The Only Trick Is Practice

"You hold them off. I'll go up."

Jiang Yu was locked in a bitter fight amid the beasts. Liu Chengfeng drew his sword and set off.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you going to do?"

Left alone in the beast tide, Jiang Yu was badly startled. But Liu Chengfeng had already left Ten Mile Village.

"Which one of us is supposed to be getting support now—?"

Jiang Yu grimaced. His body moved like a flood dragon, his footwork uncanny as he darted through the beast tide like a gust of black wind, kicking up sand and stones.

The black stones in his hands flew out like a rainstorm of pear blossoms. Every strike was deadly, aimed straight for the eyes.

Liu Chengfeng left Ten Mile Village, circled around to the far side of the back mountain, and climbed the peak.

The White Tiger directing the beast tide's attack on Ten Mile Village was crouched on the summit.

This White Tiger beast was ten meters long, its tail like an iron whip.

Its tail lashed out with a string of sharp cracks, shattering rocks and snapping trees.

An eight-hundred-year-old tiger beast!

While the White Tiger wasn't paying attention, Liu Chengfeng burst into action. His Red Iron Sword whistled as he swung the "Two-Husband Fierce Man Slash" straight at the back of its head.

Liu Chengfeng was so fast that by the time the White Tiger reacted, he had already split open the back of its head.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and a two-meter gash was cleaved into its skull.

An eight-hundred-year-old tiger beast wasn't so easy to kill. Though wounded in the back of the head, it rolled over and sprang up, lunging at Liu Chengfeng.

The White Tiger pounced, its claws sharp as ten swords thrusting toward him.

Its fangs could bite through metal and stone. Trees all around were smashed and broken as it charged, whipping up gusts of wind.

"I came here to kill you—"

Liu Chengfeng circulated the "Mad Kui Heart Method." His blood and qi surged like a raging storm as he gripped the Red Iron Sword.

"Three Husbands Tiger Blocks Mountain."

The third sword of the "Three Husbands Sword Technique" was even more ferocious. He was a dragon, his sword a tiger; a single strike transformed a thousand ways, fierce and mighty as a tiger.

For a time, Liu Chengfeng seemed like a human sword-tiger, battling the tiger beast head-on.

Every sword strike was wild and domineering, like a savage tiger charging down the mountain to devour its prey.

The eight-hundred-year-old tiger beast roared without pause, its tail like a steel whip, smashing down on Liu Chengfeng in a violent storm.

The two exchanged more than ten blows in the blink of an eye.

Liu Chengfeng was wounded, but the White Tiger was in far worse shape. He had struck it with more than a dozen sword blows, each one cutting to the bone.

At last, Liu Chengfeng slid beneath the White Tiger in a sudden low sweep. His Red Iron Sword ripped open its belly, and blood gushed down.

The White Tiger let out a mournful cry and collapsed, its ten-meter body crashing to the ground.

"Tell me, what happened?"

The White Tiger was on its last breath. Liu Chengfeng used his Celestial Body to restrain it.

"The outsider beasts have claimed the throne. The old Mountain Lord has been defeated."

Before it died, the White Tiger told Liu Chengfeng what had happened.

Three powerful treasure beasts had arrived at Little Meng Mountain overnight and seized it, bringing a beast tide with them.

Mountain Lord Ah Yuan had been defeated and fled, while the other strange beasts had submitted.

Now the strange beasts occupying Little Meng Mountain were searching everywhere for Ah Yuan, intent on wiping him out.

"So soon?"

Liu Chengfeng was surprised. The battle between strange beasts that had erupted earlier must have been a clash between the outsiders and Ah Yuan.

Mountain Lord Ah Yuan was a treasure beast with a lifespan of more than four thousand years, yet even he had been defeated.

Liu Chengfeng killed the White Tiger and took its eight-hundred-year-old beast blood.

"An eight-hundred-year-old tiger beast—"

Jiang Yu had already killed all the strange beasts in Ten Mile Village. Yet there was hardly any blood on him; he looked as carefree and elegant as a tree in the breeze.

As Cloud Rising Sect's senior disciple, he was extraordinary in both bearing and strength.

Seeing that Liu Chengfeng had killed an eight-hundred-year-old beast, Jiang Yu couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.

"Brother, are you really at the Blood Sea Divine Treasury realm?"

Even a master at the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury realm like him couldn't kill an eight-hundred-year-old beast.

Now he looked at Liu Chengfeng, bloodied from battle, and felt a chill at the murderous aura around him.

