Chapter 532: A Sudden Attack
After Qi Han entered the Evildemon Forest, the entire outer region of the forest was sealed off within an hour by a large number of high-ranking Spirit Engineers.
Using the excuse that a dangerous criminal had fled into the Evildemon Forest, they prohibited anyone from entering.
Anyone who came out of the forest was subjected to unprecedentedly strict questioning. Even the slightest suspicion regarding a person's identity would result in immediate detention.
Naturally, Qi Han knew nothing about this.
Not long after entering the Evildemon Forest, he couldn't help but ask,
"Ru Yi, where is the Three-Eyed Battle Bear?"
He felt extremely uncomfortable in this forest. Having only just entered, he already wanted to finish the mission and leave as quickly as possible.
The Star Dou Forest on the Douluo Continent was also dangerous, but at least its scenery was beautiful. Trees and shrubs grew everywhere, and as far as the eye could see there was vibrant greenery.
The Evildemon Forest, however, lay in a cold region. Though it was also a forest, it was dominated by ancient coniferous woods. The overall color palette was dark gray and black.
The twisted branches of the trees resembled demons baring their claws and fangs, creating an especially oppressive atmosphere.
"The Three-Eyed Battle Bears don't have fixed territories," Ru Yi replied helplessly. "They're not social creatures. Each one hunts and feeds independently. I've already marked the dynamic locations and cultivation ages of every ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Battle Bear on the map of the Evildemon Forest. The rest is up to you."
"That works."
Qi Han looked at the light screen that suddenly appeared before him and nodded in satisfaction.
Having the locations of all the ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Battle Bears marked directly would make tracking them much easier.
At this rate, the mission might not even take ten days.
Maybe he could finish it today.
With that thought, Qi Han tucked Pururu into his collar and began rapidly advancing through the forest.
He had already selected a target.
The bear had only just reached the ten-thousand-year level, so it wouldn't be too powerful—perfect for him.
It was located in an area where ten-thousand-year spirit beasts gathered, still far from the core region of the Evildemon Forest where the Evileye Tyrant Emperor resided.
The commotion from fighting one bear shouldn't be enough to attract the attention of that terrifying existence.
So it should be relatively safe.
. . .
"ROAR!"
With a swift slash of his blade, Qi Han's spirit ring flashed.
A blade of light shot out effortlessly and split an ape-type spirit beast that had lunged at him cleanly in half.
Without even sparing it a glance, he continued toward the location of the ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Battle Bear.
The target hadn't moved at all during the time he had been traveling.
Excellent.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
The ape spirit beast that had attacked him moments ago was already over five thousand years old.
Qi Han had now passed through the region dominated by thousand-year spirit beasts and entered a mixed zone inhabited by both thousand-year and ten-thousand-year spirit beasts.
A little farther ahead, he would reach his target.
His movements became much more cautious, and his pace slowed considerably.
In this region, attacks from other spirit beasts were no longer something he could completely ignore.
Following the principle that fewer troubles meant better results, Qi Han generally tried to avoid unnecessary fights.
Unfortunately, spirit beasts possessed an almost instinctive hostility toward humans.
Many times, avoiding battle simply wasn't possible.
And when that happened, he had no choice but to cut them in half.
Hm?
As he continued pursuing his target, Qi Han suddenly frowned.
The ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Battle Bear that had remained stationary until now suddenly began moving on the map.
It was heading toward another Three-Eyed Battle Bear.
And that second bear possessed a cultivation age of fifty thousand years.
This...
Wasn't Ru Yi the one who said that Three-Eyed Battle Bears hunted alone?
Could they be relatives?
No matter the reason, he absolutely couldn't allow them to meet.
If the two bears joined forces, he would have no way of killing his target.
A fifty-thousand-year spirit beast was comparable to a human Spirit Douluo.
That was still far beyond his ability to handle.
Even though he had already ventured deep into spirit-beast territory, Qi Han couldn't afford to worry about that now.
After estimating the bear's movement speed, he adjusted his direction and accelerated sharply.
At full speed, he could definitely intercept the ten-thousand-year bear before it reached the fifty-thousand-year one.
Then he could kill it immediately, complete the mission, and leave the Evildemon Forest as soon as possible.
With Qi Han's current cultivation, his maximum speed was extremely fast.
Before long, he had cut the distance between himself and the bear by roughly half.
Just as he was about to accelerate even further, a strange sound suddenly came from nearby.
Whoosh!
There was no time to turn around.
Judging the direction of the sudden attack from the sound alone, Qi Han instantly extended the kitchen knife in his hand and swung it with all his strength.
Clang!
A sharp metallic collision rang out.
Qi Han immediately felt an overwhelmingly powerful force transmitted through the blade. In an instant, it threw him off balance despite his high-speed sprint, sending him tumbling across the ground.
What was that?
Alarmed, Qi Han quickly rolled and regained his footing.
A foul, fishy wind swept toward him once more as his attacker launched another assault. Qi Han swung his knife with all his might, blocking the next strike. Using the momentum, he retreated several steps before finally getting a clear look at the creature that had attacked him.
It was an enormous spider.
Its body alone was over three meters long, while its eight spear-like legs each exceeded five meters in length.
Its entire body was covered in a jet-black shell as dark as ink. Only its abdomen was different, where pale white markings intertwined to form the image of a grotesque human face.
A Man Faced Demon Spider.
A chill instantly ran down Qi Han's spine.
He hadn't expected his luck to be this bad.
Before even encountering his target, he had run into such a terrifying spirit beast.
Although the Douluo Continent and the Sun Moon Continent were separated by an endless ocean, the spirit beasts inhabiting them were not entirely different species.
For example, the title of the Terrorclaw Spirit Engineer Legion originated from the top-tier spirit beast known as the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
This meant that Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears also existed on the Sun Moon Continent.
The Man Faced Demon Spider was likewise a spirit beast found on both continents.
The cultivation age of a Man Faced Demon Spider was determined by the length of its spider legs.
This one's legs were five meters long.
That meant it had reached the ten-thousand-year level.
Even while traveling at full speed, Qi Han had not completely lowered his guard.
Throughout the journey, he had been constantly monitoring his surroundings to avoid being ambushed by spirit beasts.
Yet this particular area had seemed eerily quiet, as though no spirit beasts existed nearby at all.
Only now did Qi Han understand why.
With a spirit-beast predator like the Man Faced Demon Spider present, it would have been strange if any other spirit beasts were still around.
Moreover, ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spiders possessed a special concealment ability.
This innate skill allowed them to completely hide both their appearance and their aura, making their hunts silent and undetectable.
Thus, even though Qi Han had remained vigilant the entire time, he had noticed nothing until the spider actually launched its attack, forcing him to react instinctively.
Fortunately, his knife skills had improved tremendously.
Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to block either of those two attacks.
His expression grew serious as he stared fixedly at the Man Faced Demon Spider before him.
On the map, the ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Battle Bear had already met up with the fifty-thousand-year one.
But that no longer mattered to Qi Han.
If he couldn't defeat the creature before him, he would become its meal today.
And if he could defeat it...
Then afterward, he would settle the score for ruining his plans.