Waiting makes time feel very long. This Fierce Claw Tiger was extremely cunning; from their brief exchange just now, it could tell that Zhang Jingyun's power actually surpassed its own. If that void-shattering punch connected, it would definitely pierce right through its body.
Fortunately, this human's speed was slower than its own.
Thus, the Fierce Claw Tiger changed its strategy. It began circling around Zhang Jingyun incessantly, suddenly and stealthily darting in to throw a harassing claw strike.
Zhang Jingyun completely failed to keep up with the Fierce Claw Tiger's reactions; he could only try to anticipate the demon beast's movements and then launch an attack.
However, every time he threw a punch, the Fierce Claw Tiger would instantly dodge away like a ghost.
Zhang Jingyun's matchless fists could only smash into empty air, producing a muffled thud.
The moment he threw a punch, the Fierce Claw Tiger would seize the opportunity when he was retracting his fist and unable to dodge, decisively lashing out with a claw to counterattack.
Zhang Jingyun was simply being played to the point of numbness. He threw ten punches, and ten punches missed; not a single one hit the enemy.
Conversely, because the Fierce Claw Tiger timed its strikes with precision, nearly every single claw landed on Zhang Jingyun. Not long into the battle, Zhang Jingyun's body was covered in wounds, and fresh blood flowed continuously.
Zhang Jingyun forced himself to regulate his breathing. Although he had completely fallen into a disadvantageous position, he still did not panic in the slightest, merely letting out a helpless sigh: "Isn't this the exact strategy I usually use to bully enemies with my fast sword techniques? I never expected that one day I'd be the one disgusted by this kind of tactic."
"I completely can't keep up with the opponent's speed, and my moves can't even hit them. Just how am I supposed to win? This is really a headache," Zhang Jingyun sighed, his expression then turning stern as he stared unblinkingly at the Fierce Claw Tiger.
This time, Zhang Jingyun did not launch any attacks against the Fierce Claw Tiger; instead, he adjusted his condition to its peak.
Seeing that Zhang Jingyun had sustained so many injuries, the Fierce Claw Tiger gradually grew contemptuous. It continued to circle around Zhang Jingyun, darting in with shadowy claw strikes, but because Zhang Jingyun was concentrating fully, all of these attacks were successfully blocked.
"Haha..." Zhang Jingyun chuckled in provocation, "Is this all the strength you have? I've given you so many turns, and you're still useless!"
Demon beasts that had undergone cultivation could understand human speech. The Fierce Claw Tiger was instantly infuriated, letting out a deep and angry roar from its throat that seemed to pierce through the mountain forest, causing the surrounding leaves to tremble slightly.
Every hair on its body stood on end like steel needles, radiating a ferocious aura. Its eyes, which had already been flashing with a cold light, now burned with raging fury.
The Fierce Claw Tiger lowered its body slightly, its four paws gripping the earth tightly as it coiled its strength, ready to strike.
Its muscles were taut, like an arrow poised on the string, containing immense power. Even the surrounding air was oppressed by its momentum, growing heavy and dense.
Suddenly, the Fierce Claw Tiger let out a roar to the skies and raised its right claw high. Wisps of black mist coiled around the tiger's paw, and the surrounding air currents were drawn in by its power to form a small vortex.
When the Fierce Claw Tiger brought down this "Soul-Rending Demonic Claw" technique, the air was torn apart with a sharp screeching sound, and the terrifying might could be felt even from a distance.
A fierce wind whipped up by the claws rushed toward his face. Zhang Jingyun's gaze instantly turned incomparably sharp as he shouted, "I've been waiting for this move of yours for a long time!"
As the words fell, Zhang Jingyun tilted his shoulders slightly backward, his legs planted firmly on the ground like deeply rooted trees. He clenched his right hand tightly into a fist, unleashed the Star-Shattering Strike, and punched straight toward the Fierce Claw Tiger's Soul-Rending Demonic Claw.
The Star-Shattering Strike and the Soul-Rending Demonic Claw met in mid-air with an earth-shattering roar. The collision of the two powerful forces produced a massive shockwave that blew the surrounding trees askew and sent leaves fluttering across the sky.
