First-Rank Fierce Beast: Rock Wolf

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Accompanied by an explosive whistle through the air, a cold gleam streaked across the sky like a meteor, shooting straight towards the Rock Wolf.

"Roar roar..."

The next moment, a shrill, furious howl rang out.

One of the Rock Wolf's eyeballs exploded at once. The meteor-like arrow had forcibly pierced the brute's eye and plunged into its skull.

Yet that arrow had not taken the brute's life. Instead, it stirred up its ferocity.

With an angry roar and a stamp of all four paws, it suddenly lunged like a tiger, crossing dozens of meters in a single bound.

It pounced straight towards Lu Chuan, intent on killing him.

Its gaping, blood-filled maw opened wide, and dense Blood Fiend Energy rushed at him, reeking unbearably.

An oppressive Momentum bore down as well, seizing one's very soul.

Had it been an ordinary person, that sheer imposing presence alone would likely have scared them out of their wits.

But Lu Chuan remained utterly unafraid. Not to mention that he had now cultivated Internal Strength and achieved Martial Arts Reaching Rank—even before that, he would not have been frightened by such a presence.

For the past year, he had hunted in the wild every day. Though all he had killed were ordinary beasts,

he had long since grown accustomed to life and death.

His temperament and will had already been tempered, steady as a mountain.

"Brute, die..."

Lu Chuan roared and drew his bow again.

At the same time, as he released the arrow, his figure flashed. Like a Spirit Deer darting through the forest, he leaped sideways nearly five meters to the left.

Then he drew the bowstring.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, three arrows formed a straight line and shot together at the Rock Wolf.

Just then, the Rock Wolf swung a claw, forcibly batting away the first arrow Lu Chuan had fired.

And at that critical moment, Lu Chuan's other three arrows came flying over like a chain of meteors.

With a flash, the three arrows struck the same point one after another, forcibly piercing the Rock Wolf's skull, which was as hard as stone.

As a spray of blood scattered, the fierce beast Rock Wolf let out an unwilling low growl, and its Life Force completely dissipated.

After its huge body charged forward more than ten meters, it finally collapsed into a pool of blood.

"Phew..."

Only after seeing that the Rock Wolf had completely lost its Life Force did Lu Chuan Exhale a mouthful of turbid air, his back turning cold.

Only then did he realize that sweat had already soaked his entire body without him noticing.

However, Lu Chuan had not felt the slightest bit nervous from beginning to end. Instead, he felt an exhilarating sense of release.

This was his first time fighting a true Fierce Beast, and the feeling was completely different from his previous hunts. Fierce Beasts truly were powerful. With his current strength, his physical body possessed more than two thousand jin of force.

If he used arrows, that force could erupt at twice its normal power. One arrow carried at least four thousand jin of force.

Ordinary beasts simply could not withstand the power of a single arrow from him.

Yet this Rock Wolf had endured several of his arrows before dying. That was already terrifying enough.

"This Rock Wolf is only a Fierce Beast at the early First Rank, yet it is already this powerful. What if it were mid First Rank, late First Rank, or even at the peak?"

Lu Chuan muttered to himself, not daring to imagine it.

At that moment, the trace of pride he had felt after becoming a Martial Artist was completely swept away.

"Hmm..."

Suddenly, Lu Chuan's expression tightened.

He sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness and saw that the data on the System Panel had changed.

[Martial Skill: Basic Archery (Perfected, 219/1000)]

His Archery proficiency had unexpectedly risen by one hundred points in a single jump, going directly from 119 to 219.

That increase was simply enormous.

However, that was not the most important thing. What truly astonished Lu Chuan was the change in the Bronze Ancient Tree.

On its straight main trunk, around ten centimeters above the first branch fork, a bud had unexpectedly sprouted.

A tender shoot seemed to be emerging faintly.

"It is about to grow a new branch."

Lu Chuan was instantly overjoyed. A new branch growing from the Bronze Ancient Tree meant that another new Entry would appear.

Of course, it needed sufficient nourishment, which meant he had to kill more Fierce Beasts.

"The last time, from when the first branch sprouted a bud until its fruit finally matured, it took more than a year. That was because I only killed ordinary beasts, so the branch grew so slowly.

"Now that I'm killing Fierce Beasts, its growth should speed up.

"I just don't know how long it will take before it bears fruit and nurtures a new Entry..."

Lu Chuan felt an inexplicable burning anticipation for the Entries nurtured by the Bronze Ancient Tree.

The first Entry, Heavenly Dao Attendance, had helped him tremendously. It had not only allowed him to achieve Martial Arts Reaching Rank in just a few days,

but would also continue influencing his future cultivation.

If it could nurture a new Entry, the help it offered him would surely be no small matter either.

"Continue hunting Fierce Beasts and strive to nurture a new Entry as soon as possible."

After setting this goal for himself, Lu Chuan withdrew his mind from the Sea of Consciousness and turned his attention to the Rock Wolf corpse he had shot dead.

"The difference between Fierce Beasts and ordinary beasts is that they nurture Crystal Cores Inside the body. That thing is the most valuable part of a Fierce Beast."

He pulled a dagger from his boot and cut open the Rock Wolf's belly. Near its heart, he found an irregular crystal the size of a finger, resembling Blood Jade.

This was a Fierce Beast Crystal Core.

Lu Chuan could sense the immense energy contained within it. It was definitely more potent than many Great Medicines that had grown for decades.

"What a pity. This thing cannot be refined directly, or the violent Fierce Fiend Power within will corrode the user. Even if they do not die, they will go mad and become a walking corpse. It can only be sold to the various purchasing companies in the Inner City."

Lu Chuan muttered to himself, "I heard that those pharmaceutical companies in the Inner City have special methods to remove the Fierce Fiend Power from Fierce Beast Crystal Cores, then refine them into special potions.

"Or even miraculous pills, which are extremely helpful to Martial Artists.

"However, those things are outrageously expensive. Any random potion costs over a million, while pills start at ten million. Some are even priceless and unavailable on the market.

"They are not things a poor commoner like me can afford..."

Casually putting the Rock Wolf's Crystal Core into his backpack, Lu Chuan ignored the wolf carcass on the ground, sheathed his dagger, and continued onward with Bow and Arrow in hand.

A First-Rank Fierce Beast Crystal Core was worth ten thousand.

To repay the loan his father had left behind, he still needed to hunt eleven more Fierce Beasts.

That would not be easy.

"Hunting twelve Fierce Beasts in one day is probably unrealistic. If I can get half of them today, that will already be quite good."

Lu Chuan pondered inwardly as he darted through the dense forest like a Spirit Deer.

Without realizing it, he began circulating the Forest Penetrating Deer move from the Five Elements Stance Training, naturally transforming it into a profound movement technique.

He passed through the forest at tremendous speed, elusive and unpredictable.

Just like a true Spirit Deer.

Five Elements Stance Training was both a cultivation method and a combat method.

If necessary, Lu Chuan could transform the Five Elements Stance Training into fist techniques, movement techniques, or even spear techniques and blade techniques at any time.

Especially now that he had perfected the Five Elements Stance Training, such transformations would become even more effortless.