by Tony Tran
Many large logs were tied together using vines and then smaller logs crossed over the bigger ones in notches. This made the enter raft a single solid object.
Now, all Zhang had to do was add sails and a rudder. Then make some oars to use when there was no wind to propel the raft.
For sails he had planned to enter the forest and hunt some animals and use their hides or bind leaves together. Making the sails out of essence like he did with their clothes wouldn’t be a very smart choice. This was because compared to the clothes the sails would be massive. And of course it would be much easier to mend the sails if they were made of fur or leaves.
After resting for half a day Zhang grabbed a wooden spear he had made and set out to survey the surrounding jungle.
Three months had passed since Zhang last stepped foot this deep in the forest. However, this time he would be twice as strong and he was fairly confident that he would be able to take on anything that would jump out at him. Or at least he would be able to get away.
Zhang had his trusty spear and the rusty sword that he had found in the cave and some rope made of vines.
After walking a distance, he decided to climb into a tree and observe to see if there was any wildlife in the area.
He had chosen a fruit tree to climb up into. This type of fruit tree grew everywhere on the island and had a strange taste to it. The first bite into the fruit would be sweet, but the 2nd bite would have a strangely sour taste. The fruit itself looked strange also. It was an oval shaped, bright red in color and had small spikes all over.
As Zhang sat in the tree, a pair of deer passed by under him. It was a mother deer and her fawn. They were eating the fruit that had fallen onto the ground. It was a somewhat heartwarming scene. That was when Zhang shot out of the tree and pounced on the two deer! The two deer didn’t see what was coming as one of them was stabbed by a spear and the other slashed with a sword.
Making quick work of the two deer, Zhang began to tie them with his vines and started heading back to the cabin. The two deer would serve as dinner tonight and their hides would be used at part of the sails.
Then suddenly, in the bushes ahead of Zhang rustled and behind them a giant white panther jumped out! It was a White Jade Panther. These demonic beasts were the kind that lived in solitude and were fairly powerful, maturing at the 7th level.
“Dang it!!!!!!!” Zhang yelled.
The panther was attracted by the smell of blood.
Zhang knew he did not have a chance of victory over this monster so he bolted the opposite direction.
Seeing Zhang ran the panther began pursuing. It was extremely fast but luckily for Zhang the forest was dense so it was not able to run at full speed. Trees fell over and rocks were crushed as the panther pursed Zhang.
“Maybe this will work”, Zhang tossed the fawn at the Panther hoping it would stop pursuing him. But when the fawn landed in front of the panther, it was totally ignored.
Off in the distance there was a side of a cliff. If he was able to climb up this cliff the panther would not be able to pursue him but to do that, Zhang would have to abandon his deer.
He cursed as he tossed the deer’s carcass to the ground toward the panther. The panther stopped pursuing Zhang and began eating the deer.
Then out of nowhere a giant lion appeared. It was a three eyed voracious eater. This type of demonic best also matured at the 7th level like the panther but it was double the size of the panther.
The lion pounced on the panther and the two began an epic battle.
Zhang took the chance to escape and he prayed that neither of the two beasts would pursue.
Luckily, Zhang was able to make run a fairly long distance before the battle concluded.
The voracious eater had snapped the panthers neck with its powerful paw and then began eating the panther and the deer.
Not willing to leave empty handed Zhang came back and picked up the carcass of the fawn.
By the time he returned to the cabin, it was night and the stars shone from the skies.
He skinned the fawn and began grilling its meat. The deer’s meat was most welcomed because eating fish and shellfish for three months would make anyone feel sick. Thus, the deer meat quickly disappeared.
Zhang decided the he, very next day, would try his luck again and try to get more meat. This time, he would have to be cautious. He could, instead of using his spear or sword, use brute force to take care of the animals. This would prevent other predators from picking up the scent of blood.
Three months had passed since Zhang started hunting. He had long ago become an extremely skilled hunter and after a short while, an area of the forest was filled with various traps that he had set. Pitfalls and countless other traps littered everywhere.
The cabin was now filled with furs of different animals and even some demonic beasts. Yuying had asked Zhang to get fur so she could make blankets for the voyage. They did not know where they were and how far they were from civilization, and on the sea the weather was constantly changing, one day it could be warm and sunny and the next it could be freezing cold. So it would be best to be prepared.
Yuying was extremely skilled at sewing and had made many blankets and even sewed together most of the sail.
Now they were preparing food for the voyage and after doing so, they’d be ready to embark and leave the island.
Dried fish and dried meat were being prepared. Fruits were being picked and stored away for later. The trio had gathered a large amount of food for the trip. They had basically everything they’d need for a long voyage.
