Chapter Fourteen: The Enigmatic Xian'er

Using the identification skill, I scanned the bear king towering like a small mountain: Black Bear King, level 50. This was the highest-level boss I had encountered so far.

The bear king noticed the fresh black bear corpse lying at my feet, its small, gleaming black eyes—small only relative to its massive body, as its eyeballs were no smaller than a ping-pong ball—flared with rage. With a mighty swing of its huge paw, it roared at its minions. A thick golden aura enveloped the black bears, energized by the bear king’s magical blessing. The energized minions bristled with spirit and charged at me with a unified cry, fierce and determined.

To the bear king, a weak human was unworthy of its direct attention. It dispatched its minions and leisurely pulled out—a mystery where it kept it, as it was barely clothed—a fresh, crimson leg of meat, slowly gnawing on it. The magic-imbued black bears descended into frenzy; their savage attacks crashed around me like a tempest. I focused intently, darting left and right, weaving through them like a butterfly among flowers, striking back occasionally and never lingering too long in one place. I maneuvered them gradually away from the bear king’s sight.

Yet these five bears, with their greatly enhanced offense and defense, were no easy foes. Their five massive paws flailed, creating a blur of strikes that surrounded me from all sides. Occasionally, one or two hits landed, inflicting excruciating pain. My supplies of medicinal potions were rapidly dwindling; if I couldn’t take down these five bears soon, I would perish.

My sword hand, having blocked the forceful bear paws numerous times, was numb with pain and trembling uncontrollably. I could hold on for only about ten more minutes before I might lose my grip entirely. The black bear I had focused most of my attacks on still had nearly half its health. Rush to kill it rashly, and I would likely fall alongside it. My potions were running low, and my movements were losing their former agility. Another heavy paw strike came; my sword barely blocked one, but I was too slow to recover and nearly struck hard. With only half HP left, I struggled to endure the deadly blow. Both hands gripped the sword, unable to free a hand to drink a potion. In desperation, I channeled the Haoran Heart Method, preparing to endure the blow and quickly retreated to lessen the force.

My backward step did not collide with the bears behind as expected but instead created nearly a meter and a half of distance, slipping out of their encirclement. Even more astonishing, the system prompted: “Your Heart Method has successfully integrated with your footwork. Congratulations on creating a new intermediate skill. Please name your new skill.”

Damn, when do I have time to think about that?

“Whatever,” I said casually.

“Congratulations on creating the new footwork skill ‘Whatever.’ You have been awarded 100 reputation points.”

Collapse. That works too! No time to check the skill’s attributes, I infused the Haoran Heart Method into my legs and continued dodging. Ha! This skill was a timely blessing. With ‘Whatever’s’ assistance, my speed and evasion increased noticeably. Those clumsy bears became dizzy and disoriented, unable to locate me, and I took the chance to slash at them a couple of times without mercy.

The little black bear I had been ‘looking after’ died resentfully when it couldn’t catch my clothing. My pressure eased not by a little but significantly. Now I moved with ease, striking frequently, sipping potions calmly when hit.

The second little black bear also died helplessly under the failed rescue attempts of the three dimwits. Perhaps it muttered underground, “Is being a black bear easy? Who tuned my speed so low? Next life, I won’t be a bear again. If I am, I’ll be a bear king—living the high life.” Of course, that last line could only be whispered in its heart; if luck ran out and the bear king fell too, it would still be its minion in the underworld. If it found out, it would wear out its shoes chasing me even in the afterlife.

Seeing each comrade fall ignited the last black bear’s fury, nearly driving it mad with a frantic assault. Yet its attacks struck the air like punches in water, hitting nothing solid, a hollow feeling that could drive anyone—or any bear—to madness. Hey, its movements now resembled a futile chase after shadows. The Crocodile Bone Sword bit sharply into its thick waist. The exhausted bear staggered, gave up attacking, and turned to flee toward the bear king.

Caught off guard, I missed the perfect chance to finish it. It had already re-entered the bear king’s sight.

The little black bear barely made it to the bear king, trembling with fear as it crouched before it. The bear king, having waited for good news from its minions in vain, furiously threw away the leg bone but remained furious. In a fit of rage and humiliation, it slammed its huge paw down, and the bear collapsed lifelessly.

Witnessing this grim scene, I was dumbfounded, my mind tangled. How much this resembled the ruthless ways of gangland overlords in reality. Alas, whether in this world or that, the law of the jungle—might makes right—prevails.

