Chapter 12: Hmm? Your strength is alright... but, is that it?
Lin Yu lightly clicked his tongue, breaking the suffocating silence.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly pierced through the Bear Lord's low growls and pressure. Carrying an almost playful, teasing tone, it drifted distinctly into the ears of both the Bear Lord and Huo Yuhao:
"You've grown quite large, haven't you? Your build isn't small, and the look of this dark-gold fur is passable. Unfortunately, your brain doesn't seem to be working very well. Hmm, as for your strength... it seems alright, barely qualified..."
Lin Yu rubbed his chin as if selecting livestock at a market. His gaze lingered for a moment on the Bear Lord's mountain-crushing paw before he seemed to think of a good idea. A casual smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he added airily:
"Capturing you to act as a gatekeeper or a mount to pull a carriage... that seems like it might work?"
"..." "..." "..."
The entire world seemed to have been hit by a mute button.
Huo Yuhao was completely stunned, his mind a total blank. Even Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's screaming in the Sea of Consciousness froze, leaving only the word 'mount' echoing frantically.
Master... what is he saying? The Bear Lord... as a mount?!
The Bear Lord's dark-gold pupils, originally filled with rage and contempt, instantly shrank to the size of needlepoints! Its massive body stiffened as if struck by an invisible bolt of heavenly lightning.
On that hideous bear face, the expression froze from sheer rage into a state of extreme bewilderment and disbelief, before finally erupting into a volcanic, reason-incinerating fury!
Humiliation! Absolute humiliation!!
In its long four hundred thousand years of life, within the core circle of the Star Dou Great Forest, who had the Bear Lord ever respected besides the supreme Beast God Di Tian and that mysterious Lord, the Silver Dragon King?
The Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear clan was already a predator at the very top of the soul beast pyramid. As their king, it reigned supreme with its strength and ferocity! Even when facing other Savage Beasts, it had never lowered its proud head.
But today! A human who looked completely ordinary, with an aura that seemed plain! A tiny existence that looked like an ant or dust in its eyes had dared to evaluate it with such flippant, insulting words! He had dared to say its brain wasn't working?!
More damnably, he actually fantasized about capturing the dignified King of Darkgold Terrorclaw Bears, the sixth of the Ten Great Savage Beasts, to be a mount?! A pet?!
"ROOOAAARRRRRR——!!!!"
An explosion of rage ten times more violent than before erupted, sounding as if a billion thunders had detonated simultaneously in one's ear!
Visible sound waves expanded, instantly vibrating the thinner trees within a hundred meters into fine powder! The earth shook violently, cracking into numerous fissures!
The Bear Lord's dark-gold fur stood on end like burning steel needles. Its massive body trembled violently from extreme anger. Dark-gold soul power poured out of its body like uncontrolled volcanic lava, casting its silhouette like a demon god bringing the end of the world!
"Lowly human ant! You seek death!!!"
The Bear Lord had gone completely insane!
All reason was incinerated by the word "mount," leaving only the purest desire for destruction! It wanted to completely erase this human—whose arrogance had broken through the heavens—along with the little worm behind him from this world! In the most cruel and painful way possible!
"TEARING—THE—HEAVENS—CLAW—!!!"
No testing, no holding back! Right from the start, the Bear Lord used its strongest killing move, the innate soul skill it relied on to awe the Star Dou forest and which even Di Tian had to take seriously!
Its massive right front limb rose high, and five dark-gold claws several meters long instantly burst with a terrifying golden light that seemed to pierce the firmament!
That light was pure and sharp, containing the ultimate power of sharpness to rend space and destroy all things! The space around the claws emitted an unbearable groan, distorted and torn into fine black cracks by the invisible force!
As this claw swung down, it felt as though the sky itself would be forcibly ripped open!
The terror of its momentum made Huo Yuhao's soul tremble from a distance. Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was so frightened its soul nearly dissipated on the spot, and it could only scream unconsciously:
"It's over! We're dead! This maniac used his ultimate move! Help me!!"
The massive dark-gold claw shadow, carrying the might to destroy everything like a heavenly punishment, descended toward Lin Yu and the Huo Yuhao behind him! It was moving at the speed of light—impossible to dodge!
Huo Yuhao closed his eyes in despair, waiting for his body to be shattered. Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's screaming also stopped abruptly, as if its throat were being strangled by fear.
"BOOM—!!!"
A deafening explosion erupted! A terrifying shockwave of energy swept across the surroundings like a hurricane. Dust soared into the sky, and shattered stones and broken wood shot out like cannonballs!
However...
As the dust slightly settled, and as Huo Yuhao opened his eyes tremblingly with the resolve of death, he saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life—one that overturned his entire perception of reality:
Master Lin Yu was still standing in the same spot, his posture hadn't even changed! He still maintained that slightly playful expression, as if the world-destroying strike from a moment ago was merely a breeze passing over his face.
In the small area where Lin Yu stood, the ground was as flat as before, perfectly protected by an invisible force; not even a speck of dust had been raised.
But!
With Lin Yu as the center, the earth beyond a ten-meter radius presented a hellish landscape!
A gargantuan, dark-gold bear claw print, several meters deep, was clearly branded into the ground! Wherever the claw marks passed, rocks had turned to powder and the soil was scorched into crystal by high heat. All vegetation had vanished without a trace!
It was as if an invisible, world-ending giant claw had intentionally bypassed the small patch where Lin Yu stood, fiercely plowing through everything surrounding him!
The wild wind blew past, carrying dust and the smell of char, lightly fluttering the hem of Lin Yu's clothes.
He raised his hand and casually brushed off non-existent dust from his shoulder, as if shooing away a fly.
He looked up at the massive Bear Lord ahead, who had fallen into a brief daze because its full-strength strike had missed, its face still frozen in a mix of rage and disbelief.
Lin Yu tilted his head slightly, the playful curve of his mouth deepening. His tone was as flat as if he were asking if the weather was nice today:
"Hmm? Your strength is alright... but, is that it?"
The Bear Lord's massive body stood frozen. Those dark-gold pupils, once filled with tyranny and destruction, were now shrunk to needlepoints. Within them surged a mountainous rage, but deeper still was a cold chill named fear—a feeling it had never experienced in its four hundred thousand years of existence.
Its Tearing the Heavens Claw—the killing move it was so proud of, the one even Di Tian had to treat seriously—had actually... actually been blocked so effortlessly?!