The sun was just up above the head. The forest was not so dense, so sunlight could easily reach inside. It was midday, and the exam will end with the next sunrise. Time was running out, as it always does. In the end, the passing of time is the ultimate truth of the universe, and everything must succumb to time, even immortals.

Green leaves were shining due to the bright sun hovering above the head. Participants were fighting with everything they've got, noises of fierce fights were roaming on the air. There was also the smell of blood. A few unlucky participants have died. This is the ultimate test, the real battleground to dig out the talents. Yes, it is cruel. But that's simply how the world works. Reality is harsh, and only the worthy shall survive. After all, all are bound by fate, and fate is bound by the destiny the heavens have chosen for all. Edward, this young boy, was trying to shatter the shackles of fate, and write his destiny himself. Will he succeed, or will this be another story where everything is predestined, where destiny will prevail?

After searching for quite a while, Edward still failed to find a level 9 beast. Well, it wasn't easy. There were less than 10 of those level 9 beasts, and in these two days, most of them might have been hunted by the stronger participants, especially the top ones. Yet, he didn't give up. There should at least be one 9th level beast left for him. He just needed to look around more.

He kept strolling around the forest, but he was slowly moving towards the deepest part. The deepest part has more beasts. Especially, there should be territories of 9th level beasts there. The deeper into the forest, the stronger beasts one will find.

Suddenly, he sensed something. He instantly became alert. Cautiously moving forward, he took cover behind a tree. Soon he saw a giant black panther with white saber tooth jumping out of nowhere and smelling the surroundings. It seems this beast also noticed that there was a human nearby just as Edward noticed this beast.

"So, I've been noticed. Who cares? I'm gonna fight head-on. This is the strongest 9th level beast in the forest, 'Dark Panther'. Good time to test my strength.", Edward was confident. Bringing out the small sword, he jumped behind the beast.

The sudden appearance of Edward alerted the beast. Before it could even turn around, Edward channeled his physical essence into his left hand and his left leg, twisted his body and slashed towards the panther. The beast barely managed to avoid getting hit in a vital spot but still got a big scar on its body. Its thick skin was cracked open, the flesh was torn apart and blood was gushing out from the deep wound. With this sudden injury, it got really mad and jumped towards Edwards, baring its saber-like fangs. Edward was just waiting for this moment. He was going all out from the beginning, and now with perfect timing, he channeled all his physical essence to the right half his body. His right hand was holding the ax. Just as the fangs of the panther were about to pierce him, he slashed horizontally with the ax. Supported by all his physical essence, the slash was mighty, and it cut through the fangs of the panther and tore apart its mouth. the panther rolled to the ground and was bleeding heavily. It couldn't move for a while, and it was losing blood quickly. Due to too much blood loss, it lost most of its strength, but it still got up for one more attack. Although, without its fangs, its method of attack was now nowhere as powerful as before. Edward was not in a good shape either. His right hand was bleeding, and his ax had a crack on it. Most importantly, he used all of his strength in the first two attacks, so he was almost out of physical essence. He needed to recover for a while.

Edward and the beast looked eye to eye, and it was as if both of them understood the situation. With this attack, it was 'do or die' for both of them.

The beast jumped with all its remaining strength towards Edward, but Edward did not move at all. Just as the beast was above his head and was about to pounce on him, Edward leaned forward and slashed towards the beast's throat.

'Xiu Xiu Shing'

The beast's throat was split apart and at the same time, one of its sharp claws pierced Edward's right shoulder.

Both man and beast fell to the ground at the same time. Now there was only silence.

After quite a while, one of them got up. It was Edward who got up. He lost quite a lot of blood, and he was out of strength. He started to tear up his shirt and tied it like a bandage on his right arm and right shoulder. Then, he rested for a while. After that, he started to peel off the skin of the panther and collect its meat. He did not forget to collect the beast's core from its skull.

*******

The western horizon was glowing red. The sun was bidding farewell for today, running off to give light to the other regions of this planet. for this region, the daytime was over. Under the crimson glow of the setting sun, a boy was grilling beast meat, waiting eagerly to eat and replenish his strength. The beautiful aroma of grilled meat lingered around, and the night was slowly approaching. Will it bring a goodnight's sleep along with the stars? Or will it bring out the dangers lurking around in the darkness? Who Knows?