So today, would be the last day the trio would stay on the island. So they had a small feast because it would be their last warm cooked meal for a while.
After stuffing themselves full, the three had went to bed early to rest in preparation for the long voyage ahead.
However, that night a loud roar sounded in the night.
The loud roar had woken up the trio. Soon after the first roar another could be heard but the second roar sounded different from the first. One after another, many roars and howls could be heard and it was as if they were coming closer. The whole island felt as if it was shaking.
Zhang was the first to run out of the cabin to see what was happening. In the distance, he could see a giant snake sticking out high above the forest. In front of it was an equally giant ape.
The two monsters were battling each other in the middle of the night. The snake opened its huge maw and attacked the ape. It was able to latch its fangs onto the ape and then began coiling around its body to constrict it.
Just when it seemed like the snake had the advantage, the giant ape overpowered it and broke out of its coils. The ape then tossed the giant snake away and when the snake's body landed it caused a huge boom. Many trees fell over due to the impact of the giant snakes fall and clouds of dusts were formed.
The giant snaked opened its mouth and a huge lightning bolt shot out and struck the giant ape.
“That’s snake is a level 8 Lightning Eater!!!”, Zhang yelled.
The ape after getting hit by the lightning bolt, it had been knocked to the ground. It slowly struggled its way up from the ground and also opened its mouth and from within, a blue beam shot out.
Anything that was touched by the blue beam was instantly coated in a thick layer of ice.
“And that is a level 8 Frost Emperor Ape!!!”, Zhang yelled even more excited than before.
Level 6 demonic beasts were rarely spotted by humans and level 7 were even more rarely spotted but here, were two beasts at level 8 battling in front of Zhang. It was a sight truly to behold.
But now was hardly the time to stand and watch because at any moment Zhang, Yuying and Ai could be caught in the crossfire of these two monstrous beasts. A random lightning bolt or even being skimmed by the emperor ape’s ice beam would send them straight back to the underworld. This time, it would be permanent.
“Quickly gather up our things we are setting sail. It is too dangerou
s to stay here any longer.”, he screamed
Time was of the essence so everyone grabbed what they could carry and headed for the raft. Luckily a lot of things had already been packed onto the raft or else they’d find themselves in trouble later on.
Yuying and Ai hopped onto the raft and each grabbed an oar as Zhang pushed the raft into the water.
BANG!! BANG!!
They looked back to the emperor ape and the lightning eater and saw that once more the lightning eater had wrapped the emperor ape. But this time. it had blasted the ape at point blank range with its lightning.
Scorch marks could be seen on the emperor ape’s white coat of fur. A bit of blood could also be seen flowing out of the place where the snake had bitten the ape earlier.
In retaliation to the lightning eater, the emperor ape shot its ice beam also at point blank range. However, the ice beam had a devastating effect on the snake unlike the lightning on the ape. Being cold blooded the extreme cold temperature from the ice had greatly injured the snake.
But it wasn’t out for the count the lightning eater began strengthening its coiling around the ape. It wanted to crush the ape to death.
And for the first time, the ape did something he had not done before, it bit into the snake, a grievous wound appeared near the snake’s head. Streams of blood was now flowing out of the snakes wound.
Zhang, Yuying and Ai were not a short distance out in the water. Zhang had tossed some large stones tied to vines into the water to anchor the raft.
He wanted to see who would win this death match and afterwards try to scavenge what he could from the loser’s corpse. These were demonic beasts at the 8th level their bodies would be consider treasures troves.
Their blood alone could be used to make high level pills. Their fangs, scales, and claws could be used to make rare weapons and armor. Zhang was hoping the lightning eater would be the one to meet its demise.
The lightning eater’s scales would prove to be very useful and valuable. Those scales were incredible hard and since they belonged to a lightning eater the scales were resistant to lightning attacks.
The battle raged on until the emperor ape’s coat of fur turned entirely red. This wasn’t due to the huge amount of blood that had leaked out from its body but the emperor ape had entered a frenzied state and was now going berserk.
A weird bulge appeared on the lightning eaters upper body and this bulge continued growing until it popped and another lightning eater’s head appeared. Both demonic beasts were going all out and at the end for sure, one of them will perish.
The ape had jumped and managed to land on top of the snake and began pounding away at the snake’s head. Although it was able to keep one head down the 2nd newly formed head lunged at the ape.
One of the ape’s arms were now occupied with the snake’s other head. The ape still looked like it had an advantage though. This fight continued for hours and at the end of the fight the sun was about to rise. The giant snake had constricted the ape to death.
