On the west side of Wushan Town, there is a small mountain known as Wushan.
Wushan Town derives its name from this very mountain.
The mountain is home to some small wild beasts, and in its depths, large beasts occasionally roam.
It is currently late autumn, and the ground is covered in a thick layer of dry, fallen leaves.
Stepping on them produces a sound, alerting the local wildlife.
This season is arguably the most difficult time of the year for hunting.
However...
Moke walks through Wushan with a calm and elegant air about him.
He moves without a sound, as if gliding on the wind, appearing to be one with the heavens and the earth.
A moment later, Moke's eyes brighten.
Up ahead, two small sika deer are grazing, occasionally glancing around with vigilance.
"Today, you two shall be my extra meal." Moke's lips curl upward, and then, with a slight movement of his lips, he begins to silently chant a magic incantation.
As he focuses his mental energy, the wind-element magic power stored in his chest begins to gather, connecting with the magic elements between heaven and earth.
In less than a second, Moke's gaze suddenly sharpens!
"Whoosh!"
Several Wind Blades suddenly manifest out of thin air, spinning as they streak toward the two sika deer in the distance.
The Wind Blades are extremely fast and quite stealthy; by the time they draw near, the two sika deer only just react, but it is already too late!
The Wind Blades slice across the necks, abdomens, and other vulnerable areas of the two deer, easily cutting through their fur and drawing blood. They attempt to struggle and flee.
However, with their carotid arteries severed and deep gashes carved into their abdomens, their internal organs spill out cruelly with every movement.
The two sika deer soon collapse, twitching on the ground before falling completely still.
Second-rank wind magic—Wind Blade!
A first-rank Wind Blade can only release a single cyan blade at a time.
However, a second-rank Wind Blade can release several blades simultaneously.
After consuming the Holy Dragon Essence Blood, Moke's mental energy surged significantly, and after another year and a half of cultivation, he has already become a fifth-rank mage.
He can cast second-rank Wind Blades almost instantaneously and control their trajectory with ease, which is how he managed to strike the vulnerable necks and abdomens of the two deer with such precision.
With a few leaps, he arrives at the carcasses. Moke takes a sharp small knife from his spatial ring and begins to skin and gut them.
He moves his lips, casting water-type magic. A small stream of water suddenly appears in the air, flowing continuously as if from a spring.
As Moke skins and cleans the deer, the water washes away the flowing blood.
Third-rank water magic—Water Condensation Technique!
Water Condensation Technique is a sustained spell; as long as one has magic power in their body, it can continue indefinitely.
It is also an evolvable spell; a Saint-level Water Condensation Technique can cause rivers to flow backward and submerge an entire city in an instant.
With the help of these minor spells, Moke quickly cleans the two sika deer.
He then picks up the prepared deer, circulating his Holy Dragon Battle Qi—which has reached the level of a fifth-rank warrior—and his movements become much lighter as he speeds through the forest.
A year and a half has passed, and Moke has reached the fifth rank in both magic and battle qi.
Furthermore, once he transforms into a Holy Dragon Warrior, he will be directly comparable to an eighth-rank warrior!
Although his rank has increased, the boost in strength after transformation has not diminished!
This is the terrifying nature of a Holy Dragon Warrior!
Only eight years old, and an eighth-rank warrior!
It must be said that the current Moke is nothing short of a monster.
Approaching the foot of Wushan, Moke slows his pace and walks toward the Baruch Mansion.
Passing the clearing on the east side of the forest, the youths from the three training squads are still practicing.
"It's Young Master Moke! Young Master Moke has hunted beasts on Wushan again!"
"I'm so envious of Young Master Linley, getting to eat the game Young Master Moke hunts every day!"
"I'm envious of Young Master Moke himself, not having to train here with us."
"If you had Young Master Moke's talent, Lord Hillman would allow you to skip training too!"
Seeing Moke descending the mountain with the sika deer, the training youths cannot help but whisper among themselves.
Hearing their murmurs, Moke smiles.
Half a year ago, he had already proposed to Hogg that he no longer needed to follow Hillman's training.
The reason Hogg agreed was because the extreme self-discipline and astonishing progress Moke displayed left Hogg with nothing to say.
Although, that was merely a small fraction of what Moke had revealed.
Within the largest training group, eight-year-old Linley was already training alongside the older children.
