As the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts unfolded, Ling Han’s long sword moved freely, his figure graceful.
Accompanying the display of Shocking Electricity Sword Arts was the Exiting Cloud Step. Every step was about four or five metres long, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, suddenly forwards, suddenly backwards. His steps appeared strange and were extremely quick, becoming a blur to any observer’s eyes.
Liu Yu Tong looked on from the side and could not help nodding her head in secret.
If she suppressed her cultivation level to the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, she would definitely not be able to perform as well as Ling Han. Rather, she would probably be facing danger from all sides by now. After all, there was a big difference in cultivation level between Ling Han and his opponent–two layers. Furthermore, the opponent was a demonic beast.
Normally, in a battle between a martial artist and a demonic beast, the martial artist needed to have a slight advantage in cultivation level to attain victory. If the cultivation levels of the martial artist and the demonic beast were about the same, then the martial artist had a higher chance of losing. After all, not every martial artist was a battle genius.
Ling Han’s sword moves were becoming more and more fluid. His steps were natural and smooth as he enjoyed the pleasure of battling.
He had really put too much focus into the path of alchemy in his last life. In terms of martial arts, he used to care about cultivation level only. His whole “journey” upwards had just been a superficial understanding of martial arts. But this time, as he once again stepped onto the path of martial arts, he suddenly discovered that martial arts could actually be very interesting too.
The Rotten Blood Wolf had become his sparring partner, allowing him to practice his moves to his heart’s content, tempering his grasp of the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts.
Ten minutes later, the Rotten Blood Wolf was already covered with cuts and bruises. This caused it to become very fearful. This seemingly weak human was actually so powerful! It did not want to retreat, but it feared even more that not only would the two not become an offering to its fangs, but it itself would become a meal for these two humans.
“There’s no escape!” Ling Han laughed loudly. The sword moved as he willed it to. Two flashes of Sword Qi were simultaneously released in between the glints of cold light.
Two flashes of Sword Qi! He had finally broke through!
“Pu!” Blood splattered as a crimson flower suddenly blossomed on the neck of the Rotten Blood Wolf. Its large body toppled over with a loud noise, its eyes open wide as if it still could not believe that a human at the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier would actually be able to kill it!
Demonic beasts had a very high level of intelligence. Powerful demonic beasts could even possibly have intelligence comparable to a human’s.
Ling Han nodded. The power of two flashes of Sword Qi was indeed huge. Previously, one flash of Sword Qi only allowed him to fight on equal footing with the Rotten Blood Wolf, but two flashes allowed him to kill it in an instant! As expected, even if the cultivation level was the same, there could still be a large discrepancy in actual strength of different martial artists.
At the side, Liu Yu Tong was once again shocked into speechlessness.
Just this little bit of time, and Ling Han had improved from one flash of Sword Qi to two. If that uncle of hers knew about this, wouldn’t he be shamed to the point of jumping into a river and drown himself? As that uncle of hers had spent more than thirty years to form four flashes of Sword Qi, he was already acclaimed as a genius swordsman by the whole clan. But, when compared to Ling Han….
However, she did not know how far ahead Ling Han’s starting line was, or how terrifying his comprehension ability was. Otherwise, how would he have been able to achieve Heaven Tier by two hundred years old in his last life?
“Dinner’s settled!” Ling Han said with a smile.
The two of them found a small brook. Settling by the brook, they cleaned the body of the Rotten Blood Wolf. They naturally wouldn’t waste the blood of a demonic beast and so poured all the blood into a pouch. Afterwards, Ling Han would bath himself in the blood to absorb the essence of it to temper his own body.
They started a fire and cut off the wolf’s leg for barbecue. After sprinkling some salt on it, a fragrant aroma very quickly wafted out.
There shouldn’t be too many demands when on a trip out in the wilderness. After they had washed the wolf’s leg with clean water from the brook and it had dried, the sky had already completely darkened. They did not continue their journey onwards. Instead, they both sat cross-legged by the brook and began cultivating.
Ling Han bathed himself in the blood of the demonic beast. He started to circulate Indestructible Heaven Scroll to extract the concentrated essence of the blood for his own use.
After merely slightly more than ten minutes, this dense, sticky beast’s blood became watery and diluted. The essence within it was already completely spent.
‘Like I thought… improving one’s physique is truly quite difficult!’ Ling Han thought.
