"Ah..."
The forest echoed with Mo Yang's pig-like screams, the lingering sound fading away...
"Instructor Mu, what are you doing?!"
Mo Yang roared, looking up at Mu Yun a hundred meters above.
"These fifteen fourth-tier demonic beasts are equivalent to fifteen fourth-tier Qi Refining Realm martial artists—oh, no, much stronger than fifteen Qi Refining Realm experts!"
"Kill them, and we'll have meat to eat tonight. If we can't kill them, they'll still have meat to eat tonight!"
"Ah?"
Hearing this, Mo Yang's face instantly turned deathly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Here's a sword. With a weapon, things should be easier!"
Mu Yun tossed down his ordinary longsword used for practice, smiling slightly. "I'm going to take a nap first. Oh, by the way, given that you dared to peek at Instructor Qin before, I won't help you. If you die, I'll leave. If you're still alive, I'll take you with me!"
With that, Mu Yun's figure vanished.
"I still have some things to do. You go ahead and do your work!"
"No...!"
Looking at the empty top of the giant tree, Mo Yang felt as if it were the end of the world.
This time, the shepherd wasn't playing around; he was serious!
Swallowing hard, Mo Yang looked at the porcupines around him, their eyes wide with disbelief, and slowly reached for his longsword.
"Brothers, just passing by, just passing by..."
Sword in hand, Mo Yang retreated step by step.
But with fifteen porcupines surrounding him, there was no room for retreat.
*Grunt, grunt, grunt...
* The dozen or so porcupines around him grunted, their long tusks gleaming white as they stared at Mo Yang.
In the blink of an eye, the quills on the porcupines stood on end, rustling softly.
Seeing those quills like thin arrows, Mo Yang leaned forward slightly.
This was a technique Qin Mengyao had taught him: when facing a group of enemies, lean forward slightly, focusing on all weaknesses.
This way, he could react and respond as quickly as possible.
*Grunt, grunt...*
Suddenly, a porcupine let out a heavy snort, its fat body shooting straight at Mo Yang's back like a cannonball.
"Get out of the way!"
Mo Yang, after all, was a martial artist at the third level of the Body Transformation Realm. At the critical moment, he turned around and thrust his sword forward, forcing the charging porcupine.
*Pfft, pfft...
* However, the porcupine was a fourth-tier demonic beast, possessing immense strength, and its entire body was naturally covered in dense, sharp quills. With this thrust,
Mo Yang not only failed to touch the porcupine's body, but was instead covered in wounds. Blood spurted from the quills covering his body, and Mo Yang couldn't help but smack his lips, inwardly cursing Mu Yun.
No wonder, no wonder Mu Yun had been so kind before, letting him soak in a medicinal bath for ten days; it turned out it was all
premeditated .
"Huh?"
Just as Mo Yang felt that he was about to die here at the prime of his life, the dense wounds on his body were actually healing little by little!
"Medicinal bath..."
At this moment, Mo Yang could clearly feel a continuous, gentle power being mobilized and circulating within every corner of his body.
Those forces, like wriggling worms, were gradually repairing the wounds on his body's surface.
"Damn it, I'll fight!"
Feeling the recovery of his inner strength, Mo Yang felt a surge of encouragement.
At this moment, Mu Yun was nowhere to be seen; he could only rely on himself.
It was either life or death.
If he died here, the Mo Family Merchant Guild would truly belong to Mo Hai and his son!
"Kill!"
With a low shout, Mo Yang's longsword flashed.
"Is this really going to work?" A hundred meters away, atop a towering tree, Qin Mengyao frowned with worry.
"Why not?"
Mu Yun, taking a bite of a wild fruit, said nonchalantly, "Your teachings have given him some guidance, but real challenges can't be trained. I even feel that this training is too lenient!"
"Too lenient?"
Qin Mengyao was speechless.
Mo Yang was originally a carefree disciple, and only at the third level of the Body Temperament Transformation Realm. Facing more than a dozen porcupines stronger than a fourth-level Body Strengthening Realm warrior, how could he possibly be a match?
Let alone a group, even just one would be enough to kill him.
"Don't worry, you're here, aren't you?" Mu Yun waved his hand indifferently and said, "I have something to do, I'll go first, you stay here and watch him!"
"You... as an instructor, you put your student in danger, and then you just run to the side to watch the show, you..."
"Please, Miss Qin!"
Mu Yun said with a mournful face, "Do you know how many spirit stones this kid has spent on medicinal baths every day from morning till night this past week? Forty-nine thousand five hundred! That's all my savings!"
"I'm still here watching the show, this kid will be dead tonight!"
Mu Yun said, ignoring Qin Mengyao, his figure flashed, he fell from the tree, and headed towards the depths of the Northern Cloud Mountains.
"This guy..."
Looking in the direction Mu Yun left, Qin Mengyao pouted and said, "He's clearly very concerned, but he acts like he doesn't care at all!"
Night gradually fell, and with a thud, Mo Yang knelt down, his body soaked in blood and sweat, his pupils completely invisible.
"No...am I going to die here
?"
Muttering to himself, a surge of resentment rose within Mo Yang as he looked at the seven or eight porcupines still eyeing him menacingly. Finally, with a thud, he crashed into the ground.
