Blacksmith: The Tempering Begins With One’s Flesh - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Shadow Cat Demon

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Feng did not attack first.

He knew very well that beasts regulated their grades even more strictly than humans did.

Grade-3 beasts had the upper hand over their Grade-2 counterparts in terms of both their souls and their heritage.

Besides, high-grade beasts had an additional characteristic that humans could exploit.

The higher the beasts’ grade, the stronger their sense of pride.

That was right, they had pride. 

Lin Feng was certain that the Grade-3 Shadow Cat Demon before now would never order the other Grade-2 beasts to gang up on him.

If it did do that, it would lose its so-called dignity as a leader in the eyes of these Grade-2s.

As expected, the first thing the Grade-3 Shadow Cat Demon did once it showed up was emit a piercing roar.

The other Grade-2s took a step back at the same time once they heard the Shadow Cat Demon’s cry.

In an instant, their circle surrounding Lin Feng grew four to five meters wider.

Lin Feng was only ten meters away from the Shadow Cat Demon now. When he saw the other beasts giving way, Lin Feng grew certain that this Shadow Cat Demon was issuing him a challenge.

Cat demons naturally lived in groups. If any one of them died, their leader would lead the rest of the group out in search of the killer. Once found, the leader would personally attack and slaughter the killer in order to get revenge for their compatriot.

Since this Shadow Cat Demon had ordered all the other normal beasts to retreat, it clearly intended to defeat Lin Feng on its own.

However, that was what Lin Feng was waiting for.

If he fought a group of Grade-2 demons at once, considering how half-baked his fighting skills were, he really would have been hard-pressed to win.

Now that there was only one enemy, though…

Lin Feng could truly show off the real strength hidden in his body.

When he saw the Shadow Cat Demon’s fleeting footsteps, the corners of Lin Feng’s lips curved slightly. He stomped heavily onto the ground, his whole body shooting toward the Shadow Cat Demon.

The Shadow Cat Demon was a type of cat demon, and its movements were far faster than a normal beast’s. Lin Feng shot right at it, but the Grade-3 Shadow Cat Demon only took half a step back, easily evading Lin Feng’s attack.

Unsurprisingly, Lin Feng’s first attack missed.

The Shadow Cat Demon did not stop, though. It nimbly stepped closer to him after dodging his attack, its sharp and gleaming claws pouncing right at Lin Feng’s back.

If it managed to scratch him, even Lin Feng’s Grade-3 body would sustain considerable damage.

However, the Shadow Cat Demon’s expression changed in an instant.

A bright and white-hot flame suddenly erupted from Lin Feng’s body.

The Shadow Cat Demon instinctively cried out in pain.

In that single instant, its sharp claws had been burned to a char by Lin Feng’s Holy Flame.

“Here’s my chance!”

Lin Feng was overjoyed.

In truth, he was not certain he could use his Holy Flame in a fight. Earlier, he had only instinctively activated his Holy Flame to try and protect himself.

However, as he expected, the Shadow Cat Demon did not waste the chance it saw when he missed. He took advantage of its wiles to injure it with his Holy Flame.

The Shadow Cat Demon was a dark-type beast to begin with, so the Holy Flame caused it tremendous amounts of damage.

Since the Shadow Cat Demon was still howling in pain, Lin Feng rushed up to it and raised his fists up high, raining punches down on the Shadow Cat Demon’s body.

He did not let up, pummeling it hard for a few seconds until he suddenly felt a rending pain from his chest. There was a strange soreness in his left chest, too.

“Crap…”

Lin Feng finally realized what was happening.

His old weakness was acting up again now!

All his bones throughout his body were creaking at the same time, as though threatening to fall apart.

Although the pain in his organs lasted for but a moment, it was extremely intense.

However, when he saw that the Grade-3 Shadow Cat Demon was already on its last breaths after his barrage of attacks, Lin Feng just gritted his teeth and lit that white-hot flame on one of his fists again.

This time, he sunk his punch into the Shadow Cat Demon’s cheek.

The beast’s strange, thin face simply exploded under his fist.

Maroon blood and flesh instantly scattered everywhere.

That scene seemed to have stunned the beasts surrounding Lin Feng, too.

For a second, they did not know if they should attack or retreat. The loss of their leader left the group in a mess.

Lin Feng was more than glad to see that.

He clenched his teeth through the pain and quickly picked up the Shadow Cat Demon’s claws, stuffing them into his pockets.

After he took a deep breath, he finally felt the pain in his muscles gradually fade away.

Turning his gaze around, he fixed his eyes on the center of the city once more.

The sewer entrance in the center of the city was made of iron.

The last time, all of them had escaped through that sewer.

This time, Lin Feng wanted to do the same. He stomped down on the ground and took off into a mad dash.

Not long later, he found himself in the underground sewer at the heart of the city once more.

The grille on top of the entrance was still sturdy. Lin Feng hurriedly opened the entrance and slipped past the grille, after which his body gave a great shudder and he ended up falling onto his behind.

The Grade-2 beasts finally gave chase.

Nevertheless, the grille to Whitewing’s underground sewers was so solid that even Lin Feng would have to hammer it several times if he wanted to break it. Even if the gaggle of Grade-2 beasts attacked it with their claws and fangs at once, they would not be able to leave a dent in it.

Lin Feng rested for a while in the sewers before he finally managed to shake off the pain emanating from his organs.

He panted heavily for a few breaths, forcefully swallowing the bloody saliva in his mouth.

Once he was feeling better, Lin Feng began to walk slowly to the other end of the sewers.

It was already evening by the time he walked through the long sewers and returned to the surface.

After he returned to Whitestar, he made a beeline for his forge.

He had gone out in search of cat demon claws to use for his forging, and now he had more than enough. All he had to do now was heal his wounds and then he could get right into forging.

When he opened the door of his smithy, though, he nearly jumped out of his socks.

The person hammering away in his workshop was none other than the brash man he had met at the auction, Andera.

Andera was wielding Lin Feng’s tattered old forging hammer, beating away at a sword in front of him. At the same time, Lin Feng heard a cry of surprise beside him.

“Master Lin Feng! You’re finally back!”

Brent looked at Lin Feng happily before turning a rather contemptuous gaze at Andera, who was still hammering away.

“That guy has been staying here for an entire day now. No matter what I say, he just refuses to leave.”