"An Intermediate Beast General..." Chen Yuan looked into the distance and could not help sighing. "If Lion Mastiffs weren't so slow, I probably would have died there last time."
An Intermediate Beast General had a minimum strength of 16,000 kilograms. As a strength-type Monster, the Lion Mastiff Leader's strength had reached an astonishing 20,000 kilograms!
By comparison, after several days of grueling cultivation, Chen Yuan's strength had only risen to 4,700 kilograms. Even with double-force exertion, it was only 9,400 kilograms—barely half that of the Lion Mastiff Leader.
That was why, when he had faced the Lion Mastiff pack before, he could only flee in disgrace.
However, things were different now. With the Gale Sword Art entering the proficient level, Chen Yuan's strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
Before the Gale Sword Art breakthrough, his Extreme Speed had been 150 meters per second, only slightly faster than the Lion Mastiff Leader. Now, the breakthrough allowed his speed to easily reach 180 meters per second, leaving it far behind!
As a strength-type Monster, the Lion Mastiff also had a weakness: its speed. Its running speed was only 120 meters per second, slower than an average intermediate War General Level human Martial Artist.
The core of the Gale Sword Art Chen Yuan had mastered was a single word: "fast." As long as he could overwhelm his enemy in speed, combined with the sword speed granted by the Wind Artistic Conception, he could kill enemies above his level.
Not only that, the Gale Sword Art had incorporated the agility of the Spirit Wind Sword Art, making Chen Yuan's movement technique exceptionally nimble and particularly effective at evading enemy attacks.
Therefore, fighting groups was precisely Chen Yuan's strength. He was not afraid of encountering Monster packs. On the contrary, only when facing large numbers of enemies could his advantages be brought into full play.
It could be said that, with Chen Yuan's current strength, he could wipe out a Monster pack led by an Elementary Beast General. Unfortunately, County 0247 had no such enemy.
The only Beast General in the city was that Intermediate Beast General, the Lion Mastiff.
Although the Lion Mastiff was enormous and possessed astonishing strength, its speed was its fatal weakness.
Using his own strengths to strike at the enemy's weaknesses, Chen Yuan secretly assessed the situation and concluded that he was fully capable of handling it.
Besides, constantly killing Monsters weaker than himself had already caused the growth of Chen Yuan's swordsmanship to become exceedingly slow. On the first day he cultivated the Gale Sword Art, its proficiency had increased by a full 30%!
Yet now, after five days and five nights of slaughter, the sword art had only barely broken through to the proficient level. That was precisely because the enemies he encountered were too weak.
After all, combat-type secret arts all shared one flaw—they needed to be tempered through fierce battle! The more intense the slaughter, the more obvious the improvement in the secret art.
Therefore, after carefully evaluating both sides' strength, Chen Yuan decided to make this Lion Mastiff pack his final test in County 0247!
With a sudden burst of force beneath his feet, Chen Yuan shot forward like a bolt of lightning and instantly rushed into the Lion Mastiffs' gathering place.
Before the pack could react, the Streamer Battle Sword in his hand had already swung out. Sword light flashed like lightning, and every strike precisely harvested the life of a Lion Mastiff.
In just a few seconds, five or six Lion Mastiffs had fallen beneath his sword.
"Awooo—!"
A deafening roar came from the distance. The Lion Mastiff Leader recognized this human—several days ago, this fellow had barged into its territory and slaughtered its subordinates.
Although it had defeated him then, it had been slower than him. After chasing him across half the city, it could only watch helplessly as his figure vanished from sight.
It had thought this hateful human would not dare return, but to the Lion Mastiff Leader's surprise, only a few days had passed before he dared challenge its authority again!
The Lion Mastiff Leader let out a sharp roar and commanded the pack to surround and kill Chen Yuan, but it did not step forward easily. This time, it had decided to personally end this human's life and make him understand that it was not one to be provoked.
That was why it was not in a hurry to appear, lest it scare him off again.
The Lion Mastiff Leader knew perfectly well that speed was its weakness. But as long as the pack trapped him and exhausted his stamina, it could deliver a fatal blow once his movements slowed!
Second by second, the densely packed Lion Mastiffs gradually converged on Chen Yuan. Before long, they had sealed off his retreat completely.
