Momentum

Garen fixed his gaze on a direction and traveled for another few kilometers.

Groups of Level 6 Double-Winged Pegasus and Level 7 Thunder-Winged Pegasus were scattered about, some frolicking in the air while others grazed on the ground.

Garen had a soft spot for horses, and these flying steeds looked incredibly handsome, fitting his aesthetic perfectly, so he decided to spare them.

He used a flight spell to ascend into the mist, utilizing the cover to continue his journey forward.

After flying for about ten kilometers, he finally spotted some solitary magical beasts again; within a few kilometers, there were Velociraptors and Black Bears, and a dozen kilometers further, he even saw a Cat-Bear.

Since the solitary beasts were spread far apart, Garen wasn't worried about being swarmed, and he quickly flew above a Level 7 Velociraptor.

The Velociraptors living here were noticeably larger than the ones he had encountered before, likely nearing the strength of Level 8 magical beasts.

Unfortunately, facing a slaughtering god like Garen, their fate was already sealed.

The hunting time had begun!

After Garen killed the forty-plus Velociraptors in the vicinity, his warrior level finally rose to Level 8, and he looked at the other Level 7 Velociraptors nearby, remarking, "Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life; you are all lucky dragons."

Warrior Level: 8 (105/200,000 EXP)

Transformation Level: 9

He looted another Primary Enhancement Stone and a Primary Experience Card.

With another Primary Enhancement Stone in hand, he prepared to reinforce the God-Slaying Blade again to see what kind of power it would possess once it reached the divine artifact level.

Ding, the Primary Enhancement Stone is of insufficient level; reinforcement failed.

Receiving the system prompt, Garen was mentally prepared; since there were Primary Enhancement Stones, there must be Intermediate and Advanced ones later on. It was normal that a Primary stone couldn't upgrade equipment to a divine artifact, so he could only continue reinforcing the Tiger God Armor instead.

Tiger God Armor: Provides strong defensive effects against magical beasts below the Saint Realm (upgradable), smelting effects enabled (two slots).

Level 1 Blessing Stone: Saves 10% of magic, battle qi, and mental energy when using spells and battle qi.

Level 2 Black Gem: Increases character speed by 10%.

At Level 9 peak after transformation, with the comprehension of "lifting weight as if it were light," and possessing two high-level pieces of equipment in the God-Slaying Blade and Tiger God Armor, he should be able to kill a Spine-Armored Dragon if he encountered one. However, it was hard to say if he would be taken down in a mutual kill, so there was still some danger; after all, that was an existence infinitely close to the Saint Realm.

There were no major threats left in the Mist Valley now. The experience required for the next level was quite high, and although the Mist Valley was vast, there were likely only two or three hundred Level 8 magical beasts at most, and even fewer Level 9s. Like humans, the higher the level, the fewer there were; this was a law of nature.

Even if he wiped out all the Level 8 and 9 magical beasts in the Mist Valley, it might not be enough to level up.

He could only grind here slowly, attempt to comprehend "momentum," and then head elsewhere to look around. He would first raise his warrior level to Level 9, at which point his transformation would reach the Saint Realm, and with his speed, self-preservation would be no problem.

Once at the Saint Realm, one's state of mind was what mattered most. Currently, the system hadn't dropped any items related to laws or profound mysteries, and he didn't know if the system could directly help him comprehend them.

Just like that, Garen cleared out a large area of the valley where Level 8 Black Bears lived, found a lakeside with a nice view (although most of the valley was plains, there were still some trees), and built a small wooden cabin to begin his journey of cultivation.

In the central area of the Mist Valley, the concentration of magic was dozens of times higher than the outside world. Garen spent most of his time studying blade techniques, attempting to comprehend "momentum," often using stones or magical beasts to test his techniques after gaining some insight.

When he felt he had no leads, he would calm his heart to meditate and refine his magic power.

Now, even in his human form, he could kill Level 8 magical beasts with a casual strike.

Depending on their strength, a single Level 8 magical beast could provide about 500-800 experience points.

In the blink of an eye, nine months passed.

