Lin Sheng watched the two close in, silent and unmoving. Reiatsu surged through his body, condensing in his throat like molten energy, waiting for the precise moment when he could release a fatal strike.
To Borz and the leopard-shaped Hollow, however, he only looked paralyzed, frozen stiff under the crushing weight of their spiritual pressure.
When the pair closed the gap, their speed snapped higher, vanishing across the sands like lightning. Leopard Xingxu surged ahead, claws cutting the air. Lin Sheng steadied himself, about to release his Cero, but the leopard halted abruptly, instincts warning of danger. Lin Sheng had no choice but to swivel and unleash the blast at Borz instead.
A blinding scarlet beam tore free from Lin Sheng's mouth.
With a thunderous crack, the Cero obliterated Borz on impact. The dog-like Hollow vanished in a flare of heat and ash, leaving only drifting embers where he had stood.
Even Lin Sheng faltered in shock. That single strike, born from his own reiatsu alone, carried power far beyond expectation. If a Menos Grande were to unleash such an attack, the devastation would be unthinkable.
The cost struck immediately. His body buckled, spirit energy drained to nothing, leaving him weak and trembling.
"Cero…? Impossible." Leopard Xingxu staggered back, chilled by the sight. If he hadn't stopped moments ago, he would have been incinerated. But Cero was a technique reserved for Menos and greater Hollows. How could a creature like this wield it?
His eyes narrowed. Lin Sheng's reiatsu flickered—faint, drained to a wisp.
"Perhaps he can only fire it once," Leopard thought, greed curling through him. "If I devour him, and gain that power… even Guy himself could fall. I could rule this territory."
Temptation erased caution. He advanced slowly, wary of another blast, though the odds of that seemed slim.
Lin Sheng, collapsed and breathless, felt his doom closing in. But then, from Borz's remains, a fragment of blue light drifted into him, dissolving into his body. Power surged back—stronger, richer than anything he had consumed before.
"This strength…" Lin Sheng whispered, as his reiatsu swelled again.
The leopard, blind to the reishi fragment, raised a claw to strike. But Lin Sheng's serpentine form suddenly writhed, expanding, growing stronger, his reiatsu rising in violent waves.
The predator hesitated too long. Lin Sheng lunged, coils snapping around him.
"No!" Leopard roared, thrashing, but the chance to escape was gone. The serpent tightened mercilessly.
"It's over," Lin Sheng hissed, crushing the Hollow in a tightening embrace. Leopard's mask cracked under the pressure. His death cry echoed across the dunes as his spirit particles burst and were drawn into Lin Sheng.
The infusion stretched his form to six meters, his frame thickening, four ridges beginning to protrude along his abdomen—a sign of further evolution.
But the triumph soured instantly. He sensed it: not twenty, but thirty reiatsu signatures closing in. Most matched the leopard's strength, but one among them dwarfed all the rest.
Lin Sheng's instincts screamed. He fled, abandoning any thought of savoring his new power. The sand shifted beneath him, firmer now, until stone and jagged rock replaced dunes. He was leaving the cradle of his birthplace—but still, the hunters pursued.
They came as a pack, led by Guy, the giant Hollow commander. His presence crushed the air, his reiatsu towering above all others. In this territory, without Menos Grande looming, Guy's rule was absolute.
"Lord Guy, we're about to leave the birthplace. Do we still pursue?" one beast asked nervously.
Guy hesitated, for beyond lay the wilderness where Menos wandered. Yet the eyes of his pack pressed on him, demanding a choice. His hesitation curdled to fury. "Of course we pursue. No one dares trample my land and lives to tell it!"
The horde roared and surged after Lin Sheng.
Lin Sheng raced, but the gap closed. At ten meters, Guy vaulted high, crashing into his path. Lin Sheng skidded to a halt, surrounded on all sides by the commander's forces.
"You dared to hunt in my domain. You dared to kill my men." Guy's cavernous maw opened and bellowed, shaking the ground.
The pack snarled and jeered. "He angered Lord Guy—he'll be torn apart!"
"Make him suffer before he dies!"
Lin Sheng glanced around the tightening circle, jaw glowing with gathered reiatsu. If death was inevitable, he would drag others into the void with him.
"Cat got your tongue?" Guy mocked, gesturing to his pack.
"Tear him apart!" he commanded.
The horde surged.
Lin Sheng unleashed his Cero in a blazing arc. The scarlet beam swept like a reaper's blade, tearing through five attackers. Three disintegrated on the spot. Two collapsed, broken and writhing.
The desert rang with their screams.
And for the first time, the pack faltered.