The next morning, the first light of dawn flickered, and the mist in the forest had yet to fully dissipate. The campfire had long since extinguished, leaving only a thin trail of smoke curling upward. Yu Yuanchen, Tang Chen, and Qian Daoliu opened their eyes almost simultaneously. After a night of regulating their breath, the fatigue from yesterday's fierce battle had been swept away, and their spirits were once again full.
"Shall we set off?" Tang Chen stretched his limbs, which emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds, his eyes filled with a restless fighting spirit.
Qian Daoliu elegantly smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles on his robes and gave a slight nod. "We are already near the Savage Beast Hills; we must be more cautious."
Yu Yuanchen stood up, his Electric Field Perception quietly spreading out. Feeling the active and chaotic aura of the soul beasts in the surroundings, he nodded and said, "Let's go. Let us meet the 'masters' of these Savage Beast Hills."
The three did not delay any further. With Yu Yuanchen, who possessed the keenest perception, leading the way, Tang Chen providing support from the center, and Qian Daoliu utilizing his flight advantage to circle at low altitude—balancing reconnaissance and support—they maintained a loose triangular formation and headed deep into the hills.
The terrain of the Savage Beast Hills was quite peculiar. It was not merely composed of towering mountains and high ridges, but rather a complex landscape of countless rolling hills, deep canyons, and dense primeval forests. The vegetation here was exceptionally lush, with many trees displaying an unnatural dark green color, and the air was filled with a faint, unsettling aura of restlessness.
They had traveled less than a few miles when the first encounter arrived unexpectedly.
"Roar!"
Accompanied by a roar filled with violence, the bushes on the left suddenly exploded, and a massive soul beast charged out like an out-of-control chariot! It resembled a giant bear, but its entire body was covered in dark red scales. Its shoulder height exceeded three meters, and when it stood on its hind legs, it reached nearly five meters. Its bear eyes were as red as blood, and saliva dripped from its mouth, exuding the violent aura of a ten-thousand-year soul beast!
"It's a Raging Earth Dragon Bear! Judging by its size and aura, it has at least fifteen thousand years of cultivation!" Qian Daoliu's voice came from the air, carrying a hint of gravity. This type of soul beast possessed immense strength, astonishing defense, and remained in a state of permanent rage, making it quite difficult to deal with.
The Raging Earth Dragon Bear clearly viewed the three as intruders. Without any hesitation, it kicked off the ground with its thick hind legs, charging straight at Yu Yuanchen, who was in the lead, with the momentum of a landslide! Its scale-covered giant palm carried a fierce wind that tore through the air as it smashed down!
"Well come!" A flash of purple lightning appeared in Yu Yuanchen's eyes, but he did not meet the blow head-on. His footwork shifted, and his figure slid to the side and rear like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the heavy, powerful strike. The giant palm slammed into the ground, leaving a deep claw mark as earth and stone flew.
Just as the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's old strength was spent and its new strength had not yet arisen, Tang Chen, who was on the flank, moved!
He made no flashy movements, simply stepping forward in a direct, straightforward manner. His body half-rotated, and the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand carried a thick, condensed force. With a simple, unadorned "Liao Hammer" from bottom to top, he precisely slammed into the relatively vulnerable area under the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's armpit!
"Bang!"
The muffled sound was like thunder! The Raging Earth Dragon Bear's massive body was actually lifted slightly by this hammer strike. It let out a pained roar, and fine cracks appeared on the scales under its armpit! Tang Chen's timing, angle, and power for this strike were perfect; he had seized the opportunity created by Yu Yuanchen's dodge to deal the most effective damage.
The Raging Earth Dragon Bear, stung by the pain, became even more furious. It abandoned Yu Yuanchen and turned to pounce on Tang Chen.
However, a golden sword light like falling fire from the horizon pierced silently yet with extreme speed toward the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's other eye! It was Qian Daoliu! He had dived down at some point, his Angel Sacred Sword pointing directly at the vital spot.
