Chapter 141: Protracted Battle

The rainbow beam slashed through the night, illuminating the forest.

The silhouette of the Swift Shadow Thunderblade Leopard was also lit up; its speed suddenly surged, its limbs crouched low, its long tail twisting as it shifted its body slightly to the side, and in an instant it dodged the beam's attack.

In the next second, it appeared before Lei En's eyes.

Its massive body stretched nearly five meters from head to tail; despite its weight it moved without a hint of clumsiness, opening a blood‑filled maw, its two dagger‑like fangs snapping toward Lei En's neck.

"WTF!"

Lei En was caught off guard, yet he did not panic.

With a bang, the Thunderblade Leopard knocked him to the ground; its massive tusks bit down while its two sturdy forepaws clawed at him. His light leather armor was torn to shreds, exposing his skin, and sparks flew. The tusks clacked against his neck but inflicted no damage.

A booming crack sounded, as if something had exploded, and arcs of electricity burst outward.

Before the Thunderblade Leopard could react, it was blasted upward; weighing over two thousand pounds, it was hurled as if struck by a dragon, landing dozens of meters away.

It rolled on the spot, got up, its limbs on the ground, its huge pupils filled with bewilderment.

Lei En also rose to his feet, examining his fist.

When he was knocked down earlier, he seized the chance to punch the Thunderblade Leopard's abdomen; with his strength, even without the Dragon Power Technique and while lying on the ground, that punch exceeded thirty thousand pounds—enough to kill a high‑rank transcendent.

But the instant his fist struck the Thunderblade Leopard, thorn armor manifested on its surface.

The armor, under attack, erupted with several thick bolts of lightning.

Lei En's punch shattered the armor, but he was struck by the current, his whole body went numb, his strength could not be fully exerted, and the Thunderblade Leopard escaped the disaster.

"Roar..."

The Thunderblade Leopard let out a low growl and lunged again.

At this moment it had activated Rapid Sprint, at the peak of speed, covering dozens of meters in an instant; Lei En aimed at its head and threw a punch.

Hoo!

His fist struck nothing, blasting a huge swath of air before him.

"That's just too fast," Lei En sighed helplessly; because of the Truth Willpower, he clearly sensed every move of the Thunderblade Leopard, which appeared beside him, opened its mouth to bite, but his body's reaction lagged, like a marionette, feeling clumsy.

He didn't want to engage the Thunderblade Leopard in close combat; a thought sparked, and he activated Flash from his rune book.

The casting time for Flash was extremely brief—completed in a blink; it was his fastest spell to date, but could only be used three times per day.

Click.

The Thunderblade Leopard snapped at empty air, glancing around as it landed.

It possessed night vision, instantly locating Lei En's position about twenty‑plus meters away, and swooped toward him at once.

Such a short distance was traversed by the Thunderblade Leopard in an instant; Lei En couldn't cast in time, so he launched a charge straight at it.

Man and leopard collided head‑on.

Amid the crash, electric light flashed, and bolts of lightning erupted.

Lei En felt as if he were electrocuted—unpleasant but not injurious; the current hadn't caused damage. The Thunderblade Leopard, however, was knocked back and flew away; if not for its thorn electric armor absorbing most of the force, it would have been smashed into mush.

With a low, whimpering cry of pain, the Thunderblade Leopard rolled over, its gaze toward Lei En showing a hint of retreat.

It was injured by the collision.

Lei En hesitated not, and launched another charge at it.

The wind howled in his ears; when his charge reached the Thunderblade Leopard's spot, he found it had dodged, leapt onto a stone, baring its teeth at him.

Lei En realized the Thunderblade Leopard was already frightened.

He instantly cast, a ball of flame appearing in his hand, formed within two or three breaths, like a meteor hurling toward the Thunderblade Leopard.

Amid a rumble, soil and stalks flew, then were reduced to ash by the flame.

The Thunderblade Leopard easily dodged.

Before Lei En could act again, it turned and fled, leaving an after‑image behind, and in a flash darted into the dense jungle, vanishing from sight.

Lei En couldn't help but stare in shock.

That demonic leopard was too clever; seeing it couldn't win, it fled immediately.

Amid the chorus of all things, the Thunderblade Leopard sounded like a massive noise source, rapidly moving away. In just a few seconds it covered a great distance through the forest; after another minute or two it would be out of hearing range.

Lei En hurried to chase.

His running speed was far too slow for the Thunderblade Leopard, like a turtle racing a rabbit; within less than half a minute he was left far behind.

Not wanting to be left behind, Lei En initiated a charge.

A Level‑5 charge could cover thirty meters in a single burst; wherever it passed, trees or grass were pulverized by Lei En.

