Akata and Peizhi Xiuying proceeded along cautiously through the middle ring. They then stopped and looked in front of them. Up ahead there were about three Grade 2 beasts eating on another kind of beast.

The three beasts had bushy blue fur. Their claws were white along with their saber teeth. They had tails that could spread out like a parachute and cover them like a cape, but most of the time they were as then as a snake.

“Lunar Bears.” Peizhi Xiuying said with a slightly frightened look. “Their defense is top notch and they tend to hunt in packs. Should we go around them?” She asked turning to face Akata.

Akata on the other hand could feel his blood pumping. This was a beast that he hasn’t faced before and he wanted to fight it. Of course he wanted it’s blood to get some of its secrets but that was secondary to him right now.

“You can stay back if you want. But I want to battle them. Only by constantly fighting and training myself can I become stronger.” He said as he took a step forward. As he did a red glow flashed across his eyes.

Peizhi Xiuying shook her head and let out a long breath. She too walked in the direction of the Lunar Bears. ‘If he is going to face them I can’t just watch idly on the side.’ After these thoughts her face changed into one of determination.

Akata started to pick up speed as he approached the Lunar Bears. His nature energy quickly changed from calm into a raging river. The shocking change made the Lunar Bears look up in astonishment. They quickly identified Akata and Peizhi Xiuying heading their way.

All three gave a loud roar and charged toward Akata who was in front of Peizhi Xiuying. The three bears were at least twice the height of Akata. To any onlooker it would seem that this battle would be one sided.

Akata gave a slight smile and sent out the power of his cultivation base which was at the 3rd Grade. The pressure immediately caused the three bears to slow down in their tracks and one of them even began to retreat.

“He’s at the 3rd Grade already?” Peizhi Xiuying was surprised to see that Akata was at the 3rd Grade. “But he was just at the 2nd Grade before we entered the forest. How is he advancing so fast?”

Peizhi Xiuying shook her head no longer wondering about Akata’s rise in power and immediately yelling out. “I’ll get the one that is retreating. You can focus on those two right there.” She flashed an incantation gesture and her vine appeared. This time displaying two tendrils. The vine quickly grew to be longer than ten meters and flew out to the retreating Lunar Bear.

The vine was just too fast for the bear as it lashed on to it and pulled it back toward Peizhi Xiuying. “Sprout.” She willed the vine to sprout buds of white flowers. Some of them were lotus buds and others were lily buds. The appearance of the buds caused the vine to grow more powerful as it pulled the Lunar Bear in faster.

Akata could see that Peizhi Xiuying could handle the bear and quickly put his attention on the two in front of him. Both bears quickly spread out their tails. The tails increased in length and width to become a blanket that covered over them.

“Putting up some shields eh? No matter I’ll break it soon.” He decreased his cultivation to the 2nd Grade to make this a better fight. Then Akata’s body glowed with a red light as he pulled his fist back and then threw it out to the nearest Lunar Bear. The bear was sent flying back and into a tree where it let out a squeal.

The bear then uncovered itself to reveal a bloody gash it had. However that was all there was, nothing else. It’s eyes became bloodshot as it seemed to lose control of itself. It’s claws grew longer along with it’s saber teeth then it charged toward Akata.

“Humph. That defense is tough. Even with me using half my strength I didn’t manage to kill it.” Akata looked on closely. He was a fighting genius so he would learn from each exchange in a fight and improve upon them.

“Shadowfeet.” As the charging bear was upon him Akata activated his Shadowfeet skill and zoomed past the wild Lunar Bear. His lower body merged into the shadows of the night and as his speed increased explosively. In the night his Shadowfeet skill could go at its fastest speed when being unleashed.

He then headed toward the other bear not bothering to look back. ‘No need in fighting something that has lost its mind.’ The charging bear was still charging to the previous spot Akata had been in when its head was sent flying off. It happened so fast that even after its head was chopped off, its body was still running. Blood didn’t even have time to squirt out of its neck as its body toppled to the ground, lifeless.

As Akata approached the second bear, he was a bit disappointed, he wanted this fight to last a bit longer so that he could learn more from it. As he moved closer he even stopped rotating his red rune. ‘I guess this is as good as time as any to see how far I can go without using any runes.’ He thought to himself.

He got to the second bear quickly and punched out. When his punch landed on the blanket like tail it felt like he was hitting metal. ‘So tough!’ He thought as his face filled with astonishment.

He unleashed punch after punch but none of it was working against the shield of the Lunar Bear. Eventually the Lunar Bear noticed that Akata couldn’t hurt it. It then let out a roar and tried to swipe at Akata. It’s palm was the size of Akata’s head but with Akata’s speed and agility it couldn’t touch him.

The bear and Akata fought back and forth but neither of them could do anything to each other. It was a complete stalemate. ‘It’s too bad I don’t know any divine abilities that I could test right now. It would really help to gauge my strength.’ Akata used his Shadowfeet to zip around the Lunar Bear to get behind it where he threw another punch.