However, relying on his agile movement technique, Chen Yuan shuttled through the pack like a ghost. His footwork was light, allowing him to easily evade the Lion Mastiffs' attacks while striking out with his sword. Every swing precisely took the life of a Monster.
It's trying to wear me down? Chen Yuan waited for a long time without seeing the Lion Mastiff Leader appear. After a brief thought, he understood its intentions. He smiled faintly. "You want to use these Beast Soldiers to exhaust my stamina? Go ahead and try. Let's see whether I collapse first, or your subordinates die first."
After all, he cultivated Deep Sleep, and he had already reached its second stage!
In the Star River Emperor World, there was only one standard for measuring strength—life force. It represented the overall condition of a person's body. Every increase in life force signified a comprehensive evolution of the body.
This evolution was not limited to increased strength, speed, and neural response. Even the internal organs, blood, bone marrow, and brain would be strengthened.
In the Swallowed Star world, cultivation was mostly done by training the body and supplementing it with the absorption of cosmic energy to strengthen muscles, bones, and other parts. This was an active form of cultivation.
As for the body's internal organs and tissues, they could only be slowly improved through the subtle influence of cosmic energy. That was passive cultivation.
Both methods could bring improvement, but active cultivation was clearly far more effective than passive enhancement.
But in Star River Emperor, the cultivation method was entirely different. It transformed the human body through Deep Sleep, which was equivalent to the body cultivating at every moment. The improvement might not match active cultivation, but it was far faster than passive cultivation.
Therefore, for Chen Yuan, who had already reached the second stage of Deep Sleep, his strength might not differ much from Martial Artists of the same level, but his overall physical condition far surpassed that of ordinary people.
In other words, in terms of endurance, Chen Yuan had already surpassed the level of an Advanced Warrior and could even rival a War General Level Martial Artist!
It was not entirely impossible for these Beast Soldier-level Monsters to rely on numbers to exhaust his stamina, but the Lion Mastiffs before him were clearly far from enough.
Chen Yuan roughly estimated that the pack would need to be tripled in number before it could barely exhaust his stamina.
That was why Chen Yuan paid no attention to the Lion Mastiff Leader's intentions. Instead, while it watched from the sidelines, he freely slaughtered its subordinates!
Second by second, the Lion Mastiff Leader watched the battle with great anticipation, hoping its opponent would gradually slow down from exhaustion so it could take him down in one move.
But gradually, it realized something was wrong—more than half of its subordinates had already been killed or injured, yet its opponent's movements remained as smooth as flowing water, his body speeding through the battlefield without the slightest sign of fatigue!
Finally, when the pack's numbers had plummeted by a full seventy percent, the Lion Mastiff Leader could no longer remain still. It roared furiously and charged at Chen Yuan, its massive body making the ground rumble and tremble beneath its steps.
It's finally here. Chen Yuan caught sight of the Lion Mastiff Leader charging toward him. The corner of his mouth lifted, and he instantly retreated, racing toward the urban district.
"Don't even think about running!" The Lion Mastiff Leader was enraged. It had endured for so long while waiting for the best opportunity, even watching helplessly as its subordinates were nearly wiped out. How could it allow this hateful human to escape so easily?
Thus, it pursued without hesitation. Its massive body pounded across the ground with dull booms, making even the earth tremble slightly.
As time passed, its speed increased more and more, and before long, it caught sight of Chen Yuan.
This human has slowed down! A flash of delight appeared in the Lion Mastiff Leader's eyes. It believed its plan had finally worked. Although it had lost many subordinates, it had indeed exhausted the other party's stamina.
At his current speed, the Lion Mastiff Leader was confident it could catch him.
What was more, as time passed, the other party's stamina would decline further, and his speed would grow slower and slower. Meanwhile, it had conserved its strength for so long. There was no way it would let this human escape!
Thus, man and beast began an intense chase, racing from the southeast of the county town to the northwest, nearly crossing the entire city.
In the end, Chen Yuan stopped, but not because he lacked stamina. He had simply reached his destination.
This was a stretch of urban ruins, filled with collapsed high-rises and crumbling walls. It was also the place where Chen Yuan had encountered those eighteen Tiger Mastiff Dogs when he first arrived in this county town.
Likewise, this was the burial ground Chen Yuan had carefully chosen for the Lion Mastiff Leader!
Before you continue