Brutality

A sharp hiss suddenly sliced through the air.

In an instant, the Blue-Eyed Vulture, Bai Mu, who had been swooping forward, vanished from sight, transforming into a blurry shadow that darted past with such speed it was nearly impossible to follow.

“What!” the burly man from the Senran Tribe cried out in shock. How could a Blue-Eyed Vulture move at such speed? That was utterly impossible!

The very next second, his own vulture let out a miserable shriek, grievously wounded in the blink of an eye.

High above, the powerful Blue-Eyed Vulture crashed heavily to the ground, twisting and striking out in a desperate struggle. Its talons and beak slashed and battered at the air, but it could not find its foe; every blow struck nothing, all attacks futile.

Meanwhile, wounds appeared rapidly across its body under a relentless assault, blood pouring freely from its gashes.

Through the torn flesh and muscle, white bone glimmered beneath, and the searing blood spattered everywhere around it.

The mysterious energy carried in its blood was fiercely corrosive. A single drop could eat a deep pit into the earth, and the tree trunk nearby was instantly riddled with holes.

In a mere moment, the blood transformed into white light and dissipated, leaving only devastation in its wake.

Now, the once-mighty vulture lay on the open ground, barely clinging to life. Its eyes, pecked blind in the battle, were now empty, bleeding hollows.

One wing and a talon had been snapped, left dangling uselessly from its body, and its feathers dripped blood onto the earth below.

Its chest rose and fell weakly—life barely flickering.

Suddenly, a black shadow appeared atop its mangled body, slowly revealing its form.

It was Bai Mu, drenched in blood, with one talon pinning the vulture’s head and the other gripping its throat. Tilting its head, it gazed sidelong at Xiu Nan, as if awaiting its master’s command.

“Finish it,” Xiu Nan said with a cold smile, raising his right hand slightly.

Without hesitation, Bai Mu obeyed. Its razor-sharp talons sliced like shears, tearing the vulture’s head clean off.

Blood spurted in a wild torrent, striking the nearby tree and corroding half the trunk away. With a thunderous crash, the tree toppled backward.

“No!” the distant tribesman howled in his native tongue.

The battle had ended almost before it began—less than two seconds had passed. The once-proud Blue-Eyed Vulture had been laid low, wantonly butchered by a creature half its size.

On the clearing, the mangled corpse of the vulture dissolved into white light, drifting away like dandelion seeds. Suddenly, a portion of that light was siphoned off, absorbed into Bai Mu’s body and vanishing at once.

The remaining light returned to the tribesman, and in that instant, blood gushed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; he collapsed, gravely wounded. His rune was utterly destroyed—a catastrophic loss for any secret ring master.

At best, such an injury meant permanent disability, the path of the secret ring forever closed. At worst, it meant instant death, the master’s life snuffed out along with the rune.

The other four hunters, seeing their chief so grievously wounded, immediately raised their bows and loosed arrows at Xiu Nan.

They were only a few dozen meters away, and in a flash, two arrows thudded into Xiu Nan’s body.

But the shafts failed to pierce him, snapping on impact and falling uselessly to the ground. A faint, gray-white sheen shimmered across Xiu Nan’s skin, enveloping him in the same energy that protected Bai Mu.

This, he realized, was the mysterious power possessed by all secret ring masters. The energy film cloaking him was identical to Bai Mu’s, and so was its resilience. Ordinary weapons posed no threat to him now.

As for bullets—he hadn’t tested them yet, but he suspected small calibers would be deflected as well.

“Kill them, Bai Mu.”

With a crack, Xiu Nan snapped the wooden arrow in his hand.

He felt no pity for cannibals.

Bai Mu screeched with excitement, wings beating as it darted through the trees in pursuit.

Seeing their attack fail, the hunters grabbed their wounded chief and fled, shouting for help in hopes their cries would reach their comrades.

A sharp talon flashed down from above, and one tribesman collapsed with a muffled groan, a gash at his nape deep enough to reveal the bone, blood fountaining to pool around his head.

The survivors screamed in terror. One, who had been supporting the wounded chief, immediately dropped him and ran for his life—survival was all that mattered now. He had to make it back and report what had happened.

They ran fast, but the Blue-Eyed Vulture was a supernatural beast. In the blink of an eye, it caught up.

With each dive from above, it claimed another life. After three swoops, all were dead.

The metallic scent of blood quickly filled the air. Blue-Eyed Vultures were notoriously savage, delighting in tearing prey limb from limb, and Bai Mu was no different. All around lay bloody chunks of flesh and severed limbs—a scene of utter carnage.

Ordinary men were as fragile as paper before a ring beast, torn apart with the slightest effort.

A black boot stepped into a pool of blood, the splash staining the trouser cuff with red.

Xiu Nan stepped over the bodies to where the chief lay feigning death. Hearing footsteps, the man’s heart raced with panic, but he dared to crack one eye open and peek.

He saw a blood-soaked leather boot.

“He’s realized!” the man thought, gritting his teeth and whirling around, determined to take his killer with him.

But as he turned, he found the muzzle of a black pistol pressed against his forehead.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out, crisp and clear—a sturdy skull, Xiu Nan noted.

With a dull thud, the body fell. Xiu Nan crouched, using a leaf to wipe the blood from his pistol’s barrel.

No sooner had he stood than a shrill bird call reached his ears.

Bai Mu, covered in blood and gore, flew over gleefully, wings flapping and dripping crimson.

Xiu Nan hurriedly reached out and returned it to rune form.

At once, only the empty, bloodied shell of the vulture remained, collapsing into a heap without the support of flesh and bone.

In Xiu Nan’s palm, a black rune surged upward, embedding itself in the white-bone secret ring.

Silence returned to the clearing. Xiu Nan glanced at the bloody scene, unfazed.

He had already adapted.

Here, strength and knowledge were the only true laws. This was the world where his talents could flourish, and Xiu Nan’s aim was simple: to become stronger.

A low hum sounded as the wheel at his back began to turn, processing and refining something within.

Xiu Nan’s vision flickered. Suddenly, a black rune appeared before him, its sinister wings bristling with sharp bone spikes.

[Name: Blue-Eyed Vulture]
[Level: Ring One]
[Ability 1: Ossification, Ability 2: Lock-On]
[Traits: Savage temperament, considerable strength]
[Evolution Points: 5]