He did not chain charges, but spaced them ten seconds apart.

With a Level‑3 Iron Body, a ten‑second interval was enough to alleviate the physical strain of the charge, preventing injury.

Hoo!

Hoo!

Hoo!

Again and again he charged, sacrificing stamina, his speed soaring; he became like a high‑speed train, crushing everything in his path.

The massive commotion startled countless beasts and birds.

Moments later, Lei En abruptly halted, realizing he was still being left behind; the chorus of all things had already revealed the Thunderblade Leopard's location.

He squinted and immediately traced the marks the Thunderblade Leopard left while fleeing.

Because it was being pursued, the Thunderblade Leopard was less cautious, panicked and left a trail far more obvious than usual, almost effortless to detect.

Lei En hesitated not, pursued again, but reduced the number of charges to conserve stamina.

After several hours, the sky gradually brightened.

Lei En had chased far, and when he entered a forest, his steps suddenly halted; a familiar sound reached his ears—the Thunderblade Leopard was nearby, resting on a large tree, its heartbeat and breathing still rapid, clearly having expended much stamina fleeing here.

"Can't give it a chance to recover its stamina."

Lei En acted decisively, quietly creeping toward the big tree where the Thunder Blade Leopard was.

He checked the wind direction and approached from downwind, lest his scent be carried and give him away.

A hundred meters from the tree, Lei En saw it.

The Thunder Blade Leopard had just killed a wild boar and was feeding on the tree; after every few bites it scanned the surroundings, very alert.

Suddenly, its movements halted, and it looked puzzled toward a thicket.

A massive fireball shot up.

Boom—!

The whole tree exploded, flames and branches swirling in the air; the Thunder Blade Leopard abandoned its meal, leapt down, and let out an angry roar.

Yet when it saw the enemy charging, it hesitated half a second, then turned and fled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lei En forced three consecutive charges; trees along the hundred‑meter line fell as if being cut, and the Thunder Blade Leopard's figure appeared before him.

The distance between them was under twenty meters.

His gaze remained calm, the rune book in his hand already prepared; his soul force surged, and his figure flickered.

Swish!

When Lei En reappeared, he was almost right behind the Thunder Blade Leopard's rear, able to reach its big tail with a hand. The beast was greatly frightened, not daring to turn its head, and activated Rapid Sprint.

A rainbow‑colored beam burst forth.

This time, the fleeing Thunder Blade Leopard couldn't evade; a layer of thorny electric armor surfaced on its fur.

The thorny electric armor also resisted spells, but was weaker against physical attacks; after blocking for half a second it was pierced by the beam, striking its hindquarters.

A painful howl rang out; wounded, the Thunder Blade Leopard reacted by running even faster.

Lei En saw this and felt a surge of frustration.

The triple‑ring rainbow beam can randomly trigger three negative effects—blindness, petrification, and burning. If the latter two occur, the Thunder Blade Leopard wouldn't get far and would be certain death.

But its luck held; this time it triggered blindness.

The Thunder Blade Leopard faced away from the beam, so the blindness had no effect.

"This sudden ambush succeeded; next time will be harder,"

Three charges plus a flash finally closed the gap, giving the rainbow beam a chance to hit the Thunder Blade Leopard; now it is wary and certainly won't let itself be approached.

Lei En pursued while using Soul Eye to observe the Thunder Blade Leopard ahead.

After activating Rapid Sprint, its speed surged two to three times, lasting about five minutes; within those five minutes, one simply cannot catch up.

However, Rapid Sprint consumes a great deal of stamina and has a long cooldown—at least half an hour before it can be used again.

Lei En chased for half a minute, watching helplessly as it fled out of sight.

He could only lock onto it with the Voice of All Things and continue the pursuit.

Five minutes later, Rapid Sprint ended, the Thunder Blade Leopard's speed waned, and its breathing grew rapid, like big gasps.

Lei En's eyes brightened, a hint of a smile curling his lips.

He finally discovered the Thunder Blade Leopard's weakness.

Like many fast magical beasts, it has poor stamina; after a high‑speed burst it becomes slower than usual, and without sufficient rest its stamina becomes a fatal flaw.

His own speed is inferior to the Thunder Blade Leopard's, but his stamina far surpasses it.

As long as he prevents it from feeding or resting, fights a war of attrition, continuously draining its stamina until it can no longer run, it will inevitably be captured.

Thinking that, Lei En stopped being so urgent.

Every ten‑plus seconds he charged once, steadily hanging behind the Thunder Blade Leopard.

Occasionally, on the tracking route he spotted other beasts, drew the Azure Sky Song, slashed them, absorbed their souls, and replenished his stamina.

