Chapter 109: Sudden Change

“Shadowless!” With a loud roar, the Shadowless Sword was unleashed in an instant, charging toward the Earth Bear with tremendous force. Its form split into two, then four, then eight, and soon it divided into twelve figures. With his bloodline awakened, he transformed into twelve avatars, attacking from twelve directions with a howling momentum.

A howl echoed as an earth-based absolute defense magic formed, creating a small fortress that surrounded the Earth Bear. The bear sensed the immense power contained in this spell—it was terrifying! Uncomparable to the techniques used by humans before.

Seeing this, Rod’s blood-red eyes grew even more sinister. In the blink of an eye, all those figures vanished—not simply disappearing, but merging back into his main body as if reuniting. Then, his main body swung the sword at the earth wall, with a faint buzzing sound accompanying the blade.

“Boom…” A violent explosion rang out, shaking the entire land. After the roar, dust filled the air, obscuring what was inside.

“Aaaah…” A furious roar echoed, causing pain in the ears. A strong wind swept up, forming small tornadoes that spread in all directions. The invisible shockwaves knocked several trees down instantly.

After the roar, silence descended—a deathly calm. Gradually, the dust cleared, and two voices became audible.

A breathtaking scene unfolded: Rod thrust his sword at the Earth Bear’s heart. The Earth Bear, far from being weak, joined his palms together and tightly trapped the Dark Dragon, preventing it from approaching. A streak of blood flowed from his chest, dripping to the ground in a vivid crimson.

In that instant, Rod broke through the bear’s absolute defense, inflicting a deep wound on its chest in a way the bear never expected. That agonized scream came from then.

“Aaaah…” The pain made the bear lose its composure. Its fear and confusion vanished, and the human before it once again became its mortal enemy. With a swing of his palms, he hurled Rod along with his sword far away.

With a graceful flip in mid-air, he landed on the ground. After stepping back several times, he used the Dark Dragon to stop his retreat, took a breath, and cursed angrily, “Beast!” With a low growl, his blood-red eyes flashed, his fierce expression becoming even more terrifying. He then surged forward again with all his strength.

The damage caused by his full-power attacks boosted Rod’s confidence. This time, waves of sword shadows swept down. His simplest moves were unadorned yet utterly straightforward, each one classic and deadly, forcing the Battle Bear to retreat continuously amidst roars. At that moment, pure dark yellow combat energy emanated from his body—the kind only available to advanced Golden Warriors—surrounding Rod.

His speed reached its limit, his meridians visible, making him appear extremely terrifying. With a cold smile, he kept pressing the Battle Bear back, unleashing a barrage of attacks that left the Earth Bear in agony. It could only roar in fury.

The sounds of the battle spread throughout most of the forest, terrifying those who were on missions or adventuring in the outskirts. Especially the mercenaries in the vicinity, whose expressions changed rapidly before they had no choice but to leave the area reluctantly.

None of these people lacked combat experience. How could they not recognize what was happening over there? How could they not know what was causing the noise? The Earth Bear was no opponent they could handle; they didn’t want to get caught up in unnecessary trouble.

It was a day of frustration for the mercenaries. The whole day, they could only stay inside Iron Bar Town.

……

Another wave of attacks came. The Battle Bear already had dozens of wounds, large and small. Despite Rod’s relentless assaults, it hadn’t managed to defend itself properly and continued to be injured.

“Ding…” With a clear sound, as it was hurt again, the enraged Battle Bear finally seized an opportunity to grab Rod’s Dark Dragon and pull hard, sending it flying once more. Rod’s hand ached from the force, preventing him from gripping his sword tightly. With a sharp sound, the Dark Dragon landed!

Spitting out blood, Rod realized that constant attacks came at a cost. His body had also taken several hits, causing internal injuries that made him spit out vivid blood tinged with black-blue—though he didn’t notice it himself.

Aoh… Seeing that its attacks were finally effective, the Battle Bear wouldn’t give up this chance. It charged at Rod while fully unleashing earth magic.

Thorny ground, fissures, earth arrows… One after another, spells attacked Rod without pause, forcing him to constantly dodge. Even so, he still suffered physical pain—this damned guy’s spells never ceased, giving him not a moment’s rest or breath.

