Chen Yuan and the Lion Mastiff (Thanks to the reader for the reward)

"An Intermediate Beast General, huh." Chen Yuan gazed into the distance, unable to help but sigh in his heart: "If it weren't for the fact that Lion Mastiffs aren't skilled in speed, I probably would have met my end there last time."

An Intermediate Beast General starts with a minimum strength of 16,000 kilograms, and the Lion Mastiff Leader, being a strength-type monster, possesses an astonishing strength of 20,000 kilograms!

In contrast, after several days of arduous training, Chen Yuan's strength has only risen to 4,700 kilograms. Even with a 2x force output, he only reaches 9,400 kilograms, barely half that of the Lion Mastiff Leader.

Precisely because of this, he could only flee in a sorry state when facing the pack of Lion Mastiffs previously.

However, today is different from the past. As his Gale Sword Art has entered the proficiency level, Chen Yuan's strength has undergone a qualitative leap.

Before the breakthrough of the Gale Sword Art, his limit speed was 150 meters per second, only slightly faster than the Lion Mastiff Leader. Now, the breakthrough in his Gale Sword Art allows his speed to easily reach 180 meters per second, leaving it far behind!

As a strength-type monster, the Lion Mastiff has its own shortcomings: its speed is poor, with a running speed of only 120 meters per second, which is slower than an average Intermediate War General level human Martial Artist.

The core of the Gale Sword Art mastered by Chen Yuan is one word: "fast." As long as he can crush the enemy in speed, combined with the sword speed brought by the Wind Artistic Conception, he is capable of killing enemies across ranks.

Not only that, the Gale Sword Art also incorporates the agility of the Spirit Wind Sword Art, making Chen Yuan's footwork extremely nimble, especially adept at dodging enemy attacks.

Therefore, group combat is precisely where Chen Yuan's advantage lies. He does not fear encountering a monster pack; on the contrary, his advantages can only be brought to the extreme when facing a large number of enemies.

It can be said that with Chen Yuan's current strength, he is capable of annihilating a monster pack led by a Primary Beast General, but it is a pity that there is no such enemy in this County 0247.

The only Beast General in the city is that Intermediate Beast General Lion Mastiff.

However, although this Lion Mastiff is massive and possesses astonishing strength, its speed is its fatal weakness.

Using his own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses, Chen Yuan assessed the situation and felt that he was fully capable of handling it.

What's more, constantly killing monsters weaker than himself has caused the growth of Chen Yuan's sword art to become very slow. One must know that on the first day he practiced the Gale Sword Art, his proficiency increased by a full 30%!

Yet now, after five days and five nights of slaughter, this sword art has only just managed to break through to the proficiency level, all because the enemies he encountered were too weak.

After all, combat-type secret techniques share a common flaw: they need to be honed in intense battles! The more intense the slaughter, the more significant the improvement of the secret technique.

Therefore, after carefully assessing the strength of both sides, Chen Yuan decided to use this pack of Lion Mastiffs as the final exam for his training in County 0247!

As Chen Yuan exerted force through his feet, his figure sped out like a bolt of lightning, instantly charging into the gathering place of the Lion Mastiffs.

Taking advantage of the fact that the pack had not yet reacted, the Streamer Battle Sword in his hand was already swung. The sword light was like electricity, and every strike precisely reaped the life of a Lion Mastiff.

In just a few seconds, five or six Lion Mastiffs had fallen under his sword.

"Awoo—!"

A deafening roar came from the Lion Mastiff Leader in the distance. It recognized this human—a few days ago, this guy had broken into its territory and slaughtered its subordinates.

Although it had defeated the opponent at the time, because its speed was inferior, it could only watch as his figure disappeared from its field of vision after chasing him for half the city.

It had assumed this detestable human would not dare to return, but what the Lion Mastiff Leader did not expect was that after only a few days, the opponent dared to provoke its majesty again!

The Lion Mastiff Leader let out a high-pitched roar, commanding the pack to surround and kill Chen Yuan, while it did not easily step forward itself. This time, it decided to end this human's life with its own paws, to let him understand that it was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Therefore, it was not in a hurry to enter the fray, so as not to scare the opponent away again.

The Lion Mastiff Leader clearly knew that its speed was a shortcoming, but as long as the pack could trap the opponent and exhaust his stamina, it could deliver a fatal blow when his movements slowed down!

Time ticked by second by second, and the dense pack of Lion Mastiffs gradually gathered toward Chen Yuan's direction, soon blocking his retreat path completely.

