Chen Xiaojun's Seeing Blood

The next day, Chen Wu took Chen Xiaojun out through the stone wall at the village's North Gate. They passed several li of open ground, and it was precisely because of this stretch of land that Soul Beasts did not dare come out and attack the village. Everything was visible at a glance, making it easy for them to be exposed and slaughtered.

When they arrived outside Black Moon Forest, Chen Wu said to him, "Little Xiaojun, go in by yourself. Yu Bo wants you to see some blood, so I can't follow you, or I'll scare them all off. So, although I've already spoken with the Black Moon Grey Wolves, there will always be some loners, some savage and brutal ones. Be careful."

Though Chen Wu had "Wu" in his name, he did not look burly and powerful at all. Instead, he was very well-proportioned. As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished.

"Uncle, your beard is too thick. It affects your speed," Chen Xiaojun shouted, then smiled and walked into the forest.

"... My beard is famously thin!"

Chen Xiaojun searched through the forest for over an hour like this and discovered a Soul Beast that had appeared here rather strangely: a Gale Wolf.

Although they were both wolf-type Soul Beasts, their relationship with each other was not good. It was rather odd for a Gale Wolf to appear in Black Moon Wolf territory.

Forget it. From the look of it, it had two or three hundred years of cultivation, and there was only one of it. It was definitely alone. At this point, he would ignore everything else.

Chen Xiaojun circulated his Soul Power and took a sheathed precious sword from his Storage Bracelet. The sword had a long, slender body with a pointed tip. The edges on both sides were silver, while the spine and faces of the blade were blue. The blade was two chi, two cun, and three fen long, and one cun wide. At the rear, the hilt had a black base with gold-edged spiral patterns, while the pommel was shaped like a bird's head. It had no crossguard to protect the hand. It was a sword forged as one piece.

The entire sword was two chi, eight cun, and seven fen long. Its name was Wind Phoenix. Its appearance was magnificent and elegant, its ring clear and bright. It had been forged in one piece, its edge incomparably sharp, its body light yet tough. It could bend ninety degrees and spring straight again without deforming, and it excelled at thrusts, piercing attacks, and slicing cuts.

This was a top-grade sword forged from special metal that the Chen Clan had collected. A year ago, grandfather had given it to Chen Xiaojun for everyday use, and Chen Xiaojun loved it dearly.

Although Chen Xiaojun was only six years old, he had soaked in Medicinal Baths and eaten medicated meals year-round, and the Spirit Qi on Douluo Continent was even richer than on Blue Star, so his body was in excellent condition. He was 1.3 meters tall, so using a 95-centimeter sword was fairly suitable, and it felt extremely handy.

(PS: The physiological development indicators for six-year-old boys in Blue Star's Celestial Dynasty put height at 104.1–132.1 cm, with an average of 117.7 cm. Because of the difference in Spirit Qi between the two worlds, the higher value was taken.)

Chen Xiaojun activated Sword Shadow Body and entered combat state. The sword shadow behind him flashed and vanished as he charged straight at the Gale Wolf.

After the Gale Wolf discovered Chen Xiaojun, it immediately activated its innate skill—Gale Blade. Two wind blades came hurtling toward him.

As the wind blades drew close, Chen Xiaojun stepped forward with his left foot and heavily tapped the ground, flashing past the first wind blade. Then his right foot spun, dodging the second. It was precisely one of the shifting and evasion moves in Sword Step: Square Inch Lotus Sway.

It had many uses, emphasizing "movement without fixed rules, seeming dangerous yet safe," like dancing on the tip of a sword.

Then, with Starfall Thunder Strike, he appeared at the Gale Wolf's right side like a meteor and a bolt of lightning. The Wind Phoenix Sword in his hand flicked out several Sword Flowers as he stabbed toward the Gale Wolf's waist.

This Gale Wolf was over two meters long and about one and a half meters tall. It looked to have more than two hundred years of cultivation.

As the saying went, "a copper head, iron tail, and doufu waist"—wolf-type Soul Beasts were no exception. It twisted its body, and its tail came whipping over. If Chen Xiaojun took that hit, he would more or less be wounded.

Although this was Chen Xiaojun's first time facing a century-old Soul Beast, years of Chen Clan education still left him rather composed. He used the sword sheath in his left hand to block, borrowed the force to activate Swift Body Flying Duck, and moved along with the Gale Wolf. The Wind Phoenix Sword fell like scattered raindrops, slicing across the wolf's waist.

If Starfall Thunder Strike emphasized leg explosiveness and straight-line assault, while Square Inch Lotus Sway was a technique of rapid calf movement for small-range lateral shifts, rotations, and evasions, then Swift Body Flying Duck lay between the two. The body became light and nimble like a flying duck, drifting unpredictably with continuous changes. It was an advancing footwork method for short-range coordination with sword techniques.