“I can’t lose. I want to become the strongest man. I still need to avenge myself. I have many things to do. I can’t let this damned guy kill me!” Xuanyuan’s earlier words played out again as if from a recorder. His eyes flashed red, his muscles twisted once more, veins bulging as if about to explode, and his stature swelled dramatically in an instant.

The dark yellow combat energy surrounding his body also changed slightly at this moment, shifting toward a hint of red—yellow mixed with red, looking particularly striking.

“Kill!” At the moment the Earth Bear approached, Rod let out a furious roar and charged at it with bare hands.

Thud… The next instant, a muffled sound came, and a thrilling scene unfolded—Rod engaged in close combat with the Earth Bear. The collision between human and bear was simple yet extremely intense and dangerous.

Hiss… Landing on his feet, Rod was sent flying backward after the impact, his body scraping against the ground with a harsh sound. Even the Earth Bear seemed to pause momentarily, unable to pursue right away.

“Keep going!” He stamped his foot hard, leaving a mark in the ground to stabilize himself before charging again.

Thus began a fierce close combat. If anyone else had seen this, they would surely think Rod was insane—choosing to fight a bear with superhuman defense in close combat? Wasn’t that seeking death? It was pure recklessness.

The human and bear clashed endlessly in the chaotic battlefield, like two meatballs flying rapidly, making it impossible to see their exact forms or situation. All that could be heard were occasional muffled sounds and drops of blood.

The muffled sounds made the environment feel extremely oppressive. The Earth Bear, delighted to see a human fighting it like this, simply gave up on magic and relied on its abnormal physique to fight.

“Die!” After countless collisions, a loud roar echoed, and a dark shadow accelerated rapidly, turning into a phantom that sped away.
Boom… Dust filled the air, covering the entire sky once again. After a few more collisions, silence ensued.
Rod could take it no longer. His body lost sensation, alternating between blue and red hues. The numb pain made every movement extremely difficult and agonizing.
Huff… Huff… Panting heavily, he stood outside the dust cloud, wiping the blood from his mouth and body, then licking his fingers before revealing a bloodthirsty smile.
“Brute, you think you’re so tough? A little cow sitting in a wine jar, acting all big—only to get struck by lightning. If heaven won’t take you, I will!”
As the dust settled, Rod stared at the Earth Bear, who was gasping for breath and unable to stand properly across from him, and muttered coldly to himself.
To everyone’s astonishment, Rod wasn’t at a disadvantage in the close combat, matching the Earth Bear evenly and causing it great trouble. The Earth Bear was left in a miserable state, panting heavily.
“This is my chance!” With his long sword, Dark Dragon, at his feet, he swiftly raised it, summoning Dark Dragon before launching a counterattack, executing fluid sword techniques in another barrage of attacks.
Perhaps the previous collisions had really dealt the Earth Bear a heavy blow. It spat out blood, let out a mournful cry, and could only try to dodge, barely holding on with earth magic.
After dodging one wave of attacks, it turned and fled into the dense forest behind it. After fighting for so long, the opponent’s abilities had become increasingly terrifying to the Earth Bear. It was horrifying—this once weak human had managed to inflict so much pain on it in an instant. If even close combat was at a disadvantage, what could be expected? There was no time to hesitate—otherwise, it might end up as human food.
“Trying to escape? No way!” Seeing this, Rod snorted coldly and rushed after it.
“Damn it!” The ground began to tremble, and thorns and cracks reappeared. This time, the thorns were especially vicious, and the cracks were as wide as seven or eight meters. Taking advantage of Rod’s pause, the Earth Bear quickly disappeared into the forest, out of Rod’s sight.
“Pfft!” Spitting out blood, it staggered, almost falling to the ground. The discomfort in its body prevented Rod from continuing the pursuit. The previous close combat had left it severely injured.

Relying on trickery, he deliberately chose a spot where the Earth Bear was located and charged at it, suffering severe internal injuries. Only then could he gain the upper hand, as even the Earth Bear couldn’t tolerate it any longer. Otherwise, no matter how strong one was, such sudden changes wouldn’t allow them to engage in close combat with a bear known for its defense skills.
Now, with these internal injuries, he clearly couldn’t continue fighting at high intensity or chase quickly. Looking at the dense forest where the fighting bear had disappeared, a cold smirk appeared on his lips.
“Running away is fine too!” Relieved, Rod muttered to himself. Continuing the fight probably wouldn’t yield any benefits; this outcome was the best possible result!