The Dragon Beast Appears

The next day, as soon as it was light, Bai Yang was already up.

Since he had decided to create a secret technique that surpassed Beast Fist,

he had spent some time thinking it over the previous night and had come up with a rough idea.

His main goal was still combat and breaking through to the next level in the future, so combat had to come first. He couldn't imitate things for the sake of imitation.

So he decided to build on Military Boxing, incorporating various forms of mimicry boxing as its branches.

During this time, his group had fought in Magic City and seen many different kinds of monsters.

So he planned to base his secret technique on nine forms: dragon, tiger, leopard, bear, ape, deer, eagle, crane, and snake.

It would begin with the dragon and end with the snake, forming a complete cycle.

It might look as if the forms grew weaker and weaker, but in truth, it drew on the ouroboros's meaning of endlessness and constant improvement.

Given his Monster King's physique, these two forms would inevitably become his strongest moves.

For now, he had grouped all known human boxing techniques under the broad category of ape.

He would gradually fill in the other categories through combat.

"If only I could use a virtual space right now and set any opponent I wanted.

I remember there are plenty of Ape Man races in the universe. King Zhenyan is one of them.

I'd definitely improve a lot if I could fight an Ape Man." Bai Yang couldn't help feeling regretful.

But there was nothing he could do about it for now. On Earth, the soonest he could get access to something like that was after he went to the War God Camp and challenged the Trial Tower.

If he really wanted to make a major improvement, he would have to enter the Virtual Universe Company's Killing Field.

After breakfast, everyone went out hunting again.

To avoid trouble, the squad chose another area, far from yesterday's battlefield where the snake and bird had fought.

Bai Yang put away the Mount Hua Sword. Whenever he spotted a beast at the Primary War God level, he would step forward to challenge it and practice different boxing techniques.

Thanks to this, his boxing improved at a tremendous pace, and he had already become highly proficient in several of his main moves.

He had even incorporated some of the Silver-Back Ape's movements from the day before.

With the terrifying physique he had gained after the first stage, his combat power was already no weaker than when he had used weapons.

The combination of Psychokinesis and poison was practically unstoppable among the herds.

All Bai Yang had to do was practice his boxing and keep replenishing his venom.

At their current pace, they could nearly clear all the monsters from an entire area in just a few days.

Unless the herds led by an Intermediate War God occasionally numbered several thousand, they posed no threat to the squad.

Because of the circle's unusual shape, more than ten days later, they had unknowingly traveled halfway around the center of Magic City.

That day, as they continued forward, they suddenly found themselves in a very strange area.

The sky in the distance was full of dangerous flying monsters, while the land-dwelling beasts had almost completely disappeared.

Bai Yang was secretly startled. He took out the specially made Mount Hua Communication Watch and began checking their location by satellite.

"So we've unknowingly come close to the Huangpu River."

The members of the Blood Brake Squad looked at one another, unable to believe they had already made it here!

Without a doubt, this was the most dangerous area in every circle!

Some places here were even more dangerous than many areas in the next circle!

Nobody knew what terrifying species might be in the sky or in the river.

Bai Yang thought for a moment, then said, "Stay here. I'll go take a look by myself."

The Planetary-Level monster they had encountered that day had put him under a lot of pressure.

He really wanted to find out whether entering a certain range would always attract the attention of Planetary-Level monsters.

Or whether he would be fine as long as he wasn't transformed.

This was directly connected to the future battle to build the War Base, so he had to figure it out.

If it turned out to be the former and he misjudged the situation, drawing several Planetary-Level monsters at once, it would all be over.

As one of the most important routes used by countless monsters from the East China Sea to invade the inland regions, the Huangpu River had grown wider and deeper over the decades. The endless waves of sea monsters had made it far more imposing than it had been before the Great Nirvana Period.

Nobody knew how many aquatic monsters lurked in the mighty Huangpu River.

Bai Yang walked to the riverbank. At a glance, the river was so wide that it looked like a lake, and a thick mist hung over the water.

With ordinary eyesight, a person might not even be able to see the other side.

He waited patiently on the bank for a while, recalling the sensation he had felt when he sensed that King-Level Monster.

After a long time, the river remained completely calm. Nothing happened.

Bai Yang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He truly couldn't sense anything.

It seemed he was safe as long as he didn't transform.

Maybe he could even use this trait to teach that King-Level Monster a lesson.

He even suspected that the monster might be some kind of unusual Dragon Beast, which would explain the strange way he had sensed it. It probably had nothing to do with its strength.

After confirming that it was safe, Bai Yang called over the squad members, and they continued hunting.

Flying monsters gathered here in great numbers to prey on the delicious aquatic monsters in the river.

They had nearly eaten all the ordinary beasts on land.

After staying in Magic City for so long, the group had come up with a way to deal with them.

Earlier, Bai Yang had collected secretions from the scent glands of some of the flying monsters and smeared them over everyone's protective suits.

As long as they didn't get too close to one another, the monsters circling high above wouldn't mistake them for prey.

Unlike the land monsters, the aquatic monsters didn't seem to have clearly defined territories.

Bai Yang used his Psychokinesis to haul one out of the river. Perhaps it feared his strength.

Or perhaps it was wary of the scent of flying monsters on him. In any case, the aquatic herd didn't come ashore to attack.

He couldn't be bothered with that. After absorbing the gene for underwater breathing, he left it at that.

The group traveled along the riverbank, enjoying scenery that few people in this era could calmly take in.

They went farther and farther, encountering almost no enemies along the way. They were soon approaching what was known as the Second Circle.

The group was about to discuss whether they should keep going.

Suddenly, An Zhengxin stared at the ground and exclaimed, "Look!"

"Monster footprints! Right by the river!"

"There's fur here... Mm, it's thin and long, and really prickly. This is a Steel-Spike Dragon!"

"That's an Intermediate Lord-level monster! No wonder it dares to come here to drink water all by itself."

Bai Yang was startled. They had actually come across a Dragon Beast!

He carefully picked up the fur from the ground and examined it.

The strands were silver and gold, so thin and long yet unbelievably hard.

He had to use a little force just to snap one.

If any monster had fur like this, it looked more like a porcupine than a dragon.

He had seen plenty of monsters by now, and just from the footprints on the ground, he could picture what it looked like.

The monster was probably ten meters long. It was nothing like the Black-Line Snake.

A Steel-Spike Dragon of this size would certainly have the strength of a peak Intermediate War God, and it was a Dragon Beast, too!

It seemed to be alone, but it was still quite dangerous.

Should they go after it?