Meanwhile…

Peizhi Xiuying held the Lunar Bear in her vine. The Lunar Bear tried to fight back but it didn’t work. The vine was just too tough to break free from.

“Tsk. After that last absorption my vine has reached the mid 3rd Rank. A trifling 2nd Rank can’t possibly think about breaking free from it. As I think about it, it won’t be a bad idea to try out some new blood for once.” As she said this she flashed an incantation gesture and pointed to the vine. “Bloom.”

The white buds on the vine tendrils bloomed into lotuses and lilies. The vine burst forth with boundless life energy that came from the lilies. “The Illusory Phoenix Lily gives my vine the ability to resurrect itself. But my original flower, the Blood Lotus, takes the blood of things to nourish and strengthen itself. Drain.”

The Lunar Bear let out a roar as it’s blue fur started to become white. It was at this moment that a blue light began to emanate off of its claws and fangs. Its claws and fangs became heavier and when it slashed against the vine it made it tear apart.

Peizhi Xiuying was shocked by this. ‘What kind of ability is that? These vines should be indestructible to anything below the 3rd Rank. Yet it was able to tear them apart?’ Even as she was speaking the vine began to repair itself until it was fully formed again.

She gave a cold snort and flashed another incantation gesture. “Grand Life Vine.” The vine quickly grew out to twenty meters long and two more tendrils sprung out of the ground. These tendrils however only had white lotuses. The four tendrils waved in the air around Peizhi Xiuying emitting a boundless life force.

She pointed toward the Lunar Bear and the vines zoomed forth in that direction. Soil, rock, and other plants were uprooted from the ground as the vines flashed in that direction. One vine wrapped around Peizhi Xiuying herself and lifted her up in the air.

Up in the air she flashed another incantation gesture and pointed downward toward the bear. “Pollinate!” The few flowers that had drained some of the life out of the bear before began to shake. Soon red dust could be seen coming out of them as it spread across the area around the bear. In the red dust however could be seen specks of black on it.

“This is your blood that I took before. I’m giving it back to you. However be careful when you take it cause my vine might have poisoned it!” Her eyes were cold as the poisoned pollen spread out over the bear.

The bear trembled as the pollen touched its fur. The pollen was quickly absorbed by the bear and its fur was turning black. It let out another roar and swiped its claws again. The three other tendrils were wrapping around it and lashing out. Bloody gashes could be seen on the bear and it looked to be weakening some.

Peizhi Xiuying gave one more cold snort and pointed at the bear again. “Pierce.” She said softly. The vine straightened out as if they had become spears as they rushed in towards the bear. They effortlessly penetrated through the Lunar Bear. “Drain.” She spoke once more.

This time the bear could do nothing as its fur was turning white at an astonishing speed. After a few breaths of time the white flowers on her vine were completely red in color and the Lunar Bear was completely white.

With a wave of her hand the vines quickly dispersed and the bear toppled to the ground lifeless. Peizhi Xiuying gave a big sigh and picked up one of her red flowers. It was one of her lilies and she planted it into the ground.

Akata was focused on the bear in front of him as he punch out. The bear let out a roar and moved its tail behind it to block the punch. Akata’s fist still couldn’t do anything.

“Ugh! I should be more powerful than this. Is this really all I can do when I don’t use my runes? Come on I can manage to defeat this beast without using my runes, there has to be a way.” He looked over to see that Peizhi Xiuying had pierced the bear with her vines and killed it. It was then that he got an idea.

Akata’s eyes became cold as he undid his hand as a fist. His hand was all the way stretched out with his fingers pointed in the bears direction. “I’ll just stab it and try to penetrate its body!” He struck out swiftly aimed at the bears shield like tail.

The impact from the collision caused the tail to bleed some. Although Akata managed to hurt it, he wasn’t satisfied in the least. “It couldn’t even reach the body of the bear. Only a bit of blood was spilled from it.”

The Lunar Bear however roared when it was injured by Akata. A blue light glowed from its claws and fangs as it swung out at Akata. Immediately Akata felt himself get heavier.

“What ability is this?! I feel like my movements are being restricted almost like…” Akata’s eyes went wide with astonishment at his next thought. “... almost like it’s controlling gravity! This is too amazing of an ability. I have to get my hands on it.”

His eyes showed with greed as he no longer cared for the battle experience. He rotated his red rune and struck out viciously at the incoming claw. The pressure from his red rune instantly caused the gravity weighing down on him to be pushed aside. His strike made contact with the claw and broke it apart with ease. But it still continued on to the body of the Lunar Bear where it landed and sent it flying.

The bear landed and skid across the ground where it didn’t move again. Akata waved his hand causing the blood of the beast to fly over to him. Then he turned and waved his hand again toward the other Lunar Bear he had killed causing the blood of that beast to fly over. The blood of the two beasts gathered together to form a ball that shrunk and flew into Akata’s soul region.

He clapped his hands together as if clearing dust from them. “Ready to go?” He said.