"A Knight's cultivation of Battle Qi isn't just about self-training; it also requires a Battle Soul. A Knight needs to be tempered in actual combat, using the courage to draw his sword against dangerous creatures, killing them and absorbing the fierce soul from their spirit into his Battle Qi seed to advance."
"Only a Battle Soul absorbed from shedding blood in actual combat can possibly break through this bottleneck!"
"What you need to do now is engage in actual combat."
Knight Jiayou immediately pinpointed the root of the problem.
Well, Vladimir had previously planned to stay hidden in the castle, continuously improving his breathing technique until it couldn't be improved further, then emerge invincible.
It seemed that wouldn't be possible now.
"But I have no combat experience whatsoever!"
"Wouldn't it be too dangerous to go straight into battle?"
Vladimir voiced his concerns.
"Of course, you can't go straight into battle."
"Right now, you've only cultivated the breathing technique. That's equivalent to improving your physical fitness and learning how to better exert force with your body."
"But you also need to learn how to use skills, such as our family's famous Giant Bear Strike."
"Furthermore, you haven't even learned Basic Swordsmanship yet!"
"But don't worry, you're already making incredibly fast progress!"
"Next, I'll teach you Giant Bear Strike and Basic Swordsmanship!"
After an afternoon of learning,
these two skills finally appeared on Vladimir's personal panel.
"Giant Bear Strike: Mimics a giant bear standing up, using the rotational inertia to gather all Battle Qi power into the right hand, then swinging it forward and to the left, dealing double damage. Current Progress: 1%"
"Basic Swordsmanship: Primarily includes fundamental sword movements such as chopping, hacking, thrusting, sweeping, lifting, and parrying. It can increase the damage of sword-type weapons by 50%. Current Progress: 1%"
It seemed the system wasn't limited to a single skill progress; it was just that Vladimir only had one skill before.
Because Giant Bear Strike was very strenuous, Vladimir needed to rest for two hours after each practice. Fortunately, each practice increased his progress by ten percentage points.
Vladimir had no choice but to practice Basic Swordsmanship during the intervals of training Giant Bear Strike.
Additionally, the special meat provided for dinner also helped to promptly repair his slightly torn and strained muscles.
Thus, two days later, he had mastered both Basic Swordsmanship and Giant Bear Strike.
And just at this time, the reinforcements had also finished their rest.
So Duke Utah no longer hesitated! He prepared to march his troops into the primeval forest, determined to resolve this ticking time bomb in a single decisive battle.
When he learned that his sixth son's cultivation had progressed rapidly and that he needed actual combat to break through his bottleneck, he was very happy.
He then arranged for Vladimir to stay by his side, looking for suitable opportunities for him to engage in actual combat!
When the family Knights led the family soldiers at the front, with the reinforcements at the rear, and Duke Utah and his sons in the middle, forming a massive army, they arrived at the outskirts of the forest!
Vladimir noticed that there were about twenty official Knights and over a hundred Knight Squires in the family.
The family reinforcements also brought over thirty Knights and nearly two hundred Knight Squires.
Plus about a thousand ordinary militiamen!
Standing on the outskirts of the forest and looking down, there was a vast throng of people.
"Everyone, today we must clear this forest. Everyone, listen to my command!"
"First, our objective this time is to clear all magical beasts within this primeval forest! There are intermediate magical beasts in this forest, and it's uncertain if there are any advanced magical beasts."
"Therefore, our strategy will be a gradual advance!"
"Every time we advance about 1000 meters, we will clear the trees we pass!"
"After clearing, we will advance another 1000 meters!"
"During this time, absolutely no reckless advances!"
"Each Knight will lead six Knight Squires and twenty militiamen as a small team!"
"Militiamen will use tools to cut down trees and arrange them neatly!"
"Knight Squires will be responsible for vigilance and defense!"
"Knights will be in the center, providing support!"
"Has everyone understood?"
Duke Utah's voice, like a roaring lion, resounded across the entire field. Because he possessed the cultivation of an Earth Knight, his voice was exceptionally loud. Basically, everyone present could hear him clearly.
"Understood!" everyone present replied in unison.
"Good, then let's go. Don't worry, if I discover any advanced magical beasts, I will rush to provide support immediately!"
Upon hearing the command, these nearly two thousand people surged into the primeval forest like a torrent.
Initially, progress was very smooth.
Because there were no strong magical beasts on the outskirts of the forest.
And every time they advanced a thousand meters, the militiamen would scatter some insect-repelling potions and powders on the ground to drive away small insects.
Only then would they begin to cut down the trees.
However, after advancing about twenty kilometers,
the horse-sized scorpions that James had previously discovered appeared.
And there were many of them, about fifty to sixty.
Since the strength of these magical beasts was still unclear, Duke Utah, for safety's sake, ordered a halt to the advance, then organized all the Knights to charge at the group of scorpions.
Duke Utah then discovered that these scorpions were not truly intermediate magical beasts; they were only peak-level primary magical beasts beginning to transform into intermediate ones.
Relying on his powerful strength as an Earth Knight, he could basically kill one scorpion with a single sword strike.
However, ordinary official Knights found it somewhat difficult to face a single scorpion.
The scorpion's tail contained potent venom; an ordinary Knight would instantly lose his combat ability after being stung.
Therefore, ordinary Knights fought the scorpions with extreme caution.
Most of the scorpions were eliminated by Duke Utah.
