Blood dripped on the yellow honey and a faint cry of the beast could be heard. It turned around searching for the pursuer.

It had been enjoying it's meal, oblivious to its surroundings, but now it was in great pain as the bullet was lodged in its left eye socket. James put the gun away in his ring and took out his sword.

He jumped down on the grassy terrain, coming out of his hiding. It was time to face the beast.

The Fanged Bear looked at the attacker with hate. It had lost his left eye and felt a sudden weakness inside it's body. It knew that it was probably from the object that had struck it.

It circulated qi inside to every part of the body trying to remove the effect of the foreign object that entered inside it's head.

The bear could see the opponent was in the early stages of the Azure realm, which meant that the enemy purposely tried to weaken it to hunt.

It stomped the ground in anger as it couldn't bear to be looked down by someone lower to itself. It looked back at the enemy channeling it's qi in its claws. The brown claws shined menacingly in the light.

The Fanged Bear was known for its high defense on its back and for it's offense with its claws. It was slow for a peak stage Azure beast but it's attacks were not. It could swipe at a frightening speed with its claws at the target.

James prepared himself to attack. He could see the bear didn't attack in an instant upon seeing him. This meant that the poison was working on its body.

However, the poison could only weaken the bear by a bit, to be waiting meant it was trying to clear free of the poison's effect. Showing its claws was just to scare James from attacking to gain time and heal itself.

He needed to charge quick as he still had an advantage, otherwise it will be tough combating it later on. The beast even without an eye was still a peak stage Azure realm monster.

He applied Wind Enforcer and charged at the bear. With a quick dash he closed and swung his sword at the target.

Seeing that the enemy was not intimidated by its claws charging at it instead, it became furious and let out a roar. As the blade neared, the bear countered it with its claws.

The blade and the claw met in a stalemate. James quickly shifted his direction and turned right swinging his sword at the legs of the beast. He infused qi and performed a Gale Slash.

The qi wave cut the blur fur striking at the flesh. A wound appeared on the left leg and blood splattered around. The beast roared in anger and charged at James.

James quickly stepped back trying to create a gap but the bear caught up. Even though it was slow and injured, it was still a peak stage beast which had a considerable amount of speed in front of an early stage Azure cultivator.

It struck it's claw with a lightning speed at James chest. He brought his sword in front and barely countered it, however, he was pushed back due to the force of the attack.

He steadied himself as he fell back, the bear charged again with its claws. James tried to counter again but he suddenly felt his hand go numb. Even though he was able to counter the previous attack, but the sheer strength behind the claw numbed his hand.

James could do nothing as the claw teared apart his chest and stomach. Five long lines appeared on his body filled with blood. Thankfully the attack didn't pierce deep or it would have been highly fatal for him.

This could be thanked to the effects of the One Horned Beetle Pellet that strengthened his body, increasing its toughness.

James was pushed back again but he applied qi force and struck the air in front of him to push him back further from the bear. He needed a gap or the bear might end him.

Seeing it had successfully struck it's prey, the bear was elated and became more bloodthirsty. It wanted to tear apart the human who dared to hunt it.

James couldn't heal himself with an ointment. He would be dead if he tried. He could only depend on his self regeneration ability. He channeled the qi towards the cuts trying to close them to prevent blood loss.

He moved again on the left. It was the blind spot of the beast as it lost its left eye. He couldn't attack on the target's back as it had a hard armor like defense.

The only area which could hurt it was it's front, but it's fighting capability was above his own. Engaging in a melee showdown would result in his death as he lacked the force, the strength to match the creature.

He tried to control his speed with qi force and darted in just a step away, stopped himself and performed a Gale slash at the enemy. A qi wave struck the bear's stomach and before it could react, James backed away again.

The bear felt severely limited as the enemy now struck him indirectly from its blind spot. It could only suffer as the enemy quickly created a distance instead of charging head on. It had to lure the enemy.

He was nearing the mid stage of Wind Enforcer as he had been able to control his speed to a certain extent.

