ith its right paw, the Ghost Claws shrieking as they rend the air apart, I activated Duo and disappeared, only to reappear behind it. Anticipating my evasion, the Ghost Bear swung around with its other paw to tear the space apart with its vicious Ghost Claws.

Unfortunately, that very intellect had rendered the Ghost Bear's movements somewhat predictable. Having guessed that it would repeat the same movement that earned it success earlier, I had chosen not to appear behind directly behind the Ghost Bear, but at its 10 o'clock. Dodging under the wide swing of the Ghost Bear's paw, I materialized a frost sword by freezing the vapor in the air into ice and hacked its extended paw off.

"Grr..!!!!!"

The Ghost Bear bellowed in pain and stumbled backward, blood gushing out of its stump like a geyser. Its paw flew through the air and fell, landing against the ground in a dull thump.

"You can't bear the pain, eh, Ghost Bear?"

I mocked the Ghost Bear, but was unable to get near because of it was thrashing about in rage.

The damn thing was pretty tough.

"Still not dead, huh?"

The Ghost Bear glowered at me before charging forward. This time, I met it head-on, using my ice sword to clash with it.

The frost blade shattered instantly as the Ghost Claws collided against it. But it didn't matter. As the Ghost Claws swept the broken pieces of ice away, I smashed through the hail of icy fragments and froze a new weapon in my hands. The Ghost Bear tried to defend, but it realized that its left paw was missing, while it couldn't retract its right paw back in time to parry my strike.

This time, instead of a frost sword, I manifested an ice axe. Swinging the massive weapon with every ounce of strength that I had, I buried the axe deeply into the Ghost Bear's collarbone as I tried to decapitate it.

Alas, the Ghost Bear was too strong. Despite the blade embedding itself deeply into the Ghost Bear's neck, it refused to die. Lowering its shoulder, it slammed into me and sent me flying. Blood spurted out of my mouth as I crashed through several trees, blasted away by the sheer raw qi that the Ghost Bear violently emanated.

"Gah..kuh..!"

I coughed out blood as I struggled to my feet, only to fall to my knees. The Ghost Bear's counterattack had pulverized my insides and reduced my inner organs into jelly. If my constitution hadn't been strengthened from devouring so many demonic beasts, I would have died from the sheer impact alone.

The Ghost Bear dragged the ice axe out of its neck and crushed it with a paw. Growling, it lumbered toward me. Then it dropped onto all fours and charged forward, intent on finishing me off once and for all.

With my organs crushed and my body badly battered, I was in no shape to move or evade the attack. Heaving, I glanced around desperately, hoping against fucking Fate that there was something I could use to turn this around.

Then I caught sight of the Ghost Bear's disembodied paw, which lay in front of me. Blood had been gushing out of it, forming a massive puddle between me and the lunging Ghost Bear. A trail of blood had been expanding into a pool, connecting and merging with the river of blood that was snaking away from my battered body.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed my palm down on the pool of blood, not caring that I was creating a huge splash. The moment the Ghost Bear bounded over the puddle of blood that was leaking out of its amputated paw, I infused the blood with frosty qi. A violent surge of qi seared across the blood and it hardened, freezing into a gigantic crimson spear that lanced the Ghost Bear from below, impaling it and halting it in its charge.

"Gr..?!"

The Ghost Bear let out a shriek as its momentum was suddenly brought to an abrupt stop. It gazed down helplessly at the frozen blood spear that had pierced through its chest, gouging out a huge chunk of its heart. It struggled weakly and futilely, its strength slowly fading away.

"Phew.."

I used the chance that my last-ditch counterattack had bought me. Uncapping my bottle, I took a swig of the Green Dragon Spring water that I had stored within it. In a few moments, my body was repaired and restored.

"Huff.."

Taking a deep breath, I rose shakily to my feet. Conjuring another ice sword, I leaped forward to deliver the finishing blow.

The Ghost Bear was far from done, however. Despite being immobilized and pinned to the ground by the frozen spear, it was still able to swing its remaining paw and lash out with its triple Ghost Claws to cut me in half.

But I had already expected that. My feet moved, and I disappeared into a blur. The Ghost Claws seemed to rip the last vestiges of my afterimage into pieces, but I had already dodged and reappeared by the Ghost Bear's left side. With a determined yell, I shoved the blade of my ice sword into the wound in its neck – where my ice axe had bitten deeply earlier.

Thunk!

"Ugh..!"

But I didn't behead the Ghost Bear. Knowing that the muscles that protected its neck were too thick for my meager strength to cut through, I instead shifted the point of my sword and pierced through its skull, the blade reducing the Ghost Bear's brain into mush before running through the other side.

"GUOOO!"

The Ghost Bear let out its final death throes, knocking me flat to the ground but fortunately not maiming me. This time, I was able to evade, having been fully healed by the holy waters of the Green Dragon Spring.

And I thought healing potions didn't exist in reality, or even if they did, it wouldn't be practical to drink them in the middle of a battle. Yet that was what I just did. Huh..I guess games weren't as impractical as they seemed, huh?

I waited for a long while until the Ghost Bear stopped thrashing and its death throes died down. Cautiously approaching the seemingly dead Ghost Bear, in case it was a trap, I then created another ice axe and beheaded it with a few strokes. It took a lot of effort and energy, and the muscles stubbornly resisted my blows, but after a few minutes, I finally decapitated it to ensure that it was dead for good.

"Huff..huff..I guess even the Ghost Bear couldn't bear my attack."

I dropped down to the ground beside the carcass of my kill, my frozen blood spear still holding it aloft like some kind of macabre trophy. Taking a deep breath, I carved a chunk of Ghost Bear meat out and ate it. After my experience in Sen Lin Forest, I had learned that consuming demonic beasts helped strengthen me. Of course, repeatedly eating the same type of demonic beast had less of an impact on enhancing my constitution, but devouring a new type of magical beast greatly improved my strength, vitality, speed and qi.

Since this was the first time I was eating Ghost Bear meat, I was sure that my power would increase tremendously.

After swallowing a lot of the meat, I suddenly felt the familiar sensation of agony. The intense pain stabbed my gut again and I doubled over.

"Ugh..eh?!"

Fortunately, it wasn't as excruciating as the first time. It was still horribly unpleasant, and not something I liked to go through. Uncapping the bottle, I downed another gulp of Green Dragon Spring water. It helped a little, but the pain was still debilitating. I could hardly stand on one knee, never mind move around freely.

I see..the Ghost Bear is much more powerful than the Lunar Rabbits or the Silverback Wolves. That's why there was quite a bit of pain when I consumed it..I should have known that eating Ghost Bear meat would be unbearable..

Breathing heavily, I waited for the intense agony to subside, then slowly stood up. Crafting another ice butcher knife, I began to..well, butcher the Ghost Bear. I was going to bring the meat back to my burrow, and I was going to consume the whole thing. Now that I had gotten used to eating it, I would complete the meal and raise my cultivation and power further.

As I went about my grisly work, it suddenly occurred to me that I had won. I had defeated the nemesis that haunted me ever since I was dumped into this underground cave. Yet..I didn't feel any sort of triumph or joy. I didn't feel hollow either. All I felt was..an emotion of necessity, an instinct of survival. I killed the Ghost Bear because it was the only way I could survive in this cavern. That was all to it.

And after securing my survival, I would find my way out of this godforsaken forest and return to Martial City. Once I achieved that..

I was going to obliterate this evil thing called Fate and usurp the Heavens from the Gods who laughed and mocked me.