First Battle Hunting Demons

Lu Chen watched the Ironclad Rhinoceros charge toward him and instantly steadied his mind. He might have been joking about being sat to death by it just moments ago, but once an enemy had attacked, he had to set his mind straight and face the battle. That was the courage of a cultivator: never fearing enemies, never fearing enemies, even if they were ten thousand times stronger than oneself.

As Lu Chen watched the Ironclad Rhinoceros charge over, he did not dare underestimate it in the slightest. He immediately assumed an attacking stance. Just as the Ironclad Rhinoceros was about to reach him, he used Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds to dart behind its rump, punched it squarely in the backside, then followed with a palm strike.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros immediately felt pain in its rear and tried to turn around, but its massive body was too cumbersome to twist. By the time it had turned around, it had already suffered five palm chops from Lu Chen.

Seeing the Ironclad Rhinoceros turn around, Lu Chen used Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair to restrict it, then used Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds to leap behind it. After repeating this several times, the Ironclad Rhinoceros, constantly under attack, grew even more frenzied and began charging about wildly.

Lu Chen leaped onto the top of a tree. He had already understood the Ironclad Rhinoceros's attack patterns and rhythm, and he now understood why Feng Tiancheng had said this Ironclad Rhinoceros was ideal as a first demonic beast for training. He intended to use this chance to practice his movement technique, martial skills, and divine abilities on the Ironclad Rhinoceros. As long as he controlled the rhythm of his attacks well, he could kite the Ironclad Rhinoceros to death through attrition, while also tempering his use of spiritual energy.

No sooner said than done. Lu Chen began attacking the Ironclad Rhinoceros without pause, practicing one move after another—fists, palm chops, Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds, Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair, Azure Emperor Divine Vine—constantly improving his control over the amount of spiritual energy he used.

Only then did the Ironclad Rhinoceros's astonishing defense truly show itself. Even after Lu Chen had attacked for so long, the Ironclad Rhinoceros had only sustained a few minor wounds. But that suited Lu Chen just fine.

As Lu Chen continued using the Ironclad Rhinoceros for practice, its wounds gradually deepened.

Suddenly, the Ironclad Rhinoceros stopped and roared twice at the sky. Its body then began to swell and grow larger, while its horn thickened and lengthened by a full circle.

Feng Tiancheng's voice hurriedly rang out. "Little Lu, be careful. This beast is about to evolve."

Seeing this, Lu Chen inwardly cried out that things were bad. Once the Ironclad Rhinoceros evolved, it would reach the seventh level of the Qi Gathering Realm. An Ironclad Rhinoceros at the seventh level of Qi Gathering was not something he could handle. He could not keep practicing; he had to speed up and kill it.

Lu Chen increased the force of his attacks, hoping to eliminate the Ironclad Rhinoceros before its transformation was complete. Yet after Lu Chen had only attacked twice, the Ironclad Rhinoceros finished advancing. Lu Chen quickly flashed backward, intending to observe it clearly before attacking again.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros's body had doubled in size, and the pair of horns atop its head radiated a fiery red glow. It charged straight at Lu Chen, more than twice as fast as before. Lu Chen could not dodge in time and was instantly sent flying, crashing into a large tree and snapping it in half.

Lu Chen struggled to his feet and rubbed his chest. Looks like I still underestimated this beast's strength. Its advancement made it this much stronger.

Lu Chen's earlier attacks had consumed a great deal of his spiritual energy, and he did not have much physical strength left either. He watched the Ironclad Rhinoceros while circling around it, searching for a suitable opening to attack.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros stared at Lu Chen as well, continuously scraping its hooves against the ground and snorting white vapor from its nostrils. Before long, it charged straight at him.

Watching the Ironclad Rhinoceros rush over, Lu Chen formed hand seals. This was the first form of the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens—Blazing Sun Splits the Heavens. He understood that he had only one chance now. If he could kill the Ironclad Rhinoceros with the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens, he would be safe. If not, he would have to run. After all, staying alive was more important.

Lu Chen drew out the firepower of the Yang Sea Pearl and infused it into his hands to increase the attack's might. He had already noticed several wounds on the Ironclad Rhinoceros's rump, all of them bleeding heavily. If this palm struck those wounds, then even if it could not kill the Ironclad Rhinoceros, it should still seriously injure it.

Slowly, Lu Chen completed the hand seals. His hands were already covered in firelight. As he watched the charging Ironclad Rhinoceros, he used Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair to limit its forward speed, then released Azure Emperor Divine Vine to entangle its four hooves. Immediately afterward, he used Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds to dart behind the Ironclad Rhinoceros.

Looking at the Ironclad Rhinoceros's rump, Lu Chen directly sent the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens into its wounds. But what Lu Chen had not expected was that this full-force strike of the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens was truly formidable. Though it drained all his spiritual energy and strength, it drove the fiery energy straight into the Ironclad Rhinoceros's body.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros jumped about in pain and flung Lu Chen away. By then, Lu Chen had exhausted all his strength and lay on the ground, unable to move any longer.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros twisted and crashed about everywhere. Although Lu Chen's spiritual energy had been depleted, the Azure Emperor Divine Vine had surprisingly not vanished. It chased after the Ironclad Rhinoceros and absorbed its life energy, which flowed endlessly into Lu Chen's body, replenishing his spiritual energy and stamina.

Slowly, the Ironclad Rhinoceros fell over and lost all signs of life. Lu Chen looked at its blood-soaked rump and laughed loudly. He had given it everything he had, but this battle had truly been exhilarating. Many things in his martial skills that he had not understood before had now become basically clear, and his control over spiritual energy had risen to another level.

