Sword Qi Advancement

After leaving the Lin Clan, Lin Ge set out for Yan City.

Although Yan City was the closest city to Green Sun Town, the distance between the two was considerable. Even Lin Ge had to travel for over an hour before he finally arrived.

It was already afternoon when he reached Yan City. Lin Ge didn't hurry into town, instead heading for the forest nearby.

As soon as he entered the forest's outskirts, Lin Ge sensed a bloodthirsty, dangerous aura.

It came from a savage beast. At that moment, the creature glared at Lin Ge, its eyes filled with murderous intent.

The beast wasn't large. In fact, it was rather scrawny. Its claws were razor-sharp, and fresh blood stained them. It had clearly just fought with another beast.

"Yan City really is something. Even one beast here is beyond anything in Green Sun Town."

Lin Ge clicked his tongue, a glint of cold light in his eyes.

Before facing the Wild Wolf Gang head-on, Lin Ge needed to strengthen his sword qi. That was why he'd decided to take a trip through the forest near Yan City. He hadn't expected to encounter such a powerful beast so soon.

"Roar..."

Lin Ge's calm demeanor enraged the savage beast. It roared, its body suddenly surging with tremendous power. With a whoosh, it crossed dozens of meters in an instant and lunged straight at him.

"Hmm?"

The beast's sudden speed surprised Lin Ge, but he didn't panic. He blurred aside, channeled origin energy into his legs, and leaped into the air. Then he stomped hard on the beast's back before landing on the ground.

Lin Ge's kick deflected the beast's momentum, sending it crashing to the ground with a groan.

"Roar!"

Being toyed with by a human drove the ferocious beast into a rage. Its roar seemed to carry a piercing force that struck directly at Lin Ge's mind.

"This beast..."

After being affected for a few breaths, Lin Ge returned to normal, his heart stirring with surprise.

He was certain this beast wasn't a demon beast, yet its roar could still affect his mind. It was truly an unbelievable phenomenon.

But he had no time to think it over. The beast lunged again, even faster than before. A gust of wind swept toward him, and the beast was suddenly right in front of him.

This time, Lin Ge didn't dodge. He gathered sword qi in his palm, clenched his fist, and punched toward the charging beast.

When they collided, Lin Ge felt a savage force relentlessly devouring his arm, as if it meant to tear him to shreds.

Using his own body as a weapon and fighting with sword qi was a first for Lin Ge. The results weren't nearly as good as he'd imagined. He was suffering immense pain. The brutal force in his arm made him feel as if he were being tortured beyond endurance, yet he couldn't let go.

Once a swordsman drew his sword, there was no reason to take it back. Even if the sword broke and the swordsman died, his conviction would never allow him to retreat a single step.

Second by second, time crawled past. Lin Ge went from unbearable agony to numbness; it felt as though he had endured several centuries.

By now, he could no longer feel pain in his arm. It was as if his arm had truly become an unstoppable treasured sword. No matter how hard the beast struggled, it couldn't advance any farther.

"Slash!"

Lin Ge growled. The sword qi gathered in his fist suddenly flickered, transforming into a streak of sword light. Carrying immense sword qi, it struck the savage beast and sent it flying several meters. The beast smashed through five or six trees before finally crashing to the ground, barely clinging to life.

"Whew..."

After taking a few deep breaths, Lin Ge touched his numb arm with his other hand. A glint lit his eyes, and a smile tugged at his lips.

"I still need to temper it more."

Lin Ge glanced at the beast lying on the ground, barely alive, then headed deeper into the forest.

In that brief moment just now, he seemed to have grasped something, but he couldn't yet make it his own. He needed more practice.

Unfortunately, for a long while after that, he encountered only beasts of relatively low strength. None came close to matching the ferocity and fearsome power of the beast he'd met upon entering the forest.

Three days passed. Lin Ge spent all three in the forest, killing countless beasts and greatly improving his sword qi. But its power still hadn't reached the level it had when he first defeated that beast. Lin Ge wasn't satisfied; he needed more powerful beasts to fight.

"Roar!"

Having just dealt with a weak beast, Lin Ge suddenly heard a terrifying roar. His eyes lit up, and he hurried toward its source.

From the sound of the roar, Lin Ge could tell this beast was no weakling. It was just what he needed to test his strength.

"Brother, run!"

Several miles away from Lin Ge, a beast with a rhinoceros's head and a lion's body glared furiously at a man and a woman before it, roaring in anger.

"Why run? We just have to kill this Ox-Lion to get the Strange Hundred Fruit!"

The man was Sun Ze, a scion of a powerful faction in Yan City. He had come to the forest today to train with his cousin, and they had stumbled upon a fourth-grade spirit medicine, the Strange Hundred Fruit. Just as he was about to take it, they spotted a terrifying beast—the Ox-Lion—staring viciously at them, as if ready to attack at any moment.

"But with our current Earth Origin Realm strength, can we really defeat the Ox-Lion?"

The speaker was Sun Ze's cousin, Sun Yan. Her face was rather pale, and she looked uneasy.

The Ox-Lion was a rare beast known for its strength. Its power could rival that of someone at the peak of the Earth Origin Realm, and its skin was as hard as iron. The black horn on its forehead was especially terrifying. It could easily pierce solid rock, and even experts in the Heaven Origin Realm wouldn't dare take its charge head-on.

"How will we know unless we try? Besides, I still have the Water Spirit Spear, a low-grade spirit treasure."

Sun Ze looked confident. He took a long spear glowing with a faint blue light from his Universe Bag and swung it through the air several times. Then he pointed it at the Ox-Lion and boasted, "Come, you beast! I'll take you down!"

The Ox-Lion seemed to possess a little intelligence. Though it couldn't understand what Sun Ze was saying, it could tell he was provoking it. Its fury flared anew, and it let out a series of roars.

"Thud! Thud!"

The Ox-Lion charged at full speed, making the earth tremble. Then it leaped into the air and kicked at Sun Ze's head with its lion's hoof!

"Spirit-Falling Spear Technique!"

Facing such a powerful attack, Sun Ze didn't dare be careless. He poured origin energy into the spear, its tip blazing with intense blue light, and charged straight at the beast!