"Fuck!"
Neo grew pale in an instant.
A bloody Common-grade monster was actually charging at him!
It was heading straight for him!
Neo felt like his spine had locked into place, and his legs had turned to stone. He couldn't move his body no matter how hard he tried.
Fear had completely immobilised him—at least every part of his body except for his eyes, mouth, and vocal cords.
And so, he screamed...
"Help! Help me!"
Neo's voice was shrill and panicked, but he couldn't be bothered to care. All he wanted was for one of the party members to notice him and save him in time.
As the monkey approached, Neo felt a sudden coldness hit his core.
He felt the ground tremble slightly with every step the monkey took and heard the aggressive snarls and grunts it made as it stared at him with bloodthirsty eyes.
Neo's heart suddenly grew calm.
Was he about to die here?!
By a bloody Common-grade beast?!
Was he going to let a Common-grade beast kill him without even fighting back?
Was he going to die a coward?
Hell no!
Neo felt courage rise within him. He believed that in the face of unrivalled strength and shocking might, he would not cower in fright but fight back with all he had, no matter if he was going to die or not.
His fighting spirit was all he had, after all...
Neo dipped his hand into the small bag slung across his chest and pulled out a pitch-black, shiny stone.
With a thought, the black stone lengthened and morphed until it turned into an eight-foot-long spear.
Neo's face hardened, and his gaze grew cold.
He couldn't allow his thoughts to stray or become even slightly negative. He needed to be in the zone to muster the courage to face this monstrosity.
He was about to have his first fight against a bloodline beast, and he was determined to survive it.
A second later, the beast reached Neo.
Neo took a short step forward and thrust his spear at the beast's wide chest.
He tried to make the thrust as fast and as sharp as possible, but the monkey evaded it all the same.
The monkey's counter was fast and direct.
Its huge palm swept at Neo's leg with alarming speed.
Neo had somehow predicted this and had already swept the spear downward to counter it.
He saw the beast retreat and was about to follow up with a second thrust when his vision caught sight of something moving towards his neck!
A tail whip!
Neo instinctively leaned back and felt a strong gust of wind brush against his neck.
He didn't even have time to be shocked at how narrowly he had just evaded death when the monkey pounced on him again.
Neo tried to move back and create some distance, but his clumsiness caused his legs to tangle.
He fell to the floor and watched as the beast's huge palm brushed past where he had just been.
His tripping had actually saved his life!
Block!
Neo saw another dangerous attack from the corner of his eye and rapidly raised his spear to block it.
His back was against the floor, and he couldn't move swiftly enough to dodge.
Boom!
His hands rattled, and his grip weakened. He had never dealt with such a strong impact before and nearly lost his grip on the spear.
Shit!
The monkey suddenly wrapped its tail around Neo's spear and yanked it away.
Neo was completely defenceless!
His eyes widened as he rolled sideways, barely dodging a stomp.
The fight was too fast-paced! He couldn't find the time to stand up!
He was going to die!
Swoosh! Thud!
Blood spilled all over Neo's shocked face as he watched, wide-eyed, as the monkey that had been tormenting him was instantly decapitated.
Just one wind blade was all it took to end the monster's life...
Neo felt enlightened...
He was truly weak! Pathetic!
"Yo, you good?"
Gary's hulking frame dimmed the light of the bright sky and cast a shadow over Neo's face.
Neo's heart was still pounding in his chest, but he took deep breaths and managed to slowly calm down.
He had actually survived!
He wasn't dead!
Grabbing the outstretched hand of the tall spiritualist, Neo was helped up from the ground.
"Sorry about that, I got pincered by those scumbag monkeys," Gary explained.
Neo's voice was still a bit shaky, so he merely nodded. He was also quite surprised that Gary had apologised.
Although Gary should have helped quicker, he also had to protect his own life first and foremost.
The other guy in the party, a pale-skinned, short man, walked up to Gary and spoke:
"Yo! Would you stop babysitting this kid and let him do some actual work? Like the job he's getting paid for?"
Neo snapped out of his daze and hurriedly picked up the spirit vacuum.
He approached the corpse of the monkey that Gary had decapitated and placed the needle-like tip of the vacuum at its chest.
Throin!!
A low sucking sound was heard, and a milky white light was visibly drawn into the flask part of the vacuum through the transparent hose.
That ball of milky light was the bloodline essence. When infused into a mortal's soul space, it granted physical might stronger than any normal human could hope to achieve.
That was the Body Path—one of the three Ascension Paths.
Moving briskly, Neo hurriedly collected the bloodline essence from the other dead beasts. By the time he was done, he had collected a total of thirty-six bloodline essences!
Once they had all rested and replenished their spirit energy, the leader called them together and issued instructions.
They hadn't even gone deep into the zone, and they had already encountered a group this large. Some preparations needed to be put in place in case the zone's difficulty proved too much for the party.
After he was done, the party leader glanced at Neo and smiled gently.
"I saw your battle. You have a very strong body for a mortal. I can see a lot of potential in you. When you get a bloodline, you'll be a menace."
His calm tone and kind smile made Neo feel like he was talking to an older brother.
He found himself smiling and nodding enthusiastically. The party leader truly was an amicable person.
"All right, let's go! At least a tenth before nightfall!"
The group walked into the zone.