Lu Chen struggled to his feet, withdrew his divine ability, bandaged his wounds, then sat cross-legged to recover his spiritual energy. Time flew by, and Lu Chen's spiritual energy had mostly recovered. Feng Tiancheng also flew out from the Twin Fish Plate.

Lu Chen walked over to the Ironclad Rhinoceros. Its body had already become shriveled and dim, as though all the life energy within it had been completely absorbed by the Azure Emperor Divine Vine.

Feng Tiancheng said, "Since its appearance, the Azure Emperor Divine Vine has only been able to attack, at most carrying a few additional functions. I originally thought your divine vine had merely mutated because you had developed some new functions yourself. But judging by the current situation, your Azure Emperor Divine Vine may have developed some spiritual intelligence. Not only can it absorb life energy from Spirit Plants to replenish itself, but demonic beasts can serve the same purpose."

As Lu Chen listened to Feng Tiancheng's words, he realized that he had already sensed this during the battle. The Azure Emperor Divine Vine could attack on its own and did not require much control from him. This was a good thing for Lu Chen.

He only had one powerful offensive method, the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens, and even now he could barely unleash two palm strikes. But now that the Azure Emperor Divine Vine could attack independently, it meant that when Lu Chen fought enemies, it would be two against one. Moreover, the Azure Emperor Divine Vine could continuously absorb life energy to replenish its consumption. Going back and forth like this, he could fully use battle to sustain battle and wear even stronger enemies to death.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen could not help laughing heartily. Although the Azure Emperor Divine Vine consumed a great deal as well, that was hardly worth mentioning once it could absorb energy. Compared with the consumption of the Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens, Lu Chen felt it was even more worthwhile. He just did not know whether the Azure Emperor Divine Vine would develop other abilities in the future. At that thought, Lu Chen became greatly expectant.

At that moment, Feng Tiancheng said, "Although I do not know why your divine ability has become like this, when fighting people, you should still avoid absorbing their life energy. In the eyes of the world, that is no different from demons and devils."

Lu Chen nodded. "I understand, Grandpa Feng. I'll be careful."

Lu Chen took out the small knife he carried with him. He was about to collect the spoils from his first hunt of a demonic beast.

Lu Chen slid the knife across the Ironclad Rhinoceros's belly. Without spiritual energy supporting it, the rhinoceros hide was instantly cut open by Lu Chen.

Lu Chen reached into the Ironclad Rhinoceros's stomach and began feeling around. Feng Tiancheng had said that a demonic beast's Demonic Core was generally located in its abdomen.

After searching for quite some time, Lu Chen finally pulled out a round Demonic Core from an inconspicuous spot.

The Demonic Core still retained traces of the Ironclad Rhinoceros's aura, as though it were revealing its hatred. Lu Chen casually waved a hand and dispersed the aura. Looking at the Demonic Core, he saw that it was an Upper Qi Gathering Demonic Core, filled with fluctuations of spiritual energy.

Humans could not directly absorb the Demonic Cores of demonic beasts, so they were generally used as materials for formations or pills, or exchanged for Spirit Stones and Spirit Liquid in human towns.

Both Spirit Stones and Spirit Liquid were mined and refined from Celestial Lake. They contained immense spiritual energy. One Spirit Stone was roughly equivalent to ten thousand drops of Spirit Liquid. These Spirit Stones and Spirit Liquid could not only be used by humans for cultivation, but also served as currency for cultivators' transactions.

Looking at the Demonic Core in his hand, Lu Chen began to feel delighted. He wondered how many Spirit Stones this Demonic Core could fetch. Once he rescued his grandfather, they could live a prosperous life. As he thought about it, Lu Chen could not help laughing aloud.

Just as Lu Chen was about to put away the Demonic Core, an Azure Emperor Divine Vine suddenly emerged from his body and snatched it away. Seeing what the Azure Emperor Divine Vine had done, Lu Chen was about to grab the Demonic Core back. To him, that was money.

Before Lu Chen could reach out and snatch it back, he saw a small opening split open at the tip of the Azure Emperor Divine Vine, which swallowed the Demonic Core whole. Once the Demonic Core was absorbed, Lu Chen could clearly sense that the demonic power within it had been absorbed by the Azure Emperor Divine Vine, while its spiritual power was transmitted to the black and white little fish within the Celestial Lake Sea of Qi.

The black and white fish had clearly received a favor and promptly cleared out a round patch of territory at the boundary between the red and blue, gesturing for the Azure Emperor Divine Vine to enter.

Seeing this scene, Lu Chen wanted to shout, You bunch of bandits! This is my Celestial Lake, this is my Sea of Qi, this is my Demonic Core, and you just divided it among yourselves like that? You've gone too far!

After absorbing the demonic power, the Azure Emperor Divine Vine looked at the space the twin fish had cleared for it. All the Azure Emperor Divine Vines gradually merged into a single vine, then jumped in without the slightest hesitation.

The entire vine stood directly in the empty space left in the middle. Countless root-like tendrils extended from below and took root there, continuously burrowing deeper toward both sides and into the red, yellow, and blue. It constantly absorbed the two types of spiritual energy to replenish itself, while also gradually compressing and solidifying the foundation beneath the Celestial Lake Sea of Qi.

Though Lu Chen thought this, he knew there had to be some opportunity within it and did not dare stop them. He quickly had Feng Tiancheng observe it with him.