William Thompson only felt a wild wind sweep past. If he hadn’t clung tightly to the tree trunk, he might have been blown away. After the hurricane passed, William Thompson wiped the snot sprayed all over his face, leapt up, and shouted, “Damn you! Just because the tiger’s quiet, you think I’m Hello Kitty?!” With that, the Cold Light Sword was summoned, and with a hand seal, he gave a light shout: “Hurry!” and stabbed straight at the bull-headed creature’s huge eye.

A crisp “clang” rang out—the Cold Light Sword struck the African rhino’s eyelid but couldn’t pierce it at all. William Thompson was shocked; even the Cold Light couldn’t break its defense. In a panic, he quickly switched his incantation.

The African rhino was also enraged by the attack. It opened its huge mouth and howled, then raised its front hoof and slammed it down.

William Thompson was shaken dizzy by the roar. His mind was rattled, and before he could launch another attack, he saw a giant hoof coming down at him. In desperation, he could only raise the Cold Light Sword in front of his chest to block.

In the blink of an eye, the African rhino’s massive hoof landed on the Cold Light Sword. William Thompson was nearly sent flying by the force. Using the momentum, he spun in the air and landed on another big tree, finally dissipating the impact.

William Thompson forcefully suppressed the churning blood in his chest, secretly alarmed at the rhino’s strength. To be beaten like this—he had no idea what tier of spirit beast this was.

Before he could catch his breath, the African rhino opened its mouth wide, and a lightning bolt as thick as a bucket shot out, heading straight for William Thompson.

William Thompson was startled. He had just steadied himself on the tree when the second attack came. He silently recited an incantation, pointed with his hand, and a lightning bolt as thick as an arm shot out to meet the incoming one. At the same time, he pushed off with his feet, flying toward another tree.

Just as William Thompson left, the rhino’s lightning broke through the interception and struck the tree, splitting it in two in an instant, with flames erupting from the break.

Dodging the first bolt, William Thompson barely had time to catch his breath before a second bolt flashed before his eyes. He quickly darted aside, only for a third bolt to follow right on schedule.

The African rhino was like a mobile artillery battery—wherever William Thompson flew, it fired. The bucket-thick lightning bolts came relentlessly. In no time, the area was ablaze.

At this point, William Thompson was truly at a loss for words. Facing this machine-gun-like barrage of lightning, he could only push his movement technique to the limit. He no longer held the Cold Light Sword for attack, but instead stood on it to fly even faster. William Thompson knew that with his small frame, taking a direct hit from the lightning would be disastrous.

Although he could use the sword’s speed to escape the battlefield, William Thompson was also getting fired up. He had always bullied these immortal beasts—when had he ever been bullied so badly? So, while dodging the lightning, he racked his brain for a solution.

After thinking for a long time, William Thompson finally reached a conclusion: unless the African rhino stopped, he would be running forever.

But whether immortal beast or spirit beast, there must be a time when their spiritual power runs dry, right?

With that in mind, William Thompson took out a lowest-grade Ming Ling Pill from his storage ring and popped it into his mouth, just in case he ran out of spiritual power. He was ready for a war of attrition with the African rhino.

Sure enough, just as he expected, after half a day, when William Thompson was panting with exhaustion, the rhino’s attacks finally weakened. Not only did its attack speed slow, but the lightning bolts also thinned—from bucket-thick to only as thick as a human thigh. Even when it hit a tree, it could no longer split it in one blow.

William Thompson knew his chance was coming.

He dragged it out for another half a day, until even his own spiritual power was depleted. As he swallowed another Ming Ling Pill, William Thompson let out a lewd chuckle.

“Finally, it’s my turn to show my power.”

He stopped running, formed a hand seal, and the Cold Light Sword shot out like lightning, stabbing straight at the rhino’s eye.

Again, a “clang”—the Cold Light was blocked by the eyelid. The rhino’s other open eye was full of disdain, and it fired another bolt of lightning at William Thompson in challenge.

Easily dodging the attack, William Thompson sneered, “Little wild ox, let this immortal show you how my spirit sword drills holes.” With a slight movement of his hand, he shouted, “Spin!”

The Cold Light Sword began spinning rapidly on the rhino’s eyelid. The intense pain made the rhino cry out, its huge head shaking left and right, trying to shake off the attack, but the sword seemed stuck to its eye, relentlessly drilling inward.

“Pop!” With a sound, the rhino’s steel eyelid was pierced. A jet of blood mixed with black and white matter shot from its eye, spraying far away, making William Thompson feel nauseous.

Chapter 9: Immortal Core

In the past, when bullying those low-tier spirit beasts, he had only injured them. Even after entering this forest, he had rarely killed. Just now, seeing the blood and other matter spurt from the rhino’s eye, William Thompson couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow for it, as if the Cold Light Sword had stabbed his own eye. But it was already impossible to stop.