distant cries of birds and beasts, the forested mountains appeared peculiarly tranquil.

In the pitch-black night, within the vast expanse of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a striking youth of about twenty, dressed in white, was making his way step by step through the wilderness. His features were sharp and heroic, his back straight, his bearing noble—he was clearly extraordinary. Despite the fact that the mountains teemed with monstrous beasts, especially on such a dark night, the young man’s face betrayed not a trace of fear.

This youth was none other than Qiu Han. In such darkness, his eyes were of little use; he relied on his spiritual sense to perceive the world around him. However, Qiu Han dared not extend his spiritual sense too far—doing so might alert other beasts and would certainly expose his presence.

He kept his spiritual sense confined to a radius of twenty paces around him, advancing with utmost caution toward his goal. He dared not fly, either; in these parts, flying would quickly make him a target for powerful monsters.

As he walked, a sudden thunderous crash sounded ahead. Qiu Han promptly sent his spiritual sense in that direction and discovered, a hundred paces away, a monstrous creature the size of half a room. Not far in front of it lay a saber-toothed tiger, blood pooling beneath its body—evidence of a fierce battle that must have just taken place.

As Qiu Han’s spiritual sense swept over, the creature lifted its head and looked directly toward him.

“Not good—a Flower-marked Marten!”

Without a second thought, Qiu Han spun around and fled, his hand reaching for his storage pouch as he ran. The Flower-marked Marten was a beast native to the Hundred Thousand Mountains; even at birth, it was a first-rank monster, its body incredibly tough, impervious to ordinary spells or weapons.

As it advanced in cultivation, its body grew larger. Its head was triangular, its snout pointed but not long, resembling both a fox and a bear; it could stand upright, its hind legs sturdy and powerful, its forelimbs shorter; its tail was thick and long, its fur patterned in alternating stripes of yellow and white—hence the name.

The one before him was clearly a second-rank beast, and judging by its aura, it was even stronger than the recently advanced second-rank Lion-Bear Qiu Han and his companions had once encountered. This one had reached the mid-tier of the second rank, equivalent to a cultivator in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

This second-rank Flower-marked Marten had already spotted Qiu Han and was charging toward him at great speed. Qiu Han did not dare look back as he darted deeper into the woods. This was perhaps the most perilous moment he had ever faced—there was no way he could defeat a beast of mid Foundation Establishment strength. Even with the inferior-grade Ice Feather Ring, he doubted he could kill it.

“I probably couldn’t even pierce its hide,” he thought grimly. The physical strength of a second-rank beast was daunting; he truly had no confidence in defeating it. In such circumstances, escape was clearly the best option. To slay it was out of the question—he would be lucky to survive at all.

Wherever the Marten passed, the ground shook with booming footsteps, and its speed was more than double Qiu Han’s own. In moments, the distance between them had shrunk to less than a hundred paces.

Sweat beaded on Qiu Han’s brow. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he was overtaken—and that would mean death. He could not help but feel frustrated. How could there be a second-rank beast in a place like this, and how had he been unlucky enough to encounter it? His luck was abysmal.

But there was no time for complaints—he needed a way to survive. He might have to use the life-saving ring his master had given him. He touched the ring on the middle finger of his left hand; it still retained the warmth of his skin. Qiu Han hesitated.

No, his master had said that the ring’s life-saving enchantment could only be used three times. It had only been less than three months since the start of his year-long trial—who knew what dangers still awaited? His master had warned him not to use the ring’s power unless truly desperate.

Besides, the purpose of this trial was to temper him, to force him to face life-and-death situations and gain experience. If he used the ring at every sign of danger, wouldn’t that betray his master’s intentions?

With this clarity, Qiu Han steeled his resolve—he would fight! He activated five defensive talismans he had drawn from his storage pouch, layering them over himself, and raised his own spiritual shield as well, encasing himself in multiple layers of protection.

Still unsatisfied, he produced a handful of attack talismans—more than thirty in all. Then, drawing out his Ice Feather Ring, he began to set up a series of traps in the area around him.

Once all was prepared, the Flower-marked Marten had caught up, closing to within thirty paces. Without hesitation, Qiu Han unleashed a Wind Blade spell at it.

The spell shot toward the beast in an instant, but the Marten did not dodge. It simply raised its massive arm and batted the Wind Blade aside, its paw unscathed. The attack had been neutralized as easily as that—the strength of a second-rank beast was clearly on another level from the wolves he had fought before.

Unsurprised—he had expected as much—Qiu Han did not lose hope. The Wind Blade had been a probing attack; to believe it could slay or seriously wound a second-rank monster would be foolish.

The Marten, having shrugged off the attack, charged at Qiu Han with its enormous body. Qiu Han retreated rapidly, but the beast was fast gaining on him. At the last moment, Qiu Han conjured a fireball the size of an egg in his right palm and, under the control of his spiritual sense, hurled it at the Marten. Just before it struck, he changed the incantation, causing the fireball to rapidly expand and engulf the Marten in flames.

The Marten responded by spewing a cloud of gas from its mouth, enveloping itself and preventing the flames from igniting its fur. The cloud swelled, and soon it seemed as if it might even smother Qiu Han’s fire.

Qiu Han ceased his control of the flames and cast Wind Blade again—but this time, not at the Marten. Instead, he turned and slashed at a nearby giant tree. The tree was instantly hewn in two and crashed to the ground, toppling onto a neighboring tree, which also broke and fell onto another.

One after another, more than a dozen trees came crashing down. Qiu Han then used the Art of Manipulation to direct those massive trunks, hurling them at the Flower-marked Marten.