Hmph...
seeing the human's utter defeat, the seven or eight porcupines grunted and cautiously approached.
Bang bang bang...
Just as the seven or eight porcupines reached Mo Yang, preparing to finish him off, a series of ice spikes suddenly swept through the air, killing the porcupines one by one.
"Fifteen porcupines! This guy fought his way out, killing seven! That's equivalent to seven Qi Refining Realm martial artists!"
Looking at Mo Yang lying motionless on the ground, Qin Mengyao slightly opened her mouth.
"Hmm?"
Walking to Mo Yang's side and bending down, Qin Mengyao was surprised to find that the numerous wounds all over Mo Yang's body were actually healing little by little...
"Medicinal bath..."
Qin Mengyao suddenly seemed to understand something.
At the end of the day, Mo Yang fell into a deep sleep.
In his hazy state, he felt someone pulling his legs, dragging him along...
"Hmm..."
The next day, early in the morning, Mo Yang slowly opened his eyes.
In front of him was the academy's training room, surrounded by a warm and comfortable atmosphere, and he was currently inside a medicinal bath.
"Awake?"
"Mu Yun, ah! You...you...you bastard, you almost killed me, you almost killed me!"
Seeing Mu Yun, Mo Yang immediately jumped up and screamed.
Bang...
Mu Yun's light and casual punch landed, and a bump swelled up on Mo Yang's head before he quieted down.
"I almost killed you, are you dead now?"
"No... but..."
"If you're not dead, why are you making such a fuss?" Mu Yun frowned. "You've been soaking in a medicinal bath all night, you should quickly and carefully sense the energy within your body and build up what you accumulated from yesterday's battle!"
Right!
Hearing Mu Yun's words, Mo Yang finally realized.
He calmed his aura and sat upright in the medicinal bath, his breathing gradually becoming steady.
Upon this sensation, Mo Yang almost collapsed.
At the third level of the Body Transformation Realm, he possessed the strength of five oxen. Originally, although he had reached the third level, he could only barely be considered to have the strength of five oxen.
But now, he could clearly feel that every part of his body was filled with explosive power.
The strength of six oxen!
A life-or-death battle had given him the strength of six oxen.
If this continued, in just a few days, he would be able to enter the Strong Breath Realm, possessing the strength of nine oxen and two tigers!
"Tch, look at your excited face!"
Just as Mo Yang was secretly delighted, Mu Yun suddenly spoke up, "Gaining the strength of an ox in a day, you have the nerve to say that!"
"Don't forget, I, your mentor, advanced from the first level to the seventh level of the Condensing Yuan Realm in a month. Wait until you can compete with me before you're happy!"
Hearing Mu Yun's words, Qin Mengyao on the other side spoke up slightly, "Mentor Mu, how about we have a competition to see who can step into the tenth level of the Spirit Aperture Realm first!"
"..."
Compete with you? That's practically courting death!
Martial artists with the Ice Phoenix Divine Soul within their bodies are simply born favorites.
Mu Yun could sense that in a few days, Qin Mengyao would probably be able to step into the tenth level of the Physical Body Gathering Aperture Realm!
The saying "Comparison is the thief of joy" is not without reason.
For ten consecutive days, Mu Yun was running around on three fronts.
Every day, he explained weapon refining knowledge to Qi Ming, conducted demonstrations, answered Miao Xianyu's questions, and took Mo Yang to the Northern Cloud Mountains, while also constantly keeping an eye on this guy so he wouldn't accidentally die.
"Haha... Fourth level of the Body Strengthening Realm, the strength of nine oxen and two tigers! I feel like I have ten thousand jin of strength within me now! Haha..."
Inside the Northern Cloud Mountains, Mo Yang danced with excitement.
The Fourth Level of the Body Strengthening Realm—with his own talent, it would have taken him about a year to reach, but in less than half a month, under Mu Yun's grueling training, he had achieved it!
It was simply amazing!
But Mo Yang knew that he had reached this point because of Mu Yun.
Especially after learning that Mu Yun had spent tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones to buy him medicinal herbs, and even prepared medicinal baths for him every night.
Moreover, for the past ten days or so, Mu Yun had risked venturing deep into the Northern Cloud Mountains to find better medicinal herbs for his baths during each training session.
"Mo Hai, less than ten days left! You wait for me, Mo Yang is coming!"
With a low shout, Mo Yang once again rushed into the mountains to hunt for prey.
These days, it wasn't Mu Yun assigning him tasks; instead, he was actively seeking prey, risking his life to improve his strength.
Inside a tutor's office at Beiyun Academy, Diao Yadong sat upright, listening to a report from the person before him.
"For the past half-month, Mu Yun has been taking Mo Yang to the Beiyun Mountains for training every day. Today, Mo Yang reached the fourth level of the Strong Breath Realm."
"Furthermore, Qi Ming, under Mu Yun's guidance, has never left the weapon-refining room. We don't know what he's up to!"
"Miao Xianyu spends all her time going between the Sacred Pill Pavilion and the academy's alchemy room. What she's doing is completely unknown!"
Listening to his subordinate's report, Diao Yadong's brows furrowed, but soon relaxed.