The Fierce Claw Tiger's strongest skill lasted only a split second before the Star-Shattering Strike shattered its claws. Then, the remaining power seemed undiminished as it continued forward to pierce through the beast's head.
Before the Fierce Claw Tiger could even let out a miserable scream, its body was blasted flying and crashed heavily to the ground.
Ten-Star Annihilation was indeed extremely cumbersome, but in terms of sheer power, no cultivation technique could match it as an opponent.
Zhang Jingyun stood in place, quietly watching the fallen Fierce Claw Tiger, frowning as he realized something.
Ten-Star Annihilation had slow startup and slow recovery. Although enemies would be injured if brushed and killed if touched, under normal circumstances it was absolutely impossible to hit an enemy with it.
That terrifying damage was traded away entirely at the expense of hit rate!
To compensate for this fatal flaw, Ten-Star Annihilation possessed two special effects. First, its skill priority was the absolute highest, and no other technique could disrupt its execution. Second, casting the skill generated a Body-Protecting Gale that would only dissipate after the skill finished releasing.
The intensity of the Body-Protecting Gale was even stronger than the Body-Protecting Sword Array at Zhang Jingyun's peak. Moreover, while that sword array required consuming a massive amount of spiritual power, the Body-Protecting Gale was a passive ability that consumed zero spiritual power.
Zhang Jingyun had been utilizing Ten-Star Annihilation with the mindset of sword techniques—this was a gravely mistaken approach.
Sword techniques emphasized supreme speed and victory through finesse, whereas Ten-Star Annihilation required going head-to-head with the enemy.
One had to seize the moment when the enemy launched a move, counter-attacking afterward to exploit the highest skill priority and shatter the opponent's technique.
The long casting time led to difficulty in landing hits, but with the Body-Protecting Gale, one didn't need to fear the enemy interrupting. The long recovery time was truly fatal, because by that point, the Body-Protecting Gale had already dissipated.
The absolute taboo for Ten-Star Annihilation was for Zhang Jingyun to take the initiative and strike first, failing to hit the enemy only to have them seize the recovery window.
Ten-Star Annihilation should only be unleashed in two scenarios: first, when an enemy was executing a skill, using a counter-attack to shatter it; and second, when the skill's range covered all of the enemy's attack routes, leaving the enemy with no opportunity to launch a counter-assault even if it didn't directly connect.
The reason Zhang Jingyun was currently so weak was entirely due to his insufficient proficiency with Ten-Star Annihilation, not because Ten-Star Annihilation lacked power.
As one of the three supreme arts of the Tandao Sect, if Ten-Star Annihilation was pushed to its absolute limits, it could completely achieve a state where the opponent's move was broken the moment they lifted a finger.
Zhang Jingyun lowered his head to look at his disheveled state and could not help mocking himself: "A mere Fierce Claw Tiger actually managed to drive me to this extent."
"If I wasn't a whole realm higher than it, I probably would have been worn down and killed alive by this beast today."
"Hahahaha..." Imagining himself being killed by the Fierce Claw Tiger, Zhang Jingyun burst out laughing, "I always thought I was a genius among geniuses, encountering no bottlenecks when learning sword techniques and no bottlenecks when learning other techniques."
"Who would have thought a single Ten-Star Annihilation would stump me?"
"Only now do I understand—turns out I'm just trash the moment I leave sword techniques behind!"
"Hahaha... This is truly too interesting!" When cursing himself as trash, there wasn't a trace of depression or resentment on Zhang Jingyun's face; he seemed to have seen through it all.
Could he accept being a genius sword cultivator, yet fail to turn around and accept being a useless body cultivator?
People must know how to let go of what they hold onto.
Frankly accepting one's mediocrity is also an act that requires tremendous courage.
Zhang Jingyun stretched his shoulders, turned around, and intended to head back to the Tandao Sect when a sudden, violent crash echoed from not far away.
"Someone ran into a demon beast?" Zhang Jingyun's expression shifted, and he immediately sprinted toward the source of the sound.