"Demon beasts are usually stronger and faster than cultivators of the same rank. A cultivator's only advantage over demon beasts is that beasts can't learn techniques." Yang Gang lectured.
"This doesn't mean that demon beasts don't have any techniques though. A lot of them have inherited techniques, techniques that the demon beast was born with. As the beast gets stronger, it could unlock more inherited techniques. The most common one is Frenzy. This skill is present in almost every lower level demon beast, and its effects are rather self-explanatory: tremendous increase in attack and speed. This technique also has its drawbacks, decrease in intelligence and a weakened period after usage."
"So the correct thing to do is to wait it out?" Yang Bin asked.
"That is one option, but frenzy can last up to 10 minutes. An alternative is to kill it in this state. Even though its attack and speed got stronger, its defenses didn't. Combined with the decrease in intelligence, it is very possible to kill it during this state. Of course, this method is much more dangerous, so you shouldn't attempt it unless you have no choice." Yang Gang answered.
Yang Bin rapidly nodded as he took all this information into his head.
****
Frenzy should only last at most 10 minutes. Judging by how fast I'm using my qi, I should be able to run and dodge for that long. Yang Bin thought.
While thinking of this, the wolf attacked. Leaping forwards, it swiped its claws at Yang Bin. The speed of its arm left a blur as it swung.
Yang Bin hurriedly jumped back, narrowly dodging a grievous injury. Even with his enhanced reaction speed from his Mystic Pupils, he still suffered a scratch on his face. Reaching up his hand to his face, Yang Bin saw a little bit of blood on his fingers. He wasn't able to dwell upon this, as the wolf launched a series of attacks.
The wolf's speed had almost doubled! My Mystic Pupil can barely keep up! Yang Bin was shocked. He pushed his Mystic Pupils to his limits, as he rapidly retreated from the flurry of attacks. He saw many openings, but he couldn't capitalize on them, because of the wolf's speed.
Dodging swipes after swipes, their surroundings suffered collateral damage. Dust was kicked up into the air, and wood splinters were flying everywhere. There were multiple occasions where the wolf's claw grazed Yang Bin's cloth, tearing them. Suddenly, his back hit a tree. Seeing the wolf coming at him, Yang Bin immediately rolled to the side.
"Crack!"
Looking back, Yang Bin saw the tree behind him slowly falling. It heavily crashed onto other trees, causing a rain of leaves and branches. Eventually its descent stopped, leaning on another tree.
Mindful of the falling branches, Yang Bin twisted his body and dodged another incoming attack. His eyes scanned the new terrain, as he quickly devised a plan in his mind.
He ran towards the fallen tree, and the wolf promptly followed. Bulldozing aside some branches, he skidded under the trunk and crouched, waiting for the wolf. He didn't need to wait long, as the wolf came flying over merely a second later, just as Yang Bin planned. Because the wolf jumped over the log, his belly and neck were exposed for a brief moment. And this brief moment was enough for Yang Bin.
Now! Yang Bin shouted in his head, as he poured qi into the talisman. The talisman in his hand burst into flames and disappeared. Simultaneously, a tremendous amount of power filled his body. Without waiting to experience the new strength, he immediately launched an attack.
"Extreme Piercing Finger!" Yang Bin roared. He sprang up from his crouch and aimed at the neck of the wolf, but he narrowly missed, resulting in him stabbing the belly.
The effects were immediate. The wolf howled and collapsed onto the ground, as blood rapidly bled out. The pain had forcefully stopped Frenzy.
Breathing heavily, Yang Bin resumed a guarded stance. He wasn't sure if that was enough to finish it off, but the wolf was severely injured and weakened. A resolute gleam flashed in his eyes, as he lunged forwards, intending to finish the wolf off.
The moment Yang Bin got within an arm's reach to the wolf, the wolf suddenly sprang to life. In a desperate last stand, it lunged forwards to bite Yang Bin's extended hand.
Yang Bin's eyes widened in horror, he didn't expect such a desperate counter attack. In that instant, time seemed to slow down for him. Panicking, he balled his fist and frantically poured qi into his hand. His palms turned into a silvery steel color, but it didn't stop there. The color began to spread past just the palms: his finger, then the back of his hand. Soon his whole hand became silver.
Right after the transformation, the wolf bit down.
"AH!" Yang Bin cried. Pain and rage filled his eyes. With his other hand, he activated Extreme Piercing Finger and stabbed the wolf's neck with all his might.
Despite being hit in its most vulnerable spot, the wolf didn't die immediately and continued to clamp down on his hand. After three stabs, the wolf finally died. Its body slumped down, and its jaws went slack.
Feeling the pressure fade away, Yang Bin quickly and carefully pried his hand from the wolf's mouth and surveyed it. It was very bloody, but surprisingly no bones were broken. Not only that, in between the blood, there was a silver color. His entire fist was silver.
What happened to my fist? Yang Bin asked himself in bewilderment. The pain began to numb.
He had created a new technique. Catalyzed by fear and stress, Yang Bin had created an evolved version of Iron Palms. A version that doesn't just protect the palms, but the entire fist.
Yang Bin looked away from his hand and at the corpse. Realizing that he killed a peak rank 1 demon beast, he let out a big grin as he collapsed onto the floor. He spent a few moments sitting on the ground regaining his breath.
My father always told me that almost every part of a magic beast is precious, but I don't have a way to take this corpse out of the forest. He pondered, as he looked at the corpse.
Standing up, he tried to drag the corpse, but with just one hand, he wasn't able to move it at all. Right then, Yang Bin felt his strength receding. A wave of dizziness came over him, causing him to stumble.
"This talisman is really bad; it didn't even last 3 minutes." Yang Bin grumbled to himself. "Forget it. Just bring back the beast core." With the help of Extreme Piercing Finger, he was able to cut a wound in the belly of the wolf, and after a bit of struggling, he was able to retrieve it. In contrast to his red and bloody hands, the pale blue beast core shined brightly.
Yang Bin rolled it around in his hand and studied it out of curiosity. It was very warm, and he could faintly feel qi pulsating in the stone.
After being marveled for a few moments, Yang Bin stuffed it into his pocket and got up. Tracing the scratches and marks of the battle, he navigated his way back to where he originally was, and from there he left the forest.
****
"I'm home!" Yang Bin shouted, once he got into the house.
"You're home early, what –" Li Jing's sentence was cut short. Looking at his face, she rushed over to Yang Bin. "What happened to you?" Then she stepped back and studied the rest of his body.
"Your hands! Who did this?" Li Jing asked a bit forcefully, while holding his hand.
Hearing the commotion, Yang Mengyao also came over. Seeing his sorry state, she covered mouth and gasped.
"A wolf beast. I was able to defeat it." Yang Bin said with a tired smile. He fished out the beast core from his pocket, then he explained his battle with the wolf. During the explanation, Li Jing and Yang Mengyao remained silent.
"In the end, I was able to kill it." Yang Bin finished with a hint of pride in his voice. Contrary to his expectations, Li Jing wasn't very happy.
"Don't do that again. Do you know how dangerous that was? You could have really died there!" Li Jing furiously reprimanded him and knocked his head.
"Sorry. I won't do it again." Yang Bin lowered his head.
Seeing his attitude, Li Jing's heart softened a little. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself.
"Also, the wolf was really strange." Yang Bin looked back up.
"How?" Li Jing asked, as she rushed to the cabinets to get medical supplies.
"It seemed like it was really determined to kill me. Even though it was injured, it didn't stop chasing me." Yang Bin explained.
"That does sound odd. Just ask your father. Now stand still; I'm disinfecting your hand." Li Jing said.
"Wait! WAIT! AHH!"