A deafening explosion shook the forest, large amounts of mana bursting forwards, obliterating everything in 20 meter radius. A figure emerged from the ashes and smoke, blonde hair darkened by ashes fluttered, revealing the figure's brown eyes.
Hans successfully used a destructive technique known as 'Dragon's Breath', an imitation of the dragons' might and one of the strongest techniques in the entire Sky Shattering sect which was handed to him by his grandmother, with the approval of the sect leader.
Although he managed to neutralize most of the mana around him before he got I jured as well, there were still some burn marks and dried blood on his blue robes.
Using Dragons' Breath, he managed to kill all three stage 8 beasts in one go, leaving him with around 55% of his mana capacity remaining. Focusing on his senses, Hans turned to his left and spoke in a cold tone.
"Why don't you come now, beast tamer. As if it weren't disgraceful enough you used beasts to fight me despite being at the Chaotic Harmony realm, you even cower in fear before a Broken Vessel realm cultivator."
Taking a short pause, he continued with a hint of mockery in his voice.
"As I thought, you didn't do it to toy with me, you simply couldn't fight me one on one! Say… you must have broken through only recently, am I right? Haha, it's quite a dangerous thing to do at your realm!"
"Hm, silence! I simply felt no need to lower myself to might a cultivator an entire realm below but you're pushing your luck!"
A figure emerged 30 meters away from where Hans was standing. Wearing a sky blue robe, the man stared intensely at Hans.
Looking at the robe identical to his own, Hans felt a great shock before shouting in rage towards the beast tamer.
"What do you think you're doing! Attacking a fellow disciple is strictly forbidden in our sect, much less killing them!"
The man grinned as he replied.
"Kuku, blame your grandma for standing in the second elder's way! Her faction was growing too strong for the second elder and his faction to surpress, so we settled on exterminating them while the sect leader was in seclusion! The seventh elder is probably already dead!"
This came out as a huge surprise to Hans. Although he was aware of the internal affairs of the sect, he didn't think things would escalate this quickly but decided to trust im his grandmother's ability, moreover he hasn't inherited that, meaning she was still alive.
"Hm, talking big for a mere pawn. Perhaps you could've defeated me while in the tenth stage Broken Vessel but you want to do it with that unstable chaos you call cultivation base? Wishful thinking!"
Sensing danger his way, the beast tamer created a barrier in front of him to defend against the invisible slashes. Midway through the barrier's creation, the beast tamer's mana fluctuated, leaving the shield unfinished.
The slashes easily broke through the weak shield and cut the beast tamer in the arms, shoulders, waist and legs. The man had created a thin layer of protection around his body, leaving the cuts rather shallow but still painful nonetheless.
'Tch, if only I'd stabilized my cultivation before coming here!'
The Chaotic Harmony stage was famous for being a cultivator's weakest period in cultivation. Unless the cultivation was stabilized after breakthrough, the mana would be disobedient, not moving as intended, often causing a backlash.
That was also the reason for the barrier's failure.
Every technique the beast tamer uses could be his last if he isn't careful enough. That's why he decided to only use small scale technique to reduce the chance of such backlash, although the mana was still unstable, leaving him rather vulnerable.
The current beast tamer could only use about 30% of a real 1st stage Chaotic Harmony cultivator, with that percentage dropping even lower as he isn't using strong spells.
If Hans wasn't certain about the man's condition, he would've never used Dragon Breath, as it used a lot of mana, around 30% of his full capacity in one attack.
That's right, he only used about 15-20% of mana when fighting those beasts.
'I can win!' Thought Hans as he prepared to use a technique called 'thousand needles' to attack the beast tamer from different angles.
If he attacked from different sides, the beast tamer would be forced to divide his attention, weakening his defenses.
Before he could channel mana in the desired way however, a shadow flickered behind him. With no time to react, Hans was sent flying to the side, crashing in a large tree.
Getting on his feet again, Hans sized up the enslaved beast that sneak attacked him.
'Arghh! A shadow jaguar, seventh stage beast with a stealth ability. No wonder I couldn't detect its presense!'
Hans was currently severy wounded. The shadow jaguar intended to kill him with that one strike, leaving three claw marks running from his right shoulder through his back, each of them releasing blood.
Attempting to ignore the searing pain, Hans assessed the situation once more. The shadow jaguar could easily be disposed of but that would also take about 10% of his remaining mana, if he even manages to get rid of it in one hit.
A rather weak healing spell worked to close his wounds and better his condition. Feeling the comfortable feeling on his back, Hans thought of what to do next.
That's when he sensed a strange form of energy enter his body. It felt familiar, like it belonged to him all along. And he knew perfecly what it was.
'No, no! This can't be! The ancestral spirit can only be passed down if the previous clan head is dead! Does this mean… grandmother!'
Grieving for the death of his only kin, Hans was left completely defenseless, creating a perfect oppurtunity for the shadow jaguar to finish him off. The beast towered over him as it prepared to swing his claw once more to kill him.
Suddenly, a sharp object flew through the air, striking at the beast's side. Stunned by the sudden injury, it sharply glared towards the direction the dagger came from, locking eyes with the blue eyed figure.
Standing 10 meters away from the jaguar was Luriel. Panting heavily, he tried to catch his breath, evidently exhausted from rushing to the battlefield.
"What the fuck are you doing, Hans! Get yourself together, or we'll both die here!"
His words jolted Hans awake from his grief for the time being. A determined look appeared in his brown eyes.
'Right, I need to keep Luriel safe until we get out of the forest and then, have my revenge!'
A giant sword made out of mana materialized above the jaguar, crushing it without leaving a chance to retaliate. With a sharp glare, he stared at the beast tamer in the distance.
'Time for round 2 you treacherous bastard!'