Though Liu Chengfeng was only at the fourth stage of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury, the heart method and techniques he cultivated were innate, allowing him to kill enemies above his realm.

"Just a matter of practice."

Liu Chengfeng said it lightly, putting on quite a show.

Jiang Yu admitted Liu Chengfeng had earned the right to show off and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Eight-hundred-year true blood."

Seeing the true blood in Liu Chengfeng's hand, Jiang Yu felt a little envious. His own true blood was only five hundred years old.

"Brother, would you sell me that true blood?"

Jiang Yu was a little proud and rarely asked anyone for anything, but he truly wanted the eight-hundred-year-old true blood.

If he replaced his five-hundred-year-old Mystic Snake True Blood with it, his Blood Sea Divine Treasury would grow even greater.

"How much is it worth?"

"Eight hundred thousand spirit stones."

Though Jiang Yu really wanted it, he honestly told him the price of the bottle of eight-hundred-year-old true blood.

"That much? Do you have eight hundred thousand spirit stones?"

Liu Chengfeng hadn't expected true blood to be so valuable. He had spent half a year at Little Meng Mountain and killed quite a few strange beasts that were three or four hundred years old.

"I'll scrape it together. Didn't I just kill some three- and four-hundred-year-old beasts? Once I sell them and add a little more, I'll have enough."

"Brother, you—you shouldn't sell it to anyone else yet."

Every cultivator wanted stronger true blood. The stronger the true blood, the greater the Blood Sea Divine Treasury, and the more useful it would be in the future.

That was why true blood from beasts with longer lifespans was worth more.

"Take it."

Liu Chengfeng casually handed the White Tiger's true blood to Jiang Yu.

"For me?"

Jiang Yu hadn't expected Liu Chengfeng to give him such precious White Tiger true blood without a second thought.

"We're fellow disciples, after all."

Liu Chengfeng wanted the true blood of beasts a thousand years old or more. He didn't care much for the White Tiger's blood.

"Good. I've decided you're my brother."

Jiang Yu was moved. He was a proud man and didn't say anything more.

Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu returned to Ten Mile Village and tidied up.

The villagers of Ten Mile Village had been scared out of their wits. They were hiding inside Wu Dao Sect, afraid to come out.

"This beast tide is strange. If another wave comes, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold them off."

"Brother, why don't we leave for now and go back to the sect?"

After killing so many strange beasts, Jiang Yu wasn't happy at all. Instead, he was deeply worried.

Strange beasts and cultivators were enemies, but beast tides rarely attacked villages. Usually, they only hunted cultivators.

"Let's wait a little longer."

Liu Chengfeng wouldn't leave Little Meng Mountain so easily. He was waiting for the night of the full moon.

Since Liu Chengfeng stayed, Jiang Yu stayed with him.

Jiang Yu's fears soon came true. In less than two days, even more strange beasts appeared within a hundred miles of Little Meng Mountain.

There were also more strange beasts with lifespans of over a thousand years.

Not only were there strange beasts roaming the ground, but powerful flying beasts also passed over Wu Dao Sect and entered Little Meng Mountain.

Roars echoed through Little Meng Mountain from time to time. Powerful strange beasts must have been fighting fiercely over territory.

Liu Chengfeng could sense more and more of the wild, primal aura around him, and it filled him with suspicion.

Why had so many strange beasts suddenly appeared?

Could it have something to do with God Tomb?

At the hour of Full Moon Mid-Yin, he would pay his respects at God Tomb. If all these strange beasts were heading there, that would be trouble.

"I've already sent word to the sect. An elder should come to support us. The sect master still hasn't come out of Little Meng Mountain."

Nangong Pushe had entered Little Meng Mountain and hadn't come back out.

Jiang Yu guessed that the sect master might have gone after the strange beasts' true blood.

"I'm afraid there'll be another wave of attacks."

Liu Chengfeng sensed that the number of strange beasts near Ten Mile Village was steadily increasing.

They hadn't attacked the village yet, but it was only a matter of time.

To Liu Chengfeng's surprise, he didn't wait for the next wave of beasts to attack. Instead, Ah Yuan arrived.

That night, a sudden bang sounded outside the door, and the ground trembled.

Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu rushed out at once. Ah Yuan's mountain-sized body lay on the ground.

He was covered in blood and battered from head to toe, already at the end of his strength.

"A thousand-year-old beast? No, this one must be three or four thousand years old."