However, relying on his nimble footwork, Chen Yuan shuttled through the pack like a ghost. His steps were light, easily dodging the attacks of the Lion Mastiffs while striking sharply, each swing of his sword precisely taking the life of a monster.

"Is it trying to exhaust me?" Chen Yuan waited for a long time without seeing the Lion Mastiff Leader appear. After a moment of thought, he realized the opponent's intention and smiled slightly, "Want to use these Beast Soldiers to drain my stamina? You can try and see whether I fall first or your subordinates die out first."

One must know that what he practices is Deep Sleep, and he has already reached the second stage!

In the world of Star River Emperor, there is only one standard for measuring strength: vitality. It represents the comprehensive index of a person's physical fitness, and every increase in vitality means an all-around evolution of the body.

This evolution is not just an enhancement of strength, speed, and nerve response; even the internal organs, blood, bone marrow, and even the brain are strengthened.

In the world of Swallowed Star, cultivation is mostly done through physical exercise, supplemented by the absorption of cosmic energy, to improve the strength of muscles, bones, and other parts. This is a form of active cultivation.

As for the internal organs and tissues of the body, they can only be slowly improved through the subtle influence of cosmic energy, which belongs to passive cultivation.

Both methods can bring improvements, but the effect of active cultivation is clearly more significant than passive improvement.

However, in Star River Emperor, the cultivation method is completely different; it is to transform the human body through Deep Sleep. It is equivalent to the body practicing at every moment. The degree of improvement is certainly not as good as active cultivation, but it is far faster than passive cultivation.

Therefore, for Chen Yuan, who has already reached the second stage of Deep Sleep, his strength might be similar to a Martial Artist of the same level, but his comprehensive physical quality far exceeds that of ordinary people.

In other words, in terms of endurance, Chen Yuan has already surpassed the level of a high-level Warrior, even rivaling a War General level!

It is not entirely impossible for these Beast Soldier level monsters to want to exhaust his stamina by relying on numbers, but the few Lion Mastiffs before him are clearly far from enough.

Chen Yuan roughly estimated that unless the number of these Lion Mastiffs was tripled, it would be barely possible to exhaust his stamina.

Precisely because of this, Chen Yuan did not care about the Lion Mastiff Leader's intentions at all; instead, he took advantage of the opponent's observation to wantonly slaughter its subordinates!

Time passed minute by minute. The Lion Mastiff Leader had originally watched the battle with full expectation, hoping that the opponent would gradually slow down due to exhaustion, so that it could take him down in one fell swoop.

But gradually, it noticed something wrong—more than half of its subordinates were already dead or injured, yet the opponent's movements remained as smooth as flowing water, and there was no sign of fatigue in his flying figure!

Finally, when the number of the pack had plummeted by a full 70%, the Lion Mastiff Leader could no longer sit still. It let out a roar, and its massive body charged toward Chen Yuan, the ground rumbling under its footsteps.

"Finally here, are you?" Chen Yuan caught a glimpse of the Lion Mastiff Leader's charging figure, the corners of his mouth lifted, and his figure instantly retreated, speeding toward the city center.

"Don't think about escaping!" The Lion Mastiff Leader was furious. It had endured for too long to wait for the best opportunity, even watching as its subordinates were almost wiped out. How could it tolerate this detestable human escaping so easily?

Thus, it chased after him without hesitation, its massive body treading across the ground, emitting a dull roar, causing even the earth to tremble slightly.

As time passed, its speed increased, and soon it caught sight of Chen Yuan.

"This human's speed is slowing down!" A glimmer of joy flashed in the eyes of the Lion Mastiff Leader, believing its plan had finally taken effect; although it had lost a large number of subordinates, it had indeed exhausted the opponent's stamina.

Given the opponent's current speed, the Lion Mastiff Leader was confident it could catch up.

Moreover, as time went on, the opponent's stamina would continue to decline and his speed would only grow slower, while it had been conserving its energy for quite some time—it would absolutely not let this human escape!

Thus, man and beast ignited a fierce chase, pursuing from the southeast of the county seat to the northwest, nearly crossing the entire city.

In the end, Chen Yuan came to a halt, though not because he was exhausted, but because he had reached his destination.

This was a stretch of urban ruins where collapsed high-rises and dilapidated walls could be seen everywhere; it was also the place where Chen Yuan had encountered those 18 Tiger Mastiff Dogs when he first arrived in this county seat.

Likewise, this was also the burial ground he had meticulously chosen for the Lion Mastiff Leader!