“Damn, but I guess I’ll have to make do with the ape.”, Zhang sighed
However, shortly after the giant snake began departing, it slumped over and also fell to the ground. It sustained too many injuries during the fight and had also expended too much essence.
Now, all Zhang had to do was go scavenge what he could from the two corpses before any other smart demonic beasts showed up.
An eerie silence broke out after the battle, to the extent where crickets could be heard. Zhang wanted Yuying and Ai to stay on the raft but they flatly refused him and wished to see the two corpses close up. Seeing that both of the huge threats were now gone, Zhang did not refuse.
The trio hopped off the raft and swam back to shore. Docking the raft on the island would take too long so they decided to swim.
Their first target was the Lightning Eater. Zhang was hoping to find some of its cultivation in a crystallized form. Zhang was also hoping to get many scales from the snake eater so he could use it to get an armor for Yuying, Ai, and himself.
The trio began walking into the forest towards the giant snake.
Chapter 12: Man Vs Beast
Small fires had started in the forest due to the lightning that was shot everywhere earlier. These small fires, in mere instances, turned parts of the forest into a raging sea of fire.
“You two go back to the cabin and get whatever you can and bring it on to the raft! I’m going to see if I can get anything useful for us from those two monsters.”, Zhang yelled.
“Okay!! But be careful and come back in one piece!”, Yuying yelled back.
“Yeah don’t die!!!”, Ai also yelled.
Zhang nodded and headed off into the forest with a smile plastered on his face. Although it was dangerous to go into the forest now, he felt that there was a huge harvest waiting for him.
Having spent months in the forest, Zhang was able to breeze through it. Shortly after entering the forest, he was already in front of the corpse of the Lightning Eater.
From the Lightning Eater’s mouth, a strange liquid was leaking out and whatever this liquid touched it would begin to corrode. This most likely was the snake's poison being a level 8 demonic beast, it’s poison was extremely fearful.
With a wave of his hand a canteen appeared in Zhang’s hand.
“This might come in handy later.”, he said as he crouched down, as he used the canteen made out of essence to fill it with as much poison as he could as it kept dripping out of the Lightning Eaters mouth.
Had he tried to store it in something else, the poison most likely would of ate through the container. Only ice jade or something made out of a demonic beast of a higher level could possibly store this poison.
But using the Underworld Heart, Zhang was able to condense pure essence into a canteen. This canteen being made of essence would naturally be very sturdy but Zhang would have to keep channeling a bit of essence into it or else it would disappear.
Another treasure was also in front of Zhang, the Lightning Eater’s skin and scales. The skin had huge scales overlapping each other and tiny scales that clustered underneath the large scales.
The Lightning Eater had some especially big scales that grew on its head. These large scales could be used as shields or breast plates, whereas the skin itself with the small scales could be used as chainmail.
Zhang lifted up his sword and chopped into the snake’s corpse.
Clang!
“What the….”
His sword bounced right off not even scratching the skin. Regular blades wouldn’t even be able to scratch the Lightning Eater’s skin and scales. Let alone Zhang’s rusty sword that was as dull as a butter knife.
He could possibly try to peel the skin off without cutting it but the snake was massive and there would be no way to carry off its entire hide.
Zhang was in the middle of a dilemma, he did not know how he could get some of the snake’s skin and there was no way he was going to leave such a treasure alone and leave without any part of it.
That’s when he noticed something shiny on top of a bush. It was a scale and a piece of skin as big as curtain.
“How did this end up here?”, he thought,
Zhang quickly stuffed the skin into his sack and held the shield sized scale in his hand. Then he began to search to see if there were more pieces laying around.
The skin and scale had most likely fell off during the fight with the ape.
Although he wasn’t able to find anymore loose pieces, Zhang ended up where the ape had bit the Lightning Eater’s skin.
The left side of the snake’s 2nd head had a huge gash and the skin and scales were sticking out and ripped to shreds. This was perfect for Zhang, and he walked up and began plucking the scales and playing them in a huge sack he had made out of essence. The torn pieces of skin that was barely attached to the corpse was also plundered.
Soon, Zhang’s huge sack was full of spoils of war and he decided it was time to pay a visit to the other corpse.
As the fires raged, a big part of the forest was set ablaze so he had no time to waste. Zhang quickly mapped out a path in his mind and navigated through the burning forest to the body of the Frost Emperor Ape.
But when he reached his destination he encountered something that he did not wish to encounter.
A Voracious Eater was feasting on the Frost Apes remains. It was gorging itself with the Frost Ape.
From afar Zhang was able to see a shiny purple gem sticking out of the chest of the ape where the Voracious Eater was feasting. This was most likely the Frost Apes cultivation core.