Vladimir's elder brother, James, also eliminated three or four scorpions.
Finally, after an hour of battle, all the scorpions were eliminated.
So, the advance continued.
This land, which had not seen sunlight for an unknown number of years, was finally completely exposed to human sight.
After advancing another fifty kilometers or so, which was roughly two-fifths of the forest,
a gigantic tree appeared in the forest.
This massive tree was at least three hundred meters tall. It was lush with branches and leaves, and the diameter of its crown base was probably over a hundred meters, making it impossible to see what was hidden within the canopy.
The diameter of its trunk base also exceeded twenty meters. The tree was surrounded by various parasitic vines, climbing ivy, morning glories, and other climbing plants.
"Everyone, halt!"
Duke Utah suddenly commanded loudly and urgently.
Vladimir looked at his father's serious expression and premonitioned that there might be something in that tree that even an Earth Knight found extremely formidable.
But whatever was hidden in the tree crown didn't seem to intend to come down!
This made Duke Utah decide to strike first.
Since the thing wouldn't come down, he would cut down the tree and see if it would come down then.
Vladimir watched his father slowly approach the giant tree, getting within about 5 meters.
Then, holding his breath, his entire aura continuously surged.
The greatsword, about 1.5 meters long, in his hand also began to emit fiercely burning flame Battle Qi.
After about two seconds of accumulating power, Duke Utah suddenly swung the greatsword in his hand in a full circle, using all his strength to chop at the base of the giant tree.
The gushing flame Battle Qi instantly extended the sword's blade by tens of meters.
It was like a sharp line of fire that instantly sliced diagonally through the entire base of the large tree.
With a loud crash, the entire tree could no longer remain upright and slowly toppled backward along the cut surface.
Just as Duke Utah's strength was depleted and he hadn't yet recovered his breath,
a huge head darted down from the tree canopy.
It was a gigantic, triangular snake head.
The snake eyes, larger than car wheels, glowed with a cold light.
The snake head, covered in hard, cold scales, shot towards Duke Utah with lightning speed.
Vladimir's heart involuntarily tensed, worried if his father could withstand such a terrifying giant beast.
"Shield of Courage!"
Duke Utah roared, raising the massive shield from his back to his front. At the same time, he condensed a thick layer of flame Battle Qi onto the shield.
A thud, like Mars colliding with Earth, produced a violent roar.
Vladimir involuntarily closed his eyes, feeling dizzy for nearly three full seconds before recovering.
When he opened his eyes, his vision was somewhat blurry. After another two seconds, he settled his mind, and his vision began to clear.
Vladimir saw that Duke Utah was no longer in his original position; he had been pushed back about ten meters by the giant snake's terrifying impact.
The ground itself had deep furrows carved out by Duke Utah's legs.
The giant snake that attacked Duke Utah was also not doing well; it was shaking its head at the point of impact, trying to stand upright but struggling to do so.
Fortunately, Duke Utah recovered more quickly. After all, the giant snake had hit the shield with its head, while Duke Utah's body had only absorbed the force through the shield.
He quickly approached the giant snake in three strides, then leaped high.
"Opportunistic Slash!"
Duke Utah, fast as lightning, chopped off the giant snake's head.
The entire snake head was sent flying, about twelve to thirteen meters away.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed,
a Knight near the snake head suddenly let out a scream.
The snake head, which should have been dead, surprisingly shot out a long forked tongue.
It coiled around a Knight who couldn't dodge in time, pulling him into its mouth and biting him.
Everyone thought the Knight was doomed, about to die in the snake's jaws, but the snake's grip slowly loosened.
It turned out that even after being decapitated, the giant snake still had a few seconds of life left; only after these few seconds would the snake truly die.
Although the entire battle lasted only a few tens of seconds, Duke Utah was already panting with exhaustion.
But at this moment, he disregarded his fatigue and quickly approached the snake's head. He swiftly forced open its mouth and rescued the Knight from the family reinforcements who was inside.
Fortunately, that Knight was wearing steel armor. And the snake's head likely had no strength left at the end, so its fangs did not pierce the Knight's body.
After taking some antidote, the unfortunate Knight slowly regained consciousness.
"Carry him down to rest!" Duke Utah breathed a sigh of relief and instructed the surrounding warriors to carry the injured Knight away.
Then, after resting for about an hour, the entire team resumed cutting down trees.
Finally, before sunset, they had cleared the entire primeval forest.
They not only harvested numerous magical beast meats and materials but also found many rare plants.
Most importantly, there were no deaths throughout the entire battle. This greatly boosted everyone's morale.
When the last layer of trees in the primeval forest was cut down, Vladimir discovered that behind the forest was a bottomless cliff.
The bottom of the cliff was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see what lay below. Only the faint sound of waves crashing against the cliff face could be heard.
The opposite side of the cliff was also a misty expanse. However, these clouds of water vapor were unusually warm and humid.
After cutting down the trees, no one carried them back. These trees would later be transported back to the territory by farmers using oxcarts.
If the Knights were to carry them by hand, it would be a colossal undertaking.
The only regret was that due to the somewhat perilous process, Vladimir never found an opportunity for actual combat.
Duke Utah patted his sixth son's shoulder and said with a smile,
"You're out of luck, lad; no chance for actual combat this time. But it doesn't matter, our territory is on the border of the country, so there will definitely be opportunities for you to gain combat experience."