Upon seeing Moke, he immediately broke into a radiant smile.
Catching a glimpse of Moke waving at him from the corner of his eye, the two prepared small sika deer seemed to emit a meaty aroma that made Linley's throat bob involuntarily.
Ever since his brother Moke had been permitted to train alone half a year ago, the household had never lacked for game, and Linley and little Wharton would eat until their bellies were round every day.
"Hmph!"
At this moment, a cold snort suddenly came from the front.
The group of youths all wore bitter expressions, "Oh no, the Great Demon King is coming!"
Sure enough, Hillman quickly walked over, weaving through the group of youths.
Whenever he spotted someone slacking off or performing a movement incorrectly, a whip would lash out.
"If you want to skip training, you can!"
Hillman's voice rang out: "Whoever can become a Level 2 Warrior before the age of 12, I will allow you to skip training!"
"A Level 2 Warrior?"
Hearing Hillman say this, the group of youths all shook their heads.
Among them, only those with the best talent could reach the level of a Level 2 Warrior as they approached 16 years of age.
The average person was only a Level 1 Warrior by the time they neared adulthood.
"Reaching Level 2 before 12 is already me relaxing the conditions."
Hillman watched Moke's departing back, his eyes filled with astonishment: "Young Master Moke, after all, reached Level 2 Warrior when he was not even eight years old."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, as if some gargantuan beast had entered Wushan Town!
Following that, sounds of an argument drifted over from the center of Wushan Town.
"Not good!"
Hillman's expression shifted; he stomped hard against the ground and dashed rapidly toward the scene of the incident.
"Rory, keep an eye on the children!" Hillman did not forget to instruct the guard member Rory.
Unfortunately, the group of children had long since been drawn by the massive commotion and had descended into total chaos.
Worried that something had happened to Wushan Town, Linley took advantage of the disorder to follow Hillman.
When he arrived at the center of the town, he saw the thing that had caused the ground to shake—a behemoth taller than the houses, snorting plumes of scorching hot air from nostrils the size of fists!
"That is... a Level 7 Magical Beast, the Velociraptor?!" Hillman gasped.
"This is... a Level 7 Magical Beast, the Velociraptor?"
Linley felt his heart stop beating; he was so shocked he stood frozen on the spot.
The behemoth stood taller than the surrounding houses, with a body length of several dozen meters. Its entire body was covered in red scales the size of washbasins, and its thick limbs and sharp fangs made one's hair stand on end just looking at them.
At this moment, eight-year-old Linley felt his blood burning.
Compared to this behemoth, the mercenary squad standing opposite it looked far more ordinary.
Furthermore, Linley discovered that standing atop the head of the Velociraptor was a man wearing long robes.
"Is... is that a magus?" Linley thought, stunned.
"Linley!"
Suddenly, a voice jolted Linley back to his senses.
"Brother!"
Linley turned his head and saw Moke running over quickly, then shielding him behind his back.
Moke was very angry: "Why did you come here? Don't you know it's dangerous here?"
Although he knew Linley was the protagonist and unlikely to die young, he had transmigrated here, and the plot might not necessarily follow the original work.
Therefore, Moke was genuinely worried that something might happen to Linley.
The current Linley was not the transcendent being of the future; he was just his brother, Moke's younger brother.
"Brother, I'm fine." Linley was a little afraid of Moke and shrank his neck at this moment.
"Brother, what happened? Is the person on the back of that Velociraptor a magus?"
"He seems to have gotten into a conflict with that group of mercenaries." Linley very cleverly changed the subject.
"Mn, that person is a magus; it seems they are fighting over something."
Moke said while shielding Linley.
At this moment, many things flashed through his mind.
He had been here for too long, so long that he had forgotten some of the plot points that were supposed to occur.
For instance, the current conflict between an eighth-rank dual-element mage and a group of mercenaries over a crystal diamond, which had nearly destroyed an entire street in Wushan Town.
Or, for another instance, the battle between two Saint-level powerhouses in the skies above Wushan Town that would take place before long.
And that time, it had left over a thousand people in Wushan Town dead or injured!
Moke gritted his teeth: "Absolutely, I absolutely cannot let such things happen!"
Having lived in Wushan Town for eight years, many of the people here were no longer just characters who hadn't even been mentioned in the novel.
They were the living, breathing uncles and elders around him who would always kindly call out to him as Young Master Moke.