First Battle in the Savage Beast Hills, Each Showing Their Edge

The next morning, dawn had barely broken, and the mist in the forest had yet to fully disperse. The campfire had long gone out, leaving only a wisp of blue 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 vanished, and their spirits were fully restored.

"Setting off?" Tang Chen stretched his muscles, producing a series of crackling pops. His eyes gleamed with eager fighting intent.

Qian Daoliu elegantly straightened nonexistent folds in his robes and gave a slight nod. "We are already close to the Savage Beast Hills. We must be more cautious."

Yu Yuanchen rose to his feet as Electric Field Perception silently spread outward. Sensing the active, chaotic auras of soul beasts around them, he nodded. "Let's go. Let's meet the 'masters' of these Savage Beast Hills."

The three did not delay further. Yu Yuanchen, whose senses were the sharpest, led the way. Tang Chen stayed in the middle to provide support, while Qian Daoliu circled at low altitude with the advantage of flight, handling both reconnaissance and assistance. Maintaining a loose Triangular Formation, they advanced deeper into the hills.

The terrain of the Savage Beast Hills was quite unusual. It was not simply a range of towering mountains, but a land made up of countless Rolling Hills, deep ravines, and dense primeval forests. The vegetation here was exceptionally lush, and many trees bore an unnatural dark-green hue. A faint, unsettling air of agitation permeated the atmosphere.

They had traveled only a few miles when their first encounter arrived without warning.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a savage roar, the brush to their left suddenly exploded apart. A massive soul beast charged out like an out-of-control war chariot! It resembled a giant bear, but its entire body was covered in dark-red scales. It stood over three meters tall at the shoulder and nearly five meters when upright. Its bear eyes were blood-red, saliva dripped from its jaws, and it radiated 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 a Cultivation Level of at least fifteen thousand years!" Qian Daoliu's voice came from above, carrying a hint of gravity. This type of soul beast possessed immense strength and astonishing defense, and it remained in a permanent state of berserk fury. It was extremely difficult to deal with.

The Raging Earth Dragon Bear clearly saw the three as intruders. Without hesitation, it kicked off the ground with its thick hind legs and lunged straight at Yu Yuanchen, who stood at the front, with earth-shaking force! Its enormous scaled paw came crashing down, bringing a vicious gust that tore through the air!

"Good!" Purple lightning flashed in Yu Yuanchen's eyes, but he did not take the blow head-on. His footwork shifted, and he slid backward to the side like a phantom, narrowly dodging the powerful strike. The giant paw slammed into the earth, leaving behind a deep claw mark as dirt and stones flew everywhere.

At the instant the Earth Dragon Bear's old strength had been spent and New Strength Not Yet Arisen, Tang Chen, positioned on the flank, moved!

He made no flashy movements. He simply stepped forward, half-turned his body, and swung the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand upward from below with a heavy, condensed force. This plain yet decisive Liao Hammer struck precisely beneath the Earth Dragon Bear's relatively vulnerable armpit!

"Bang!"

The muffled impact boomed like thunder! The Earth Dragon Bear's massive body was actually lifted slightly by that hammer blow. It let out a pained roar, and fine cracks appeared across the scales beneath its arm! Tang Chen's strike had been perfect in timing, angle, and force. He had seized the opportunity created by Yu Yuanchen's dodge and dealt the most effective damage possible.

The Earth Dragon Bear, hurt and enraged, abandoned Yu Yuanchen and turned to pounce on Tang Chen.

Yet a golden sword light, like a streak of falling fire descending from the heavens, silently and swiftly stabbed toward its other eye! It was Qian Daoliu! At some point, he had already dived down, the Angel Sacred Sword aimed directly at its vital point.

By instinct, the Earth Dragon Bear shut its eyes and twisted its head, intending to use the hard scales on its forehead to withstand the sword.

"Sshk—"

Sparks flew everywhere! The sacred sword broke through the hard forehead scales and sliced into flesh, only to be stopped by an even harder skull. The agony in its head and the burning of the holy aura made the Earth Dragon Bear release a shrill, furious roar.

At that moment, Yu Yuanchen had already circled to the Earth Dragon Bear's rear flank. Lightning gathered over his dragonized right arm. Rather than use the more draining Thunder Dragon Claw, he highly compressed Thunder Power at his fingertips, forming a condensed Purple Lightning Finger Sword that darted like lightning toward the connection point of the joints in the beast's hind leg!

"Sshk!"

The lightning possessed incredible penetrating power. Though it did not completely cripple the leg joints, the instant numbness and stabbing pain made the Earth Dragon Bear's massive body stagger, immediately hindering its movements.

The trio's attacks came like a raging storm, yet they were not flawlessly coordinated. It was more as though each of them seized fleeting openings. While launching their own attacks, they happened to create opportunities for another or cover the openings left behind after another's strike. Tang Chen attacked from the front, his strength domineering; Yu Yuanchen roamed the flanks, excelling in speed and penetration; Qian Daoliu controlled the skies, delivering precise strikes and restraint. They were not deliberately coordinating with one another. Rather, based on their judgment of the battlefield and their individual combat styles, they each made the most reasonable choice.

Though the Earth Dragon Bear possessed a Ten-Thousand-Year Cultivation Level and a powerful body, it appeared exceptionally clumsy and stifled against the fighting style of these three peerless geniuses—each fighting independently, yet looking out for one another. Every one of its attacks either missed or was cleverly redirected or blocked, while it endured an unceasing barrage from different angles and of different attributes.

Every blow from Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer sent its qi and blood churning and shattered its scales. Yu Yuanchen's Purple Lightning Finger Sword and the occasional explosive Thunder Dragon Claw always found relatively weak points in its defenses, bringing pain and numbness. Meanwhile, Qian Daoliu's Angel Sacred Sword hung over it like a blade suspended above its head, constantly threatening its vital points and forcing it to divide its attention to defense.

The battle lasted roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick. The Earth Dragon Bear was covered in wounds, its movements growing slower and slower. Though its crimson eyes still burned with madness, they now held a trace of exhausted helplessness.

"That's enough!" Tang Chen shouted. The Fifth Soul Ring around him lit up once more. "Fifth Soul Skill, Earthquake Mountain!"

He seized the instant when Yu Yuanchen forced the Earth Dragon Bear to throw back its head and howl with a lightning claw. The Clear Sky Hammer, carrying terrifying shockwaves, smashed savagely into its relatively vulnerable throat!

"Crack!"

The clear sound of Bone Fracture rang out! The Earth Dragon Bear's roar stopped abruptly. Its huge body crashed to the ground, twitched a few times, and fell completely silent.

The battle was over.

Tang Chen leaned on his hammer, looked at the corpse on the ground, and grinned. "This beast's hide was really thick!"

Qian Daoliu landed lightly, folded his wings, and sheathed his sacred sword. His aura remained steady as he commented, "Its strength and defense were indeed top-tier. Unfortunately, its intelligence was too low. It only knew how to fight on instinct."

Yu Yuanchen also dispersed his Soul Power and walked over. Looking at the black Soul Ring slowly forming above the Earth Dragon Bear's corpse, he said thoughtfully, "The soul beasts here may lack intelligence, but the pure berserk fury and Life Force that shape their beastly instincts are quite rare. Fighting them demands greater control over strength and Timing Control."

The three exchanged glances and saw a trace of acknowledgment in one another's eyes. That battle had been less about coordination than a kind of "resonance" founded on supreme combat instincts. They did not need words to roughly predict each other's movements and intentions, allowing them to take actions most beneficial to the battle.

After a brief rest and taking some of the Earth Dragon Bear's most valuable scales and its gallbladder, the three continued deeper in.

As they ventured farther in, the soul beasts they encountered grew stronger and more varied. There were Shadow Blade Leopards skilled at concealment and ambushes, Thousand-Legged Rot Lizards that could spew Poisonous Mist, and fierce Blood Beak Vultures that moved in flocks...

No battle was easy. These soul beasts might have possessed little intelligence, but relying on powerful instincts, bizarre abilities, and the benefits of the Savage Beast Hills' unique environment, they could often unleash combat power far beyond what their ages suggested.

When they were surrounded by nearly a hundred Blood Beak Vultures, the three felt pressure for the first time. Individually, these vultures were only around a thousand years old, but they were numerous, swift in flight, and fearless of death, launching suicidal attacks from every direction. Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer was immensely powerful, but it struggled against such nimble, small airborne targets. Though Qian Daoliu and Yu Yuanchen possessed wide-area attack capabilities, the soul beasts of the Savage Beast Hills were all extraordinarily tenacious, making it difficult to severely injure them quickly.

In that battle, the three had no choice but to stand back-to-back in a simple defensive formation. Each was responsible for one direction, pushing his own strengths to the limit. Tang Chen's hammer winds howled as he smashed any vulture daring to approach into pulp. Qian Daoliu's sword light spread like a curtain, and its holy aura kept the vultures from diving easily; any that came close were cleaved directly in two. Yu Yuanchen struck repeatedly with both claws, sending condensed lightning claw marks exploding through the air. Electric light interwove into a net, injuring great numbers of vultures. Those that forced themselves through the lightning were met with a claw that crushed their heads.

After the battle, all three were somewhat disheveled. They had gained several small claw wounds, and their Soul Power had been significantly depleted. Yet after this fight, they gained a deeper understanding of how to maximize their own advantages in chaotic situations and provide effective support to their companions.

Night fell once again, and the three found a cave to spend the night.

Beside the campfire, Tang Chen treated a claw wound on his arm deep enough to expose bone—left by a Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Cat that had ambushed him—while baring his teeth in pain. "Why are all the soul beasts in this damned place crazy? They fight like they don't care whether they live or die!"

Qian Daoliu used Holy Light condensed from Soul Power to treat a burn on his shoulder, caused by flames splashed from a Ten-Thousand-Year Flame Burst Monkey. Hearing this, he said calmly, "If they lacked such madness, how could this place serve as a training ground? Fighting them will better temper our adaptability and our will under extreme conditions."

Yu Yuanchen silently circulated his Soul Power, nourishing his somewhat overstrained Meridians and the bite wound on his leg—a Ten-Thousand-Year Ghost Pattern Savage Wolf had insisted on taking one bite even as it died. The day's continuous battles had made him more proficient in wielding Thunder God Power, and his command of Bloodline Power had also become increasingly natural. He discovered that under extreme pressure, the Purple Gold Scale seemed to grow slightly warm, faintly accelerating the recovery of both his Soul Power and physical strength.

"Today's battles brought considerable gains." Yu Yuanchen opened his eyes and spoke. "Especially when facing those strange and troublesome soul beasts, our attacks often need faster transitions and more precise points of impact."

Tang Chen nodded deeply in agreement. "That's right. If my final hammer strike had been even half an inch off, that Shadow Blade Leopard might have escaped." He was referring to a hard battle that afternoon, when an exceptionally cunning Ten-Thousand-Year Shadow Blade Leopard had been forced into a dead end by the three before Tang Chen delivered the finishing blow.

Qian Daoliu looked toward the pitch-black night outside the cave, his gaze deep. "This is only the beginning. Deeper within the Savage Beast Hills, there are said to be even stronger beings, including powerful soul beasts over fifty thousand years old. We must be even more careful."

Yu Yuanchen and Tang Chen both turned solemn and nodded.

The path of training had only just begun. With its savagery and danger, the Savage Beast Hills offered its welcome gift to the three geniuses. And amid the tempering of blood and fire, the three were also absorbing the gains of battle at an astonishing pace, strengthening the foundations of their Path of the Strong.