The Wind Phoenix Sword truly did not disappoint him. It was genuinely incomparably sharp and remarkably resilient. The Gale Wolf let out a miserable cry as several sword marks appeared across its waist, its blood staining its body red.

The Gale Wolf's eyes turned scarlet, and green light flared across its whole body. A whirlwind wrapped around it as it pounced at Chen Xiaojun.

Chen Xiaojun charged in the opposite direction, slid onto his knees, and the Wind Phoenix Sword pierced through the whirlwind, cutting across the Gale Wolf's abdomen.

"Awooo... woo..." With a shrill cry, its abdomen burst open. Blood and shattered internal organs spilled all over the ground in a bloody scene.

A few seconds later, the Gale Wolf collapsed with a dim look in its eyes, whimpering, "Wuwuwu," as a century-old yellow soul ring rose, shining brightly.

"What a pity about this century-old soul ring. It's not what I want. It isn't qualified." Chen Xiaojun shook his head and prodded the wolf's remains.

"As expected, there's no soul bone. And wolf meat doesn't taste good either, so I'll leave it as an extra meal for the other Soul Beasts." As he spoke, he continued walking deeper into the forest.

Through this fight with the Gale Wolf, Chen Xiaojun more or less understood his own strength. Dealing with century-old Soul Beasts should not be much of a problem.

Next, he killed a few small Soul Beasts and found a small pool of water. Around it, he began observing to see if there were any Soul Beasts he could handle that also tasted good.

Before long, he discovered an ox-type Soul Beast. It should only have just passed a hundred years. With Starfall Thunder Strike, he swiftly moved to the ox's side, pierced its head in one thrust, and finished it off.

Chen Xiaojun began to break down the beef. Ever since he started practicing the sword, he had deliberately practiced slaughtering and cutting Soul Beast Meat under the pretext of helping his mother.

In truth, before he transmigrated, his cooking skills had already been quite good. Influenced by what he had seen and heard since childhood, and because it was his interest, he had watched food streamers teach cooking step by step. Though his skills could not be called especially outstanding, they were above the average person's. After transmigrating, he had also made some dishes at home.

Suddenly, the sword Chen Xiaojun was using to cut the meat dipped downward. The blade bent and sprang up, letting him avoid a sharp, vicious gray-black Beast Claw beside him. A figure appeared three meters away from him. It was a Shadowless Leopard.

It was a leopard with a gray-black body covered in purple star patterns, and it was over two meters long. For a Soul Beast, that was not large. Shadowless Leopards were already considered small among leopard-type Soul Beasts, perhaps because a smaller body made it easier to conceal themselves.

A Soul Beast like the Shadowless Leopard was a higher-tier Soul Beast, a Grade Seven Soul Beast. Its attack power was not strong compared with others of its kind, but its skills were extremely troublesome.

Just now, it had definitely used its innate skill, Leopard Shadow Stealth, to sneak near Chen Xiaojun, then silently dart out. Fortunately, Chen Xiaojun had been alert, and on top of that, it had to reveal itself when attacking.

Rumor had it that this world contained a parallel world of shadows, attached to the material world, and only Soul Beasts and soul masters with shadow-type talents or shadow-type skills could enter it.

Because it was of a shadow nature, perhaps due to interference from the real world, when entering or leaving that world, if one snuck within a certain range of a living being in reality, one would inevitably appear. As for the distance, it depended on both sides' cultivation, but it started at least at one zhang.

Fortunately, this was the case. Otherwise, if they could freely shuttle between the two worlds, shadow-type Soul Beasts and soul masters would be everyone else's nightmare. Even so, they were still very dangerous.

Thankfully, there were not many Soul Beasts and soul masters of this type.

As soon as the Shadowless Leopard landed, it immediately activated Leopard Shadow Stealth again. Its figure flashed and disappeared at once, as if it had jumped into the parallel Shadow World again.

"Troublesome. I can only use that move."

Chen Xiaojun immediately slid the Wind Phoenix Sword back into its sheath and gripped the hilt, standing there quietly. There was only the sound of a light breeze gently sweeping past. For a moment, the surroundings felt utterly silent, giving the illusion that the air had frozen.

Chen Xiaojun focused completely. Suddenly, he saw footprints appear one after another not far to his left, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He circulated Soul Power according to the method of Sword Palm, and a Sword God Pearl shot whistling toward that spot, knocking out the figure of the Shadowless Leopard.

But in the nick of time, a black Claw attacked from behind Chen Xiaojun toward the center of his back. Fatal danger appeared.

Chen Xiaojun tapped the tip of his foot and spun back—Square Inch Lotus Sway. In an instant, he drew the sword from its sheath.

