Volume One: The Arrival Chapter Twenty: The Black Panther

The woodland at night was dimly lit. From twenty or thirty meters away, even with his night vision, Meng Xingchen could only discern a pair of greyish-yellow eyes, unable to make out the features of the creature to which they belonged.

Yet, those eyes felt familiar to Meng Xingchen. They radiated intense emotion—not the predatory gaze of a beast looking at prey, but the look of someone staring at a sworn enemy.

As the owner of those eyes moved slowly and steadily toward him, Meng Xingchen gradually made out a crescent-shaped tuft of white fur above them.

Meng Xingchen understood instantly: this was a Shadow Leopard. Somehow, it knew that his hands were stained with the blood of its cub. Just as he suspected, kill the young, and the old will come seeking vengeance.

Realizing the situation, Meng Xingchen hoisted the backpack he had set aside, drew his sword, and as the Shadow Leopard reached a point about ten meters from the camp wall, he vaulted into the air, swooping down like an eagle.

Since the Shadow Leopard had come for him, it was all for the better; he would resolve the fight outside the camp. A Tier-3 magical beast with the ability to leap through shadows—if such a creature had breached the camp, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Faced with Meng Xingchen’s downward strike, the Shadow Leopard dodged easily with a light backward hop. As its hind legs touched the ground, it immediately counterattacked, swiping its front claws at Meng Xingchen’s head.

The speed was incredible, faster even than a hawk diving from the sky. Meng Xingchen deflected his empty downward swing into an upward cut, aiming for the leopard’s paws, which were larger than the rim of a bowl.

The Shadow Leopard arched its back and lifted its paws, dodging the blade, then pounced again, aiming its claws at Meng Xingchen’s shoulders and opening its gaping maw toward his throat.

The claws slammed into Meng Xingchen’s shoulders, but there was no splash of blood and flesh—the figure simply shattered.

It turned out the leopard had only struck an afterimage Meng Xingchen had left behind; he had already retreated five or six meters away. The moment his feet touched the ground, he fired an alloy short spear like a bolt of lightning, aiming for the head of the leopard, which was currently crouched on the ground after missing its pounce.

Because of the sudden, forceful, and failed strike, the Shadow Leopard was momentarily rigid and unable to dodge. But just as the spear was about to pierce the crescent of white fur on its forehead, the beast vanished.

Almost simultaneously, the leopard reappeared behind Meng Xingchen, stood on its hind legs, and lunged for his neck.

Meng Xingchen had maintained his "all-around vision" since the start of the fight and had a certain understanding of the Shadow Leopard’s behavioral patterns. As it vanished, he had already begun to turn and strike.

Leaning backward to create space, he thrust his sword upward, aiming for the beast’s throat.

The strike was fast as lightning. Meng Xingchen channeled his internal energy into his arm to enhance both the speed and power of the blow.

Faced with this lethal, unavoidable strike, the Shadow Leopard twisted its waist, shifting its body to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge.

However, the speed of the sword, combined with the momentum of the leopard’s own pounce, was too great. Even with the beast’s agility, it couldn't fully evade the blow, and the edge of the blade left a deep, bloody gash across its neck.

The Shadow Leopard let out a low growl. Before its front paws even touched the ground, its high-raised tail whipped across like a lash, sweeping toward Meng Xingchen’s legs.

Meng Xingchen pushed off with his toes and flipped upward. In mid-air, upside down, he thrust his sword downward. This time, he didn't aim for a kill, but rather at the leopard’s abdomen.

The Shadow Leopard, having just landed, rolled awkwardly to narrowly avoid the sword, though the tip still carved another bloody mark across its belly.

Before it could stand, the Shadow Leopard, still prone, let out a roar at Meng Xingchen in the air. A crescent-shaped grey-black blade materialized out of thin air and spun toward his neck.

The attack was treacherous. In the darkness, the grey-black blade was nearly invisible. Had Meng Xingchen not possessed all-around vision, he might not have even realized what happened before his head was severed.

Even having spotted the lethal attack, Meng Xingchen was in mid-air with no leverage, and the blade was too close—it had materialized almost right in front of him.

He pulled back his sword and struck the spinning crescent blade with the spine of his weapon.

Using a vibration-based technique, he shattered the blade. It didn't vanish entirely but broke into fragments that scattered outward.

One fragment grazed his cheek, leaving a shallow wound on the left side of his face.

After landing, Meng Xingchen wiped the blood from his cheek. Though it had only been a short time since his transmigration, he had been through many battles, large and small; this was only his second time being injured.

The first time was on his first day, when he was wounded by the Shadow Leopard cub. Of course, the cub had paid with its life. Today would be no different. It was time to end the fight.