At noon, Lei En caught up with the Thunder Blade Leopard again.

He did not attempt a sneak attack as before; instead he appeared openly, charged forward, startling the Thunder Blade Leopard hiding beneath a cliff, which leapt up and fled.

Passing the cliff base, Lei En glanced at its hiding spot; there was no prey, clearly insufficient time to hunt.

This was the best situation.

Starvation combined with fatigue, the Thunder Blade Leopard would eventually collapse.

Sunrise to sunset.

Lei En chased the swift‑shadow Thunder Blade Leopard through Gray Dragon Mountain, from day to night and night to dawn; wherever it thought it had shaken off the enemy, Lei En would appear quickly, giving it no respite.

One flees, one pursues.

Aside from the first attempt by Lei En to attack, he never struck again.

After two days, the Thunder Blade Leopard's speed had slowed to less than half its former pace, and it dared not use Rapid Sprint recklessly.

Lei En could sense that the demonic leopard's temperament was growing increasingly irritable.

"It can probably endure at most one more day,"

Lei En judged that after two days without food and continuous running, the Thunder Blade Leopard was nearing its limit.

He had also chased for two days, yet felt no fatigue at all.

During that time he killed dozens of beasts, including three low‑rank magical beasts; though their souls were weak, they sufficed to replenish his consumption.

On the third afternoon, Lei En caught up with the prey once more.

When he saw the Thunder Blade Leopard, its eye sockets were sunken, its fur dull, and it let out a feeble roar toward him, its gaze feral, seeming ready to charge desperately; after a moment's hesitation it finally fled in disgrace.

Watching its departure, Lei En smiled lightly.

The demonic leopard was not far from death.

He pursued again, and barely a short distance away, a long howl rang out; a few kilometers away, a black male eagle surged into the sky.

"Red‑Eyed Eagle."

Lei En frowned briefly, then saw the Crimson‑Eyed Eagle spiraling quickly in the sky; evidently, it had discovered the trail of the Thunder Blade Leopard.

After a few minutes, the Crimson‑Eyed Eagle lowered its flight altitude increasingly, emitting urgent cries.

Lei En instantly understood that the Thunder Blade Leopard intended to head toward the hunter's location, using itself as bait to provoke a clash among different enemies, and to slip away in the meantime.

"This beast is rather clever."

Of course Lei En wouldn't fall for it; unless the Thunder Blade Leopard deliberately offered itself to that wilderness hunter for capture, otherwise he could easily avoid the other party and give neither side a chance to clash.

He kept chasing forward, and the Crimson‑Eyed Eagle soon also spotted him, its gaze locked tightly.

Lei En ignored it; before long he heard voices; from their breath and heartbeat he judged they were all cultivators, four in total.

The distance between the sides shrank, and Lei En sprinted along the trail left by the Thunder Blade Leopard.

The Crimson‑Eyed Eagle also circled above his head.

"Careful, that person is coming."

A male voice sounded, and immediately the other three drew weapons, their heartbeats quickening.

Half a minute later, Lei En's eyes swept through a thicket and saw the four individuals.

With a casual glance of his Soul Eye, the leader was a Level‑5 Wilderness Hunter wielding a longbow, formidable in strength, accompanied by a massive Tundra Wolf. His three companions were a Level‑4 Iron Guard, a Level‑4 Ranger, and a Level‑3 Warlock.

As Lei En saw them, the four also noticed Lei En.

Their eyes were filled with caution.

The Wilderness Hunter's perception was strong; after Lei En glanced at him, an inexplicable chill rose in his heart, and the nearby Tundra Wolf let out an uneasy low growl.

He was about to shout loudly, but saw Lei En charge with a booming sound.

After three consecutive charges, he vanished in an instant.

Watching a passage carved through the jungle by the charge, the Wilderness Hunter and his companions stared at each other.

Especially the Iron Guard was dumbfounded; he could charge too, but had never seen anyone use a charge as a means of travel, covering dozens of meters in a single rush!

"Who is this person?" the Iron Guard asked in surprise.

The hunter's gaze flickered; sharing vision with his Crimson‑Eyed Eagle, he could see the tall figure barreling through the forest at high speed, heading toward the Thunder Blade Leopard.

That Thunder Blade Leopard was also their target; this time they entered Grey Dragon Mountain, searching for over half a month, and hadn't expected to be discovered first.

Moreover, this person was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Although the Crimson‑Eyed Eagle, with its aerial advantage, could continue tracking without losing the trail, the Wilderness Hunter hesitated, unsure whether to keep pursuing.

(End of chapter)