Disdain

Yu Xiaogang stepped out of the courtyard and happened to see a clansman passing by next door.

"Hey, do you know where Yu Hong went?" Yu Xiaogang stopped the man and asked.

The clansman glanced at him, recognized him as the clan leader's son, and hurriedly bowed.

"Replying to the young master, Yu Hong went out a few days ago, saying he was going out for training."

"Training?" Yu Xiaogang was stunned for a moment. "Where did he go to train?"

"It seems to be the Greenwood Forest," the clansman replied. "I don't know the specifics."

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned somewhat ugly.

Yu Hong actually went out for training?

And he went to the Greenwood Forest?

The Greenwood Forest was one of the spirit beast forests near the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family. The number of spirit beasts inside was countless, and many of them were exceptionally ferocious existences.

Wasn't Yu Hong afraid of death, going there all by himself?

"Hmph, what a show," Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly. "He must be afraid of me and hid away on purpose."

He did not believe that Yu Hong had really gone for training.

In his eyes, Yu Hong was a coward who must have been afraid of his retaliation, which was why he had hidden away.

"When you come back, this young master will deal with you!"

Yu Xiaogang said viciously, then turned and left.

He returned to his own courtyard, feeling angrier the more he thought about it.

He had originally intended to give Yu Hong a show of force today, but the person wasn't even there.

This made all the momentum he had been building up for several days go to waste.

"Damn it!" Yu Xiaogang punched the table, leaving a dent in it.

"Young master, please calm down," the servant hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him. "Young Master Yu Hong will return sooner or later; it won't be too late to settle the score with him then."

"Hmph." Yu Xiaogang snorted, but the fire in his heart did indeed subside a little.

That was true; Yu Hong would return sooner or later.

When he returned, he would deal with him properly.

"Right, go and find out when Yu Hong will be back," Yu Xiaogang ordered. "As soon as he returns, tell me immediately."

"Yes, young master."

The servant took the order and left.

Yu Xiaogang sat in his chair, his eyes flickering with a sinister light.

Yu Hong, you can hide for a while, but you can't hide forever.

In the tournament a year from now, this young master will definitely trample you underfoot!

The outskirts of the Greenwood Forest.

Yu Hong had already been here for three days.

In these three days, he had encountered quite a few spirit beasts and had gone through several battles.

Although they were all spirit beasts of about a hundred years that didn't pose much of a threat to him, these real, life-or-death battles still gave him a bountiful harvest.

"Sure enough, actual combat and cultivation are completely different." Yu Hong sat under a large tree, reflecting on the battle just now.

He had just encountered a two-hundred-year-old Wind Blade Wolf; the wolf's speed was extremely fast, and its attacks were very sharp.

If it were the old him, he might have been flustered.

But now, he was able to deal with it calmly.

His physical fitness, reaction speed, and combat awareness were all constantly improving through each battle.

"Let's continue deeper." Yu Hong stood up and walked toward the depths of the forest.

The spirit beasts in the outskirts could no longer bring him much pressure; he needed to find some stronger opponents.

Of course, he wouldn't go too deep.

In the depths of the Greenwood Forest, there were many thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year spirit beasts, and those existences were not something he could deal with right now.

He only needed to operate between the outskirts and the middle layer.

After walking for about an hour, Yu Hong arrived at a relatively open area.

The trees here were sparse, and the ground was covered with weeds; it looked like the territory of some kind of spirit beast.

Yu Hong vigilantly observed his surroundings, his hand already resting on the short blade at his waist.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the grass.

Yu Hong's body tensed instantly, his gaze locked onto the direction from which the sound came.

The next moment, a soul beast lunged out from the tall grass.

It was a massive lizard, its body covered in dark green scales with a row of sharp bone spurs running along its back.

Its eyes were blood-red, exuding a aura of ferocity.

"Spine-Back Lizard?" Yu Hong recognized the soul beast. "Judging by its size, it's at least three hundred years old."

The Spine-Back Lizard is a highly aggressive soul beast; the bone spurs on its back can be launched with considerable power.

Furthermore, its skin is incredibly tough, making it difficult for ordinary attacks to cause any damage.

"Perfect, just right for some practice." Yu Hong's lips curled upward as he drew the short blade from his waist.

The Spine-Back Lizard let out a low hiss before charging forward violently.

It was fast, reaching Yu Hong in the blink of an eye, its blood-red maw wide open as it snapped toward his neck.

Yu Hong dodged to the side, evading the strike while his short blade traced an arc, slashing toward the lizard's neck.

"Clang!"

The blade struck the Spine-Back Lizard's scales with a crisp metallic ring, leaving behind nothing but a shallow white mark.

"As expected, it's tough." Yu Hong was not surprised and quickly retreated to put some distance between them.

The Spine-Back Lizard missed its mark, turned around, and charged again.

This time, the bone spurs on its back suddenly stood upright and fired toward Yu Hong like a torrential rain.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

A dozen bone spurs tore through the air, moving at extreme speeds and from tricky angles.

Yu Hong's figure flickered like a ghost, weaving through the gaps between the spurs; he wasn't struck by a single one.

"Too slow." Yu Hong sneered, suddenly accelerating as he charged straight at the Spine-Back Lizard.

The Spine-Back Lizard had just finished firing its spurs and hadn't yet regenerated them; it was at its most vulnerable.

Yu Hong seized the opportunity, thrusting his short blade toward the lizard's eye.

The eyes were the most fragile part of the Spine-Back Lizard and its only weak point.

"Pfft!"

The short blade pierced into the Spine-Back Lizard's eye socket, and blood sprayed out.

The Spine-Back Lizard let out a shrill, miserable shriek, its body struggling violently.

But Yu Hong gave it no chance; he drove the blade deeper, piercing straight through its brain.

The Spine-Back Lizard's body stiffened for a moment before crashing to the ground, motionless.

"Done." Yu Hong pulled out his short blade and wiped the blood off it.

From start to finish, the battle had taken less than a minute.

However, Yu Hong did not lower his guard.

In the forest, the death of one soul beast could easily attract the covetous eyes of others.

He quickly left the area and continued moving forward.

In the days that followed, Yu Hong wandered through the Greenwood Forest, battling all sorts of soul beasts.

His combat skills became increasingly refined, and his understanding of soul beasts grew deeper.

At the same time, he kept a constant watch over his martial soul.

The cracks on the Primordial White Stone were becoming more numerous and deeper, as if it could shatter at any moment.

Yu Hong knew that day was not far off.

His martial soul was about to undergo a true transformation, and when that time came, he would leap over the dragon gate and soar into the sky.