Like this James was able to strike the Fanged Bear landing another two hits on it. But he knew he couldn't continue like this. Eventually his qi will run out and the bear will end him.

He needed to kill it. The effect of the poison wasn't much, but with the attacks on its legs and stomach, the bear had lost a considerable amount of its momentum.

Suddenly the bear fell on the ground and tried to pick itself back up. This was a sign for James, a sign that the moment he wanted was here.

The bear wasn't able to move itself properly, he needed an opportunity and an opportunity had presented itself to him!

Seeing it struggle, James tightened his grip on the sword and with a dash he struck at the bear which was struggling to get back up. As he neared in he struck towards the left wounded eye of the bear.

But to his surprise the bear suddenly moved.

Like a bolt of lightening, the bear which seemed weak, grabbed the sword with its claw and ferociously bit at James lodging it's teeth at the enemy.

James was shocked, he tried to dodge but the sword was firmly held by the bear. It tried to bit his face but he was able to move in the nick of time. However, the teeth lodged on top of his left shoulder instead and it shook his body throwing him.

Blood splattered on the ground as James fell. He landed hard on the ground, his left shoulder had a small opening showing a missing part of his flesh which the bear had bitten it off as it threw him.

He realized that the fanged bear had tricked him into believing that it had weakened considerably to lure him to come near. He had fallen for its trap and had now become the prey instead. With one move the target had turned the tables.

He tried to get up but felt his body weaken. He felt as if he had no strength left in his limbs as he struggled to stand again. The injuries had weakened him affecting his battle ability.

Fate had played a cruel joke on him. It was now him who was struggling like the bear previously, only that his condition was real.

Realizing the success of its deception, the bear neared to its prey. Seeing the human struggle in a similar way, it laughed inside thinking how he had outsmarted the enemy.

It neared the prey slowly, taking its time as it wanted the human to feel despair and suffer for a bit.

James grabbed his sword again as he managed to stand. It was now a battle for survival. He would either live through this final showdown or become it's next meal.

As the bear neared, James tried to summon his entire strength. He vigorously channeled qi to his limbs and around his body to strengthen them. He needed a surprise attack, a decisive final attack that would end this or he would end.

The thumping of the ground rang in his ears as the beast neared. It came slowly towards him, to mock him, to scare him, to make him suffer. James looked up to see the creature, his heartbeat increasing with every step taken by the beast.

He felt small. He felt weak. He did not like this. He did not want this. The aim to be the strongest now felt like a fleeting dream to him.

' Remember to always try your best' his father used to say. He did not know why he suddenly thought about this, but it gave him strength. He smiled and muttered to himself,

" I've not tried hard enough. Not yet. "

He closed his eyes and focused, focused on himself, focused on his qi. He believed in himself, in his strength. He believed he could do it.

He looked towards the beast with determination and walked towards it. He staggered slowly towards it with his sword in his hand.

Seeing the human weakly staggering towards it, the Fanged Bear stopped and looked at it mockingly.

Watching the human in pain gave it pleasure. As the human neared it, it readied itself to finish the enemy in a single blow. The claws emitted an Azure blue light around it.

But suddenly the human disappeared.

As James reached the Fanged Bear, he generated qi force around him. He needed to regulate his speed. He needed a sudden burst of momentum of immense speed. He had to try, or it would be his last.

He activated Wind Enforcer and suddenly with a movement as swift as wind he reached on top of the bear, standing on its head. A foot on the head, another on its back he stood on top of the creature and swung his sword lodging it deep inside it's left eye.

He broke through achieving the mid stage of Wind Enforcer making him disappear in a flash when he closed in on the target.

The sword in his hand emitted an Azure light around it as it pierced through the left socket going deep inside reaching the neck. .

The beast fell for its own trap.

The Fanged Bear fell on the ground lifelessly, on top of it a human stood with his sword embedded inside it's head. Fate had truly played a cruel game.

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Note - My exams got over yesterday and as promised here is today's chapter! Like I've said from today onwards I'll be again doing a minimum of 1 chap per day:) I just completed the chap, if you find any mistakes please do comment and tell!

Enjoy!