Demon of Dawn and Dusk

As I charged towards the Hellfire Bear, I could have sworn that it gave me a derisive snort. It didn’t view me as a threat at all. Not that I blamed it. I was a Qi Condensation cultivator, while it was a Rank 2 demon beast. An early Rank 2 demon beast, but a Rank 2 demon beast nonetheless. I was as much a threat to it as a worm was to a wolf, or so it seemed on the surface. My chances of defeating it were low, but I planned on giving it my all. If nothing else, I wanted to make the Hellfire Bear earn its victory.

With my divine sense, I saw Cultivator Willow chase after me. Despite her large size she moved fast, but I had too much of a head start. I would reach the Hellfire Bear before she caught up to me. A silver needle tipped with some kind of poison appeared in Cultivator Harlow’s hand. She threw it towards me. However, I managed to dodge it without slowing down. Clarissa grabbed Cultivator Harlow’s arm.

“What are you doing?” she cried out.

“Trying to stop that idiot from throwing his life away.” Cultivator Harlow snarled.

“What if he gets hurt?”

“It’s better than letting him fight the Hellfire Bear!”

Cultivator Harlow shook herself free from Clarissa and another silver needle appeared in her hand, but it was too late. I had already moved out of her range. After that, I stopped paying attention to them. Cultivator Willow pulled a staff out of her storage ring and threw it at me, aiming for my legs. Once again, I dodged it without slowing down. She let out a curse when she saw this and continued chasing after me.

By this point, I had almost reached the Hellfire Bear. It roared at me. The sound seemed to shake my very bones, yet I continued onward. When I drew close enough, the Hellfire Bear lifted one of its paws and took a lazy swipe at me. I avoided the blow with ease. When the Hellfire Bear fought with Cultivator Diana’s guards earlier, it had moved much faster than this. Apparently I didn’t warrant its best efforts.

That was a mistake on its part.

I stepped into the Hellfire Bear’s range and retaliated with a strike of my own, putting all my strength into it. Thanks to its lazy attack from earlier, the creature’s face was well within my reach. Golden flames coated my fist as I used Divine Fire Fist. Against a foe like this, I couldn’t afford to hold back. Besides, there wasn’t any point in hiding my true status anymore.

My fist slammed into the Hellfire Bear’s face with an echoing thud, knocking the creature back a step. An acrid stench filled my nostrils as the golden flames burned the bear’s fur. It gave me a flabbergasted look, as if it couldn’t believe that I managed to cause damage to it, however slight. It wasn’t the only one caught off guard. With my divine sense, I noticed Cultivator Willow stumble forward and almost trip.

“Divine demon,” she whispered in disbelief.

Before the Hellfire Bear had a chance to recover its composure, I slammed my other fist into its face. A laugh escaped my lips. I finally understood why they called it the Frenzied Fiend fighting style. It wasn’t about anger or rage. It was about joy, pure and simple. It was about losing oneself to the thrill of battle, until nothing else remained. It was a fighting style created by a martial idiot for martial idiots.

In that regard, it suited me perfectly.

The Hellfire Bear regained its wits after my second blow. I attempted to hit it a third time, but it roared again and took another swipe at me. This time, it moved so fast that I barely dodged its attack. I wasn’t so far gone that I had forgotten my own safety.

The Hellfire Bear let out a frustrated growl, before black flames erupted into existence, coating the creature’s entire body. The flames bathed me in heat and demonic qi. This was it. This was why I needed to fight the Hellfire Bear. It was to experience these black flames up close. Doing so would benefit me in some way, though I didn’t know how. I just knew that they felt…nourishing somehow.

To protect my body from these black flames, I created a barrier of Divine Fire qi using Heavenly Shield. It looked similar to the black flames coating the Hellfire Bear’s body, except mine were golden in color. It wouldn’t last long, not with how little internal qi I had left, but that didn’t matter to me as long as I benefited from this fight.

I struck the creature again, this time aiming for its body. The creature was so large that it was impossible for me to miss it. My fist hit it with a dull thud. The Hellfire Bear let out an annoyed huff, before taking another swipe at me. I jumped back to avoid it. The world felt colder without the Hellfire Bear’s black flames to warm me.

Before I could get in close again, Cultivator Willow made her own move. She let out a yell as she swung her staff, aiming for one of the Hellfire Bear’s rear legs. At the same time, the bloody metal spike magical treasure of hers flew towards one of the creature’s eyes. The Hellfire Bear avoided the metal spike, letting Cultivator Willow strike its rear leg. Just like with my strike, her attack seemed to do little damage as well. In fact, due to her proximity with the black flames, Cultivator Willow’s black coat caught fire.

When I saw this, my heart leapt into my throat. I was more than willing to suffer the consequences of my own actions, but I didn’t want to see others get hurt because of me. However, Cultivator Willow ripped the cloak off and tossed it aside without hesitation, revealing her appearance.

