Capítulo 45: The Grand Hallow, Stalking and 'Cowardice'
The wind seemed to be a lot stronger at the top of that gigantic tree.
The monk's unkept hair seemed to become unclamped, as he breathed in Origin Energy and manipulated his hair to flow more freely into the wind.
The monk scowled as he ripped out a few leaves and flowers from his hair.
'Amitabha, I forgot how annoying having hair can be... I'll be pulling flowers out of my hair for a week.'
The Monk heaved a sigh as he continued walking forward, stepping into the darkness of the hallow in front of him.
What he didn't expect was to instantly start freefalling in that darkness.
Feeling the origin energy brush around his skin as he picked up more and more speed was exhilarating, yet he managed to keep his calm at that moment.
Moving his hand to the side with force, he managed to cause a shockwave large enough to push himself towards the wall, where he extended his other hand and grabbed onto it.
His fingers dug into the wood and immediately started breaking it as his momentum quickly started dying down.
The monk scowled as he felt his nails breaking, the inner bark that had formed in that Hallow was a lot tougher than he had expected, but he could still manage.
He did eventually manage to stop his fall, only to realize something...
'I can't see shit, and I may be pretty far from the bottom of this hole.'
The monk, even with his enhanced senses, couldn't hear the small splinters of wood that had fallen after he had grabbed onto the wall.
That left him with a few possibilities.
On one hand, his hearing was not as good as his punching power, or he might have missed the sound...
The other possibility would've been that the small pieces of wood were still falling, at which point it was unlikely for the monk to hear them due to how far up he still was.
'Would I break my legs if I just decided to let go and freefall?'
When remembering the sheer size of the tree, the Monk could somewhat see it happening. He hadn't stress-tested his bones against gravity too much in the past.
He had fallen from heights and had even been sent crashing to the ground, but not from near the top of a mountain.
'I'd rather not risk any extra energy healing my broken bones... I have a beast to kill."
At that point, the monk decided on a rather bold strategy...
It was something that he decided to name 'Controlled Frefalling'.
He would let go of his grip on the uneven wooden wall, and allow himself to fall further and further down.
He only stopped himself whenever he descended a proper distance from his previous location, at least a few hundred meters.
Seeing as though he was kilometres up, it still took him a few minutes to slowly reach his way to the bottom.
'Finally! I can hear the wood hitting the ground below! Amitabha, this tree is way too big! How did it grow so much?!'
The monk let go of the wooden wall one last time, healing his nails for good as he finally reached the ground, which was also wooden.
'So I'm still within that Hallow, huh? Figures...'
But the monk's eyes had already adjusted to the darkness to some extent, from the way the hallow stretched out all around him, he realized that he had likely dropped down to the roots of that great tree.
'If there are such large holes within its structures... How is this tree still able to grow green leaves? Is this tree a Demonic Beast on its own after all?
If yes, then is the Caterpillar just a parasite to it?'
The monk had way too many questions, but there wasn't anyone there to answer them. Not like trees could talk.
Still, despite his curiosities, the Bladed Caterpillar remained the monk's number 1 priority.
It wasn't hard to guess which part of the roots the Caterpillar had curled up into, it was by far the largest entrance.
The other nearby 'caves' were too small for it to fit into them.
And his suspicion was also confirmed by a beastly growl, coming straight from the base of the root he was approaching.
The monk's eyes narrowed as he immediately dashed inside, his vision wasn't great without light, but he could still tell that he had reached his target...
The Bladed Caterpillar's growls resounded through the entire gigantic root, as the Monk scowled.
'Those aren't growls... They are snores. This beast is sleeping.'
The monk could tell thanks to his deductive intellect, and the massive spit bubble that had formed at the beast's gaping maw.
The beast's teeth were still cracked and broken from their prior encounter. The monk couldn't help but smile when seeing that.
'Let's see you bite off an arm now...'
The only remaining question, now that the monk had his target right in front of him, was helpless and still injured.
Would his principles as a Buddhist Monk allow him to kill a helpless animal?
Well, it wasn't like all Buddhist monks were vegetarians, and Mo Yangling had also already personally hunted and eaten animals in his past life.
It was still a widely disagreed-upon practice among Buddhists of the Mahāyāna school of thought.
