Chapter 19: Cave Beast Priest, Dead!

“Red fur? That makes me curious—who is your mother, to be mentioned alongside the Cave God?” said the Cave Beast Priest.

The Cave Beast Priest’s demeanor held no trace of savagery or ambition; instead, he possessed the nimble wisdom of a human.

“You haven’t lost your sanity?” Chu Danqing interjected.

“How could I perform rituals for my father, the Cave God, without sanity?” The Cave Beast Priest chuckled softly: “At first, I truly had no sanity.”

“I owe it to Xianghua Village—they produced enough Village Guardians.”

“I devoured too many brothers and sisters; their Cave God blood gradually forged my wisdom.”

“That’s why I’m curious—how did you manage to retain your sanity?” The Cave Beast Priest crouched down, his expression teasing.

At that moment, Chu Danqing seemed to understand the full chain of events: “So every time you fought Da Bao, you never truly intended to kill him.”

“Yes. I need his bloodline to fully awaken; otherwise, eating him would be meaningless.” The Cave Beast Priest licked his claws.

Chu Danqing silently pulled out the White Dragon Fish’s Roar and tossed it to Da Bao.

Seeing this, the Cave Beast Priest’s eyes brightened: “A weapon? How fascinating.”

“But our claws are the most suitable weapons for us.”

Da Bao had surprised him far too many times.

The next instant, Da Bao activated the White Dragon Fish’s Roar’s active effect—White Dragon Fish Power—gaining five additional strength points.

He then threw it back to Chu Danqing and launched a sudden attack on the Cave Beast Priest.

During this process, Da Bao also activated his own active skill: Tearing Claws.

Blood Rage surged over his body, especially across his claws, glowing with a crimson radiance.

“A peculiar power—similar to that fish with its faint dragon blood. But you still—” The Cave Beast Priest rose, confident in his counterattack.

But when Da Bao’s claws struck him, he realized he had been far too arrogant.

With a strength stat of 12, the Cave Beast Priest could not resist—he was ripped apart, losing a large chunk of flesh, blood gushing freely.

The Cave Beast Priest was wounded on the first exchange and now bore the Bleeding status.

This meant the Cave Beast Priest would now face Da Bao’s passive skill, Bloodthirsty Pursuit.

Wounded and enraged, the Cave Beast Priest opened his fanged maw and bit down on Da Bao’s shoulder.

But Da Bao’s speed was no slower—he tore through the Cave Beast Priest’s chest with his Tearing Claws.

This time, it was physical damage + tearing damage + bleeding damage—the Bloodsucking effect triggered and further intensified the Bleeding status.

And this was only the skill effect; Da Bao’s Bloodthirsty Fury talent also included a trait: the lower the enemy’s HP, the more damage he deals.

Even as the Cave Beast Priest tore a large chunk of flesh from Da Bao’s shoulder, the Bloodsucking effect restored his health, and new flesh rapidly sprouted to heal the wound.

Conversely, when Da Bao withdrew his claws, the Cave Beast Priest suffered severe trauma.

He could barely stand.

The entire exchange lasted less than thirty seconds—if the Cave Beast Priest had no other tricks, the outcome was already sealed.

The Cave Beast Priest swallowed the flesh torn from Da Bao’s shoulder, his expression one of satisfaction: “The taste of fury in the blood—delicious.”

“So this is the new power you’ve gained.”

“But it still carries my father’s blood, so…” As the Cave Beast Priest spoke, a crimson aura began to rise from his body.

Yet compared to Da Bao’s, it was extremely faint.

“I’ve learned it too.”

The crimson aura flowed into the Cave Beast Priest’s claws; ignoring his wounds, he lunged again at Da Bao.

The two clashed once more.

Chu Danqing, watching closely, sensed something wrong.

Though the Cave Beast Priest had not fully acquired Da Bao’s talents and skills—only a simplified version—

his combat experience and innate wisdom far surpassed Da Bao’s; Da Bao fought purely by beastly instinct.

Naturally, he was inferior in using talents and skills.

More critically, one minute had passed—the five strength points granted by White Dragon Fish Power had vanished.

Thus, Da Bao’s strength stat now fell below the Cave Beast Priest’s—though not by much, perhaps only one point less.

“Father, I am your most loyal offspring!” The Cave Beast Priest bit off a chunk of flesh from Da Bao’s hand, yet Da Bao tore away a patch of his fur in return.

Chu Danqing had assumed it was merely a declaration of loyalty—but clearly, the Cave Beast Priest had no time for idle words mid-battle.

As the Cave Beast Priest shouted, his fur swelled, his body ballooned like an inflating balloon, and his strength surged.

His wounds visibly healed.

Clearly, he had activated a skill—likely his trump card.

After all, as his HP dropped and the Bleeding status intensified, Da Bao’s damage and Bloodsucking effect grew stronger, forcing him to do this.

The Cave Beast Priest grew stronger—but at a cost.

He lost all sanity, becoming a beast driven purely by instinct, fangs and claws flailing—he struck once, reducing Da Bao’s HP to a perilous 20%.

Chu Danqing’s expression turned anxious—then he saw Da Bao’s passive skill, Beastly Instinct, activate: Berserk State, and he too lost his sanity.

All his stats temporarily increased by one point.

“On the Cave Beast Priest, it’s an active skill; on Da Bao, it mutated into a passive one.”

“And both are utterly mindless.” Chu Danqing yanked the donkey’s reins and sprinted aside.

The two were in full berserk mode—their expressions made it clear: staying any longer would be disastrous.

Da Bao needed to restore his HP to 30% to end Berserk; with Bloodsucking, he’d recover quickly.

But the Cave Beast Priest’s condition was unknown.

Reaching a safe distance, Chu Danqing opened Da Bao’s panel and monitored his HP.

His HP now fluctuated like a rollercoaster—rising, falling, rising again—hovering between 20% and 30%.

And the fluctuations grew faster and faster.

Until five minutes later, it stabilized and began steadily rising.

This meant the battle was over.

But Chu Danqing did not emerge—he waited until Da Bao’s HP reached 31% before driving the donkey cart back.

Da Bao held an Excellent-grade treasure chest in his left hand; in his right, he gnawed on the Cave Beast Priest, whose entire body was shredded, not a single patch of flesh intact.

He ate with terrifying speed—by the time Chu Danqing returned, the Cave Beast Priest’s head and half his chest had vanished.

It was precisely because of this feeding that his HP recovered so rapidly.

(End of Chapter)