Cultivator Willow was a big woman. Not only did she tower over me and our two companions, but she also had a solid, muscular frame. She wore clothing similar to Astra’s, trousers and a small top, that showed off a good portion of her body. Unlike with my big sis, her top covered a bit more of her upper body, leaving just her arms and her abs bare.

Cultivator Willow features were rough, unlike the beauties of Mt. Wind Dance, yet I found her attractive all the same. She had short black hair and amber eyes. However, it was her skin tone that caught most of my attention. She had sun kissed skin with a glowing golden undertone.

That wasn’t a euphemism. Her skin emitted a faint golden glow, which was obvious even in the light of the setting sun. While I didn’t know much about cultivation in general, it was clear to me that Cultivator Willow practiced a divine body refinement technique.

Demonic qi refinement technique. Divine body refinement technique.

Cultivator Willow was a divine demon like me.

While a part of me felt miffed that I wasn’t the only divine demon participating in this entrance exam, the rest of me was too busy staring at Cultivator Willow to care. Despite her muscular body, she was still obviously feminine and for some reason that mesmerized me.

The Hellfire Bear let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, before turning around to face Cultivator Willow. She let out another yell and attacked with her staff again. At the same time, her bloody metal spike attacked the creature from another angle. The Hellfire Bear ignored the spike this time and focused on Cultivator Willow herself. It swiped at her.

A barrier the color of fresh blood surrounded her body and she braced herself to block the attack. Despite this, the blow sent Cultivator Willow flying. She rolled when she hit the ground again, using her own momentum to leap back onto her feet. To my relief, she looked uninjured though more battered and bruised than before.

This surprised me. Rank 2 beasts were much stronger than Qi Condensation cultivators, and this Hellfire Bear seemed stronger than most Rank 2 beasts. That blow should have caused serious damage to Cultivator Willow. She was a divine body refiner, one stronger than me based on her aura, but she was still weaker than the Hellfire Bear. I was glad she was uninjured, but it left me confused.

It didn’t take me long to figure out the answer. The Hellfire Bear wasn’t trying to hurt us, or perhaps the restrictions on it prevented it from hurting us. It took me another moment to figure out why. The Hellfire Bear served as an obstacle we were supposed to get past, not an opponent we were supposed to defeat. We were attacking the Hellfire Bear, but we weren’t trying to get past it.

To test my theory, I took a step towards the passageway. The moment I did, the Hellfire Bear’s head whipped towards me and it let out a roar. I stepped away from the passageway. The Hellfire Bear narrowed its eyes at me, but otherwise didn’t react. Ah, so that’s what was going on. All of its actions had been in response to ours. It attacked me because I had been charging towards it, but it hadn’t intended to hurt me. Well, not seriously at least. Even that lazy swipe would have been enough to knock me to the ground.

Well, that just made things much easier for me. After all, the entire reason why I started attacking the Hellfire Bear in the first place was because of its black flames. At this point, I didn’t care about passing the final test. Even if I failed, I was confident in my ability to become an inner disciple. It was just a matter of time. The benefits I would gain from facing the Hellfire Bear outweighed the benefits of trying to get past it, at least in my mind.

The question was, would I go with the peaceful route or the violent route? I enjoyed fighting, but I knew I wasn’t going to win against the Hellfire Bear. It was just too powerful. At best, I would just annoy it. Even if our entire group worked together, we wouldn’t be able to defeat it. So, if the peaceful route meant I was more likely to succeed at benefiting from this exchange, then I would take it.

Huh. I guess I wasn’t as much of a martial idiot as I thought. Or perhaps I was, but I was an even bigger cultivation idiot. Looking back on my actions throughout the entrance exam, and that made sense. I mean, I risked failing the second part of the entrance exam just so I could use the mental pressure to refine and temper my mind.

“How about we make a deal?” I asked the Hellfire Bear.

It growled at me, but I wasn’t afraid. Well, I was. It was as big as a house and covered in black flames. Of course I was afraid. However, I was confident in my ability to escape harm.

Trying to make a deal with the Hellfire Bear was a risk on my part. After all, it was a beast and not a human. However, I believed it was an intelligent beast. From what I’ve observed in the short amount of time I’ve interacted with the Hellfire Bear, I’ve witnessed it express a variety of emotions: derision, annoyance, anger, and so on. Perhaps it was intelligent enough to make a deal.

“I don’t care about going through that passageway,” I said to the bear. “I’m more interested in those black flames of yours. Let me soak in them, and I promise not to step into the passageway, even if it means failing this part of the entrance exam.”

The Hellfire Bear blinked at me in surprise, before it narrowed its eyes at me and gave me a low growl. I grinned in response. That was all the proof I needed to know that the Hellfire Bear was in fact intelligent. Not only that, but it understood my words.

