24: Chapter 24 Hunting Level 2 Mist Beasts

Five hundred meters away, a Mist Beast half the height of a human was crouching on a rotting corpse, gnawing away.

It looked like a mutated hyena, with a row of bone spurs protruding from its spine, and corrosive slime constantly dripping from its mouth.

Wang Lin stopped ten meters away, crouching behind a pile of rubble.

A Level 1 Mist Beast.

If it were him three days ago, dealing with this thing would have taken some effort.

But now...

He extended his right hand, and a wisp of flame appeared out of thin air at his fingertips.

The flame danced in the mist, yet it emitted no light,

because at the same moment, a wisp of breeze swirled around his left fingertips, completely shrouding the firelight.

Fire and wind achieved an eerie balance in his hands.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and suddenly lunged forward.

Just as the Mist Beast raised its head, a fireball compressed to the extreme smashed into its face.

"Boom!"

The flames exploded outward but were tightly constrained within three feet by the wind pressure, forming a high-temperature cage of fire.

The Mist Beast let out a shrill scream, struggling frantically within the fire cage, but the dual strangulation of wind and fire left it nowhere to run.

Three seconds later, the flames extinguished.

All that remained on the ground was a charred corpse, a crystal core the size of a fingernail, and the points jumping on his bracelet.

Wang Lin walked over and picked up the crystal core.

Without hesitation, he stuffed it directly into his mouth.

The moment the crystal core entered his stomach, a wave of warm energy surged into his limbs and bones.

Wang Lin closed his eyes, feeling the hunger of [Infinite Evolution] being slightly satisfied.

"Too little."

He opened his eyes and looked into the depths of the mist.

There, there were more energy fluctuations.

That night, in the ruins outside Qingshan Camp, flames and gales flashed alternately.

Before dawn, when Wang Lin climbed back over the wall to the shanty town, his pocket contained seven more crystal cores.

Seven Mist Beasts.

For an ordinary Awakened, it would take at least three days to digest all this energy.

But Wang Lin rubbed his stomach; that hunger had only diminished by half.

"Still not enough."

He returned to his room, collapsed onto the bed, and closed his eyes.

The energy within his body was slowly transforming; he could feel the bottleneck of [Infinite Evolution] loosening.

It was like a door about to be pushed open, needing only one final push.

Kill seven more—no, five would be enough.

A smile curled onto Wang Lin's lips.

If Commander Leí Héng wanted to kill him, then let Commander Leí Héng wait.

When the day came for him to reach Level 2, it was not yet certain who would be hunting whom.

...

On the third night, Wang Lin climbed over the wall again.

This time he went even further.

Two consecutive nights of hunting had made him intimately familiar with the surrounding terrain.

The ruins to the east, the abandoned gas station to the north, the unfinished building to the southwest—

he knew exactly where the Mist Beasts were and where the dangers lay.

Tonight's target was that unfinished building.

Two days ago, he had noticed a big guy lurking there.

At 2:00 AM, Wang Lin crept to the perimeter of the unfinished building.

A distinct energy fluctuation came from the building, much stronger than the Level 1 Mist Beasts he had killed before.

This was a Level 2 Mist Beast.

Wang Lin opened his eyes, a smile curling onto his lips.

He now had thirteen Level 1 crystal cores in his pocket, but he hadn't touched them yet.

Because he had discovered that [Infinite Evolution] required not just energy, but something more essential.

Devouring living creatures was more effective than absorbing dead crystal cores.

As for those crystal cores, he had other plans for them.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and silently snuck into the unfinished building.

The first-floor lobby was empty, with some bones and tattered clothes scattered on the ground.

Wang Lin crept up the stairs, and at the corner of the second floor, he finally saw that Level 2 Mist Beast.

It was a monster over two meters tall, barely recognizable as humanoid,

but its whole body was covered in gray-black scales, its arms hung below its knees, and its fingertips were claws like sharp blades.

It was crouching on the ground, gnawing on a fresh corpse,

judging by the clothing, it should be a lone Awakened.

Wang Lin held his breath.

A direct fight was not the way to go.

Whether in Speed or strength, a Level 2 Mist Beast far exceeded a Level 1.

Furthermore, this guy was covered in scales; ordinary attacks would likely struggle even to break its defense.

He needed to outmaneuver it.

Wang Lin quietly retreated to the stairwell, picked up a fist-sized piece of rubble from the ground, and threw it hard toward the third floor.

"Thud!"

The rubble hit the third-floor floor, making a dull thud.

The Mist Beast jerked its head up, its murky eyes darting around, and it walked upstairs step by step.

Just at the moment it stepped onto the stairs, Wang Lin moved.

He burst out from the corner, the Wind Blade condensed in his right hand compressed to the extreme,

turning into a transparent blade almost invisible to the naked eye, slashing fiercely at the back of the Mist Beast's neck.

"Sshh!"

The Wind Blade cut through the scales, leaving a wound on the back of the Mist Beast's neck deep enough to see bone.

The Mist Beast let out a shrill scream, suddenly turned around, and its massive claws swept across.

Wang Lin had been prepared; he shifted his feet, narrowly dodging the blow.

At the same time, he raised his left hand, and a ball of flame smashed into the Mist Beast's face.

The flames exploded, scorching the Mist Beast's eyes, causing it to roar even more violently.

But it did not fall.

The vitality of the Level 2 Mist Beast far exceeded Wang Lin's expectations.

It waved its claws frantically, and the entire second floor was filled with flying rubble under its rampage.

Wang Lin could only retreat again and again, using his Wind Ability to accelerate, constantly maneuvering through the ruins.

"Hiss!"

Another claw swept over; Wang Lin couldn't dodge in time, and his left arm was grazed, instantly tearing open the skin and flesh.

The intense pain made him gasp,

but he gritted his teeth, instead using the impact to roll backward, putting distance between himself and the Mist Beast.

No, if he kept fighting like this, he would die.

A ruthless glint flashed in Wang Lin's eyes.

He suddenly pulled those thirteen Level 1 crystal cores from his pocket and stuffed them all into his mouth at once.

The crystal cores melted as soon as they entered his mouth, and a violent energy instantly surged into his limbs and bones.

Wang Lin felt as if his body were about to explode; every blood vessel was burning, and every muscle was tearing and reforming.

[Infinite Evolution] operated frantically, desperately absorbing this massive amount of energy.

The bottleneck was loosening.

But it was not enough, still not enough!

The Mist Beast had already pounced, its massive claws whistling through the air, heading straight for Wang Lin's head.

In this very instant...

A slight cracking sound echoed within Wang Lin's body, as if something had been shattered.

Level 2.

The moment of the breakthrough, a golden light flashed in Wang Lin's eyes.

He raised his right hand; this time, what he condensed was not a Wind Blade, but a genuine Wind Tornado.

The gale roared out from his palm, instantly turning into a small tornado, completely enveloping the pouncing Mist Beast.

The Mist Beast let out a terrified roar, but the powerful suction of the tornado made it completely unable to break free,

its huge body lifted into mid-air, spinning frantically.

Wang Lin raised his left hand.

Flames gushed from his palm, merging into the Wind Tornado.