The moment Jiang Yu saw Ah Yuan, he was startled. He gripped a sharp black stone, ready to shoot it into Ah Yuan's eye.

Liu Chengfeng immediately stopped him.

Ah Yuan struggled to open his heavy eyelids. His breathing was faint as he looked at Liu Chengfeng.

"Carry him inside."

Seeing how close to death Ah Yuan was, Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu carried him inside.

"Shouldn't we just butcher him?"

Ah Yuan had fainted, and Jiang Yu found his courage.

The true blood of a beast with a lifespan of three or four thousand years would be unimaginably precious.

"Do you have any healing medicine?"

Liu Chengfeng had no intention of killing Ah Yuan. He wanted to save him, but there was no time to go into the mountains for medicinal herbs.

"You really want to save him?"

"Save him. Get the medicine."

"I have a few packets of first-grade Blood Medicine and a few Mountain Pills."

Jiang Yu couldn't help wincing. Those were all his savings.

He had spent a long time building them up, but when Liu Chengfeng needed them, he still handed them all over.

Liu Chengfeng poured all the Blood Medicine and Mountain Pills into Ah Yuan's mouth.

Blood Medicine replenished blood and qi and bolstered life force. Mountain Pills healed wounds and restored the body.

Ah Yuan had no idea how long he had fought a bloody battle. His body was covered in wounds, and his blood and qi were completely drained.

After the Blood Medicine and Mountain Pills saved his life, Ah Yuan didn't wake until the next day.

From Ah Yuan, they learned that a group of strange beasts had suddenly arrived. The three beasts leading them were all treasure beasts.

Beasts with lifespans under a thousand years were called strange beasts; those under ten thousand years were called treasure beasts.

War had broken out without warning. Outnumbered three to one, Ah Yuan had been no match for the beasts from outside, and the strange beasts of Little Meng Mountain had been pushed back at every turn.

With the help of several fiercely loyal beasts, Ah Yuan had fought as he fled.

Only his familiarity with Little Meng Mountain had allowed him to escape.

The other beasts had either died in battle or submitted to the outsiders.

Now Ah Yuan had completely lost control of Little Meng Mountain. He was no longer its master.

"Even more powerful ferocious beasts will arrive. I don't know what they're here for."

"You should leave as soon as possible. Little Meng Mountain will become a terrifying battlefield."

Ah Yuan urged Liu Chengfeng to leave, knowing the situation was dire.

Not only were more and more strange beasts entering Little Meng Mountain, but they were growing stronger by the day.

Liu Chengfeng, of course, had no intention of fleeing. He had to hold out until the night of the full moon.

Less than two days after they saved Ah Yuan, even more strange beasts appeared beyond Ten Mile Village.

They didn't invade the village. Instead, they surrounded it.

"Something terrible's happened. They're going to attack us."

Seeing the growing number of strange beasts outside Ten Mile Village, Jiang Yu grew tense.

"Has our whereabouts been exposed?"

Ah Yuan's injuries hadn't fully healed. If the outsider beasts had discovered where he was, then the beasts surrounding Ten Mile Village had come for him.

What Ah Yuan feared most were the three leading treasure beasts. If they joined forces, he wouldn't be able to defeat them.

Liu Chengfeng used the Heavenly Mound to sense the area and found that the beasts surrounding Ten Mile Village were indeed increasing in number.

But the three treasure beasts Ah Yuan had mentioned hadn't come.

Liu Chengfeng sensed that they were searching Little Meng Mountain, but their movements didn't suggest they were looking for Ah Yuan.

Could they be searching for God Tomb? Liu Chengfeng couldn't help wondering.

"Should we fight our way out? If we wait any longer, they'll wipe us all out."

Jiang Yu was deeply worried as he saw the growing number of strange beasts outside Ten Mile Village.

Liu Chengfeng also felt they couldn't hold the village indefinitely. The tenant farmers needed to be evacuated.

Just as Liu Chengfeng and the others were planning their escape—

A War Cruiser flew through the sky. It was dozens of meters long, covered in iron armor from end to end, with banners fluttering above it.

One powerful, blood-and-qi-charged expert after another stood aboard the War Cruiser.

The moment it appeared, a rain of arrows came pouring down.

The Angry Bow Giant Crossbows aboard the War Cruiser unleashed their full firepower, madly shooting at the strange beasts surrounding all of Ten Mile Village.

"The Grandmaster Mansion's army!"

Seeing the War Cruiser's firepower pour down and slaughter the strange beasts, Jiang Yu shouted.