Looking at the animal in front of me, I notice a glimmer of intelligence in the feline's eyes, albeit animalistic intelligence, it still was smart enough to cautiously circle around me due to my sudden combusting fists. Not wanting to lose an inch of terrain gained after the first exchange I slowly back away towards the rocky wall.

Mossy smells wonder into my racing mind as I finally steel my feelings.

Locking away fear, nervousness, worry, and all those feelings that would hinder me in my small yet important battle, I watch as the panther inches closer and closer with my every retreated step until it's right in front of me.

Back against the wall, I wait for any movement from the Panthers side while the said beast is looking at me like I am some sort of steak.

Blinking in surprise the unbelievable start's to unfold before me. Very strong gusts of wind start to pick up and to my surprise, they don't fade nor go on their merry way but congregate around the animal as if it had willed to be so.

Showing its teeth to the gums and hair spiking I readied myself for what was to come.

And one second later, all hell broke loose.

The animal launched itself towards me at incredible speeds with its paws extended, while I, on the other hand, being somewhat prepared, ducked to the left side that was exposed and took full advantage of it.

Striking my fist with all the fear and rage accumulated I tried to deliver a catastrophic end to the ribs of the beast. To my surprise, however, the animal twisted its body like a common household cat and only suffered minor burnings on its pelt.

Looking in wonder at how it compressed itself to make its sides harder to strike I backed away quickly as it paws bounced off the wall and returned to the dirt-filled floor.

Frowning I observed the lean movements as my face stung.

‘Wait, why does my cheek sting so much?’ Lifting my hand towards my right cheek what greeted me was a warm liquid, quickly glancing I saw that the liquid was in fact blood. ‘Did it cut me while mid-air with its claws? Shit, now I have to be even more careful of those things if they can cut me even without touching me’

Growling, it looked at me promising death and I repressed a fearful shiver. The whole situation to me seemed surreal, there I was in the middle of the forest trying to save someone as if I was a knight in shining armor only to be about to be eaten by a gigantic panther.

'I shouldn't have come, what possessed me to think that I could save Yao?

This whole situation is a mess and I should have known better, I'm not some kid, for God's sake…I’m an old man and I should be wiser, not a hotheaded and reckless teenager.'

Clenching my fists while the second long introspection lasted, I rekindled my hands while the Qi inside me swiveled in disarray due to my poor mental state.

'Ahhhh...To hell with it, if I die it will be ok too, I might not have had the best of life's in terms of personal relationships but I still lived a fulfilling life.'

*************

(Change of P.o.V: third person)

Without thinking too much about it, Li closed in on the panther and with a twisted grin he launched himself while Qi boosted his speeds. The animal not expecting such an irrational action tried to dodge but Li was faster, much faster than before.

As a Qi Core daemon beast, this human was easy prey as he was simply a newborn Core realm cultivator, but as he approached now, the beast felt a long-forgotten fear of his youth.

Seeing the beast holding still in place, Li let an internal sigh as he was glad, an animal that could be as fast as his opponent, was difficult to deal with as it required experience and a good eye to hand coordination, something he didn’t have, at least for now.

Forming a palm with his hand he extended it towards the animals runny snout to which the animal was glad, it avoided the necessity to have a drown out battle.

Opening its maws to bite with all it had and at the same time sending Qi towards its paw to form a the wind-cutting technique the panther bit at Li, but what it didn’t realize was that this was Li’s plan all along.

Seeing that it took the bait, Li pivoted in a 360º maneuver, brought his right hand towards his left side of the neck and as he approached the side of the beasts temple he delivered a spinning and devastating flaming backhanded punch. He could only give credit to the many times he had watched people fight Muay Thai and MMA on the TV as a kid, and later on.

The panther almost losing its senses couldn't believe how fast it all had been, never in it’s almost two hundred years of living had he suffered such a powerful blow nor had he fought a human like this.

The human had shaken in fear and desperation, that is why he had given chase, not because he wanted to eat the newborn core that did him almost no good, but because he could smell the fear oozing out of him.

Everything was going his way, the hunt, the no exit scenario and the growling to make him even more fearful. But then he started to have mood swings, it didn’t understand why the human went from fearful to half madness and then again to fearful only to change to resolute.

Scared the panther bit on Li’s unused left arm before it could collapse, Li’s response was immediate as he let out a pained cry while blood trickled down his side. The animal once again bit down with even more force just to stay awake after Li’s blow and Li redied a simple bronze strike.

Sensing more than seeing, the panther clawed at the humans Qi filled fist with his own razor wind attack. As they approached Li could only think of what outcome would come of it, only now realizing that the beast was able to use Qi techniques he prayed his right arm to be still in place after the exchange.

*BOOOM*

A thunderous sound was heard as they both collided with their own attacks. The beast went limply flying towards the shrubbery while Li went against a tall tree that bent in a half crooked way due to the impact, both having lost their senses and presumably comatose.

(End of P.o.V: Back to Li’s pov)

*************

As I woke in what seemed to be a never-ending pain, I looked towards the sky and to my surprise, it was already dark.

Finding myself hurt in the forest and at night at that, made me worry, but what worried me the most was the panther.

That imbecile of a beast had been willing to sacrifice itself just to take me down with it to the grave, but the truth that I tried to keep hidden was that I had enjoyed the battle, the rush and ultimately the final stand that was fought in mere seconds.

‘To me back on earth, every type of physical violence was good to watch, like MMA or Kickboxing. Why some people were so keen to violence and made themselves available to be beaten, I didn't understand.

But now I understood. It was a total high! The rush of feeling alive while beating each other senseless was amazing.

...The last exchange made my heart beat so fast.’

With a sight due to the pain, I slowly and carefully lift my body from the ground and checked for any injuries.

Looking at my hand that had collided with that fucking beasts paw I grimaced. Fingers twisted and broken, skin ripped and coagulated blood, painted a picture of a crippled hand that could never again be used.

Panicking I tried to turn towards my left arm only to realize it had holes, big and deep holes that throbbed with pain, like a reminder of my own stupidity at the lack of protection in the last exchange.

Slowly swaying towards where I had last seen the panther, I dragged myself more than walked as I reached the shrubs that it had hit, and what I saw left me with mixed feelings.