Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Froststorm Bear
“Roar—!”
No one knew how much time had passed. Night had fallen when Lin Fan was suddenly jolted awake by a thunderous roar, realizing that the snow cave beneath him was on the verge of collapse.
The entire earth was trembling as if an earthquake had struck!
“Damn it, am I really this unlucky?!” Lin Fan cursed inwardly.
He had been gravely wounded, and after shooting down the last of Shadow’s men, he’d had no choice but to dig a snow cave to hide and quickly fell into unconsciousness.
But just as when he had used his spiritual secret art to kill Old Zhang Qi, his strength was utterly depleted—he couldn’t muster the slightest bit of power!
In truth, he was now a cripple; even a weakling in the Foundation Gathering Realm could end his life easily!
By his reckoning, a Tier Four beast would never wander into his area, and neither other humans nor beasts would dare enter the territory of such a creature.
Therefore, he believed himself secure.
He simply needed to wait until he awoke, retrieve some healing medicine from his storage ring, regain a sliver of strength, and then make other plans!
Yet healing with pills took time. He had never expected that before he could even awaken fully, a Tier Four beast would arrive, startling him awake and leaving him no chance to recover.
The mounting tremors in the earth proved the beast was closing in fast!
“Here goes nothing!”
Gritting his teeth, Lin Fan knew he had to escape the snow cave before the Tier Four beast arrived. Otherwise, if the cave collapsed, he’d be buried alive and perhaps trampled by the beast.
Judging by the resounding roar, there was no way this Tier Four beast was a bird. If it happened to step right where he lay, with its massive bulk, Lin Fan’s wounded body would be flattened in an instant.
Even without being trampled, after expending all his spiritual power, his body was already gravely injured, most of his meridians torn apart.
Had he not experienced this kind of agony before, the pain alone would have left him dazed for hours.
With a sharp hiss, Lin Fan cut through the snowy ceiling with a blade of “Thousandfold Snow.” Its edge sliced through the ice and snow like butter, making short work of the frozen layer.
He leapt out without hesitation and quickly climbed the nearest large tree.
“Brother Tree, fate has brought us together again!”
It was the same tree he’d leapt from before, only eight or nine meters away—a detail that made Lin Fan smile wryly.
This tree was so thick that seven or eight people would need to join hands to encircle it, towering at least thirty or forty meters high. Though deep in the snowy forest and heavy with snow, its branches were lush, reminiscent of the ginseng fruit trees from old cartoons in his previous life.
Such trees were the most common in the various mountain ranges of the Ice and Snow Kingdom—the Dragonpine Trees!
Their twisted, dragon-like forms were short but stout, rarely surpassing a thousand meters; among the trees of this world, they weren’t the tallest.
But their vitality was astonishing—a single seed could grow over ten meters in a year, so thousand-meter-tall Dragonpine Trees dominated every mountain range.
Lin Fan’s small figure hid halfway up the tree, nestled among the branches and leaves. Without a careful look, he was nearly invisible.
Crack!
Just as he concealed himself, a Dragonpine Tree as thick as two men’s embrace, only a few dozen meters away, was suddenly cleaved in half by two blades of wind.
As it toppled, an enormous creature burst forth—a snow-white, tiger-like beast with a horn on its brow. Lin Fan’s pupils contracted in alarm.
“A Frostwind Giant Tiger—!”
The Frostwind Giant Tiger was identical to the tigers of his previous life, save for the horn on its forehead and its colossal size—six or seven times that of an ordinary tiger, measuring twelve to thirteen meters long and six to seven meters tall!
Its teeth were over a foot long, sharp as knives, and its claws could tear through steel blades with ease.
Even without considering its other abilities, its formidable physique, or its Tier Four power—a single Frostwind Giant Tiger could shred a hundred ordinary tigers with ease!
The Frostwind Giant Tiger was king among Tier Four beasts, able to command both wind and snow. An adult could reach the pinnacle of Tier Four, growing several dozen meters in length, with claws half a meter long and overwhelming strength.
