Leaving the Mountain Range

"Brute force overcomes ten techniques" only applies when there is a massive disparity in power, a state of absolute suppression.

However, when strength levels are comparable, combat requires the right timing, favorable terrain, and the support of others.

At the peak of the snowy mountain, one man faced a group of Frost Dragon Kings.

At this moment, Garen possessed neither the right timing, the favorable terrain, nor the support of others.

The Saint Realm Frost Dragon King was covered in a thick layer of ice armor, blocking Garen's attacks head-on, while dozens of other Level 9 Frost Dragons were mostly casting rapid-fire ice arrows equivalent to Level 8 magic at Garen, with a portion charging up the Level 9 spell "Ice-Sealing Heaven and Earth."

Because the territory of the One-Horned Rhinoceros herd was close to that of the Frost Dragons, the Frost Dragon King had sensed the combat fluctuations from Garen's earlier slaughter of the rhinoceroses, so it had been prepared for a long time.

The moment Garen appeared, intending to launch a sneak attack, he was caught off guard by the Frost Dragon group that had been waiting for him.

Does this mean I have to transform? Or ask the Golden Sun Eagle to intervene? If I do that, the experience points for the Level 9 magical beasts will all be gone, and a single Saint Realm magical beast doesn't provide much experience either; it's not really worth it.

Garen felt conflicted inside.

He was currently caught in a dilemma; although he still held some advantage when facing the Frost Dragon King alone.

But with countless Level 8 ice arrows flying toward him, he could rely on the protection of the Tiger God Armor to tank them, yet the massive amount of ice crystal explosions adhering to his body required him to consume battle qi to disperse them. If he didn't, the prolonged freezing effect would severely impact his speed.

Furthermore, there was the Level 9 spell Ice-Sealing Heaven and Earth, a powerful magic second only to absolute zero, which would cause him some damage and accelerate the freezing process.

"Human, I advise you to leave immediately; I do not wish to be your enemy."

The Frost Dragon King sensed the Saint Realm Golden Sun Eagle not far above and realized that the numerous Level 9 Frost Dragons could not inflict substantial damage on Garen in a short time.

Every time it took one of Garen's attacks, it suffered an injury, and it began to waver.

Garen was thinking frantically, searching for a countermeasure.

"There's no other way; you forced my hand."

After muttering to himself, Garen sent a quick soul transmission to the Golden Sun Eagle, then transformed directly, his battle qi instantly surging tenfold.

With his speed greatly increased, he dodged the countless ice arrows and flashed beneath the Frost Dragon King.

He unleashed a full-power strike.

"Explosive Slash"

With the Profundity of Explosion fully unleashed, the Frost Dragon's ice armor shattered instantly. The terrifying power of the explosion continued unabated, blasting a massive wound into the Frost Dragon King's abdomen, causing blood to flow freely.

The Frost Dragon King was also sent flying upward by this strike.

This sudden shift in Garen's combat rhythm caught the Frost Dragon off guard.

Before the Frost Dragon King could react, a five-to-six-meter-wide Dimensional Blade slashed down diagonally.

One of the Frost Dragon King's wings was severed, and half of its abdomen was sliced off; unable to maintain its energy, it began to fall.

Garen, of course, would not let this opportunity slip; he struck the massive wound several more times, ending its life.

Ding: Killed Saint Realm Frost Dragon King, gained 2529 experience points.

Garen quickly collected half of the Frost Dragon King's body, ignored the other Level 9 Frost Dragons, and flew away without looking back.

The group of Level 9 Frost Dragons was stunned, never expecting their leader to be taken out so easily.

Watching Garen fly away quickly, they wondered: should they chase, or should they not?

Garen flew away quickly not because he was afraid of this group of Frost Dragons, but because he feared the system might cheat him. Previously, in the outer reaches of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, after he transformed and then reverted to human form to kill a Level 6 Saw-Toothed Crocodile, the system only gave him half the experience.

He was now worried that if he reverted to human form to kill this group of Frost Dragons, the system would cheat him again. With so many Frost Dragons, that wasn't just a little bit of experience; losing half would be agonizing. Before he fully understood the system's patterns, he decided to play it safe.

