"Move separately!" Chen Linjian's command echoed as the groups scattered through the forest.
Boots pounded against roots and broken stone.
Behind thick tree trunks—
"Hoo…"
The white-furred Spirit-Grade ape emerged again, muscles coiling as it stalked through the shadows.
Karma ran beside Nie Li, Ziyun just ahead of them.
His voice was calm—but sharp.
"Nie Li."
Nie Li glanced sideways while sprinting.
"There's still one Spirit-Grade demon beast missing."
Nie Li's expression darkened instantly.
"…I know."
As if invited by the warning—
The trees behind them exploded outward.
BOOOOM.
A massive white-furred ape dropped from above, red eyes blazing.
It had been tracking them the entire time.
Ziyun froze for half a heartbeat.
"Karma—!"
Karma grabbed her arm and pushed her forward.
"Ziyun, go!"
Nie Li stepped in front of them, drawing his sword.
"Don't look back! Head to the fortress!"
"But—!" Ziyun's voice trembled.
Karma gave her a quick grin.
"Hey. We're not that easy to kill."
Nie Li added firmly, "We'll meet you there."
Ziyun hesitated—
Then nodded.
"Be safe."
She turned and sprinted with the others.
The Spirit-Grade beast lunged.
Nie Li moved instantly.
He planted his feet and raised his blade.
The beast slammed down—
BOOOOM!
Stone shattered as Nie Li leapt back at the last second.
He grinned.
"Ha!"
The ape roared and smashed both fists into the ground again—
But its massive hands wedged between fractured pillars and rubble.
Nie Li's eyes sharpened.
"His hands are stuck!"
Flames ignited along his blade.
"Raging Flame Sword!"
He dashed forward in a streak of orange light.
The burning arc slashed across the beast's torso—
The ape roared in fury, muscles bulging as it ripped free of the stone.
BANG!
The Spirit-Grade ape moved like a storm unchained.
Its fists tore through the air, each strike detonating the ground where Nie Li had stood a heartbeat earlier.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Nie Li twisted, rolled, kicked off broken pillars—barely surviving on instinct and precision.
Too fast…
The beast roared and swung low. Nie Li vaulted over the arm, boots grazing white fur. The moment he landed, his eyes sharpened.
An opening.
The ape's neck was exposed for half a second.
Nie Li didn't hesitate.
He poured soul force into his blade and hurled it like a flaming spear.
The sword spun, cutting through the air in a blazing arc.
It's going to hit.
The tip aligned perfectly with the beast's throat—
And then—
The ape's head snapped sideways with terrifying speed.
CLANG.
Its jaws clamped shut.
CRACK.
The blade shattered between its teeth.
Metal fragments scattered across the clearing.
Nie Li froze.
"…What a monster."
The Spirit-Grade demon beast swallowed the broken steel and stepped forward.
No hesitation.
No pain.
Just raw, predatory focus.
And then it vanished.
Nie Li's pupils shrank.
Too fast—
The beast reappeared directly in front of him.
A massive fist was already descending.
Nie Li shifted his stance, trying to pivot out—
But he knew.
Too late.
The air pressure alone crushed against his chest.
The fist was inches away—
And suddenly—
Everything stopped.
The beast's arm froze mid-swing.
Its muscles trembled violently, veins bulging as if invisible chains had wrapped around its entire body.
Nie Li's eyes slowly opened.
He found himself staring straight into the beast's glowing red pupils.
They were furious.
Confused.
Struggling.
The demon beast tried to move—
But the space around it felt heavy.
Oppressive.
As if the air itself had solidified.
Nie Li stepped backward slowly, breath unsteady.
"…Karma."
BOOOOM!
A fist descended from above like a meteor.
Karma's punch slammed directly into the crown of the beast's head.
The impact cracked the earth.
A shockwave blasted outward, uprooting grass and sending dust spiraling skyward.
The beast's skull smashed into the ground, carving a crater beneath it.
Karma landed lightly beside Nie Li.
"It'll get up," he said calmly, flexing his fingers. "The bastard's tough."
As if offended by the prediction—
The beast roared and forced itself upright.
Blood trickled from its scalp, but its red eyes burned brighter.
It charged.
Not at Nie Li.
At Karma.
The ground exploded beneath its feet as it leapt, arm cocked back for a crushing blow.
Karma didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
The beast's fist descended—
Karma looked up calmly.
"Gravity."
The air thickened.
"…×100."
Instantly—
The space around the ape distorted.
An invisible force multiplied its own weight.
The demon beast's body became impossibly heavy mid-air.
Its momentum dragged it downward violently.
Instead of striking cleanly, it plummeted.
CRAAASH!
The ground fractured as the beast slammed down under its own amplified mass.
But Karma wasn't finished.
As the demon beast struggled under the crushing gravitational pressure—
Karma's stance shifted.
"Inertia."
For a split second, he manipulated the principle of motion itself.
He reduced the resistance to his own movement while storing momentum in his muscles—
Then he drove his fist forward.
