The Two Headed Rouge Panther was familiar with the shadow element and was surprised a human actually possessed it. Almost instantly the demon beast stopped trying to escape.
With Yue Chen as it's center an expanse of darkness covered the entire area. This was the first technique of the Shadow Forging Manual, Besieged Seventh Vortex.
Dark pulses of qi gathered around Yue Chen's fists that gave off a berserk energy.
The Shadow Forging Manual was in fact a close ranged technique manual so it was a convenient life saver to Yue Chen who excelled in close ranged combat.
The moment Yue Chen activated the Seventh Vortex he felt the world had become slower and his field of vision extended as far as the shadows around him. Yue Chen pounced forward and his fist collided with the Two Headed Rouge Panther's paw and sent him retreating two steps back.
A third sky Nascent realm demon wasn't as simple as he had expected. Even with a boost in speed and destructive force Yue Chen wasn't able to cause any serious damage.
"You're doing it wrong" the eerie voice scoffed.
"You can do better?" Yue Chen immediately became upset. How would it know how strong the Two Headed Rouge Panther was, just fending off its advances were a task!
"Give me control"
Yue Chen smirked in response "Piss off"
The cursed mark on Yue Chen's cheek glowed unnaturally and released a blinding light.
"Yue Chen squinted from the light and his guard relaxed. Ceasing the opportunity the Two Headed Rouge Panther appeared next to Yue Chen and struck down heavily. Unable to react in time all Yue Chen could do was cross his hands in a defensive stance and receive the blow head on.
*Boom*
Yue Chen was sent flying into the side of the mountain, forming a crater.
"You son of a bitch, is this revenge?" Yue Chen cursed the voice in an agitated manner but got no response.
Without a second thought Yue Chen stood up and....ran. If he couldn't beat it then he'd have to run!
The Two Headed Rouge Panther stood confused for a second before reacting by chasing after Yue Chen.
"Now give me control and I'll save you" the voice stated once more
"Fuck your mother! I'd rather be eaten alive!" Yue Chen rebuked while escaping. As he was approaching the end of the snow Yue Chen knew he was now out of the Frozen Lotus Empire and was nearing the center of the valley.
Yue Chen clenched his fist with hope. If he could escape it's territory maybe the Two Headed Rouge Panther would leave him alone. When he had entered his valley his goal was to see if the demon beast had been injured by the bandits using queer means and hoped it might still be in bad shape. Not only was it in perfect condition, it possessed the additional attribute of the shadow element!
The Two Headed Rouge Panther spat another ball of black flames "fuck me!" Yue Chen twisted his body in an abnormal manner, almost taking on a 'C' shape. Regaining his momentum Yue Chen finally arrived at the center of the valley. On the side opposing the mountain was a lush forest of trees. This was what he was aiming for!
The Two Headed Rouge Panther had rarely left it's territory so it wasn't familiar with the forest and decided to slow down and cautiously advance and prepare to retreat if it were to encounter the territory of another demon beast.
Seeing the Two Headed Rouge Panther slow down Yue Chen's expression brightened and he jumped onto the branch of the closest tree.
The Two Headed Rouge Panther was reluctant to let it's prey escape and decided to leave it's own territory.
Yue Chen agilely moved from tree to tree. Within a few seconds he had already traversed hundreds of meters in his escape.
The Two Headed Rouge Panther that was in pursuit suddenly a terrifying pressure the moment it had passed by the tree closest to itself. It trembled weakly and shot a resigned look at Yue Chen and decided to give up.
Turned to see the retreating beast and laughed joyfully. Raising his middle fingers he cackled "Hahaha, you shitty bastard I win!"
The Two Headed Rouge Panther turned to look at Yue Chen and snorted. It wouldn't bother with this human anymore.
Finally free from the feeling of the Two Headed Rouge Panther's predatory stare Yue Chen travelled along the trees day and night without stop until he felt the demon beast had really returned to it's territory and wasn't lurking around waiting for him to drop his guard.
The sun slowly rose to the sky, signaling the start of new day. Yue Chen leaned against the tree branch and sat down to rest. Closing his eyes he fell asleep.
Fei Luo who happened to be passing through the forest spotted the sleeping Yue Chen and called out "Fellow brother, fellow brother!"
Yue Chen jumped in surprise at the voice and looked down at the blondie below. "Yes, do you need something?"
Cupping his fists Fei Lue did a formal greeting "I am from a remote village in the south do you know which way leads to the closest city from here?"
"The Holy Archen Empire isn't too far from here. It's about two days on foot....I think" Yue Chen answered in an uncertain tone. "The Frozen Lotus Empire is back there and will take you three days from here, there's a demon beast there, be careful if you're headed in that direction"
"Are you headed to the Holy Archen Empire by any chance brother?" Fei Luo asked in anticipation.
Yue Chen nodded and stood up " what realm are you at?"
"The third sky of the human realm, my name is Fei Luo, nice to meet you" Fei Luo responded full of energy.
"Yue Chen, third sky of the Nascent realm" Yue Chen returned greeting and landed next to Fei Luo.
The two set off for Holy Archen Empire together unaware of the opposing paths they were destined to tread