They were going to kill each other. That was a given; both had decided on it long before they laid eyes on each other.

  The sky was boiling, steam was rising off the Noon-bright flower, droplets of sweat falling from the human who crouched before it, vaporizing before hitting the vibrant yellow grass.

  The world shivered with each step the beast took. Grass growing brittle beneath its feet, a mist floating out to the world from its belly caged between its four trunk-like legs. Almost as cold as night.

  Its teeth and claws were blades. Spear points and curved swords, pushing its lips aside, digging up roots from the ground. An aura of ice shed from its fur. Mist lifting off his chilly back, moisture gathering around him in the cave, turning to barely visible wisps of vapor under the sun.

  He blended into his mist. Fur as white as clouds, speckle with strands of gray, striped with soft black and vivid light-blues.

  It barely paid any attention to the small creature with its sapphire ice eyes, seeing it once was acknowledgment enough for such a small meal. He was disappointed. Hao thought he could see the sigh drooping down his chin while the beast side-eyed down at him; The little creature crouching near his treasure was less than he expected. Hao was only as large as one of the beast’s legs; Two bites. The smell of the little creature was pleasant, not as strong as the scent of the treasure, but similar. He smelled of this region, not like the region where the beast came from. Where ice ruled even during the days.

  Hao saw it lumbering before its tail was beyond the cave’s mouth, sizing it. Every aspect of it. The sharp eyes grew dull to the sight, yet shining in the dark before stepping into the light. Its clawed paws were Hao’s torso twice over. It’s skin, leather armor forged for war, gripping tight to muscle that rippled with each step in its wade. When it came under the sun, it sneezed into a bout of stretching. Fibrous strands separated, like thick wire; not even its thick fur could hide. A stomach that hung with the fat of his last prey.

  The last thing Hao looked at was the mouth of the thing. It was yawning at the sight of him. Its tongue is an unfurled carpet of bristles and thorns for peeling flesh from bone. Hundreds of folds on the roof of its mouth, and four fangs larger than Hao’s hands.

  Hao had seen, mostly read, of Demonic Beasts, none like this. It wore majesty like it was cheap, down to his bones.

  It only took standing in front of the beast to offend it. Its jaw snapping closed after his yawn, teeth grinding past each other. His face pulled back, teeth on display. Eyes spinning down to Hao for a second time, becoming solid blue with pupils like sewing needles. It moved deliberately towards Hao with sudden speed, its round ears fluttering.

  Hao could see its intentions; it was coming for his meat. He shuddered, dropping his shoulder with his head high, watching closely. He welcomed the beast before he saw it, but he did not expect such a creature. A child among great beasts. The ice that swirled around the feline monster told how close he was to becoming a real Demonic Beast. Then humanity would truly have no place in this Mid-summer cave.

  There was no room for hesitation, Hao had none. His movements were swift and fluid. He knew battle that was on the line of life and death, his experiences serving as a thread to hold him together. He knew the movements of beasts with little intellect, too. It showed instinct before thought. Arrogance and pride before caution. The beast did not know battle, only the hunt.

  The less it knew and the more shallow its experience, the better for Hao. Foolishly, it came paws up, blind to the smaller creature in front of it.

  Hao, using Seven Colored Steps, went fast around the side of the beast with no wasted movements. The hind leg was larger than his. He went for a palm strike, wanting to save the blood until he could collect the precious red liquid without any waste.

  He bent his knees, one foot sliding out underneath the abdomen of the Feline Beast. His shoulder dropping with the wind up. World Energy moving like a storm through his body to his hand. The purification of his vessels from the Yin, Yang, and lightning was obvious in action.

  Pop! His hand hit the most clear joint, the connection of its foreleg and thigh. Side-on, his execution was perfect. Hao’s body moving with his palm, his body’s weight, World Energy and knowledge of technique going into the strike. It was the first strike and would determine the rest of the attrition. The sensation of sea bread, dry rations cracking, echoed up his fingers for just a moment.

  Despite the impressive stature and taught skin of the beast, his flesh was tender, not soft, but he was not a Green-Horn Bull. The only other demonic beast he was familiar with.

  The leg that was struck lifted. A joint freshly sore pulling up like a spring. With a small hop from its remaining hind leg, its abdomen spun away from Hao.

  This kind of tactic was the safest option unless he had an ambush. A real battle of attrition against an instant ending. Each blow landed would carry meaning until the last blow was delivered. A slow war against a hungry animal eager to eat.

  Hao was preparing another palm strike, expecting the neck to be visible. If he could end it fast, that would be better; A long battle did not benefit him. It was the only obvious option until another appeared.

  The beast did not turn with its head lowered. Instead, it stood tall, getting its legs steady on the ground, lifting its body once again. It's back is arching to the sky. It tried to pounce on him once again. The hind paws being the only thing touching the ground.

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  Its body weight falling forward onto a single clawed paw. A steel breaking, wood shredding strike. Padded digits became finger-like, wanting to reach inside of Hao. An enraged blow to kill the little thing that caused him such an unpleasant feeling he had never known.

  Hao’s first thought was to jump back. But how far back could he go? His foot was stable in a stance to advance, not go back. The beast's body was four of Hao, if it stretched a limb, perhaps a fifth. Back was death, back was a foolish hope, a grasp for reassurance and safety after his miscalculation.

  He went forward, one large step. Even that carried a fair amount of speed, Hao’s back foot flipping the topsoil, exposing dirt and roots.

  The young beast thought he was fighting a ghost, yet all seemed slow to Hao. The beast would have lost track of Hao if not for its big blue nose. Even his ears caught the usually quiet Hao. Beneath the chest of the beast.

  His mind was as clear as a spring in the battle, Hao launching his palm forward. The perfect spot to strike presenting itself under disaster; If one could look for it while facing death. A soft belly, white like the rest of the beast, but stripeless and sparse with hair.

  A deep breath in through his nose, World Energy like streams flowing through, that one breath was all Hao needed to think of the ideal palm strike while under the soft spot. A place that looks like a disadvantage. Hao didn’t want to destroy anything precious on the creature, he was aiming for a spot far more vital.

  He knew not just the place, but the type of strike he wanted. The flow of energy he had known the longest of the Five Mortal Elements, Water.

  The palm landed, small compared to the abdomen it was pushing into, still the damage would be done. Hao aimed at his shoulder level, hoping to strike the organs without rupturing the cavities that contained them.

  He could feel the soft lumps of the flesh on his fingertips, and was going deeper under into the beast. World Energy could not leave his body in Reclamation, only be pulled out forcefully. So as the exhausted World Energy dissipated, a new wave of World Energy helped stick his hand into the deeper flesh.

  Not being familiar did not help. He was not sure what organ was at his fingertips. Hao thought if it was any other beast, it would have been around the large intestine, everything vital protected by its ribs. But striking that would help little to none. His hand went until it found something softer, more whole. The bladder of the beast, just below his shoulder level. Any damage right now would have been good if it made the beast reel back. If not, it's weight would crush him on the ground, and if the beast was not distracted for at least another breath, death was guaranteed.

  Hao’s hand was shot back, it felt like his hand went deep enough, finding the pits of the beast’s lower abdomen. He could still feel its viscera at his fingertips. The sensation only lasted a moment as the beast’s roaring pulled all attention, shaking the grass and trees.

  The injured hind leg retreated from the ground. As the beast began to topple. Hao was dashing over to the side, but the beast didn’t fall back like he thought it would, it was not a person after all. His experience against the beast in a non-group setting, affecting his decision-making. The beast fell to the same side as him. Its oversized rib cage, catching Hao’s leg.

  His leg was not injured, at most, it would be bruised before the day was over. Still, he tripped down. Now knowing little more of the weight of the expansive muscle on the beast who was rolling just the same.

  The beast got up, recovering quickly, quicker than Hao, who was not expecting the fall at all. A crimson liquid was dripping to the ground from the beast’s mouth. It was not a pond’s worth, just a small red trickle from the corners of its black lips.

  Hao did more damage than he thought he would. But that damage helped him a little as it came running, looming over him. It stood above him. Hao was just working his way up to his knees when the maw reborn with fury fell towards him. The beast did not care for anything any longer; it was lost in a cloud of fury, born from the want to survive.

  Both were feeling the sensation. But Hao felt it long before this one fight started. He knew it like his fingers. It was long pushed to the side.

  Hao took a move from the beast’s book as its mouth fell towards him. In a pathetic display, but it was effective, buying him extra space. Unable to stand, his body bent and twisted. His back arching to dodge a dirty move, but one that saved his life; The saber appearing in front of Hao from the spirit-holding bag for the beast to bite down on while he was aiming a palm strike at its nose.

  The thought of running had passed through the beast’s mind, but the little thing was down, right in front of him. It coveted his treasure and caused him harm. He wanted to eat him, taunt him as much as he wanted to run. The treasure was his, only his by right, he kept an eye on for weeks; it was his ticket to greater strength.

  There was another factor driving his teeth at Hao, a curse in a way. It was a thought that ruled over all others in his mind, a simple truth. If he ate the strong, he would become stronger.

  The beast bit down on the saber the moment it was inside of his mouth. Pain made its head pull back. Anger making its jaw tighten. Its teeth halting on the blade forged for and by Cultivators, for battles like this. Its barbed tongue rubbed the blade’s edge, causing a cut. It spat it quick. It wanted to shake its head, check its tongue and mouth. But before it could do anything more than release the blade, an ocean smashed against its nose.

  Hao caught the blade, standing, getting close to the side of the beast. The beast was in a daze, stumbling back like it was drunk, striking the beast’s ear with his palm as he went back. It let out another roar. It didn’t know what kind of creature was outside its cave, it wasn’t expecting anything but a quick meal.

  Only five seconds passed between the roar and its death, it experienced pain for the first time in the twenty seconds before its soul was released from its body.

  Hao dashing forward, his robe had ribbons flapping, shredded and torn, from this battle and past ones. He did not go for a palm strike. This time, he let the saber carry itself behind him, scarring the ground, pulling its edge up along his back. He stomped his foot once the tip of the blade was beyond its neck, letting it fall like a pendulum, he helped it along, swinging down with a great pull to the earth. He knew the technique better than any other, the one he created in the mines.

  The feline ice demonic beast’s head nodded, falling forward, presenting the perfect places to strike.

  Hao did not want to behead the beast, using the back of the blade. Somewhere inside him, the dying Islander precepts kept his desires to not waste a single scrap of life.

  “Don’t worry, I will carry your life forward as a part of me,” Hao was shouting as the blade lifted him into the air.

  A subtle sound compared to the sound of the man he had slain a few days back. The beast lost consciousness, falling on its side, dying before its next breath.