During these nine months, he had basically slaughtered all the solitary Level 8 magical beasts on the ground, totaling over 140 kills and gaining over 90,000 experience points. His human form had reached the mid-stage of Level 8, though that flock of Fire Dragons and Green Dragons in the sky had escaped his clutches.

The first time he killed a Level 8 Velociraptor, the commotion of the battle alerted the flock of Fire Dragons and Green Dragons. They had swarmed him, using fireballs and ice arrows, and some even rushed over to claw at him.

Unfortunately, after the Tiger God Armor leveled up, it already provided extremely strong protection even against Saint Realm magical beasts, let alone a group of Level 8s; their magic and attacks basically couldn't break his defense.

Garen flew into the dragon flock and began a frenzied slaughter.

However, the Fire Dragons and Green Dragons were too large, and after Garen killed seven or eight of them, they realized something was wrong and all flew away.

In the sky, with Garen's Level 7 mage flight speed, even with the acceleration from the Level 2 Black Gem, he couldn't catch up to those Level 8 flying dragons.

From then on, they recognized Garen; as soon as they saw him, they would fly far away, abandoning all their dragon pride.

The God-Slaying Blade and the Tiger God Armor could no longer be reinforced by Primary Enhancement Stones.

The Level 8 magical beasts on the ground had all been killed, and he couldn't catch the ones flying in the sky. Other than the dense magic elements, there was nothing left to stay for here.

"It's time to return to the academy to apply for graduation and go home to take a look. I haven't been home in so many years; I wonder how Mom and Dad are doing?"

Garen

Warrior Level: 8 (99,578/200,000 EXP)

Transformation Level: 9

Magic Level: 7 (14,736/100,000 EXP)

God-Slaying Blade: Can inflict massive damage on magical beasts below the god level (upgradable), smelting effects enabled (three slots).

Level 2 Sun Stone: Increases character fire-type magic and battle qi damage by 20%.

Level 1 Critical Hit Stone: Grants a 2% critical hit chance on character attacks.

Level 1 Breeze Stone: Increases character wind-type magic and battle qi damage by 10%.

Tiger God Armor: Provides strong defensive effects against magical beasts below the god level (upgradable), smelting effects enabled (three slots).

Level 2 Black Gem: Increases character speed by 10%.

Level 2 Blessing Stone: Saves 20% of magic, battle aura, and mental energy when using magic or battle aura.

Level 2 Nature Stone: Increases the speed of meditation and refining magic power by 20%.

Garen embarked on his journey back, walking with a leisurely pace as if strolling through his own garden, contemplating nature and the wind.

Two months later, Garen saw Fenlai City from afar. Looking at the massive city and the hurried crowds, it felt like a lifetime had passed; he hadn't realized he had spent a whole year in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

A snowflake landed on his face, cool and refreshing. He looked up at the sky as large, goose-feather snowflakes drifted down.

Watching the sky filled with snow, Garen's eyes brightened. After watching motionlessly for a while, he suddenly closed his eyes.

His mind was filled with the overwhelming momentum of the falling snow, as if the very heavens were pressing down, making it hard to breathe. In an instant, he felt his own insignificance; that was the momentum of heaven and earth.

"This is the kind of overwhelming momentum."

Garen drew the God-Slaying Blade and stood perfectly still, slowly merging into one with the world around him.

He stood like that for half a day.

Suddenly, he smiled.

"Haha, that's it, that's it."

Without using any battle aura, relying solely on his intuition, he swung his blade casually toward the sky.

"Boom!"

Within a hundred-meter radius, a massive aura surged into the sky. The power of that single strike prevented the snowflakes above his head from falling, and for an instant, the surrounding area seemed to become a vacuum.

Satisfied, Garen sheathed his blade and quickly left the area.

The commotion was too great; he was afraid of attracting people from the Radiant Church.

He soon returned to the academy.

He was preparing to tell Yale, Linley, and the others that he was back and treat everyone to a gathering, but he found the dormitory empty. After asking some classmates in the neighboring rooms, he learned that they had all gone to the back mountain of the academy.

In such cold, snowy weather, why would they be running to the back mountain instead of staying in the dormitory?

Suddenly, it occurred to him: snowy weather? Could it be? He hurriedly ran toward the mountain as well.

(End of chapter)