Their beliefs were very strict, placing equal value on all living beings. Eating meat was equal to murder to the more hardcore followers of that school of belief.
But Mo Yangling was well-known for interpreting things in his own way. And he had reached enlightenment following his own beliefs.
But would his morals allow him to strike down a helpless enemy in such a cowardly way?
The answer was yes.
'Amitabha, this monk needs a new staff~'
The monk's centre of gravity shifted as he assumed the horse stance. He took a silent deep breath as he channelled Origin Energy through all of the essential muscles for his following move.
The beads around his neck shifted, wrapping around his fist like a glowing boxing glove. The only difference was that they weren't there to dampen the damage of his punch, but to make it more lethal.
The wooden beads themselves shifted and changed shape under the pressure of the monk's energy, becoming slightly pointed outwards.
'I shall be merciful and end this in one strike...'
In an instant, the monk's fist rocketed forward, aiming for the most vital spot in the bladed caterpillar's body... Its Beast Core.
In such proximity. it wasn't difficult to sense for the Monk, who was naturally more sensitive to Origin Energy than most.
'Vraja Fist: Diamond Execution!'
With a smile on his face, the monk's pointed fist struck in between the large blades, right into the fleshy white skin of the Caterpillar.
The surface of the skin was immediately pierced by the modified praying beads, the monk's smile immediately grew a bit sadistic as he sent a shockwave that reverberated right into the depths of the Bladed Caterpillar's body.
A distinctive crack could be heard from within the Bladed Caterpillar's body, and the monk's manic grin turned into a scowl, as he realized that he had only managed to crack the beast's core.
"GRAARH!"
The beast's surprised roar shook the entire hallow, making the monk's scowl deepen a bit as he felt like he was caught in the middle of a small earthquake.
Mo Yangling wanted to keep the pressure up at first, preparing to send another punch and break the Beast's Core in one fell swoop.
But his instincts screamed at him to roll away, and he did just that. Right in time for all of the blades around him to start whirling dangerously.
It looked like countless saws were hovering over the Bladed Centipide's flesh.
'Each blade is durable and strong enough to cut into my skin... Better be careful here.'
But the Monk was also aware of his surroundings, the beast's body shifted towards him just as his back hit the wooden wall behind him.
'An enclosed space... I hoped this thing would just die in one punch...'
But the monk had already planned for a fight like that.
The Origin Energy that glowed out of the mortally wounded caterpillar gave him a good idea of the layout of the room.
With his heels hitting the back of the wall, he immediately shot forward like an arrow unleashed from a long bow.
He bounced off of wall after wall, dancing circles around the injured beast as it did its best to body slam the Monk into one of the Hallow's walls.
Each attempt was unsuccessful though. The monk's eyes glowed blue with Origin Energy surging within them.
He heightened each and every sense in his body in order to properly respond to the beast's movements.
After a few seconds of that painful struggle, the Bladed Caterpillar's blades ground to a halt, seemingly tiring out as it also tried to divert more energy towards its cracked Beast Core.
And finally, the Beast noticed the identity of its attacker.
"HUMAN?!? HOW DARE YOU!?"
An inhuman growl escaped the beast's cracked teeth for each word it mouthed in common human language.
But Mo Yangling didn't feel any fear, even as his nose twitched form the beast's foul breath, and his hair was blown backwards a bit with each word it enunciated.
'This unevolved butterfly is a lot less scary when on its own...'
"Amitabha, As the wheel of the cart follows the foot of the ox, so suffering follows evil deeds... Did you think you could get away with commanding an army to slay me?"
The beast seemed to almost shrink back at the Monk's confident tone. When noticing his intact arm he didn't need any further confirmation that his opponent had already fully healed from their last encounter.
"You fled with your tail between your legs! Now you ambush me in such a cowardly way?! Have you no shame?!"
The beast still growled out, seemingly trying to guilt-trip the monk into giving up... It wasn't working.
"Oh lord, is only your tongue sharp? Are those blades for decoration? What is so shameful about getting rid of a pest?"
The monk's wide smile seemed to get further underneath the Beast's skin, as its growls grew more and more intense each second.
"And what's all this talk about cowardice? This isn't a spar or a duel... This is a hunt. And you are prey. I shall thank the universe for this bountiful harvest~!"
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