“Cultivator Darian, what are you doing?” Cultivator Willow shouted.

She approached the bear with caution instead of charging right at it. Her bloody metal spike hovered in the air next to her. She must have realized that I was up to something and chose not to interfere.

“Be careful, Senior Brother Darian!” Clarissa said.

I glanced over. She stood some distance away from me with Cultivator Harlow standing by her side. The two of them had their weapons drawn and they looked ready to charge the Hellfire Bear.

“Don’t worry,” I called out. “I’m doing something that will benefit my cultivation.” I paused. “If it works.”

The Hellfire Bear snorted at that.

“What are you talking about?” Cultivator Harlow asked.

“Just trust me.”

“Trust you? After the stunt you pulled?”

I ignored her and started approaching the Hellfire Bear. It gave me a warning growl.

“If that isn’t enough,” I said. “I have something that just might sweeten the deal for you.”

I pulled the bowl of Wood Essence Pears out of my storage ring. Mundane bears ate fruit, I knew that much. I just didn’t know if Hellfire Bears ate fruit. If they did, then this just might work. After all, it had an affinity for Fire and eating fruit filled with Wood qi would benefit it.

“What do you say?” I asked.

When the Hellfire Bear caught sight of the bowl of Wood Essence Pears, its eyes lit up. My grin widened. The Hellfire Bear looked between my face and the bowl of Wood Essence Pears, a conflicted expression on its ursine face, before it gave me a single nod.

Yes!

I approached the bear, holding out the bowl before me. It watched my every move with wary eyes. When I reached the bear, it opened its mouth. I heaved the bowl and tossed all of the Wood Essence Pears inside. The Hellfire Bear closed its mouth and started chewing with a pleased expression on its face.

After it finished eating, the bear laid down on the ground and gestured towards its side with its head. I gave it a nod, before walking over. I sat on the ground next to the bear and leaned against its side. It watched me the entire time, its expression a mix between curiosity and amusement.

To get the most benefit from the black flames, I stopped using Heavenly Shield and let the black flames wash over me. They burned, but not as much as the Earth Fire in Astra’s old immortal cave had back before I became a divine demon. Either this Hellfire Bear’s black flames weren’t as powerful, or it deliberately weakened them for my sake. Regardless, I leaned against the bear’s side and soaked in the flames. I felt them nourishing my body.

“Congratulations, Cultivator Darian,” Cultivator Harlow said in an annoyed voice. “You succeeded. What about the rest of us?”

I looked over at my companions. The three of them stood nearby and watched me with varying expressions on their faces. Cultivator Harlow crossed her arms and gave me an annoyed look. Clarissa on the other hand looked worried. Cultivator Willow looked conflicted, though that was all I could tell from her. Even without the black cloak obscuring her features, it was difficult to get a read on her thoughts.

“We still have to go through the passageway in order to pass the test,” Cultivator Harlow continued. “You might be fine with failing, but I’m certainly not.”

When Cultivator Harlow mentioned going through the passageway, the Hellfire Bear growled at her. Her face turned white and she took a step back.

I frowned. She had a point. They were my companions, and I wanted to see them succeed. That was why we agreed to work together in the first place. It would be selfish of me if I was the only one who benefited from this ordeal.

“Excuse me, Senior Hellfire Bear?” I asked. “You’re supposed to prevent the exam participants from reaching the passageway, correct?”

It looked at me with a surprised expression on its face, before it let out a chuckle and nodded.

“Is there any way you could make an exception and let my companions through?” I asked.

The bear narrowed its eyes at me and shook its head.

“So the only way to get past you is through violence?”

The Hellfire Bear paused, before shaking its head. I blinked at it in surprise.

“There are other ways?” I asked. “They don’t have to fight you?”

The Hellfire Bear nodded. Cultivator Willow narrowed her eyes at the bear.

“What if I gave you more Wood Essence Pears?” she called out

The Hellfire Bear turned towards her and nodded.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “A toll! You’re like a guard! To get past you, they don’t need to fight you. They just need to pay a toll.”

The Hellfire Bear smiled before nodding. So that was how we could pass the test. Fighting the Hellfire Bear wasn’t necessary at all. We had just assumed it was. In our defense, every other spirit beast or demon beast we had come across over the course of the final test had attacked us first. We could be forgiven for assuming that a demon beast called a Hellfire Bear would attack us as well.

“I think it’s less a toll and more of a bribe, Cultivator Darian,” Cultivator Willow said in a dry voice.

The Hellfire Bear gave her a shameless grin.

“Wait a moment,” I said with a frown. “If you were open to bribery, does that mean I could have just given the Wood Essence Pears to go through the passageway and then given you something else later on in order to soak in your black flames?”

The Hellfire Bear turned its grin towards me and nodded.