The Iron-Claw Bear exploded from the tunnel like a landslide given teeth.
It was three meters tall at the shoulder, its fur matted with stone dust and dried blood, its front claws long enough to gouge the parallel scratches they had seen on the cavern wall.
The beast’s roar hit them like a physical wall of sound.
Lu Qinghe was thrown backward into the rock face.
Mo Lin dove behind a stalagmite with a merchant’s survival instinct.Lu Chen stood his ground.
[Combat analysis: Rank 1 Iron-Claw Bear.]
[Realm equivalent: Qi Gathering Stage 5.]
[Strength: Crushing physical power, iron-hard fur, claw strikes capable of shredding Foundation Establishment flesh.]
[Weakness: Poor lateral agility, blind spot behind left shoulder, hibernation-disrupted metabolism means stamina depletion after 60 breaths of sustained combat.]
[Host realm: Qi Gathering Stage 2.]
[Gap: 3 minor stages.
Overcomeable with tactical advantage.]
[Recommendation: Do not engage head-on.
Use environment.
Exploit stamina window.]
The bear charged.
Lu Chen waited until the beast was five paces away, then dropped flat and rolled sideways.
The bear’s claws slammed into the rock where he had been standing and shattered a chunk of stone the size of a man’s torso.
The impact sent fragments spraying across the cavern.One shard sliced across Lu Chen’s cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.He ignored it.
Lu Qinghe!
he shouted.
Flank left!
Keep it turning!.
His cousin recovered from the wall and drew his short sword with a snarl.
Lu Qinghe was Qi Gathering Stage 4, two stages above Lu Chen’s public realm and only one stage below the bear.
He was not strong enough to kill the beast alone, but he was fast enough to annoy it.
Lu Qinghe darted in from the left and slashed at the bear’s hind leg.
The blade bounced off the iron-hard fur with a shower of sparks.
But the bear turned.That was the opening.
Lu Chen activated the Hundred-Beast Body Tempering technique he had earned from the System vault after defeating Han Yuze.
The technique flooded his muscles with qi that mimicked the explosive physical density of a Rank 2 spirit beast, temporarily boosting his striking power by a factor of three.
It burned through his qi reserves at a terrifying rate.
He had maybe twenty breaths before he ran dry.
Lu Chen sprinted at the bear’s exposed right flank and drove his fist into the soft tissue behind the beast’s left shoulder the blind spot the System had identified.
The Mountain-Breaking Fist connected with the force of a falling boulder.
The bear screamed.
The sound was deafening in the enclosed cavern, a high-pitched shriek of pain that bounced off the crystal-veined walls and made Lu Chen’s ears ring.
The beast staggered sideways.Its left front leg buckled.But it did not fall.
The bear’s right claw swept backward in a blind, furious arc and caught Lu Chen across the ribs.
The impact lifted him off his feet and threw him into the cavern wall.
Pain exploded through his torso.
[Damage taken: Three fractured ribs, left side.
Internal bruising.
Qi circulation disrupted.]
[Hundred-Beast Body Tempering: Deactivated.
Qi reserves at 18%.]
Lu Chen hit the ground and tasted blood.
The bear turned toward him, its yellow eyes blazing with rage, its left leg dragging but its right claws fully functional and dripping with his blood.
It raised its right paw for a killing strike.
Lu Chen had no qi left for the Hundred-Beast technique.
He had fractured ribs that screamed with every breath.
He had a Qi Gathering Stage 2 cultivation base against a Stage 5 beast that wanted him dead.
And he had exactly four seconds to find a solution.
He looked up at the cavern ceiling.
The spirit stone veins glittered in the rock above the bear’s head, and one particular cluster a massive formation of pale blue crystal directly above the beast was cracked and hanging loose from the ceiling.
Lu Chen channeled the last of his qi into his right arm.
Not into a punch.
Into a throw.
He grabbed a fist-sized chunk of broken stalagmite from the cavern floor and hurled it upward with every ounce of strength his battered body could produce.
The rock struck the cracked crystal formation.
The ceiling gave way.
Two tons of spirit stone laden rock collapsed directly onto the Iron-Claw Bear’s head and shoulders.
The beast’s skull cracked with a sound like splitting timber.
It collapsed forward, its massive body slamming into the cavern floor hard enough to shake the walls.
Dust and crystal fragments rained down for ten seconds.
Then silence.
The bear was dead.
Lu Chen lay against the cavern wall, clutching his fractured ribs, breathing through the pain in shallow, careful gasps.
[Combat result: Victory.]
[Enemy defeated: Rank 1 Iron-Claw Bear (Qi Gathering Stage 5).]
[Method: Environmental exploitation + tactical resource management.]
[Breakthrough catalyst detected in beast core.]
[Absorbing.]
A pulse of warm energy radiated from the dead bear’s chest and flowed into Lu Chen’s battered meridians.
The pain in his ribs dulled.
The Chaos Origin Pearl spun faster, filtering the beast core energy and channeling it into his dantian.
[Breakthrough achieved.]
[Qi Gathering Stage 2 → Stage 3.]
[Qi Gathering Stage 3 → Stage 4.]
[Meridian repair: 60% complete.]
[Rib fractures: Stabilized.
Full healing estimated 48 hours.]
Two stages.The beast core’s energy had been dense enough to push him through two minor breakthroughs in a single surge.
[Family Luck Points: +15.]
[Current total: 175/100 base.]
[New task issued: Establish Dragon Ridge mining operation within 30 days.]
[Reward: Nine-Step Cloudshadow Movement technique.]
[Failure penalty: –25 Family Luck Points.]
Lu Qinghe limped over and stared down at the dead bear.
Then he stared at Lu Chen.
Then he stared at the collapsed ceiling.
Did you just drop the mountain on it?
he asked.
Lu Chen spat blood onto the cavern floor.
I dropped the ceiling, he corrected.
Mo Lin emerged from behind his stalagmite, pale and shaking, his merchant’s eyes already calculating the value of the spirit stone veins exposed by the cave-in.
Lu Chen, he said quietly.
We’re going to be rich.
Lu Chen closed his eyes and let the Chaos Origin Pearl finish healing his ribs.
The mine was theirs.
The Han Family’s blockade was about to become very, very irrelevant.
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