The sword beam unleashed in a powerful slash poured into the Thunder Bear's abdomen like a torrent.
But in the next moment, an eerie sight unfolded—though Xu Que had gripped his black sword tightly, the sword beam veered off by half an inch!
"Whoosh!"
Though the Thunder Bear was injured, Xu Que's attack struck its abdomen.
"Crack!"
The power of lightning scattered, and a dense barrage of lightning quickly surged toward Xu Que.
"Damn it!!" Xu Que cursed, swiftly switching to his knight's greatsword to draw the lightning power away.
As his body rapidly retreated, the greatsword crashed into the heart of the lightning storm.
The greatsword was immediately covered in sparks of electricity.
"Roar!" The Shadow Thunder Tiger roared, charging at Xu Que once more.
At this moment, Xu Que knew better than to clash directly with these two behemoths. He immediately turned and fled!
Initially, he had believed the Thunder Bear and the Shadow Thunder Tiger would be an easy win, but he almost died at their hands.
Xu Que was swift, his speed far outpacing the Shadow Thunder Tiger's chase.
As Xu Que broke through the depths of the forest, the distance between him and the Thunder Bear, as well as the Shadow Thunder Tiger, began to widen.
Glancing ahead, Xu Que summoned the White Cloud Ferret and turned back to charge at the Shadow Thunder Tiger once again.
"If I can't kill the two of you together, you're nothing but weaklings on your own!"
The Shadow Thunder Tiger glared fiercely at Xu Que, its limbs propelling it forward in a frenzy.
Just as it was about to leap, its body seemed struck by a bolt of electricity. It froze mid-air, rigid, before being propelled upward.
With his black sword now fully charged with spiritual energy, Xu Que launched a Sky Slash at the Tiger.
Once a proud and mighty creature, the Shadow Thunder Tiger, now without the Thunder Bear's aid and struck by the White Cloud Ferret's lightning, was transformed into little more than a target.
As the sword beam grew stronger, the Tiger's body, still mid-leap, was cleaved in two.
Xu Que spat in frustration. He had been momentarily stunned by the Thunder Bear's power, allowing this creature to slip through his defenses.
"Roar!" The Thunder Bear's roar echoed from afar as the lumbering beast charged toward him.
Xu Que immediately issued a command to the White Cloud Ferret.
Though the Thunder Bear was immune to the Ferret's lightning strikes, the creature's venom was still effective.
As Xu Que planned a sneak attack on the Thunder Bear with the Ferret, the beast suddenly sensed its presence, slashing its paw toward the Ferret.
"Boom!"
The White Cloud Ferret was sent flying, like a kite severed from its string. Xu Que, leaping into the air, used his double-jump to evade the Thunder Bear's claw.
"Boom!"
The Thunder Bear's claw slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves of lightning power in every direction.
Thankfully, Xu Que reacted swiftly. Otherwise, that strike would have been enough to crush him.
"Roar!" The Thunder Bear howled, charging toward the newly landed Xu Que.
Xu Que dared not get too close. His steps slipped, but he quickly created distance from the charging beast.
Glancing at the White Cloud Ferret, who had been knocked out of the air, Xu Que turned to face the Thunder Bear, drawing his sword once more.
With a powerful slash, the sword beam shot forward, but at the last moment, just five centimeters from the Thunder Bear's body, the attack's trajectory suddenly shifted.
"Boom!"
The beam exploded against the Thunder Bear's back, but the creature seemed entirely unaffected.
"Damn! This deflection is insane!" Xu Que swore.
He had faced creatures that could deflect attacks before, but never one that could deflect with such perfect precision.
This Thunder Bear had completely shattered his understanding.
The Thunder Bear roared again, continuing its charge toward Xu Que.
Xu Que, now unable to stop, could only keep running around the forest's perimeter, evading the beast's relentless assault.
With each Sky Slash and Sword of Destruction, the Thunder Bear's body slowly accumulated various injuries.
As Xu Que sprinted back toward the fallen Shadow Thunder Tiger, the White Cloud Ferret suddenly leaped out from the nearby bushes.