After punishing the incompetent minion, the brutal bear king roared fiercely, casting a frenzy spell on itself. It charged at me with astonishing speed, its wild and overwhelming aura seeming to tear me apart. If I couldn’t stop it, I would undoubtedly be shredded.

Earlier, I glanced at ‘Whatever’—an intermediate footwork skill, increasing movement speed by 15%, evasion by 15%, lasting 25 seconds, consuming 2 MP per second, with a 30-second cooldown. It was self-created, unable to be upgraded or shared. Hey, not bad, though the name was a bit too casual. Creating skills sounded intriguing; I just didn’t know what conditions were needed to innovate.

Before the ferocious black bear king could reach me, its massive paw sliced the air, delivering a crushing blow. Compared to this, the black bears’ wind claws were mere child’s play. The terrifying paw strike exploded on two sides before me; countless forces wrapped around my body, my HP plummeting sharply. Damn, what kind of skill was this? So terrifying. I had to gulp down two medium potions just to restore over half my HP.

With no warning, the bear king’s massive paw struck again. My numb hands dared not raise the sword to block; I swung casually. I can’t fight? I can’t dodge? Anyway, the founding fathers of the People’s Republic of China came from such tough backgrounds. I’ll learn from their spirit—no shame! “Smack!” Damn, such a huge thing moving so fast, it’s deadly. Luckily, it only brushed the blade, costing me just over 300 HP and leaving my right hand trembling.

I had no idea what this black bear was made of. After several sword strikes, I only managed to chip away 300 HP. It had at least 5,000 HP. Even with its slow regeneration, I wouldn’t kill it quickly. What was worse, its paw was impervious to blades, as hard as an iron arm; hitting it sounded almost like forging iron. There had to be a weakness. The Five-Colored Crocodile was also tough-skinned, yet ultimately succumbed to my sword. Stabbing its head seemed unlikely due to its size; the system wouldn’t be so boring as to place a weak spot there.

As I hesitated, I noticed its navel was unusual—a golden gem the size of a chicken egg embedded there, its luster restrained, hidden but precious-looking. I slashed diagonally; the bear king blocked with a horizontal paw, fiercely guarding that small area. Indeed, there was a secret!

I countered with sword strikes aimed at its navel. The towering bear king tried to defend flawlessly but was flustered by cuts to other parts. The Crocodile Bone Sword stabbed craftily at its navel again. The bear king reluctantly defended time and again, as if we were rehearsing the same attack and defense.

The blade sliced its waist, stealing over 60 HP. The bear king’s pride would not tolerate repeated wounds from a frail human, even if slight. A king must uphold its dignity; defiance meant death!

Eventually, the impatient bear king abandoned caution, attacking with wide, sweeping blows that left me scrambling. Fortunately, I still had speed on my side; though the dodges were tight, I was safe for the moment. This only fueled the bear king’s rage, extinguishing its last shred of reason.

While it pursued me, I countered with a sword flick, knocking the golden gem from its navel as I wished. Freed from the gem’s cover, the bear king’s navel was exposed—a smooth, hairless gray patch, one of the few ‘bald spots’ on its body.

The gem fell. Panicked, the bear king tried to retrieve it, but I beat it to the backpack. Losing its treasure, the bear king howled again and unleashed a furious, storm-like assault. Without its protective charm, let’s see how it could withstand my sword!

Each time I struck the bear king’s navel, it lost 200 to 300 HP. After more than half an hour of struggle, the bear king finally collapsed, the crisp sound of dropped items ringing in my ears: three pieces of silver equipment, a large hammer, a ring, and a leather vest—hunter’s gear.

But carving up the bear king’s corpse was arduous work. I stuffed heaps of meat, two enormous paws, and tough bear hide into my backpack, leaving barely any space. The bear’s gallbladder was at least three times larger than that of an ordinary black bear and was a dark green rather than the usual green.

The golden gem from the bear king’s navel was identified as an Earth Spirit Stone, an advanced gem of unknown use. The two blood-red gems I’d found in Black Gorge Cave were identified only as Chicken Blood Stones, also advanced gems, despite my advanced identification skill. Looks like when I have time to practice forging, I’ll need to ask the old blacksmith.

This excellent haul lifted my spirits, erasing all fatigue from the prolonged battle. Just then, a notification popped up in my message panel—the avatar I had longed to see—Xiao Lan had sent me a message.

Fantasy Online Game.