He moved like Thunder, turning to slash horizontally. The blade, like lightning, flew backward along the force of his rotation, leaving behind an inescapable trace swift as the wind.

His sword was even faster than before, nearly twice as fast, as if it had crossed through space. It sliced through the neck of the Soul Beast behind him, sending its head flying as a column of blood shot upward. It was the Shadowless Leopard.

Another yellow soul ring appeared. The fake Shadowless Leopard figure in front of him slowly vanished as well.

It had been only one meter away from Chen Xiaojun. At such close range, it had already been extremely dangerous; some blood had even splashed onto him.

"Good thing that copy of Illustrated Handbook of Rare Soul Beasts let me know the Shadowless Leopard also has the innate skill 'Shadow Splitting Technique.' Otherwise, I'd at least have been dyed red."

After Chen Xiaojun withdrew the Sword God Pearl, he sat down and regulated his breathing for a short while, then continued butchering the Soul Beast Meat. He washed the thighs and ribs and packed them into the Shining Light Bracelet—and there were two of them!

At noon, he casually ate some prepared dried Soul Beast Meat, then continued searching for Soul Beasts.

By evening, Chen Xiaojun arrived at a cave. This was a traditional Chen Clan "Rest Camp," with good ventilation and light.

Because people had long come here to train and clear the area, checking the conditions within several hundred meters nearby, there were no Soul Beasts.

He then scattered some powder at the cave entrance to ward off insects and ants, ready to have a proper meal, and took out a stew pot.

"Tonight I'm stewing tomato beef. It'll definitely smell amazing." Chen Xiaojun thought of this, and figured the aroma definitely would not drift several hundred meters away, so the danger would be very small.

He put in the yellow ox ribs and hindleg meat, poured in yellow wine, brought the clear water to a boil, skimmed off the blood foam, and added Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and diced tomatoes. The cooking utensils and seasonings his mother Ye Xiuxin had prepared for him were quite complete.

As he lowered the flame and slowly stewed it, waiting, he hummed a song: "...I once broke off flowers toward Jiangnan, facing the spring breeze and red candles. The passionate are always like me, free-spirited, loving all under heaven... I once watered my horse toward the north of the river, facing the west wind and yellow sands. The heartless are also like me, cutting down peach blossoms beneath my sword..."

This song, Not Called Hero, was one of the few ancient-style songs he liked very much. Chen Xiaojun had always favored songs with a martial-world flavor—unrestrained and carefree, roaming the world.

"I have to stay here for three full days, find Heiyue and the Black Moon Wolf clan, and challenge their Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts. This won't just test my combat power, but also my wilderness survival ability. Uncle is definitely nearby. He has to accompany me for three days without showing himself; that really is hard work.

In today's battles, the ground was uneven and my movement was obstructed. My Sword Step was still a little rusty in practice, and I wasn't very used to it.

Against that Gale Wolf, I could have activated Sword Shadow Body faster, making it flow naturally, or else not activated it and just launched a direct sneak attack. I need to use it flexibly.

The Sword Drawing Technique's power was decent, and its speed was nearly twice as fast as my normal sword speed, but it still wasn't enough. That Shadowless Leopard's claws were almost on me. That was seriously dangerous.

What a pity. That leopard's innate skills, whether Leopard Shadow Stealth or Shadow Splitting Technique, were really well suited to my First Soul Skill. It's just that its age was a bit too low, only three or four hundred years, and the Shadowless Leopard's elegant, refined charm was also a little lacking.

Over the next few days, I need to find a few more hundred-year Soul Beasts and fight them properly."

The next day, Chen Xiaojun fought more than a dozen hundred-year Soul Beasts during the day. Utterly exhausted, he sat in meditation to rest, casting aside all distracting thoughts, clearing his mind, and wholeheartedly circulating the Upright Sword Qi Technique.

In Daoism, there was a saying that the speed of circulating qi had the "three forces" of sheep force, deer force, and tiger force: slow and cautious like a sheep pulling a cart, striding quickly like a deer running swiftly, and surging fiercely like a tiger in full sprint.

After today's battles, his Soul Power had been almost completely depleted. The upper and lower yin-yang acupoints absorbed Soul Power even more fiercely than usual—yes, fiercely like a tiger. His Soul Power boiled, like an endless rushing current surging through his meridians. After all, the outside Soul Power was relatively active, pouring into him.

Chen Xiaojun sensed that the Soul Power circulating and stored within his meridians was rapidly increasing.

Because he had not yet opened his soul nest, the amount of Soul Power his meridians could store was relatively small. He had to constantly nourish and expand his meridians before he could store more Soul Power.

As for your Recommendation Tickets and collections, I'm rubbing my hands in anticipation, hehehe.