“Thud… thud… thud…”
The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by heavy, labored breathing—like some enormous beast was approaching.
“It’s… it’s a Land-Splitting Bear!” A young male rabbit beastman suddenly turned pale and screamed. “The books say… Land-Splitting Bears have thick hides and love to eat Sweet Pulp Berries!”
Land-Splitting Bear?
Li Zhu’s heart sank. She had seen illustrations of this beast in the old beast-skin books in the tribe—massive, gray-black all over, with claws like iron plows that could tear into the earth. And the Land-Splitting Bear before her? The crystal on its forehead was already blue.
This… this was a seventh-rank beast!
Beasts had power rankings just like beastmen, from one to ten. Each rank formed a differently colored crystal on the beast’s forehead: white, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, gray, and black. The higher the rank, the more energy the crystal contained.
For a beastman to increase in rank, they had to rely on beast crystals. The higher the rank, the more crystal energy was required.
A seventh-rank beast in the Northern Continent was already top-tier!
The rabbit tribe’s hunting teams had only ever faced fifth-rank Wind Wolves. A seventh-rank Land-Splitting Bear? They were completely outmatched!
“Run!”
Li Heng shouted, shoving Li Zhu toward A Mu.
“Take them and go! I’ll hold it off!”
No sooner had he finished than the three-meter-tall Land-Splitting Bear charged out of the forest.
Its eyes were blood-red. Upon seeing the group, it let out a deafening roar and swiped its massive claw at the nearest rabbit beastman.
“Watch out!”
Li Heng leapt forward, blocking the claw with his stone spear.
“Clang!” The spear shattered, and Li Heng was knocked several steps back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“Brother!”
Li Zhu screamed, trying to rush forward, but A Mu grabbed her tightly.
“Don’t! You’ll just get yourself killed!”
A Mu’s face was flushed as he dragged Li Zhu, A Tang, and A Ning in the opposite direction.
The other rabbit beastmen were terrified as well. They wanted to save their young master but were powerless. With their strength, they couldn’t even withstand a single stomp from the bear.
Yet not a single male beastman fled. They all attacked, trying to distract the bear with whatever small damage they could inflict.
But the Land-Splitting Bear ignored everyone else. Its blood-red eyes fixed solely on Li Heng, as if it had marked him as the prey daring to resist, and it roared again, lunging forward.
Li Heng gritted his teeth, igniting his fire-based ability. Orange-red flames blazed in his palms, and he thrust them toward the bear.
The bear’s fur was too thick; the flames only singed a few hairs, barely scratching it.
“Roar!” The bear, enraged, slammed a claw into Li Heng’s chest.
He flew like a ragdoll, crashing heavily into a tree and sliding to the ground, motionless.
The bear slowly approached, towering over him, claw raised high, ready to strike.
“Brother!”
Li Zhu’s eyes brimmed with tears. She broke free from A Mu’s grip and rushed over, pressing herself over Li Heng to protect him.
The claw was about to fall.
At that moment, a cold, pure white light shot diagonally across, landing precisely between Li Zhu and the bear.
As the light faded, a man in snow-white robes appeared.
Tall and slender, his silver hair was bound atop his head with a white jade pin. A faint golden marking ran across his forehead, resembling a simplified “knowledge” character.
Most striking was his presence. Even standing before the ferocious Land-Splitting Bear, he exuded the calmness of someone strolling in a courtyard.
The bear hadn’t expected another to appear. It paused in surprise, then roared even louder and charged.
The man didn’t even blink. He simply raised his hand and waved gently.
Li Zhu felt the world blur. Some invisible force seemed to envelop the bear.
The bear froze, as if bound by invisible ropes. In an instant, it collapsed with a thunderous crash, utterly lifeless.
The forest fell silent, save for the ragged breathing of those present.
Li Zhu stared at the white figure before her, her mind completely blank.
What was that just now? He didn’t even touch the bear, and there wasn’t a single scratch on it, yet it collapsed.
What kind of ability was that?
This person’s power… was unfathomable.
Ze Yu turned his gaze toward Li Zhu.
His eyes were calm and steady, yet it felt as though they could see straight into her heart.
“Are you alright?”
Li Zhu snapped back to reality and immediately remembered Li Heng lying on the ground. She hurried over and helped him up.
“Brother! Are you okay?”
She checked his breathing.
Thank the Beast God—he was still alive!
A Mu and the other beastmen quickly crowded around, trying in a clumsy flurry to lift Li Heng.
“I’ll do it.”
Ze Yu stepped forward, gently pressing his hand on Li Heng’s chest.
A warm force flowed into Li Heng’s body. He groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes.
“Brother!” Li Zhu cried with joy, tears welling up.
Li Heng, seeing the man in front of him and glancing at the tribe members around, furrowed his brow in confusion.
“The Land-Splitting Bear… where is it?”
“Dead.”
Ze Yu replied calmly.
It was only then that Li Heng realized this was the person who had saved them. He struggled to get up to express his gratitude, but the man held him down.
“Your internal injuries haven’t healed. Don’t move. You take the bear with you; I’m leaving.”
Saying that, he turned to leave.
Ze Yu hadn’t intended to intervene, but for some reason, the thought of that tiny female being crushed by the bear had stirred an unusual sense of pity in him.
He was from the Bai Ze Tribe, an ancient clan living in the far west of the Beast Continent. Bai Ze beastmen were incredibly strong in battle but faced extreme difficulties when it came to reproduction.
His father had told him that the Bai Ze were a cursed tribe: the Beast God had granted them power, yet stripped them of the right to propagate their lineage.
In over a hundred years, only he had been born among the Bai Ze.
Now, across the entire Beast Continent, he was the only Bai Ze beastman alive. His journey to the Northern Continent, across thousands of miles, was to continue the Bai Ze bloodline.
Li Zhu watched the man’s departing figure. She had a feeling he was so strong that he could protect the entire rabbit tribe. Even though she couldn’t gauge him fully, something inside her kept shouting—he must stay.
“Wait.”
Finally, Li Zhu spoke up.
She knew it might bring danger to the tribe, but she reasoned: what would there be in their small tribe worth a powerful being’s interest?
Like a billionaire picking up a single coin from the street—would he bother?
The truth was, absolute power didn’t even waste a glance on absolute weakness.
But it was precisely because he was so strong that she had an opportunity.
On the Beast Continent, the stronger a male, the harder it was for him to reproduce.
So… if she offered her fertility in exchange, would he refuse?
Ahem, sure, he was handsome—very handsome! But… okay, this was important!
Yes, she was a beauty-obsessed control freak! She had been given a second life; she deserved to enjoy it.
Ze Yu turned around, his expression full of curiosity.
“You…”
To be honest, he was intrigued by the “story” she had just mentioned.
For some reason, vivid images of that lively, adorable female began forming in his mind. She was right in front of him now. If he wanted, he could certainly become her beast mate.
Surely no female would refuse a tenth-rank beastman’s proposal, right?
After all, he was the only tenth-rank beastman on the entire Beast Continent. With him present, even a low-level tribe could rapidly rise to a high-level tribe.
And a tenth-rank beastman’s strength? Three ninth-rank beastmen combined might still be no match.
The higher one went, the harder it became to advance—but of course, battle power also depended on each beastman’s unique ability.