His arm accelerated unnaturally fast.
Like a compressed spring released at maximum tension.
He simultaneously lifted the gravity field at the exact moment his punch connected.
The demon beast's weight returned to normal—
But now—
All of Karma's accumulated acceleration transferred into the strike.
CRACK.
The impact detonated across the ape's jaw.
The combined effect was devastating:
The beast had been forced downward by increased gravity—compressing its body against the ground.
Karma removed the gravity at the moment of impact—allowing the beast's mass to rebound upward.
His inertia-enhanced punch delivered extreme forward velocity.
The result—
A double force reaction.
The ape's head snapped sideways violently.
Its entire body was launched backward, skidding through broken stone and smashing into a tree trunk.
Dust swallowed the battlefield.
Nie Li stared.
He first increased gravity to pin it down… used the pressure to disrupt its balance… then removed it while accelerating his own fist using inertia…
That wasn't just strength.
This was the laws weaponized.
The demon beast staggered upright again, blood spraying from its mouth.
Still alive.
Still furious.
Karma clicked his tongue.
"Told you."
He grabbed Nie Li's shoulder sharply.
"Run. While it's dizzy."
The beast roared and tore free of shattered wood, preparing to charge again.
Karma and Nie Li sprinted through the trees.
Behind them—
The Spirit-Grade demon beast howled in rage.
And the hunt was far from over.
The forest trembled as the Spirit-Grade ape shook its head violently, dust bursting from its white mane.
"HOO—!"
It had recovered.
And it was furious.
Through the trees, Nie Li sprinted, boots barely touching the branches as he leapt from trunk to trunk. Behind him, the beast barreled forward like a collapsing mountain, smashing through wood and stone alike.
It caught up again… Nie Li's jaw tightened.
Beside him, Karma moved in long, fluid strides, weaving through the forest with controlled precision.
The ape lunged.
WHOOSH—
Its massive arm swept through the space they had occupied a heartbeat earlier, splintering bark into a storm of debris.
"He chased up pretty fast," Nie Li muttered under his breath, pivoting midair and kicking off a trunk to redirect himself.
Karma glanced back briefly.
"Still chasing after us? Man, this guy's clingy."
The beast roared again and slammed both fists into the ground.
BOOM!
The shockwave rippled outward, flipping chunks of earth into the air.
Nie Li skidded across a slanted tree trunk, barely regaining balance.
I have to think of a way to throw him off…
The ape's red eyes glowed, wild and bloodshot. It tore through another line of trees, movements powerful—but—
Slower.
Not by much.
But enough.
Nie Li narrowed his eyes.
The punch to the head…
He replayed the moment in his mind—the gravitational slam, the inertia-driven strike to the jaw.
Its movements aren't as clean as before. The impact disrupted its balance. Probably rattled its brain. Even a Spirit-Grade demon beast can't ignore that kind of trauma.
The beast leapt again.
Nie Li twisted sideways—
BOOM!
The ape crashed into the trunk behind him instead of crushing him outright.
Its movements were slightly delayed.
Slightly unstable.
Karma smirked faintly while running.
"Looks like I scrambled his brain a little."
"More than a little," Nie Li replied, breathing steadily despite the chaos. "Its reaction speed dropped. Coordination's off."
The ape roared in frustration, slamming its fists down repeatedly, carving trenches into the forest floor as it forced its body forward.
But then—
Nie Li felt it.
A different presence.
Cold.
Organized.
Human.
He burst past the tree line—and froze for half a second.
At the edge of the clearing stood figures in dark cloaks.
Hoods drawn.
Masks partially hidden in shadow.
"The Darkness Association…" Nie Li muttered.
Karma's eyes flicked over them once, calm and assessing.
The red-cloaked leader stepped forward slightly.
"The demon beast roar… it's coming from here."
His visible eye landed on Nie Li.
"Capture him."
Nie Li's lips curled into a grin.
"Why are they here?"
Then he pulled a scroll from his sleeve.
"Just nice," he said lightly. "I have a present for you."
He activated it and hurled it forward.
BRRRRRT—
A blinding burst of light and concussive air exploded between them.
The cloaked men staggered.
"What kind of scroll was that?!"
Dust swallowed the clearing.
And then—
The Spirit-Grade ape burst out from the forest behind Nie Li and Karma.
ROOOOAR!
It landed directly between the Darkness Association members.
For a brief second—
The ape turned its massive head left.
Then right.
Its red eyes locked onto the nearest cloaked figure.
The red-cloaked leader muttered under his breath.
"…Not good."
"Let's deal with this guy first."
The ape roared and swung.
BANG!
Several cloaked figures were sent flying like rag dolls.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Karma cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward them cheerfully while backing away:
"Hehe! I'll give this big guy to you!"
Nie Li didn't waste a second.
"Run."
Both of them dashed away again, disappearing into the forest while the Spirit-Grade demon beast turned its rage onto the Darkness Association.
Behind them, the clearing exploded with shockwaves and screams.
Branches whipped against their shoulders as they kept moving.