[The heavy silence of the forest]
[The wind moving through the distant leaves]
[The sudden feeling of held breath]
Three bodies lay before Arjun.
For a moment, time itself seemed to stop as he stared at the corpses scattered across the forest floor.
The instant they had fallen, the tension in the air had become even heavier.
Commander Veerbhadra, Captain Bloodshadow, and the remaining members of both groups stood frozen for several moments.
Arjun’s long hair fell across his face.
But beneath it, his eyes burned with the coldness of a predator.
He no longer looked like a mere child.
At that moment, he resembled a cornered wolf that had finally decided to bite.
This was the moment when the battle could no longer remain ordinary.
The distance between the two opposing groups had disappeared.
Now, every breath, every movement, and every decision carried the weight of blood.
“Get out of here, boy!”
Veerbhadra’s voice came from a distance.
But Arjun didn’t look toward him.
His eyes remained fixed directly on Captain Bloodshadow.
At first, confidence had filled the captain’s face.
Then came irritation.
And now, for the first time, a faint trace of uncertainty appeared in his expression.
He looked at the blood on Arjun’s hands.
Then at the bodies lying on the ground.
He finally understood that he had made a serious mistake in his plan.
He had underestimated Arjun.
And in this world, underestimating an enemy could be the most expensive mistake of all.
“Kill him,” the captain ordered through clenched teeth.
The hunched, middle-aged man standing beside him immediately stepped forward.
He had one eye.
His back was bent.
Yet the spiritual energy within him was fresh and unstable, as though he had only recently broken through a difficult threshold.
He was a Fifth-Level cultivator.
Powerful waves of spiritual energy surged from his body.
He smiled as if crushing Arjun would not be difficult at all.
In fact, it seemed almost entertaining to him.
Arjun’s eyes became even colder.
Fifth Level.
He assessed the situation silently.
Three had already fallen.
Now came the second move.
Arjun did not fight head-on.
He never fought directly unless absolutely necessary.
He took a deep breath.
[Deep breath]
Then he lunged forward with all his strength.
Spiritual energy surged into his right fist.
The Third Level of the Sea and Mountain Incantation had hardened his body like steel.
With the assistance of the Blue Jade Stone, his body had become faster, heavier, and far more responsive.
He shot toward the hunched man like a drawn arrow.
The hunched man immediately formed an invisible wall of spiritual energy before himself.
[The sound of a heavy impact]
Arjun’s fist crashed into it.
For an instant, it felt as though the forest itself had split apart.
The air trembled.
Small fragments of earth jumped from the ground.
Invisible lines spread across the barrier like a web of cracks.
The wall did not break.
But it fractured.
A flash passed through Arjun’s eyes.
He understood.
This man was still a genuine threat.
His arms burned from the impact.
Yet he did not stop.
His second strike was even faster.
Arjun knew that if he could make the hunched man lose his balance even slightly, Captain Bloodshadow standing behind him would be exposed for a brief moment.
At the same time, flames erupted from the opposite side.
The battle between Captain Bloodshadow and Commander Veerbhadra had intensified.
Fire, choking smoke, and the blood-stained evening air transformed the entire forest into a battlefield.
Another member shouted,
“Don’t let that boy escape!”
But there was no longer the same certainty in his voice.
Arjun reached into his bag and pulled out a small piece of cloth.
Hidden inside was his poison supply.
He had been prepared long before this battle.
Arjun had learned that some battles could not be won with weapons alone.
Sometimes, an opponent’s own strength had to be turned against them.
He took out a small sealed pouch with his left hand.
Then he scattered a fine powder into the air.
Its smell was dry and sharp.
The moment it touched the ground, it became almost impossible to see.
An ordinary warrior would never have noticed it.
The hunched man blocked Arjun’s attack.
But at that exact moment, Arjun changed tactics.
A potent poison coated the weapon in his right hand.
His left hand carried a small reserve of spiritual energy that could instantly increase his agility.
