Chapter 16: The Wheel of Fate Changes

Lin Huang quietly made his way to the lakeshore, filled a jug with water, took several hefty gulps, then sealed the jug and settled back into hiding, patiently awaiting nightfall.

The Sand-Tusker was a creature with poor eyesight. Its physiology made it resistant to both heat and cold, unbothered by sunlight or swirling sand, so it typically hunted during the day. But at night, its visible range shrunk dramatically; beyond a hundred meters, it could barely distinguish man from beast. Unless driven to the brink of starvation, Sand-Tuskers would never choose to hunt after dark.

Lin Huang hadn’t been lying in wait for long before night descended—a gloomy night, with only a scattering of stars faintly visible. Yet, this darkness made it all the more ideal for Lin Huang’s hunt.

He began to stealthily approach the Sand-Tuskers’ outpost. He had observed it for some time: more than thirty Sand-Tuskers in total, none over ten meters tall—all of them Blackiron-class in strength.

Though the Sand-Tuskers weren’t particularly bright, perhaps contact with human settlements had inspired them to encircle their base with a makeshift palisade, and even erect crude shelters to live in. Clustered together with these shacks, the thirty or so Sand-Tuskers gave the place the look of a small human village.

Circling the fence, Lin Huang noted that some of the Sand-Tuskers had already fallen asleep, their deafening snores echoing through the night. He fixed his sights on a Sand-Tusker about five meters tall, whose size suggested it was merely Blackiron One-Star. The creature was seated in its hut, picking at its toes. Afterward, it stuffed its filthy fingers directly into its mouth, cleaning them with a gusto that made Lin Huang's stomach turn.

He even began to question whether collecting fragments from such a monster to summon as a monster card was a wise course of action.

But time was of the essence, and he quickly cast aside these distracting thoughts.

He picked up a stone from the ground and, spotting a gap in the palisade as wide as a human head, tossed the rock at the unhygienic Sand-Tusker.

Hit by the stone, the Sand-Tusker looked around in confusion, picked up the rock Lin Huang had thrown, and squinted in the direction from which it had come. It immediately noticed something behind the palisade. The distance was short, but the barrier obscured the view, so the creature could not make out what it was. Rising to its feet, it grabbed a nearby club over three meters long and started toward the fence.

Sand-Tuskers were gluttonous beasts, rarely ever sated. If prey presented itself, they would never refuse an extra meal.

From behind the palisade, Lin Huang watched the Sand-Tusker draw closer, a faint smile curling at his lips.

The Sand-Tusker soon reached the fence. Lowering its head, it found itself eye-to-eye with Lin Huang. For a brief moment it was stunned, then immediately swung its stone club at Lin Huang with violent force.

Lin Huang turned and bolted toward a nearby dune. The Sand-Tusker, seeing its prey fleeing, smashed through the fence with a single blow and gave chase.

To a Sand-Tusker, the tender flesh of a human was a rare delicacy. The very sight of Lin Huang had its mouth watering. Now, as the meal placed before it tried to escape, there was no chance it would let him go.

Lin Huang had only just cleared the crest of the dune when the Sand-Tusker caught up, raising its club high to strike him down.

But in that instant, a crimson blur flashed through the night. The Sand-Tusker’s movement halted mid-swing; its head tumbled from its neck, and fetid blood gushed in violent torrents as its headless corpse collapsed with a thunderous crash on the far side of the dune.

Beside the body, a new figure had appeared at some point—a white-haired boy. His once-blood-red eyes had faded to deepest black.

“Well done, Bai!” Lin Huang gave the boy a thumbs-up.

Bai, now Blackiron Three-Star, had grown immensely stronger since his last evolution, nearly reaching the level of a Bronze-class monster. When he unleashed his full power, decapitating a Blackiron One-Star Sand-Tusker was effortless.

A chime sounded, and a translucent notification window appeared before Lin Huang’s eyes.

[Congratulations, Host. Monster Card Fragment: Sand-Tusker x1 acquired.]

At the same time, a surge of white life-force flowed from the Sand-Tusker’s corpse and poured rapidly into Bai.

“I almost forgot—when monsters slay other monsters, they can absorb the victim’s life-force.” Though Lin Huang had known this, it was his first time witnessing the phenomenon.

In this world, monsters could seize each other’s life-force. The residual life-force of a slain monster would automatically flood into its killer. Humans, however, could only absorb some of this energy when advancing in strength—a process known as the Baptism of Life-Force. At other times, unless a person possessed a special life-art to absorb it, the energy would simply dissipate, impossible to claim.

But as Bai devoured the Sand-Tusker’s energy, Lin Huang sensed a transformation within himself.

Inside his Life Wheel, the third, previously dim segment of his life-force gauge began to fill and brighten swiftly. The third segment overflowed, the fourth lit up, then the fifth, the sixth—on and on, until the twenty-eighth segment shone. Only then did the energy from the Sand-Tusker’s corpse fully dissipate, the light around Bai faded, and the changes within Lin Huang finally ceased.

“What just happened?” Lin Huang’s face was a mask of shock. He had never expected the life-force within him to surge so abruptly, leaping from the third all the way to the twenty-eighth segment in mere seconds.

Ordinarily, each segment on the Life Wheel represented one year of lifespan. But because Lin Huang had been born with a shattered Life Wheel, his life-force drained ten times faster than normal. He’d been down to his last three segments, and the third was nearly dim—he’d had little more than two months left to live. But now, with twenty-eight segments suddenly ablaze with life, the specter of imminent death was banished. Yet the good fortune felt almost inexplicable.

“Little Black, did my increase in life-force have anything to do with Bai killing the Sand-Tusker?” It was the only explanation Lin Huang could think of.

[When monsters summoned by Monster Cards kill other monsters and gain life-force, 50% of that energy is automatically transferred into the host’s Life Wheel. If the summoned monster’s Life Wheel is already full, 100% of the gained life-force will flow into the host.]

Little Black’s explanation took Lin Huang by surprise, but learning that his body wasn’t malfunctioning finally set his mind at ease.

“So just by killing a Sand-Tusker, my life-force increased by over twenty segments? If I kill a few more, won’t my Life Wheel soon overflow?” The thought sent a thrill through him.

Vaulting over the dune’s ridge, Lin Huang ran once more toward the Sand-Tuskers’ outpost…

~~~~~~

[During this new book period, I can’t update too much, as exceeding the word count would end the new release period earlier than planned. I hope everyone understands. Once the book is officially released, regular updates and explosive releases will begin. Also, I’ve seen readers asking about a fan group for the book. For now, since there aren’t many readers, I haven’t created one—there wouldn’t be many members anyway. Once there are more people and the community is livelier, I’ll consider it.]