THE DRAGON GOD AGAINST THE HEAVENS

6.

Wang Chen's survival instincts flared. Once more, he leapt and successfully evaded the slash of the wolf's claws.

Booooom!

A small crater a few centimeters deep shattered into the ground right where Wang Chen had just stood. The impact of his footstep—involuntarily fueled by the residual energy of the Earth-grade Pill—propelled him into the air, flying straight over the head of the Blood Fang Wolf, who stared in utter bewilderment as its prey suddenly took flight again.

Thud!

The momentum caused Wang Chen to land roughly, rolling over a patch of sharp brambles. A stinging pain instantly pricked his skin, but the racing adrenaline caused the sensation to evaporate into thin air.

“I... I can jump this high?!” Wang Chen thought in sheer disbelief. However, he had no time to marvel at this miracle.

AWOOOOO!

Feeling utterly toyed with by a human it considered easy prey, the Blood Fang Wolf roared in fury. Its blood-red eyes gleamed even more savagely. The creature spun its massive body with incredible agility and darted back in pursuit of Wang Chen.

WUUUSH!

The wolf’s speed doubled. Within mere seconds, the beast was right behind Wang Chen, clawing at the air with talons as hard as steel, aiming directly for the youth's back.

Wuuuuush!

Hearing the whistling of sharp wind at his back, Wang Chen's combat instincts screamed hysterically. Utilizing the remaining momentum from his previous escape, he deliberately threw himself to the side, rolling across the muddy ground.

SRAAAKKK!

The wolf's colossal claw missed Wang Chen’s tattered robe by a fraction of a millimeter and slammed into a nearby ancient tree that was two spans wide.

BRAKKK!

The giant tree instantly shattered into splinters, crashing down with a rumbling thud under the terrifying strength of a three-star Mortal Realm beast.

Seeing such destructive impact, the hairs on Wang Chen's neck stood on end. If his body had taken that claw directly, he would have surely been turned into a pile of minced meat!

“Damn it! I need to get out of here right now!”

Capitalizing on the moment the wolf’s body was slightly hindered by the tree's impact, Wang Chen instantly scrambled to his feet with a speed he had never possessed before. The warm sensation in his bone marrow throbbed violently once again, as if distributing pure energy to every blood vessel in his legs.

WUUUSH!

Wang Chen sprinted with everything he had. His footsteps felt so light that he felt as though he were floating over the piles of dry leaves. Every time his feet struck the ground, his body propelled forward several meters, piercing through the rapidly thickening black mist.

Amidst his desperate flight...

Thoughts of Mei Lu suffering on the clan’s gallows, the arrogant face of Wang Ba, and the icy gaze of Wang Tian whirled in his head, morphing into a fuel of sheer resolve that burned away all his fear.

“I cannot die here! I must become strong!” he roared in his heart, continuously forcing his steps through the darkness of the Black Mist Forest, leaving behind the frustrated roars of the Blood Fang Wolf, which were slowly fading into the distance.

WUUUSH! WUUUSH!

The wind howled fiercely in Wang Chen's ears as his body streaked through the wild vegetation. The giant trees to his left and right blurred past, shifting backward at a speed that defied logic for a human without cultivation. However, the small joy of successfully outrunning the Blood Fang Wolf did not last long.

Because...

GROOOWWLL!

From behind, a roar filled with absolute wrath shook the forest once more. The Blood Fang Wolf had not given up! As an apex predator of the outer Black Mist Forest, losing a weak prey like Wang Chen was an unbearable insult to its pride.

Wuuuush! Wuuuush!

Pounding with its four powerful legs, the creature bounded over fallen tree barriers and resumed the chase at full speed, rapidly closing the gap between them.

Hearing the heavy, approaching thuds of its paws, the panic that had briefly subsided inside Wang Chen’s chest instantly surged back to its peak. His heart hammered violently like a war drum. Utter terror caused his focus to shatter. With his vision obscured by the gray mist that grew thicker by the second, Wang Chen no longer cared where his feet were landing. The only thought in his mind was one: run as far as possible!

Until suddenly... the mist in front of him abruptly thinned out, revealing a sight that made his blood freeze solid.

SREEEKKK!

Wang Chen reflexively dug both his heels into the dirt, braking hard to force his body to a halt, skidding for several meters. Dust and dry leaves kicked up into the air.

Exactly a mere inch away from the tips of his shoes, solid ground ceased to exist. All that remained was a gaping, wide void. A bottomless abyss, shrouded in a pitch-black fog that shifted slowly like a thick liquid.

The people of the Wang clan called this place the Abyss of Despair—a place where anyone who fell inside would never return.

At that exact moment...

Wang Chen stood frozen at the cliff's edge, his body trembling violently as he stared into the darkness below. His path was entirely blocked.

“Damn it... I thought I could survive... but I never expected to end up trapped between life and death instead...”

TAP. TAP. TAP.

Slow yet heavily pressurized footsteps echoed from behind. Wang Chen stiffly turned his body around. In front of him, the Blood Fang Wolf slowly walked out from within the mist.

The creature was no longer sprinting; it knew its prey was cornered and had absolutely no way out.

The wolf’s blood-red eyes flashed with a cruel sense of victory. The beast lowered its front torso, opening a jaw filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, and slowly licked its own lips, wet with drool. In the wolf’s eyes, Wang Chen had already turned into a dinner course ready to be devoured.

"Damn... is this the end of my journey?" Wang Chen whispered with a bitter smile. The image of Mei Lu’s crying face flashed across his mind once more.

"Forgive me, Mei Lu... I broke my promise..."

AWOOOOO! WUUUUUUUUSH.

The Blood Fang Wolf gave Wang Chen no more time to mourn his fate. With one powerful thrust of its hind legs, its massive body shot forward, pouncing straight toward Wang Chen’s chest.

DUAAAKKK!

Though Wang Chen reflexively tried to raise both arms to block, the raw power of a three-star Mortal Realm monster was far too overwhelming.

The heavy impact landed squarely on his chest, followed by the faint sound of fracturing bones and a spray of fresh blood from Wang Chen’s mouth.

"Ugh!"

The sheer force of the pounce threw Wang Chen’s frail body backward, sailing right past the edge of the cliff.

Gravity instantly claimed him. Wang Chen's body plummeted drastically, falling free into the dark, terrifying depths of the abyss. The bone-chilling wind ripped his robes to shreds as his body sank further, completely swallowed by the dense black fog of the Abyss of Despair, leaving the wolf’s howls atop the cliff to slowly fade into nothingness.

"This fate... is truly so pathetic... If there is a second life, I, Wang Chen... never want to be a degraded piece of trash again!" he uttered, followed by his eyes closing shut.