The creature leapt forward, its head slightly bent to the side, jaws preparing to snap Zhan Feng's head like a twig.
Zhan Feng's grip tightened on the sharp carved bone fragment, his pitiful makeshift weapon. The jagged edge felt laughably weak against the Rank 1 demonic beast, but it was all this frail body could wield.
The timer in the corner of his vision ticked mercilessly: 21:58 remaining.
Its massive form exploded forward in a blur.
Jagged teeth snapped shut where Zhan Feng's neck had been a heartbeat earlier. He twisted desperately, the torn burlap sack flapping wildly around him. The beast's claw still grazed his shoulder, tearing fresh gashes and sending hot blood spraying.
Pain flared, but Zhan Feng swung the bone fragment with everything he had, stabbing wildly at the wolf's snout.
*Crack!*
The bone connected, chipping off a small piece of the beast's tough hide. The wolf roared in irritation rather than real pain and whipped its barbed tail like a living flail.
BAM!
The tail slammed into Zhan Feng's side, hurling him through the air. He crashed hard into a pile of rotting corpses, the impact driving the air from his lungs. Rotten flesh and greenish mucous splattered across his face.
Coughing blood, he forced himself back up, wiping the filth from his face, his legs shaking. Through the translucent blue screen, the chat exploded.
"This youth is truly courting death! Using a sorry excuse for a weapon to fend off against this beast!"
"Indeed, this old man has never witnessed such a pathetic struggle."
"Haha!"
The chat continued to pour in. But what Zhan Feng did next shocked them. The Scarlet Spring Hibiscus flower he had claimed from the system rewards, he pulled it out and stood his ground, holding the flower as if it was some sort of weapon.
"Oh my days, has this youth truly lost his mind! What is a flower supposed to do in this situation?"
"Surely it must have some sort of significance. Because even a fool would know not to use a flower in a battle for one's life."
"Indeed. The flower must have some sort of special attribute."
While the people on the livestream speculated on the attributes of the flower that would make Zhan Feng use it in battle, Zhan Feng was busy making calculations in his head.
He held the sharp bone in one hand while clutching the flower in the other. 'If I do this right I might survive. But if I fail.... Well I hope I don't fail.'
He was going to do something that would put his "new" life at risk.
As the creature charged forward once more, Zhan Feng locked his gaze on it. His body was tensed up and his grip on the bone tightening unconsciously.
*Growl*
The creature's speed and strength seemed to increase as it became much faster and deadlier than before, its eyes more brutal.
Play time was definitely over.
This made Zhan Feng flinch, but he quickly regained his composure. The people on the other end were locked in too on the stream.
It seemed like what was going to happen next would decide the fate of this broadcast.
The Corpse Devourer Wolf launched forward with terrifying speed, its massive body ripping through the air like a rotting avalanche. Patchy black fur clung to decaying gray skin that oozed dark, foul-smelling ichor.
Long, curved bone spikes jutted from its spine and shoulders, glistening wetly under the crimson-tinted sky. Its eyes burned with savage green hunger as two rows of serrated fangs dripped thick strands of saliva mixed with pieces of half-digested flesh.
Zhan Feng's heart pounded violently as the wolf closed the distance in two powerful bounds. The beast lowered its head, jaws widening to crush his entire upper body in one bite.
'Now!' Zhan Feng yelled inwardly. His grip tightened on the bone fragment in one hand while he clutched the delicate Scarlet Spring Hibiscus in the other.
He planted his feet as best he could in the treacherous mud and waited for the perfect moment.
With another step the creature closed the distance to about four feet. It leaped forward, its claws protruding from its paws as it aimed for Zhan Feng's neck.
Zhan Feng twisted violently to the side, but the claws still scratched his neck, leaving four deep wounds as blood seeped out.
Ignoring the pain, he stretched the hand holding the bone fragment and struck at the savage beast's lower side while it was still hurling past him. Because the hide was thinner there, the sharp edge tore clean through.
*Shriek!*
The beast cried out in pain as it crumbled to the floor. Not waiting for another second, Zhan Feng launched forward and smeared the Scarlet Spring Hibiscus directly onto the creature's snout. He stepped backward, giving himself and the beast some space.
Through the system screen he saw the comments flooding in.
"Why didn't he finish off the beast while he had the chance?!"
"No, if he had tried to finish it off, the beast would definitely have used that opening to strike a fatal blow to the youth."
"Okay. But why did he smear the flower on the beast's snout?"
"This old fellow doesn't know. But let us see the outcome."
The creature was now extremely furious, its eyes glistening with a deathly intent. It wanted nothing more than to tear this lowly unawakened human apart.
*Growl!*
It let out a furious guttural growl, even deeper than before. It launched forward, intending to kill Zhan Feng in one clean strike. But to its shock, its body was getting sluggish, and it was feeling overwhelmingly tired.
This was the effect of the flower.
When Zhan Feng had picked the Scarlet Spring Hibiscus, he thought it was a water-based plant that would cause something cool like an explosion. But the description that downloaded into his head left him a little disappointed. Still, he knew it was not a bad option either.
This flower, called the Scarlet Spring Hibiscus because it bloomed under a red moon in spring, made anyone who breathed in its pollen fall asleep.
Its disadvantage was that the sleep effect could not affect higher-rank beasts or humans. So if the beast had been any higher than Rank 1, it would not have worked.
Seeing the creature still pushing through the sleep effect and preparing to strike with its claw, Zhan Feng instinctively crossed his arms in front of his face for protection.
After a few seconds, the strike he expected never came. In front of him, the creature stood asleep, its paw still raised.
'It worked?' he mumbled inwardly.
Then gradually the beast started to fall...
'Hey! Wait!'
Thud!
The creature fell heavily on top of him, and they both crashed into the muddy ground of rotten corpses together. The chat instantly exploded.
"Oh, so the flower's attribute was a sleep effect!"
The comments kept pouring in with surprise and amusement.
Zhan Feng shoved the heavy creature off his body. He grabbed the bone fragment and stabbed the wolf continuously in its vulnerable spots before the system notification rang in his head.
*Ding!*
[Host has successfully killed Rank 1 Demonic Beast: Corpse Devourer Wolf!]
[Ding! Congratulations Host for successfully slaying the beast, automatically ending the quest.]
'But I thought the stream was supposed to last thirty minutes?' Zhan Feng thought, remembering the timer was still at around 19 minutes.
[Ding! Does the Host wish to end the Livestream?]
"Yes!"
Almost instantly, the streaming artifact beside him vanished, returning to his inventory.
On the other end, the mysterious transmission was suddenly cut off and returned to their previous recordings. Most people were disappointed, while some remained surprised about how the transmission had happened.
Those who had been watching 18+ dual cultivation arts quietly returned to their nightly business.
[Ding! Host has completed the first hidden quest!]
[Claim rewards!]
Zhan Feng was about to check his rewards when the robotic female voice sounded again.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations Host for obtaining a grand reward for your first kill.]