Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

The night was as black as ink.

The light from the starry sky was shattered by the intersecting branches of the forest, leaving only dappled patterns on the ground.

Less than three seconds after Su Chen stopped and gazed back, the night wind suddenly died. The chirping of insects vanished, and the roar of Qingxi Stream’s flood was swallowed by the mountains behind them.

A deathly, almost tangible silence enveloped the quiet forest.

With it came a dense, primal aura that pervaded every corner of the forest.

”You followed me all this way, and now you’ve lost your nerve,” Su Chen said coolly.

VMM!

An arrowhead-shaped wave of Perception swept forward, clearly outlining a figure several hundred meters away.

The figure remained silent, not uttering a word.

But the aura around him swelled like a silent tide, weighing down the surrounding branches and leaves.

As a Five-Star Desert Beast Master, Wyatt’s ’Wilderness Wanderer’ trait alone increased his normal movement speed in natural terrain by 120%.

The Wind guided him, mist concealed his form, and the entire forest paved a hunting path for him.

But that wasn’t all. He also possessed the ’Empathetic Hunting’ trait, allowing him to track targets beyond his line of sight by locking onto their aura or residual traces like bloodstains and footprints.

The ability itself might seem unremarkable—something even a Two-Star Apostle of nature could possess. The terrifying part, however, was that the entire forest and its animal packs became his eyes, ears, and claws, coordinating with him to hunt his prey.

Now that Su Chen had stopped, a number of neutral magical beasts, obeying Wyatt’s command, were watching the intruder.

Poisonous Scale Lizards, Night Owls, and even the eerie Demon Vines of the forest stretched out their tendrils, aiming them at the intruder.

”This forest... is my domain.”

A chilling smile touched Wyatt’s lips.

Wood Element classes were generally rated very highly. Beyond their healing capabilities, it was because in a vast, lush forest like this, they held a distinct terrain advantage.

Unless they ran into someone like Su Chen.

To keep up with his opponent’s Aurora Flash, Wyatt had been forced to activate his First Authority prematurely, absorbing and fusing with his contracted pet, the Shadow Blade Blood Leopard.

Over the heavy Bone Armor he already wore, a viscous Shadow power flowed through his entire body.

His body didn’t expand further. Instead, it strangely grew more compact, his muscle fibers stretching into an extremely streamlined form.

’Power form, speed form, both unlocked.’

That wasn’t all. Through Symbiosis, a Beast Master not only inherited 80% of the Summoned Beast’s Basic Attributes but could also use all of its Rune Skills and unlock a unique physical trait.

Even after reaching this stage, Wyatt did not act rashly. He was still wary of his opponent.

It wasn’t just because of the terrifying destructive power his opponent had used to destroy the Teleportation Gate. It was also because this forest, which should have bent to his will, had fallen completely silent within a two-hundred-meter radius of the man.

The neutral magical beasts under his command had clearly received the order to attack, yet they trembled instinctively, refusing to advance as they drew near.

They were not his Spirit Contract Summoned Pets. Unbound by any contract, they would not throw their lives away at his command simply to drain his opponent’s stamina and Rune Energy.

Inexplicably, in this silent battle of wills, Su Chen—the one who had chosen to stop and wait—seemed to have gained the upper hand.

CLICK!

The crisp sound of a mechanism locking into place was particularly piercing in the dead silent forest.

In the distance, Su Chen raised his custom shotgun. A faint hum from within the chamber signaled that the Acceleration Rune Array had been activated.

And as for the epitome of single-target lethality... the three-fold composite Technique, ’Thunderpierce Polarity Break,’ had already been woven into a single, unified form.

The next instant.

Without waiting for his opponent’s reinforcements to arrive, he took the initiative and lunged forward.

There was no warning.

Like a phantom, he materialized just a short distance in front of his enemy.

”You’re courting death!”

A savage look crossed Wyatt’s face as killing intent surged within him.

Relying on his extraordinary intuition as a Beast Master and the incredible agility granted by the Shadow Leopard fusion, he charged forward instead of retreating.

Acceleration Skill Lv7!

BOOM!

Wyatt’s legs shattered the ground as he launched himself forward, becoming a blur of black and red light. Dark purple blades extended from between the fingers of his massive right claw—vicious weapons capable of shredding any high-level Element shield.

’Annihilation Rush’!

This was a major physical trait unlocked by the attachment of the Shadow Blade.

In a close-quarters fight like this, a Rune Caster would be torn to shreds, shield and all.

However...

He had underestimated the shotgun’s damage. He also couldn’t believe that his opponent’s Dynamic Vision could track his speed, or that the man could remain so calm, standing his ground without moving.

BANG!

Su Chen pulled the trigger.

The Acceleration Rune Array inside the shotgun overloaded like a turbine, and the bullet transformed into a silver bolt of lightning the instant it left the muzzle.

’Something’s wrong!’

Wyatt’s intuition screamed a desperate warning. His body moved with terrifying coordination, his forward momentum instantly deflecting to the right in a way that defied inertia.

But it was too late...

Even with his last-second evasion, the distance between them was simply too short.

BOOM!

The blast slammed directly into Wyatt’s right shoulder blade, and a cloud of dark red blood mist erupted in the air.

After a moment’s resistance, the Earth Element-crystallized armor on his body was blasted through. His thick, sturdy, bestial arm was almost completely severed, hanging limply at his side.

”Ugh...”

Wyatt let out a muffled grunt.

His deflected body, still carried by his accelerated momentum, shot into the shadows of the trees to the side.

A green light flashed around him as he seemed to dissolve into the trunk of a thick, ancient tree. He began leaping madly through the forest’s dense network of life, trying to create a safe distance to heal himself.