The Raging Earth Dragon Bear instinctively closed its eyes and turned its head, trying to resist the sword with the hard scales on its forehead.
"Sss—"
Sparks flew everywhere! The Sacred Sword broke through the hard forehead armor and cut through flesh, but was blocked by the even harder skull. The intense pain in its head and the burning of the sacred aura caused the Raging Earth Dragon Bear to let out a shrill, furious roar.
At this moment, Yu Yuanchen had already circled to the side and rear of the Raging Earth Dragon Bear. Lightning condensed on his dragon-transformed right arm. Instead of using the more energy-consuming Thunder Dragon Claw, he highly compressed his Thunder Power at his fingertip, forming a condensed Purple Lightning Finger Sword, which struck like lightning at the joint connection of the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's hind leg!
"Sss!"
The electric light had immense penetrating power. Although it failed to completely cripple the leg joint, the instantaneous numbness and stinging pain caused the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's massive body to stagger, and its movement was immediately hindered.
The three's attacks were like a sudden storm, yet they were not a tightly integrated coordination. It was more like each of them seized a fleeting opportunity, and while completing their own attacks, they happened to create conditions for the others or cover the gaps left by another's attack. Tang Chen focused on frontal assaults with overbearing power; Yu Yuanchen roamed the flanks, excelling in speed and penetration; Qian Daoliu controlled the air, providing precise strikes and suppression. They did not deliberately coordinate with each other, but rather made the most rational choices based on their judgment of the battlefield situation and their own fighting styles.
The Raging Earth Dragon Bear, despite having ten thousand years of cultivation and a formidable physical body, appeared exceptionally clumsy and stifled under the "fighting individually yet supporting each other" style of these three peerless geniuses. Every one of its attacks either missed or was cleverly diverted or blocked, while it had to endure continuous strikes from different angles and different attributes.
Every time Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer fell, it shook the beast's bloodline power and caused its scales to shatter; Yu Yuanchen's Purple Lightning Finger Sword and occasional bursts of Thunder Dragon Claw always found its relatively weak defensive points, bringing stinging pain and numbness; Qian Daoliu's Angel Sacred Sword was like a sword hanging over its head, constantly threatening its vitals and forcing it to divide its attention for defense.
The battle lasted for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. The Raging Earth Dragon Bear was covered in wounds, its movements becoming increasingly sluggish. Although its blood-red eyes remained crazy, they also carried a hint of powerlessness and fatigue.
"That's enough!" Tang Chen shouted, his Fifth Soul Ring lighting up again. "Fifth Soul Skill, Earthquake Mountain!"
He seized the moment when the Raging Earth Dragon Bear was forced to tilt its head and roar by one of Yu Yuanchen's thunder claws, and smashed his Clear Sky Hammer, carrying a terrifying shockwave, directly onto its relatively vulnerable throat!
"Crack!"
A clear sound of bone fracture rang out! The Raging Earth Dragon Bear's roar stopped abruptly. Its massive body collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitched a few times, and then fell silent.
The battle ended.
Tang Chen leaned on his hammer, looked at the corpse on the ground, and grinned. "This beast, its skin is really thick!"
Qian Daoliu landed lightly, his wings retracted and his Sacred Sword sheathed. His breathing was steady as he commented, "Its strength and defense are indeed top-tier, but it's a pity its intelligence is too low; it only knows how to fight on instinct."
Yu Yuanchen also dissipated his soul power and walked over. Looking at the black soul ring slowly condensing on the Raging Earth Dragon Bear's corpse, he said thoughtfully, "Although the soul beasts here lack intelligence, this pure violence and the beastly instinct born from life force are quite rare. Fighting against them requires even higher control over power and timing."
The three looked at each other, and each saw a hint of approval in the others' eyes. The battle just now was less of a coordination and more of a "resonance" based on top-tier combat literacy. They did not need words to roughly predict each other's movements and intentions, thereby taking actions most beneficial to the situation.
After a short rest and harvesting the most valuable scales and bear gall from the Raging Earth Dragon Bear, the three continued deeper.