Through their exchange, Meng Xingchen had determined that both the Shadow Leopard’s constitution and agility exceeded 20 points, though not by much.

The earlier maneuver—using his own back as bait to lure the leopard into a sneak attack, then countering it—was the only way to kill the beast under normal circumstances.

Having missed that opportunity, Meng Xingchen knew that with his current strength, he couldn't inflict any real damage on the leopard in a standard engagement.

Fortunately, he still had his "Internal Energy Burst." The key was that the leopard didn't know this. After the intense life-and-death struggle, Meng Xingchen could still significantly boost his strength and speed—another surprise attack based on an information gap.

At that moment, Meng Xingchen noticed something odd about the small wound on his left cheek: it was still bleeding incessantly.

He knew that an increase in constitution improved all aspects of physical fitness, including recovery speed. The wound the cub had left on his back should have taken weeks to heal, yet after his constitution increased, it had closed in three or four days. For such a minor scratch to bleed continuously on someone with 15 points of constitution was wrong.

Meng Xingchen recalled Li Daniu once saying that adult Shadow Leopards mastered the power of shadows, and the wounds they inflicted could not heal naturally.

Still, the wound was small; he could deal with it after the fight.

By now, the Shadow Leopard had scrambled to its feet and was circling him, looking for an opening.

Meng Xingchen switched his sword to his left hand and pulled an iron-headed short spear from his back with his right. After channeling internal energy into it, the spear whistled through the air toward the leopard, which was only five or six meters away.

The moment he threw the spear, he pulled an alloy short spear from his back and simultaneously activated his Internal Energy Burst. The moment the leopard swiped the iron-headed spear aside, the alloy spear shot out like a bullet, aimed straight at its head.

The alloy spear was far faster than the Shadow Leopard expected. Having just swiped at the first spear, it had no time to dodge and was forced to use Shadow Leap to blink four or five meters behind Meng Xingchen.

However, the moment the leopard reappeared, another alloy short spear flashed toward it.

After throwing the last spear, Meng Xingchen switched his sword back to his right hand and stepped forward, closing the distance to the beast.

It was too late to dodge. The Shadow Leopard had to raise its right claw to strike the spear. But the power and speed of this throw were far greater than before, and the leopard’s swipe was hurried. It only slightly altered the spear’s trajectory, and it pierced through the leopard’s left shoulder.

Meng Xingchen arrived immediately after, thrusting his sword diagonally downward toward the beast’s neck.

The Shadow Leopard let out a low growl, and another grey-black crescent blade materialized, spinning toward Meng Xingchen’s chest.

It was a suicide attack. Having gained the upper hand, Meng Xingchen naturally wouldn't grant its wish.

He leaned backward, dodging the blade, and simultaneously kicked the leopard’s neck with his right foot, sending it flying into the air.

Using the force of that kick, Meng Xingchen righted his falling body and thrust his sword upward, pursuing the airborne beast.

The kick had nearly broken the Shadow Leopard’s neck. Powerless to dodge in mid-air, the beast took the sword through its chest—just behind its front legs—and the blade punched through its spine.

The Shadow Leopard hit the ground, struggled to stand several times, then collapsed and finally lay still.

Meng Xingchen let out a long sigh of relief. He touched his cheek and found the bleeding had stopped. He guessed that the reason the leopard’s wounds wouldn't heal was because the shadow energy was suppressing the recovery; by using his Internal Energy Burst, he had circulated energy throughout his body and purged the shadow power from his system.

It had been a dangerous fight. Without his "Insight" ability, even someone stronger than Meng Xingchen would have struggled to handle the leopard’s attacks.

He checked the system prompt on his mission panel: "Killed Tier-3 Magical Beast: Shadow Leopard. Gained 600 Biological Energy points, 3 Human Contribution points."

Just then, Ye Feng’s head popped up from the low camp wall. "Big Brother Meng, what’s the situation?"

Meng Xingchen picked up the leopard’s carcass, tossed it onto the wall, and vaulted up after it. "Nothing much. Just dealt with a leopard that wanted to raid the camp."

Xiao Yun crouched down, set Ye Feng down from his shoulders, and the two leaned in, looking at the carcass draped over the wall by the light of the central campfire.

Ye Feng gasped, "Whoa, that’s a huge black leopard!"

Xiao Yun looked at the sleek, oily fur and the crescent of white hair on its forehead. "This looks extraordinary. Must be a magical beast, right?"

Meng Xingchen sat on the wall, sliced open the leopard’s chest, and retrieved the beast core. "Yeah. Tier-3 magical beast, Shadow Leopard."