However, the Thunder Bear ignored the Ferret, casually swatting at it as it continued its charge toward Xu Que.
Watching the Ferret once again being flung away, Xu Que's temper flared.
With a savage yell, he slashed at the Thunder Bear's head again.
"Boom!"
The sword beam exploded on the Thunder Bear's head. Xu Que had almost no expectations for this attack, but surprisingly, it struck true!
The Thunder Bear howled in pain, half of its head reduced to a mangled mess of flesh and bone.
"Damn, I get it now!" Xu Que suddenly realized something crucial. He grabbed a stone and hurled it at the Thunder Bear.
As the stone flew toward the beast, Xu Que swiftly followed in its wake.
"Boom!"
The stone veered slightly off course but still struck the Thunder Bear's back.
"Thud!"
With the stone's impact, Xu Que's sword swiftly decapitated the Thunder Bear.
As dark red blood spilled out, Xu Que continued to hack at the Thunder Bear's carcass in a fury.
He had never imagined that breaking the creature's deflection would require such precise, consecutive attacks.
Not in a rush to check his loot, Xu Que instead made his way toward the battered White Cloud Ferret, breathing a heavy sigh of relief upon finding it only lightly injured.
After safely stowing the Ferret in the Dragon Yuan space, he returned to the Thunder Bear's body, retrieving the dropped items.
After dismembering the Thunder Bear, he made his way to the Shadow Thunder Tiger's corpse.
Upon opening the inventory, two prompts appeared simultaneously:
"Congratulations, Xu Que, you have successfully conquered the B-rank [Spirit Forest Canyon E], and gained dominion over the [Spirit Forest Canyon E] territory. You have acquired 12 Spirit Iron Ore, 18 Spirit Crystals, and 4 Spirit Stones. Daily territorial income can be accessed in the Trading Hall."
"Congratulations, Xu Que, after big data analysis, you have acquired an advanced territory. [Lakeside Forest C] is now being folded into [Hell Gate]..."
After packing up the three items and the Shadow Thunder Tiger's corpse, Xu Que smiled broadly as he made his way to the Thunder Bear's lair.
Though the recent battle had left him teetering on the brink of death, the treasures he had acquired made it all worthwhile.
As the saying goes, "A brave man is always rewarded," and Xu Que was certainly that reckless fool.
While searching through the Thunder Bear's lair, his hand brushed against a prompt.
"You have discovered the treasure of a mutated species. Do you wish to excavate it?"
Excited, Xu Que immediately selected "Yes."
Though this wasn't his first pet egg, it was certainly the best B-rank pet egg he had found so far!
After receiving three items, Xu Que opened his inventory.
[You have obtained a Great Earth Battle Bear Egg.]
[Name: Great Earth Battle Bear B-rank (Unhatched).]
[Quality: Epic (Pale Gold).]
[Note: During the hatching process, there is a high probability of hatching a Great Earth Battle Bear, a certain chance of hatching a mutated Thunder Battle Bear, and a very small chance of hatching a Holy Spirit-grade pet.]
"YES!"
Xu Que clenched his fist in excitement. Though he was confident in his Dragon Yuan space, the odds of hatching were still a matter of fate.
[Name: Spirit Spring Water B-rank.]
[Quality: Superior (Purple).]
[Item Type: Each use reduces a significant portion of hatching cooldown for spirit pet eggs (300 seconds).]
[Note: Each spirit pet egg can use up to four doses.]
"Wow, Spirit Spring Water, now this is a great find."
Xu Que was feeling smug. With the boost from the Dragon Yuan space, coupled with the Spirit Spring Water, he was confident he could hatch the Battle Bear within 24 hours.
[Name: Anchor Fragment B-rank (Current Fragment is Half).]
[Quality: Superior (Purple).]
[Note: When combined into an Anchor Key, it can be used to locate Dimensional Relics.]
Seeing the B-rank fragment, Xu Que was mildly uninterested, as he had the Primordial Sword and didn't need such items.