As they ventured further, the soul beasts they encountered became stronger and more diverse. There were "Shadow Blade Leopards" that excelled in stealth and ambushes, "Thousand-Legged Rot Lizards" that could spray poisonous mist, and "Blood Beak Vultures" that traveled in packs and were fierce in nature...
Every battle was by no means easy. These soul beasts might have low intelligence, but relying on their powerful instincts, strange skills, and the bonuses provided by the special environment of the Savage Beast Hills, they could often unleash combat power far exceeding their age.
During an encounter where they were besieged by nearly a hundred Blood Beak Vultures, the three felt pressure for the first time. The individual strength of these vultures was only around a thousand years, but they were numerous, swift in flight, and fearless of death, launching suicide attacks from all directions. Although Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer had immense power, it was somewhat difficult to deal with such agile, small flying targets. While Qian Daoliu and Yu Yuanchen had large-area attack capabilities, the soul beasts in these Savage Beast Hills all possessed tenacious life force, making it impossible to quickly inflict serious damage on them.
In that battle, the three had to stand back-to-back to form a simple defensive formation, each responsible for one direction, pushing their respective strengths to the limit. Tang Chen's hammer wind roared, smashing any vulture that dared to approach into pulp; Qian Daoliu's sword light was like a curtain, its sacred aura making the vultures afraid to dive easily, and those that did approach were directly split in two; Yu Yuanchen clapped his claws repeatedly, and condensed thunder claw marks exploded in the air, the electric light weaving into a net that injured a large number of vultures, and those that approached through the lightning were directly crushed by his claws.
After the battle, all three were somewhat disheveled, with small claw marks on their bodies and significant consumption of soul power. But after this engagement, they had a deeper understanding of how to maximize their own advantages in chaotic situations and provide effective support to their companions.
Night fell again, and the three found a cave to spend the night.
Beside the campfire, while Tang Chen was treating a deep, bone-reaching claw mark on his arm (from a sneak attack by a ten-thousand-year Phantom Cat), he gritted his teeth and said, "This damn place, why are all the soul beasts like they've gone mad? They don't care about their lives at all when they fight!"
Qian Daoliu used holy light condensed from his soul power to treat the burn on his shoulder (caused by the flame splash of a ten-thousand-year Flame Burst Monkey). Hearing this, he said indifferently, "If not for this madness, how could this place become a place for training? Fighting them can better temper our ability to adapt to circumstances and our will under extreme pressure."
Yu Yuanchen silently circulated his soul power to nourish his somewhat overdrawn meridians and the bite marks on his legs (from a ten-thousand-year Ghost Pattern Savage Wolf that insisted on biting him even as it died). The continuous battles during the day made his use of the "Thunder God Power" more proficient and his mobilization of his bloodline power increasingly handy. He discovered that under extreme pressure, that Purple Gold Scale would also heat up slightly, faintly accelerating the recovery of his soul power and stamina.
"Today's battle was quite rewarding," Yu Yuanchen opened his eyes and said. "Especially when facing those strange and troublesome soul beasts, our attacks often require faster transitions and more precise landing points."
Tang Chen nodded in deep agreement. "That's right. If my last hammer had been off by even half an inch, that Shadow Blade Leopard might have slipped away." He was referring to a bitter battle in the afternoon where an extremely cunning ten-thousand-year Shadow Blade Leopard was finally forced into a dead end by the three and finished off by Tang Chen's hammer.
Qian Daoliu looked at the pitch-black night outside the cave, his gaze deep. "This is only the beginning. It is said that there are even more powerful existences deep in the Savage Beast Hills, and there is no shortage of powerful soul beasts over fifty thousand years old. We must be even more careful."
Yu Yuanchen and Tang Chen both looked solemn and nodded.
The path of training had only just begun. The Savage Beast Hills used its savagery and danger as a gift to welcome the three geniuses. And in the tempering of blood and fire, the three were also digesting the gains of the battle at an astonishing speed, solidifying the foundation for their path to becoming the strong.
───────────────
Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan