At noon, the clouds curled faintly, and the leaves were lightly dyed.
A gentle breeze teased the flowers, grass, and leaves within the mountain forest.
Amid the soft rustling, Fang Hong held a Horse Stance beside a small mountain stream.
Not far behind him, a fire burned with two rabbits roasting over it.
The scent of meat filled the air, while dripping fat hissed softly as it struck the flames.
Fang Hong remained in his Horse Stance, strengthening his qi and blood.
Three days had already passed since he entered the mountains.
The skin over his body bulged from time to time, as though several little snakes were constantly writhing beneath it.
Now and then, traces of pain could be seen on his face.
The perfected Horse Stance had maximized the efficiency with which he tempered his qi and blood.
Streams of qi and blood continuously circulated through his body.
They circulated, tempered themselves, and grew stronger without pause.
As his qi and blood condensed, strands of force gradually emerged within him as well.
This force was fierce and powerful.
This was internal force!
According to what Father Fang had said when teaching the original owner martial arts—
The path of martial arts began with strengthening qi and blood, condensing internal force, and tempering the body.
The first stage was Flesh Refinement.
One tempered all the muscles in the body, increasing one's strength until one could fight a dozen men.
After Flesh Refinement came Skin Refinement.
One tempered one's skin and membranes, making them tough and resilient, strengthening one's defenses and allowing one to withstand blades and swords.
After reaching Skin Refining Mastery, one could even control the closing of one's pores, locking in the leakage of qi and blood and increasing the explosive force of one's internal force.
After that came Sinew Refinement, toughening the great sinews and unleashing terrifying, tremendous strength.
Beyond Sinew Refinement were realms such as Bone Refinement, Organ Refinement, Marrow Refinement, and Blood Replacement.
Even after Blood Replacement, there were still higher realms.
However, Father Fang had never heard of such realms even in the army.
Thus, he had never told the original owner about them.
"Thanks to perfecting the Military Formation Saber Art and archery, my cultivation in the Flesh Refining Realm has gone quite smoothly."
"I actually reached mastery this quickly."
After quite a while, Fang Hong suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze blazing brightly!
Then his whole body shook, and every muscle abruptly tightened.
The bulging veins looked like the roots of ancient trees.
After another while, once the muscles throughout his body had gradually relaxed, Fang Hong slowly exhaled.
While cultivating the Military Formation Saber Art and archery to perfection, the Golden Finger had consumed the strength within his body and continuously transformed some of his muscles.
Therefore, tempering the muscles throughout his body now went as smoothly as a boat riding the current.
With his previous saber art and archery as a foundation, followed by several days and nights of bitter cultivation—
He had finally reached Flesh Refinement Mastery.
His entire appearance had become more imposing than before.
His height had shot up from around one meter sixty to one meter seventy.
The muscles all over his body were knotted and powerful, their contours sharply defined.
Merely looking at them, one could sense the power contained within, far beyond what he had possessed before.
Yet aside from the changes to his appearance and strength—
More importantly, his temperament had changed.
Over these three days, aside from bitter cultivation, he had fought and slaughtered the wild beasts of these mountains like a madman.
On one hand, he had seen blood and undergone its baptism.
On the other, he had gathered blood food to replenish the qi and blood consumed by his cultivation.
After battling wild beasts these past days, an obvious aura of danger had appeared around him.
There was a hint of brutality amid his wildness.
But this level... was still not enough!
After endless slaughter, his mindset had indeed become far more resolute, ruthless, and decisive than before.
But it still had not reached the point Fang Hong envisioned.
Fang Hong strode to the fire, grabbed one of the roasted rabbits, and began tearing into it with great bites.
His mindset had changed somewhat.
Yet he also knew very clearly that deep within his heart, traces of softness, comfort, and a desire to muddle through life still remained.
Those traits had taken root through decades of peaceful life and humanistic education in his previous world.
They were stubborn to the extreme.
How could they be reversed in merely a few short days?
"To correct what is crooked, one must overcorrect it!"
"Danger—I still need more intense danger to truly reshape my temperament!"
As Fang Hong devoured the rabbit meat in huge mouthfuls, he silently pondered.
He had indeed experienced quite a few battles and struggles these days.
But because his strength had grown so quickly, he had encountered genuine danger only a few times.
As for danger that threatened his life, there had almost been none at all.
Therefore, his mindset had yet to undergo a fundamental transformation.
"If I want to encounter greater danger, I must continue deeper into the mountains."
"But I am already far enough from the outside, and the salt I brought has run out as well."
"If I keep going deeper, there will be too many uncertainties..."
Fang Hong pondered silently.
Rustle, rustle~~
"Hmm?!"
Just as Fang Hong was thinking, a faint disturbance came from the dense woods around him.
Fang Hong's gaze instantly became incomparably sharp. With a swish, he stared fixedly around him.
He sensed danger.
Moreover, that feeling was rapidly growing stronger and stronger.
"Awoo—!!"
At that moment, accompanied by a desolate wolf howl—
The danger around him instantly became like thorns stabbing into his back.
Fang Hong tossed aside the roasted rabbit in his hand and snatched up the bow and arrows beside him.
He drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed toward the front right, where the danger was most concentrated.
Awoo—
Amid low, muffled wolf howls—
More than twenty wild wolves appeared around Fang Hong, their green eyes gleaming as they drooled and growled continuously.
In front of him to the right—the direction he was aiming toward—
A white wolf more than half a meter tall, with thick limbs and sharp claws and fangs, radiated a cruel and violent aura.
It slowly stepped out from the forest.
This white wolf, larger and fiercer than every other wolf in the pack, was clearly the wolf king of this pack.
With the appearance of the wolf king—
The entire wolf pack rapidly tightened its encirclement, surrounding Fang Hong in the middle as they growled and pressed closer.
At this moment, the danger Fang Hong sensed had nearly taken tangible form.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
In an instant, before the wolves could draw any closer, Fang Hong's eyes sharpened.
His bow was like thunder, its string startling like lightning!
Within a single breath, he rapidly fired several arrows.
Several wolves before him were struck through the eye sockets, arrows plunging directly into their brains as they fell at once.
"Awoo!!!"
At that moment, the White Wolf King let out a roar.
The surrounding wolves all lunged at Fang Hong together.
Seeing this, Fang Hong's heart tightened. He kept drawing his bow, rapidly firing several more arrows.
Shing—!
A streak of white light swept through the air.
Drawing the Saber to Sever the Water!
Pfft, pfft~
Four wolves lunging from two directions to his left were instantly split open by enormous wounds.
Blood splattered everywhere!!
Before the falling blood could hit the ground, Fang Hong twisted around and delivered another diagonal slash.
A wolf that had leaped before him had its skull split directly open by the blow, brain matter and blood spraying through the air.
But at the same time, accompanied by a tearing sound—
Two wolves behind him had already pounced onto Fang Hong's back.
Their sharp claws ripped open Fang Hong's back.
One wolf clamped its jaws around Fang Hong's arm, while the other bit directly toward his neck.
"Get the hell off me!"
Feeling the damp, fishy breath behind his neck, Fang Hong suddenly twisted and flung himself around.
As he threw the wolves off his back, he slashed backward with his saber.
He directly cleaved apart the other wolf that was still biting his arm and dangling in the air.
Yet amid the scattering blood, that wolf's head still clamped down tightly on Fang Hong's arm.
Frowning, Fang Hong forcibly pried the wolf's head off.
He looked around.
Blood covered the ground, and the small stream beside him was gradually being dyed red.
Many mangled wolf corpses lay scattered across the ground, while the stench of blood permeated the entire area.
The wolves around him growled more and more deeply, their voices hoarse and low.
Stimulated by the blood, the look in their eyes grew increasingly savage.
The wounds on his back and arm bled without stop.
Pain, and a deathly crisis that seemed almost tangible—
Made Fang Hong's heart begin pounding madly.
Fang Hong felt as though he could hear his own violent heartbeat beside his ears.
Thump... thump...
Within the waves of violent heartbeat, something seemed to begin appearing in Fang Hong's solemn gaze.
Ferocity, brutality, and bloodthirsty slaughter!
Fang Hong wiped the wolf blood splashed across his face, and his eyes gradually burned with heat.
"This feeling..."
"That's right. This is the feeling I wanted—the feeling that life and death are decided in an instant!"
At this moment, the blood throughout his body seemed to boil.
Fang Hong's eyes reddened as he licked his lips with a somewhat savage expression.
"Unlike the comfort of my previous life, this is what living creatures awaken from the need to survive..."
"Beastliness!!"
It had ignited!
"Hahaha, come on! Come on!!"
The muscles throughout his body, his qi and blood, and his internal force all began circulating at their limits.
Amid his laughter, Fang Hong advanced rather than retreated, charging directly into the wolf pack.
Cast aside every unrealistic fantasy and prepare for struggle!
"Kill!!!"
With bloodshot eyes, Fang Hong fought the wolf pack in a frenzy, like a mad demon.
At this moment, he finally let go completely and utterly.
With every saber strike, he vented his fear of death, his unease about the future, and his fantasies of comfort in his current situation.
What mercy, what compassion, what kindness...
All of it vanished completely!
At this moment, there was only one thought in his heart.
Kill!!!
Before you continue