Together with the Golden Sun Eagle, he flew for a while before finding a flat boulder, where man and eagle began to roast the Saint Realm dragon meat.

After thoroughly enjoying the dragon meat, Garen took a nap on the boulder before setting off again, flying toward the icy mountain.

"Heh heh heh... I've let things cool down for long enough; there's no reason for the system to mess with me now. These Frost Dragons won't escape my clutches."

This time, in just over half an hour, the entire group of Frost Dragons was converted into experience points.

With the group of Level 9 Frost Dragons lacking the restraint of the Saint Realm Frost Dragon, even in human form, Garen was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, killing several with every slash, and the battle ended quickly.

It seemed the system still had a conscience; it didn't mess with him this time. Averaging 1200 experience points per beast, he gained a total of 20,000 experience points.

He also harvested 69 Level 9 Magic Crystal Cores, one Primary Enhancement Stone, and two gems.

Warrior Level: Level 9 (665,674/1,000,000 experience)

Wind Element

Law Profundity: "Wind Element" (990,000/20,000,000 experience)

Fire Element

Law Profundity: "Profundity of Explosion" (1,260,000/50,000,000)

Transformation Level: Saint Realm

Magic Level: Level 9 (150,000/1,000,000 experience)

His warrior level had already reached the mid-stage of Level 9 in human form, with no other changes.

As it stands, if they don't drop items, the cost-effectiveness of killing Saint Realm magical beasts is low; not only are they hard to kill, but they don't provide much experience.

Garen checked his spatial ring; he was only one Primary Enhancement Stone away from synthesizing an Intermediate Enhancement Stone. Once he upgraded the Tiger God Armor to a divine artifact, he would be truly tanky. Saint Realm-level damage would at most severely injure him, and even a peak Saint Realm powerhouse wouldn't be able to kill him in one hit.

Garen decided to head north slowly, searching for some level nine magical beasts.

Although there were no large groups of level nine magical beasts left in the Sunset Mountain Range, there were still plenty of solitary ones to be found.

Under normal circumstances, it took killing about twenty magical beasts on average to drop an item, and even that was inconsistent; it didn't feel like much usually, but now that the Tiger God Armor was on the verge of evolution, trying to farm a Primary Enhancement Stone had suddenly become difficult.

Over a month later, Garen walked out of the Sunset Mountain Range and arrived in the southern part of the Yulan Empire.

From the core area to the central region, he had only encountered six level nine magical beasts, and aside from experience points and Magic Crystal Cores, he hadn't gotten a single drop.

It was already the beginning of December, and he still had the side quest to rescue Doehring Cowart to complete; he couldn't lose sight of the big picture for the sake of small gains, and Garen no longer had the patience to keep hunting for magical beasts, so he left the Sunset Mountain Range and entered the Yulan Empire.

Bare-armed and carrying the God-Slaying Blade on his back, Garen hadn't gained much experience over the past month, but by contemplating nature every day, he had made a breakthrough in his comprehension of the Laws of Wind, and his experience points had surged by over a hundred thousand, which was a significant harvest in its own right.

After all, having used the Soul Golden Bead, his soul power was formidable, making the deduction of laws much faster, and the profound mysteries of the elemental laws in any branch were always the easiest to comprehend.

Just as he emerged from the Sunset Mountain Range, Garen noticed red dots appearing on his Map Function; he usually ignored the red dots on the outskirts of the mountains, as they were typically just low-level magical beasts.

But since there were still red dots even after leaving the Sunset Mountain Range, Garen knew without thinking that he had run into bandits.

From the moment Uncle Luke died, Garen had made a solemn vow: whenever he encountered bandits, he would kill every single one he saw without mercy.

Since Garen's Map Function had been upgraded, it could now detect targets within a two-kilometer radius, and as a result, the bandits on the outskirts of the Sunset Mountain Range were in for a disaster.

Even without experience points, Garen killed them with absolute resolve.

(End of chapter)

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