Chapter 12: The Weight of Life
The distance between Quan Yi and the Explosive Rhino was now just over a hundred meters.
The Explosive Rhino had already noticed Quan Yi's presence. It faced him, stomping its feet repeatedly on the ground as a warning not to come closer.
But Quan Yi paid no mind and continued to advance, drawing near to within fifty meters.
Seeing that its warnings failed to deter Quan Yi, the Explosive Rhino charged straight at him, aiming to pierce this intruder with its horn.
The rhino's explosive power was incredible, and its speed in a straight line was very fast.
Yet Quan Yi did not panic—in fact, he had been waiting for this very moment.
As the rhino drew closer, Quan Yi raised the spear in his right hand. The red lines on his Blazing Sun Gauntlets lit up, and flames suddenly enveloped the spear.
With his left foot stepping forward and leveraging the power of his arms, Quan Yi hurled the flaming spear fiercely at the rhino's face.
The Explosive Rhino was startled by the sudden attack and quickly closed its eyes. Yet its charge did not slow down.
That was because it had absolute confidence in its tough hide. Indeed, the rhino's skin was extremely tough and highly resistant to fire. By strength alone, Quan Yi could never hope to harm it.
But that wasn't Quan Yi's goal. As the spear struck the rhino's face, it exploded instantly. A loud blast and a wave of scorching heat spread out from the impact.
The rhino was momentarily stunned. Its hearing and smell failed, leaving it unable to locate Quan Yi.
Quan Yi, meanwhile, didn't advance head-on. Instead, right after throwing the spear, he quickly moved to the left.
Then, stepping forward with his right foot and lifting his left hand, Quan Yi keenly watched the rhino. At the moment it tried to open its eyes again, he repeated his trick, throwing his shield.
The round flaming shield spun rapidly in the air, like a flying disc, heading straight for the rhino's eyes.
Though the rhino's skin was incredibly tough, its eyes remained vulnerable. So when the flaming spear had flown toward it earlier, it had instinctively shut its eyes to protect them.
Yet now, just as it opened them again, the flaming spinning shield was flying straight at its eyes. Terrified, the rhino closed its eyes once more, coming to a halt.
Because of how close Quan Yi was now, the shield struck the rhino's eye socket hard, followed by an explosion that caused unbearable pain in its right eye.
The pain ignited the rhino's fury. It forced its eyes open, determined to tear apart this human who had dared to mock it.
But in that moment, its right eye caught a blurry figure standing right before it.
It was Quan Yi, waiting for this very instant. His right hand clenched into a fist, with soul power gathering into a sharp point at his knuckles. His entire right arm looked like a spear, raised high and plunging into the rhino's right eye the moment it reopened.
This time, the Explosive Rhino couldn't react in time.
Quan Yi's entire forearm buried itself into the rhino's head, and he poured all his soul power inside, detonating it.
Just like that, the Explosive Rhino was killed instantly by Quan Yi's swift and precise strike.
The rhino's final sight was that blurry figure before its vision plunged into darkness.
Because Quan Yi's attack was so quick, precise, and direct to the brain, the rhino didn't even feel pain before it died.
Its massive body crashed heavily to the ground. Watching the yellow ring of light slowly emerging from its corpse, Quan Yi finally allowed himself to relax, pulling his bloodied arm free.
The whole fight was quick and seemed effortless—but in truth, it had been extremely dangerous.
The Explosive Rhino had almost no weak points. Quan Yi could only take advantage of its poor eyesight and slow movements.
Because of its poor vision, the rhino mainly relied on hearing and smell to locate enemies. So, the purpose of the flaming spear wasn't to blind it, but to create heat and a loud explosion to disrupt its senses, forcing it to use sight to find him.
At that moment, Quan Yi threw the shield, repeating the tactic. If it had hit the rhino's eyeball directly, he could have ignited the flames to burn the rhino's brain instantly.
But at the last moment, the rhino sensed the danger and reacted.
Still, that was within Quan Yi's plan.
Although the second strike didn't kill it, it left the rhino in disarray, and by then, Quan Yi was already close.
Having thrown away both his weapons, Quan Yi was technically defenseless—a risky situation. The rhino, too, realized this and became eager to finish him off.
But it never expected that this seemingly unarmed human would dare to approach so fearlessly.
The rhino's horn had always been its greatest threat.
It had always been the rhino who charged enemies—never the other way around. Its long-standing confidence ended up costing its life.
What it didn't know was that Quan Yi possessed the rare fire immunity trait, giving him the courage to approach so closely.
Looking back, the entire fight had been extremely perilous. A single mistake, and Quan Yi could have been sent flying by the rhino's immense power.
But in that moment, Quan Yi had only one thought: to grow stronger.
For this goal, he had to overcome hesitation and fear. He forced himself to face the rhino directly, hoping to awaken the courage deep within.
Under the threat of death, Quan Yi broke through his limits and calmly defeated his foe.
Quietly, Quan Yi gazed at the fallen rhino, his heart filled with complex feelings.
He reached out to touch its face, still faintly warm.
Quan Yi understood that this was a path he must take to grow stronger—but at this moment, he deeply felt the true weight of a life.
To become a soul master, Quan Yi had to carry this weight and keep moving forward.
With heavy feelings, Quan Yi gently closed the rhino's eyes. Rather than forget these emotions, he chose to remember them deeply.
In this world, becoming stronger means shouldering more and more lives.
Behind him, Quan Yue and Su Ling'er revealed themselves. Seeing Quan Yi's solemn back, they both fell silent.
Quan Yi sensed their presence.
"Father, Mother, please guard me. I will begin absorbing the soul ring now."
"Alright. Don't worry."
With that, Quan Yi sat down cross-legged, first restoring his soul power and calming his thoughts.
Being close to the volcano made this an ideal environment for training. His soul power recovered quickly. After about a quarter of an hour, Quan Yi opened his eyes.
He summoned the Blazing Sun Gauntlets and brought them close to the soul ring. Sensing the pull of his martial spirit, the soul ring shrank and attached itself firmly to the gauntlets.
Immediately, Quan Yi felt a surge of searing heat pouring into his body, rampaging inside him.
The massive influx of soul power quickly filled his body, making it feel like it would burst.
Fortunately, thanks to his formidable physical constitution, Quan Yi managed to contain the power. He focused entirely on the incoming energy, wrestling it into submission.
With his incredible willpower, Quan Yi endured the most difficult phase. Gradually, the soul power calmed.
After two hours, Quan Yi slowly opened his eyes.
(End of chapter)