Far away, the young man in grey collapsed against a tree, gasping for breath.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
His body ached from the fierce battle, his spirit energy strained from his earlier transformation, but what left him the most shaken—Was that creature!
His hands trembled as he tried to steady himself. That thing—it wasn't just so ordinary beast.
It was too intelligent. Too dangerous.
His heart pounded.
He thought back to the mont it appeared behind him.
He hadn't even sensed it.
And when it spoke, the raw threat in its voice was sothing he would never forget.
It wasn't just a simple threat of violence—
It was the kind of cold certainty that only ca from sothing that knew it could kill you whenever it wanted.
"That thing... it wasn't just strong. It was an ultimate predator."
His breathing shook.
He had faced countless beasts before, battled all kinds of cultivators, but nothing had ever made him feel like… prey.
He clenched his fists.
"I barely got out of there alive…"
A bitter smile spread across his lips as he recalled his desperate gamble.
That essence—the pure Temporal Essence he had purchased from an auction for a fortune—had been ant for sothing else entirely.
But he had no choice but to use it as a last-ditch effort to escape.
His eyelids fluttered.
A sigh.
A deep, exhausted sigh.
"...I'm broke now."
All the spirit stones he had saved, all the resources he had planned for his future, everything—gone.
But then—
His lips curled into a smirk.
He tricked it.
That beast, that terrifying reptilian monster, had been fooled!
A glint of pride shone in his exhausted eyes.
It was a gamble, a massive risk.
Because in reality—
That essence shouldn't have worked.
Draconic Dao Essence and Temporal Dao Essence don't mix.
That creature—it clearly held the Draconic Dao Essence. If the essence he left behind had any effect at all, it should've been a minor disruption at best.
But he had taken a risk.
And sohow, it worked.
"That thing must have so weaknesses after all… And one of them is its own intellect, it must have thought that I left sothing so it went in another direction… Haha!"
A deep exhale with a laugh of realization.
His shoulders relaxed.
His body still hurt, but he had made it. He survived.
But then—
A violent throb in his chest.
Thump.
His breath hitched.
Thump.
His vision blurred.
Thump.
Suddenly, his legs gave out.
He fell to his knees.
A choked gasp left his lips as sothing warm and wet dripped down his chin.
He lifted his hand—
Blood.
Squishy, blackened blood.
A cold realization struck him.
Poison.
"No… this—"
He felt it earlier when the beast had captured him.
A strange sensation, a slight discomfort beneath his skin—he had ignored it.
But now—
His stomach twisted.
His fingertips went numb.
That beast… it had poisoned him?!
His throat tightened.
Had it always planned to kill him, even if he escaped?
A flash of terror.
"No… No…!"
His breath turned ragged.
His pulse pounded.
His spirit energy flared as he tried to purge the foreign substance from his body, but—
Boom.
The ground shook.
His head snapped up.
Another tremor.
The air around him thickened.
A deep, guttural roar ripped through the forest, sending shockwaves across the land.
A roar so massive it felt like the very heavens were shaking.
The young man in grey froze.
His blood ran cold.
And then—
The beasts ran.
Everywhere.
Rare, powerful beasts of all kinds, creatures that would normally never flee, creatures that fierce cultivators would had a hard ti to kill if they fought them—
All of them were running.
Why?
His mind scread for answers.
And then—
His eyes widened in horror.
The ground trembled again as a shadow—a massive shadow—stretched over him.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze.
A towering figure.
Muscles—rippling, monstrous muscles.
Scales—shimring, radiating with an unnatural teal glow.
And those eyes.
Teal. Piercing. Unforgiving.
A surge of pure, primal terror shot through his spine.
His entire body locked up.
He tried to scramble back—his hands clawing at the dirt, his body shaking.
His breathing turned shallow.
His lips trembled as he stared in horror.
"This… This can't be—"
His voice caught in his throat.
The sa creature.
The sa terrifying predator.
But bigger. Stronger. And no longer restrained.
He felt his own heart falter.
And then—
The creature moved.
It walked forward forward with its massive dinosaur feet, each step making the ground tremble like each were a nacing stomp.
The young man in grey felt his heartbeat hamring against his ribs.
His breath ca in short, shallow gasps.
His mind was racing.
This… this shouldn't be possible!
How? How?!
How did this creature jump from Mortal Beast Level Six… to Level Eleven?!
It was impossible! It defied all logic!
A normal Temporal Dao essence and Draconic Dao Essence are completely different kinds of Essence.
A normal beast that absorbed different kind of essence would take—years—decades—to advance even a single stage.
Even with the best resources, the highest quality beast cores, and top-tier cultivation techniques, a leap of five entire levels in re monts was—
Unthinkable.
No—no, no, no!
The young man felt his whole world crumbling.
Was this… was this even the sa creature from before?
Maybe—maybe this was a different one!
Yes! That had to be it!
This thing in front of him—it wasn't the sa! It couldn't be! But isn't the danger worse though since it's a stronger one?
But then—
It smirked.
A smirk.
A familiar smirk.
A smirk that sent a chill down his spine.
As if it was saying—
"You can't escape."
His vision blurred.
His body froze.
His hands shook.
No.
No, no, no, no, no—
"This is not my end!" he scread in his mind.
"This is not my end!"
He wanted to run.
He wanted to fight.
He wanted to do anything—anything—to get out of this situation!
But—
The creature was already there.
It stood right before him.
The young man squeezed his eyes shut.
This was it.
It was going to tear him apart.
It was going to devour him.
He braced for agony.
For death.
For the end.
But then…
Nothing.
No pain.
No claws sinking into his flesh.
No teeth ripping him apart.
Just… silence.
What?
His brows furrowed.
He hesitated.
And then—
Slowly—
Cautiously—
He cracked open one eye.
And what he saw shook him to his core.
The creature…
Wasn't looking at him.
It was looking—
Beside him.
His gaze followed its line of sight, and his breath hitched.
The scroll.
The Taming Cultivation thod.
The very thing he had protected with his life, hidden from the other disciples, treated as his most prized possession.
The beast was… looking at it?
Why?
What was it doing?
His thoughts spiraled into chaos.
And then—
Sothing happened that made his blood run cold.
The creature bowed its head toward him.
A soft glow enveloped its body.
A gentle, eerie light rose up between them.
His breath caught in his throat.
Isn't this—?!
He knew this phenonon.
He had read about it.
He had studied it.
This…
This was how it happened in the ancient texts.
This was how the first Temporal Beast Cultivators were ford.
When a beast acknowledged a human as its master with its entire life.
His mind reeled.
His heart pounded.
This was—
This was an opportunity!
He clenched his fists.
His eyes burned with determination.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes!
This was fate!
This was destiny!
He was chosen!
The heavens were smiling upon him!
The creature was willingly offering itself to him!
He couldn't waste this chance!
He refused to let this pass!
His breathing quickened.
His hands trembled as he reached forward.
The bond was about to form.
He could already feel the connection.
This was it.
This was the mont where he would beco—
But then—
His expression twisted.
His vision blurred.
His head spun.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait!
Sothing was wrong.
Why…
Why did it feel like…
Like he was the one being tad?!
His face turned pale.
His heartbeat slowed.
No.
No. No. No.
This wasn't right.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
He was supposed to be the master!
He was supposed to be in control!
Then—why?
Why did it feel like—
Like he was the prey?
His lips quivered.
His throat went dry.
And then—
His face twisted into pure, absolute horror.
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