The bright moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by a sea of stars.
Perhaps because autumn had arrived, the wind in the abandoned city howled with unusual fervor tonight.
Lin Ye's figure, like a shadow gliding across the ground, arrived silently at the designated ambush point.
A week had passed since his last battle with the Lone Wolf.
For the past seven days, he had repeated the same routine every day.
Five daily quests, all completed perfectly without fail.
His sparring sessions with Chen Meng increased from one hour to an hour and a half.
The frequency also went from five days a week to seven.
Chen Meng grew to admire this diligent student with a stable mind and unshakeable will.
Their relationship also gradually began to change from that of a teacher and student.
Judging from the results of their training, however, Lin Ye was still getting beaten one-sidedly. The more familiar Chen Meng became with him, the harder he went on him.
But under such high-pressure conditions, Lin Ye's understanding and application of his Staff Skill and Body Technique were improving at an incredible rate.
Finally, there was grinding levels in the abandoned city.
Four days ago, Lin Ye had already reached Level 7.
He was now only one level below the mutated black panther.
Today, all preparations were complete.
The time to hunt had arrived.
Lin Ye took a deep breath, pushing his condition to its peak.
He took a small, sealed piece of mutated porcupine meat from his backpack. It was a trophy from his most recent kill, and it reeked of blood.
He tore a small opening in the bag, and the rich, metallic scent of blood instantly spread on the howling night wind.
Instead of throwing the meat, he tied it to his calf, then turned and began moving slowly toward the trap he had meticulously prepared.
Lin Ye wasn't sure if the black panther would appear at this time and place.
But he had to take the gamble.
He had gone less than a hundred meters.
A horrifyingly savage aura, like a tangible ice pick, suddenly stabbed at him from behind!
'It's here!'
Lin Ye's heart suddenly hammered in his chest. The moment he confirmed the prey had taken the bait, he broke into a run.
It was a slow run, however, with his speed carefully controlled.
He didn't even look back.
Behind him, a black afterimage flickered through the shadows of the ruins and vanished, as fast as a phantom!
The mutated black panther, its body as large as a tiger's, padded across the broken concrete without making a sound. Its beastly eyes, glowing with a ghastly green light in the darkness, were locked tightly onto Lin Ye's back.
It wasn't running at full speed either. It simply tailed Lin Ye, keeping him in its sights while maintaining a certain distance.
It was observing, judging.
A chill went down Lin Ye's spine. He knew he had still underestimated the beast's cunning.
This black panther's intelligence far surpassed that of any mutated beast he had encountered before!
Lin Ye abruptly sped up, charging toward the long, narrow alley he had chosen beforehand.
Seeing its prey accelerate and flee, the panther let out a low roar and unleashed the power in its hind legs!
BOOM!
Its entire body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, so fast that it left a visible wake in the air!
Sensing the fierce gust of wind approaching from behind, Lin Ye glanced back.
The safe distance from before was closing rapidly.
The mutated black panther was significantly faster than it had been during any of the previous hunts he'd observed!
In a flash of lightning, Lin Ye shot into the alley.
The putrid wind from behind him grazed the back of his neck!
'Now!'
Without looking, Lin Ye threw the short steel rebar he was already holding with all his might, hurling it back toward the predetermined spot!
He had practiced this very move no less than fifty times.
"CLANG!"
The rebar struck the fragile support point of the massive concrete slab hanging over the alley with perfect accuracy!
Accompanied by the grating screech of twisting metal, the concrete slab, weighing several tons, came crashing down!
A huge shadow instantly enveloped the entire alley!
However, in the split second before the slab hit, the black panther displayed a terrifying reaction time and agility that completely defied its massive size!
It wrenched its body in mid-air, forcibly halting its forward momentum. At the same time, it slammed its front paws against the side wall, using the force to ricochet backward!
CRASH—!
The concrete slab slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that filled the sky and making the entire alley tremble!
'Did it work?'
Lin Ye asked himself, but in the next second, his pupils constricted.
From within the dust, an ink-black figure shot out, letting loose a heaven-shaking roar of fury!
The edge of the concrete slab had still hit its tail.
Now, the tip of its tail was a bloody mess, twisted at an unnatural angle. The rest of its body was also covered in cuts from the flying debris.
'It isn't dead!'
'It's not even seriously injured!'
Lin Ye's gaze hardened.
'The worst-case scenario has happened after all.'
What surprised Lin Ye even more was that the cuts on the panther's body from the stones were sprouting tendrils of flesh and blood that were constantly writhing!
It was a sign that its wounds were healing rapidly.
Lin Ye had seen other mutated beasts before.
But he had never seen one like this panther, capable of recovering from minor injuries so quickly!
A term suddenly surfaced in Lin Ye's mind.
'A special variant!'
Even among mutated beasts, some monsters had a much higher degree of mutation than others.
Most mutated beasts would be classified by the system as grunts or normal monsters, like him.
But others were elite monsters!
Clearly, this special variant before him was what the system considered an elite!
Lin Ye forced himself to calm down.
He had anticipated this, too—the possibility that the mutated black panther was a special variant.
"ROAR—!"
The intense pain fully unleashed the panther's ferocity. Ignoring the injury to its tail, it broke into a frantic run on all fours.
Having lost some of the balancing function of its tail, its speed was somewhat affected.
But the oppressive presence rushing toward him was several times stronger than before!
Lin Ye knew that now, it was a fight to the death between him and the mutated beast!
Lin Ye spun around and ran, heading for the wall at the end of the alley.
Lin Ye put his second contingency plan into action.
He slammed his staff into a section of the wall he had already weakened beforehand. Rubble flew, and a hole just big enough for one person appeared.
Lin Ye dodged through it.
The panther was right behind him. With a swipe of its thick right paw, it smashed the opening wide open and charged in, roaring.
Inside the hole was an abandoned, unfinished building.
Lin Ye ran in front, the panther chased from behind.
Man and beast began a life-and-death chase inside the obstacle-filled building!
Lin Ye used the complex terrain to constantly weave and dodge, sprinting for the upper floors.
The moment he reached the third-floor landing, he violently kicked a huge metal barrel standing nearby.
CLANG!
The metal barrel tumbled down the stairs, landing squarely in the panther's path.
The panther swatted the barrel away with one paw, but the rhythm of its pursuit was interrupted for a fraction of a second.
But that fraction of a second was all he needed!
Lin Ye had already reached the fourth floor.
However, the elite mutated beast's ability to learn and adapt also exceeded Lin Ye's imagination.
When Lin Ye tried the same trick on the fifth floor, the panther actually anticipated it, leaping up early and running along the wall to bypass the barrel trap completely!
A vicious swipe tore through the air from behind and to Lin Ye's side!
'Can't dodge this!'