Let’s use an example. If a martial artist in the Element Gathering Tier was consciously defending using Origin Power covering his body while being freely attacked by a martial artist of Body Refining Tier, it would be impossible for the latter to break through this layer of defense. However, if they didn’t try to defend, the defense of a martial artist of Element Gathering Tier was not much stronger than a martial artist’s of Body Refining Tier.
For instance, should a martial artist in Element Gathering Tier be ambushed by a martial artist in Body Refining Tier when asleep, then the chances were high that he would die due to his carelessness.
Meanwhile, strengthening one’s physique would ensure that this defense would be a passive and permanent one, active even when asleep or unconscious. However, the strengthening of the physique was an extremely difficult task that required the expense of a large amount of valuable natural treasures.
Ling Han had been the previous type, and had not spent much effort on strengthening his physique in his last life.
Of course, the reason why the beast’s blood could be refined so quickly was because the Indestructible Heaven Scroll was much too powerful and shockingly efficient. Otherwise, for other kinds of cultivation techniques like Stone Skin Skill, it might require about three or four days’ time to be completely refined.
Ling Han could clearly feel that his muscles had become denser and his skin tougher. If a sharp piece of rock was drawn over his skin, the most it would do would be leaving behind a white mark.
Very soon, he should be able to achieve the physique of Dead Tree Tier.
After the night had passed, the two of them continued their journey on the mountain, seeking demonic beasts to battle.
From the second day onwards, it seemed as if their luck had taken a turn for the better as they continuously encountered demonic beasts. This did not just provide Ling Han with a very good chance for accumulating actual battle experience, but also provided him with a large supply of beasts’ blood, allowing him to continuously advance in his cultivation of Indestructible Heaven Scroll.
On the fourth day, they exited the forest and saw five people sitting in a clearing not too far ahead. The five of them looked as if they had gone through a huge battle, every one of them looking quite miserable.
These five were all youngsters, all of them less than twenty years old. Three of the group had achieved the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier while the other two were in the eighth layer. In a small place like Gray Cloud Town, based on their individual cultivation level, the five of them could definitely be praised as geniuses.
Liu Yu Tong immediately took out a veil to conceal her face. She was born too beautiful and her unworldly beauty easily caused problems–though she herself had no fear of such problems.
“Brother, which town are you from?” One of the young men asked. His tone was filled with confidence, hinting that he should be from some large, wealthy clan.
Ling Han smiled, and said, “Gray Cloud Town.”
“We’re all from Guo Rock Town,” That young man continued to say, and began to introduce his group, “I am Liu Dong, he’s Chen Peng Ju, he’s Li Hao, that guy’s Zhou Chang, and this beauty here is Zhu Xue, the noble Miss Zhu.” [1]
Ling Han nodded at the five of them, and said, “I’m Ling Han, and this here is Liu Yu Tong.”
“Ling Han, we discovered a Green Spiritual Fruit just now, yet there is a very powerful demonic beast standing guard nearby, so we have no way of getting to it. How about it, are you interested in working together with us?” Liu Dong suggested to Ling Han. The reason behind his friendly attitude was revealed by his words.
“Oh?” Ling Han’s heart stirred. A Green Spiritual Fruit would not only improve the cultivation level of a martial artist, it was also very beneficial for a martial artist preparing to break through to the Element Gathering Tier. The five people in front of him were very close to achieving the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. Should they consume a Green Spiritual Fruit at this stage, it would be extremely helpful to their breakthrough.
Spiritual Fruits were different from alchemical pills. They were completely natural treasures, so consuming them had no side effects, unlike how it was the case with alchemical pills–if one were to continuously take alchemical pills, traces of poisonous impurities present in alchemical pills would accumulate within their body. However, there were some Spiritual Fruits that possessed effects so strong that they had to be refined into pills before they could be consumed. Otherwise, it would be the same as committing suicide.
“What level is that demonic beast?” Ling Han asked.
“Miasma Cloud Beast, ninth layer of Body Refining Tier,” Zhou Chang replied.
Ling Han suddenly understood why even these five people were powerless. As the Miasma Cloud Beast would continuously release large amounts of poisonous miasma during battle, fighters had to hold their breath. However, in a violent battle, even for a martial artist, how long would they be able to hold their breath for?
Thus, without crushing power to end the battle in a very short period of time, there would be no way to defeat a Miasma Cloud Beast.
“However, you must first receive a saber attack from me to prove that you possess sufficient strength,” Li Hao spoke and brandished the saber in his hand, his face showing a very cool expression, fully intent on showing off.
[1] ED/N: Guo = outer city wall. See why it’s not TLed completely now?