However, the one before Lin Fan was still a juvenile, only ten meters long and four or five meters tall—huge to Lin Fan, but still adolescent for its kind.
After all, a full-grown one could be over thirty meters long and more than ten meters tall!
Even so, if those like Po Jun Qisha or Shadow encountered this creature alone, they’d only end up torn to pieces.
Lin Fan held his breath, using what little vital energy he could muster to perform a breath-concealing technique.
In his current state, discovery by the Frostwind Giant Tiger would mean certain death!
“Roar—!”
A savage roar shook the ground even more violently. Snow on the Dragonpine’s branches trembled and fell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous crashes resounded, as if a giant was pounding across the earth, deafening to the ears.
“What’s this…”
A sudden realization flashed through Lin Fan’s mind. His pupils, already narrowed, contracted further as he turned to look at the Frostwind Giant Tiger.
He saw fear in the tiger’s eyes.
“Iceclad Storm Bear—!” Lin Fan’s suspicion was confirmed, his heart sinking like stone.
What could terrify a kingly Frostwind Giant Tiger of equal rank?
Undoubtedly, in this tail end of the Azure Python Forest—the snowy woodland—among known Tier Four beasts, only the Iceclad Storm Bear could instill such fear.
If the Frostwind Giant Tiger was a peerless king, then the Iceclad Storm Bear was the very embodiment of invincibility among Tier Fours!
The Iceclad Storm Bear mastered the power of ice and snow, yet its body was even larger, a veritable mountain of muscle—fiercer, more violent, and with defense beyond compare.
Even as a cub, it could match an adult Frostwind Giant Tiger in size. No wonder the tiger trembled with fear!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A human’s thoughts are lightning fast—faster than a flash, less than a fraction of a second.
In the distance, all the Dragonpine Trees wailed as one, snapping and falling like scallions trampled by a giant—offering no resistance at all.
It was as if something monstrous was charging toward them, felling the towering trees like blades of grass.
Boom! Crack!
A massive Dragonpine Tree toppled right by Lin Fan. Out leapt a colossal beast.
Boom—!
A thunderous impact sent snow flying in all directions. The spot where Lin Fan had previously hidden, and a few meters around it, was stomped so deep into the ground it was impossible to tell how far down.
Cold sweat beaded on Lin Fan’s forehead. Had he not climbed into the Dragonpine Tree, he’d have been crushed to dust by now.
He gazed up along the enormous paw that had sunk deep into the earth. The creature’s white fur was tangled and over a meter long. Lin Fan’s eyes traveled upward for what seemed an eternity—when his gaze was level, he had only reached the bear’s waist and not its full height.
Remember, the Dragonpine Tree he was in stood thirty meters tall, and even halfway up, that was fifteen meters above ground.
Yet he could only see the bear’s waist, not its full stature. Just how enormous was this beast?
It must have been at least thirty meters tall!
This Iceclad Storm Bear had already outgrown its juvenile phase; though not fully mature, it could not be far off!
No wonder the Frostwind Giant Tiger was terrified. Even as a young king among its kind, it was no match for the bear—at best, a fight to mutual destruction.
Furthermore, the tiger was only at the early stage of Tier Four, while the Iceclad Storm Bear had clearly reached the middle stage!
“Roar—!”
Next to the Iceclad Storm Bear, the once-mighty Frostwind Giant Tiger looked like a kitten.
Even its foot-long fangs were as nothing beside the bear’s meter-long claws, no more threatening than a kitten’s milk teeth.
The Frostwind Giant Tiger retreated two steps and let out a thunderous roar.
Its body crouched low, hind legs coiled, eyes flashing with danger—it was ready to attack.
“Roar, roar—!”
Facing the tiger’s warning cries, the Iceclad Storm Bear lowered its massive head and bellowed twice, deeper and fiercer, its bloodshot eyes full of violence.
—End of Chapter 77: Iceclad Storm Bear—