[The whisper of the wind]
Arjun spun, lowered his body, and slipped beneath the hunched man’s guard.
He appeared beside him.
The edge of his dagger flashed.
The hunched man attempted to retreat.
But his attention had already been disrupted.
The protective layer of spiritual energy around his body faltered.
Arjun wasted not even a second.
He applied a single drop of poison to the man’s wound.
At first, nothing happened.
Then—
A violent change appeared on the man’s face.
His eyes widened.
His throat became dry.
The flow of spiritual energy inside his body began to destabilize.
He stumbled backward in panic.
Arjun struck at that exact moment.
His fist slammed into the man’s chest.
[The heavy sound of something breaking deep within]
The hunched man coughed violently and staggered backward.
Captain Bloodshadow saw it.
Anger flashed across his face.
He forced Veerbhadra backward and shouted,
“Finish him!”
But there was less control in his voice now.
And far more anxiety.
Arjun’s name was no longer part of some confident strategy.
The captain himself had begun thinking about survival.
Arjun focused on only one thing.
Bring the hunched man down.
He knew physical attacks alone would not be enough.
So he combined poison with speed.
He pulled out another small pouch and scattered a fine black powder into the air.
This was not an ordinary poison.
It disrupted the balance of spiritual energy.
As the powder spread around the hunched man, the energy surrounding his body began to tremble and collapse. Get faster updates on g.com.
Fear appeared in his eyes.
“You…”
He could barely form the word.
But Arjun had already moved.
He lunged forward so quickly that his figure became blurred for an instant.
He threw one final, devastating punch.
That fist contained the full strength of the Sea and Mountain Incantation.
The endurance granted by the Blue Jade Stone.
And all the anger that had been building within him.
The collision was so violent that the man’s spiritual defense was torn apart, sending the impact deep into his body.
The hunched man trembled.
Then—
Silence.
His body collapsed like a fallen tree.
For a moment, the entire forest became silent.
Captain Bloodshadow turned toward the scene.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared on his face.
One of his men had fallen.
Three guards were already dead.
And now Arjun—the boy he had nearly laughed at because of his age—had become a force that could no longer be ignored.
His gaze shifted toward Commander Veerbhadra.
Then toward Arjun.
Then back toward the battlefield.
The plan had completely fallen apart.
Arjun breathed heavily.
He looked down at his hands.
They were trembling.
Not from fear.
From the sheer intensity of the battle.
He adjusted his bloodstained bag.
Several burning wounds covered his chest.
Yet he was still standing.
Inside him, the Blue Jade Stone pulsed.
As though it were urging him forward.
At that moment, Veerbhadra took a deep breath and forced his opponent backward.
“Enough.”
His voice was cold.
Captain Bloodshadow clenched his teeth.
The cruelty that had filled his face at the beginning was gone.
In its place was the caution of a predator.
He had realized that if he continued fighting, the cost would become far too high.
And then—
As if the forest itself had opened another hidden layer—
A thin, strange melody drifted through the air from somewhere in the distance.
[A very faint, unfamiliar melody]
Arjun’s eyes immediately turned toward the source.
Veerbhadra’s expression changed as well.
That melody.
Something about it was different.
The battle had not truly ended.
Something else had awakened in the darkness.
For the first time, Arjun felt that his confrontation with Bloodshadow was not a battle against humans alone.
There was something else inside this forest.
Something whose presence seemed to exist beyond ordinary weapons…
And beyond ordinary spiritual energy.
The mysterious melody continued to drift through the trees.
And Arjun understood one thing—
The real danger had only just begun.
Chapter CliffhangerWho is playing the strange melody drifting through the forest?
Will Captain Bloodshadow retreat, or does he still have another move prepared?
How will Arjun’s shadow and the Blue Jade Stone react to this mysterious new presence?
And will Veerbhadra and Arjun manage to escape the Black Forest alive?