The deep forest was utterly silent. Sunlight barely penetrated the canopy, leaving everything dim and damp. Snow still lingered in many places.
The silver-haired Snake-man and the black-clad youth both carried weapons and moved with extreme caution.
"Uncle Zong, we've been in here for almost half an hour, and we haven't run into a single magical beast." Dongbo Xueying kept his voice low. He was a little tense, but also eager to test himself. After all, his strength had surged, and he hadn't yet had a chance to put it fully to use!
"You..." Zong Ling shook his head helplessly. His nephew seemed mature, but still had a bit of a boy's impatience. In a low voice, he said, "We've only just entered the mountains. We're at the very edge of the outer perimeter, so magical beasts are naturally scarce. The farther in we go, the more likely we are to run into them. Then we'll see what you can do."
"Mm."
Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly.
"Rustle..."
At the faintest sound, Dongbo Xueying's ears twitched. He immediately raised a hand to stop Zong Ling beside him. Zong Ling tensed at once. He hadn't heard anything, but ever since awakening his Primordial Bloodline, Dongbo Xueying's hearing and eyesight had become extraordinarily sharp.
"Over there!" Dongbo Xueying stared ahead to the left.
Zong Ling followed his gaze.
A clear rustling gradually came from the distant thicket. One by one, lean, dark, four-legged shapes emerged. They looked somewhat like wolves, but were a full size smaller! Their bodies were black and gaunt, covered in countless black scales, and their dark-red eyes were cold. They simply watched the two humans in silence.
"Black-scaled Jackals?" Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling both tensed. The magical beasts they'd encountered just after entering the Destruction Mountain Range were already formidable.
Black-scaled Jackals were third-rank magical beasts.
They were calm and vicious, skilled at working together, and their claws and teeth were coated with deadly poison!
What did third-rank mean? It meant their individual strength was on par with a Heaven-Rank Knight! They lived in small packs, and the large group emerging from the thicket numbered a full thirty-five. Even a lone fourth-rank magical beast would be torn to shreds by them.
"This is trouble." Zong Ling was a little tense. "Xue Ying, be careful."
"Mm. Uncle Zong, look after yourself. Leave them to me."
Dongbo Xueying took a deep breath. His breathing grew steadier and stronger as he fixed his gaze on the huge pack of Black-scaled Jackals.
The jackals began to spread out, naturally forming a fan around Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling. With so many dark-red eyes fixed on them at once... even Dongbo Xueying felt his heart tighten! His will was strong and his spear skills were excellent, but he'd never faced an opponent this formidable before.
"Grrr..." A low, ugly growl came from one of the Black-scaled Jackals at the rear.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!
The Black-scaled Jackals launched themselves from every direction at once. Even a Meteor Knight couldn't withstand an attack by so many Heaven-Rank Knights at the same time.
"Die!" Dongbo Xueying's spear moved.
Whoosh!
The spear shot forward like a streak of lightning, fast as a bolt.
The instant it thrust out, countless snowflakes appeared around it, creating a beautiful scene.
The Black-scaled Jackal under attack immediately raised a claw to block the thrust. Just as the spearhead was deflected, the shaft suddenly spun. The twisting force knocked the claw aside. With a squelch, the spearhead plunged into the jackal's lower jaw and pierced through the back of its skull. The third-rank magical beast's body twitched, then went still.
The moment he killed it, Dongbo Xueying swiftly pulled back his spear and thrust again in a flash!
He withdrew and thrust like a viper striking.
Thud!
Another Black-scaled Jackal dropped dead on the spot.
Every one of the jackals was a seasoned killer, but the spear technique Dongbo Xueying had honed through ten years of grueling practice was simply too formidable.
"Grr, grr, grrr..." A chorus of low growls rose as the Black-scaled Jackals continued their attack without slowing.
In that brief span, Dongbo Xueying had killed only three before eight Black-scaled Jackals pounced on him at once!
"Get back!"
His spear became a blur, lashing and slashing with swift, powerful blows.
Just like the countless times he'd beaten Alchemy Dummies over the years, Dongbo Xueying's first swing sent four jackals flying. A reverse sweep sent four more tumbling away! In sheer strength, Dongbo Xueying held an overwhelming advantage. But even the strongest fighter could be overwhelmed by numbers, and the terror of the Black-scaled Jackal pack lay in its relentless, fearless attacks.
"Xue Ying, keep moving! If you can't hold them off, run!" Zong Ling called from a high branch of a nearby tree. His tail was wrapped around the trunk. His speed and agility had kept him alive during his previous trips into the Destruction Mountain Range.
