"Bro, is this silkworm a bit off? It's kind of creepy."
The short man's little coyote had been knocked flying twice, leaving him with psychological trauma.
"Hmph, for this time of year, a spirit trained for just a month or two performing like this isn't bad, but that's all it is... In the end, they're just a bunch of fledglings who've never seen blood."
The wood mantis didn't strike immediately.
Having taken down several spirits in a row, it had expended a fair amount of stamina.
It was biding its time for the right moment.
The tall man was estimating the time.
Green Peak Mountain was remote, but they still had to leave within five minutes.
Otherwise,
there was no guarantee some official spirit master wasn't nearby.
No matter how strong the wood mantis was, it was no match against even entry-level spirits.
The silkworm didn't give the opponent a chance to rest. It charged forward with a series of gurgling cries.
Its round body carried a ferocity even fiercer than the little stone elephant's.
"Circle around and attack from the side."
The tall man gave the order.
The wood mantis, just as it had against the little stone elephant, sidestepped and brought down its blade-like forelimbs.
But the silkworm was far more agile than the little stone elephant!
In an instant, it made a sharp turn and, before the wood mantis's curved blades could fall, slammed into it.
Bang!
The slender wood mantis flew backward, crashing headfirst into a tree trunk, shaking the whole tree.
Without needing a command, the silkworm pressed its advantage, not giving the wood mantis a chance to recover.
The tall man barked, "Afterimage Step!"
The wood mantis's form flickered, growing blurry.
Bang!
The silkworm charged straight through, but the wood mantis's image shattered like a bubble.
It slammed on the brakes, but still crashed into the tree trunk with a thud.
At that moment,
the wood mantis burst from nearby grass, its blade-like forelimbs glowing with a faint emerald light.
Its speed surged, cutting through the air with a whistle!
It was a special move: Slash!
"Left, dodge!"
The silkworm shuddered and, without looking back, rolled to the right rear.
Swoosh—
The emerald blade swept past, leaving a nearly meter-long gash in the dirt.
Nearby, the two rogue spirit masters gasped.
If the wood mantis had used that move earlier, their spirits would have been done for.
No chance of recovery.
Their hearts were in their throats.
The wood mantis turned. Behind it, two pairs of translucent wings quivered slightly, its accelerating feet barely lifting off the ground as it skimmed low across the earth.
Its twin blades came slashing again.
Fast!
The silkworm couldn't match the wood mantis's speed.
But it quickly started moving.
Countless faint green light particles gathered around it, using the momentum of a charge to dodge the wood mantis's attack once more.
Su Hao focused.
All he could see was the ink-green figure darting back and forth.
One slip, and the silkworm would be struck.
The wood mantis's sharp forelimbs, combined with the force of its speed—the silkworm's meager defense from its charge wouldn't hold up for long.
The tall man's lips curled into a faint smile.
How long could this silkworm keep charging? How long could its spiritual energy last?
In contrast,
the wood mantis held the advantage and expended less energy!
The situation was in his favor!
"Now's the chance, use Slash!"
The wood mantis darted in a half-circle to the silkworm's diagonal rear, chasing after it as it charged.
Its forelimbs glowed emerald again.
Its eyes locked onto that plump, goose-yellow body.
"This is bad!"
Hundreds of meters away, on the mountain forest, a middle-aged man in a green vest frowned. "The flaw in the Charge move is obvious—lack of flexibility. Now that the wood mantis has predicted the silkworm's charging path, once that Slash lands, the silkworm, which can barely turn, won't be able to avoid it.
"Unless it stops charging and disperses that momentum. With this silkworm's agility, it might just dodge this blow.
"But that's just a slow death. The wood mantis won't give it another chance to charge. It's just a matter of struggling a bit longer."
He shook his head as he spoke. "For October, a high school senior's spirit performing like this is already impressive. Old Pan, get ready to move."
Another middle-aged man in a green vest spoke up, "Wait, that kid's still calm. He might have a trump card."
He added,
"My Blade Leaf Warrior is watching. There's no danger.
"This kind of real life-or-death battle is rare. Maybe this year, An City will produce a true spirit prodigy."
Both were official spirit masters from the An City Spirit Master Guild.
They had recently picked up some traces of the two wanted criminals.
Tracking them here,
they witnessed a battle that left them somewhat astonished.
Not far from the middle-aged man, Old Pan, stood an upright, human-sized green lizard.
The Blade Leaf Warrior, evolved from a Blade Leaf Lizard.
Its sharp eyes were fixed on the scene below,
ready to strike at any moment.
...
Whoosh~
The wind blew, lifting the tips of his hair.
Su Hao didn't blink.
He saw the ink-green figure closing in on the silkworm, preparing to strike.
"Now, use that move!"
The silkworm's charging momentum abruptly dissipated. Without the spiritual energy propelling it in a straight line, it agilely sidestepped, narrowly dodging the wood mantis's Slash.
The wood mantis quickly spun around and charged again.
"Gurrr!!!"
The silkworm let out a cry, and invisible ripples spread outward.
The wood mantis's charge faltered, its forelimbs trembling uncontrollably.
In an instant,
the scattered faint green light particles rapidly converged.
The silkworm was enveloped in a hazy green glow.
Without accelerating, its entire body shot forward like a cannonball.
Bang!
The wood mantis was sent flying high, letting out a pained cry.
Its forelimbs, wings, even its whole body were twisted from the impact.
After soaring high, it crashed heavily to the ground.
It struggled, unable to get up.
Looking up, a plump, goose-yellow figure loomed larger in its vision.
Thud!
The silkworm leaped high and came crashing down, landing squarely on the wood mantis.
Leveraging its increasingly horizontal bulk, it pinned the slender wood mantis flat, knocking it unconscious.
Dust billowed.
Su Hao looked at the two wanted criminals.
"It's over."
...
"What! Impossible!"
The green-vested uncle's eyes went wide as he stared at the silkworm, which had shed its charging momentum and then, without warning, slammed into the wood mantis.
His face was full of shock.
"The Charge move clearly needs to build up momentum and reach a certain speed first to execute! What's going on with this silkworm!"
"It probably didn't fully disperse its momentum—it's like forcibly pausing mid-charge for a moment."
Old Pan spoke, equally surprised. "The real question isn't how the silkworm did it, but how that high school senior designed this move. He's just an apprentice spirit master!
"...Could he be a disciple of some school?"
"Old Pan, do you think we could design a similar improvement following this logic?"
"You're dreaming! If improving special moves were that easy to copy, they wouldn't be the trademarks of those schools and high-level spirit masters!"
"Fair enough."
----
Monday, begging for votes, ahhh~
The trial promotion hasn't come yet. In this cold winter, only votes can bring this useless author a shred of warmth.
Collection growth is slow. Any big shots with book lists want to add this one?
Chapter comments are sparse too. Feels like no one's reading.
So pitiful~
Boo hoo hoo (?﹏?).
—A miserable author's note left behind.