uffocating shadows. High above the damp earth, the massive Ironwood tree groaned subtly in the night wind. Its bark was as roug

from dusk to true night had brought an absolute, terrifying darkness. The forest was no l

test as the Bone Crusher Boar scraped it

rk of the branch that the rough bark dug painfully into his spine. He pulled the smoky grey Phantom Lynx p

p. T

dying embers in the dark, scanning the thick foliage overhead.

the Qi Gathering Realm. His body was still recovering from the brutal bottleneck he had forced himself through just hours ago. If that boar d

told himself. It's

t opposite. He needed it to stay perfectly, unnaturally still. He visualized the warm, humming fire in his chest and mentally smothered i

utes, neither the boy

d was the heavy, wet snorting of the boar as it tested the

eal. It reared its massive head and slammed its bone-w

rown from his perch, his fingers desperately digging into the wood to keep from plummeting thirty

t the canopy for one more long, calculating moment. Seeing no movement a

the thick underbrush, its heavy footsteps slowly

eep breath, he remained frozen. Only when he was absolutely certain the forest had returned to

le, resting his forehead agai

de him strong, but in the grand hierarchy of this world, he was still nothing more than an insect hiding in a tree. Th

d more power, but he also needed a

vines from his makeshift cloak. His thirst was becoming a serious problem, matching the burning hunger

ime to d