"I know."
Dongbo Xueying concentrated completely.
His spear technique was highly refined, but the pressure of life and death still affected him. And the Black-scaled Jackals had incredibly tough bones and scales; piercing them and pulling the spear free took time. This slowed his technique down.
"I need to keep moving. I can't just let them surround me." Dongbo Xueying gradually began using the sparring techniques he'd practiced in the castle. There, soldiers often attacked him in large groups, and he'd relied on his spearwork and footwork to maneuver and fight back. During sparring, of course, they'd left their weapons aside.
Whoosh, whoosh...
Dongbo Xueying gradually got the hang of it. With the occasional simple shift, he reduced the number of Black-scaled Jackals facing him. Their attacks lost their focus, and he only had to contend with three at a time.
"Thud, thud, thud." Snowflakes drifted as blood sprayed, and one Black-scaled Jackal after another fell.
"Bang! Bang!"
Dongbo Xueying grew more fluid and confident. His spear suddenly lashed out, powerful force surging through the entire shaft as it slammed into a Black-scaled Jackal. Its body twisted grotesquely, its bones shattering in countless places. It fell to the ground, twitching and coughing blood.
High up in the tree, Zong Ling looked down and smiled.
"He's adapting quickly—faster than I expected. He's beginning to bring out his full strength in this life-and-death fight." Zong Ling nodded slightly. "In another two or three days, he should be fully adjusted."
"Grr!" A short, frightened growl rose from among the pack. The remaining Black-scaled Jackals immediately turned and scattered.
Dongbo Xueying chased them and killed two more before stopping.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Only then did Dongbo Xueying let out a breath. His breathing was heavier, and his blood raced through his body.
"How was it?" Zong Ling jumped down from above.
"It really is different." Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly. "Three years ago, I felt this same tension when I fought the territory's prisoners to the death. But that was one-on-one! Fighting for my life against a group like this... it's given me more ideas about how to use my spear."
A high level of spear skill only meant that one's technique had reached an extremely advanced level.
But in a real fight, how should one combine different moves? How should one coordinate their footwork? Those things came from experience in actual combat!
"And in a life-or-death fight, my blood surges and power floods my body. I can control my strength more precisely!" Dongbo Xueying said.
"That's instinct under the threat of death," Zong Ling replied.
The blood deep in Dongbo Xueying's heart had been ignited. My spear technique might improve even faster. He'd trained hard for ten years, honing astonishing skill... Wasn't the Destruction Mountain Range the perfect place to put it to use?
"We need to leave. The stench of blood is too strong here. It'll soon attract more magical beasts," Zong Ling urged.
"Mm." Dongbo Xueying nodded.
Neither of them bothered with the third-rank magical beasts' corpses. They had some value, but how many could two people carry out? They weren't worth the effort! As for storage treasures, Dongbo Xueying's could barely hold a single Black Scale Beast. It was far too small!
After entering the Destruction Mountain Range, Dongbo Xueying was like a dragon in the sea. His combat experience continued to grow, and his spear skills were tempered.
Every evening, the two of them had to return to the camp outside the mountains!
One was royalty of the Snake-man Race, and the other had awakened a Primordial Bloodline. They were both exceptionally fast on foot, and even while traveling through the Destruction Mountain Range, they could easily maintain a pace of two hundred li per hour! They moved slowly while exploring, but could quickly retrace their steps on the way back.
They still spent the night at camp. They needed proper rest, and spending the night in the mountains was too exhausting.
Days passed.
Dongbo Xueying's progress left Zong Ling amazed. He watched him grow more and more seasoned. After every battle, Dongbo Xueying reflected on what he'd learned, striving to perform even better the next time.
"He's been thinking things through and drawing lessons from them since he was little—even after every battle. No wonder his spear skills are so good!" Zong Ling muttered to himself. He'd always thought Dongbo Xueying was exceptionally clever.
He considered himself smart, too.
He knew how to learn from past mistakes, and many people understood that principle. But Dongbo Xueying's mind worked in a more distinctive way, and much more efficiently! For example, when most children read biographies and adventure stories, they only remembered the exciting tales of extraordinary knights. But Dongbo Xueying had noticed the patterns in their growth—
For example, nearly ninety percent of them had never attended an academy.
For example, their biographies revealed here and there that many of them placed great importance on fundamentals. This led Dongbo Xueying to practice the basics of spearwork to an almost insane degree.
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