A Year of Savage Training—Now a Great Dou Master! Heaven-Slaying Battle Armor, Activate Peerless Mode!

Time flew by like an arrow.

A full year had passed since An Yi left Wutan City and plunged headfirst into the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

Deep within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, inside a vast cavern that was quiet yet faintly permeated with a murderous air.

An Yi sat cross-legged atop a flat boulder, his upper body bare.

Around him, Gengjin Dou Qi so dense it was almost visible to the naked eye roiled like boiling golden flames, illuminating the entire dim cave with a brilliant glow.

With his calm, steady breathing, the Dou Qi in his inner sea of qi, once liquid in form, was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation—

From liquid, it gradually condensed and compressed into a solid, diamond-shaped Dou Crystal!

"Buzz—!"

A low hum rang out from within An Yi's body. A violent wave of air far more powerful than before erupted from him and instantly swept through the cave, blasting away every pebble and speck of dust on the ground!

An Yi abruptly opened his eyes. Deep within those sky-blue pupils, the phantom of a dark golden vertical slit flashed and vanished.

Great Dou Master! He had made it!

At the very instant his Dou Crystal condensed, the system notification that had been silent for over a year finally sprang back to life in his mind right on cue.

[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully advancing to Great Dou Master. You have received a major realm breakthrough reward—Natal Battle Armor: Heaven-Slaying Battle Armor (Upgradeable)! ]

"Oh? Armor this time?"

An Yi's eyes lit up. Without the slightest hesitation, he willed, "Equip!"

"Clank, clank, clank—!"

Amid a crisp series of metallic chimes, a dazzling set of heavy battle armor materialized from thin air and perfectly fitted itself over An Yi's body.

The Heaven-Slaying Battle Armor had a base of brilliant silver. Its streamlined surface was engraved with intricate, domineering black tiger patterns.

On each shoulder sat a savage and majestic White Tiger head pauldron, its tiger eyes wide with fury and authority.

Behind the armor, a broad, pure-white cape fluttered without wind, snapping loudly.

"Handsome! So damn handsome!"

An Yi touched the cold, hard armor, his eyes shining.

But as a pragmatist, no matter how flashy it looked, appearance was merely icing on the cake. The key was its attributes!

As his thoughts connected with the battle armor, An Yi instantly grasped the terrifying aspects of this gift package.

Like the Tiger Soul Halberd, this battle armor was an evolving divine artifact that could grow alongside its owner's cultivation! Its attributes were downright absurd:

Passive Enhancement: Once the battle armor was equipped, the host's speed, strength, and defense would all directly double!

There were no side effects. The only cost was increased Dou Qi consumption.

As long as his Dou Qi did not run dry, this "double happiness" could remain active indefinitely!

Perfect Bond: The Heaven-Slaying Battle Armor and Tiger Soul Halberd formed a perfect set.

The Tiger Soul Halberd's ability to devour an enemy's Dou Qi and vital energy during battle, then feed it back to its wielder, would have its absorption and conversion rate doubled once more with the armor's enhancement!

He would truly grow stronger the longer he fought—a perpetual-motion machine had taken shape!

Active Skill (White Tiger Unleashed: Peerless Mode): Completely awaken the White Tiger Bloodline within his body and enter the "White Tiger Unleashed" state.

It greatly increased the destructive power of Gengjin Dou Qi and, on top of doubling all his attributes, doubled his strength once again—for a total of four times his base strength!

"Hiss—"

An Yi sucked in a cold breath.

Once this Peerless Mode was activated, he would practically become a humanoid bulldozer!

However, he could also sense that this "White Tiger Unleashed" state was extremely overbearing. Once activated, it would rapidly burn through his own vital energy. At present, he could sustain it for no more than the time it took to burn an incense stick.

"One incense stick is enough. This is practically a trump card for delivering a killing blow or turning the tables in a desperate situation!"

After admiring his new equipment, An Yi willed the flashy Heaven-Slaying Battle Armor into a streak of silver light and recalled it into his body.

He stood up and stretched lazily, his bones crackling like beans popping in a pan.

He walked to a clear pool in a corner of the cave and lowered his head to look at his reflection. The smile on his face instantly froze.

"Holy shit... who's this savage?!"

Reflected in the water was a "savage" with disheveled hair. His originally smooth white hair had grown all the way to his waist and become tangled in knots.

The black fitted outfit on his body had long since become several strips of rags, barely hanging on to preserve his modesty. Dried blood and mud covered him from head to toe.

An Yi could no longer keep it together.

Ever since entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range a year ago, he had completely let himself go.

Over the past year, he had immersed himself entirely in endless slaughter and devouring.

Within these perilous mountains and ancient forests, he was either looking for magic beasts to fight or on his way to fight them.

When hungry, he casually roasted some magic beast meat. When thirsty, he drank spring water. He even slept with one eye open. Where would he find the leisure to care about his appearance?

It could be said that he no longer looked remotely human.

Yet the results of this hellish training were equally terrifying!

In just one year, he had crossed a path that ordinary people might need five or even ten years to complete, soaring directly from Dou Master to Great Dou Master!

It was not merely his cultivation that had skyrocketed. Through countless life-and-death battles, he had also forged the sharp combat experience and instincts of a beast.

Moreover, due to his frenzied energy devouring over the past year, his body had entered a second major growth spurt.

His original height of just over 1.7 meters had forcefully shot up to nearly 1.9 meters!

His shoulders were broad, his waist lean, and beneath those sleek muscle lines lay terrifying explosive power.

"Whew... My cultivation has reached the mark, and my real combat experience has been polished enough. It's time to go out and act like a human again."

With a bitter smile, An Yi jumped straight into the icy pool with a splash and began scrubbing himself furiously.

One incense stick later.

Having washed away all the blood and grime, An Yi leaped out of the pool.

He used Dou Qi to evaporate the water, casually tied his waist-length white hair into a neat high ponytail, and took out a brand-new moon-white brocade robe from his Storage Ring to change into.

Then he looked into the water again.

Sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a tall, upright figure. His white hair was like snow. Combined with his naturally refined and handsome face, he now looked like an elegant young gentleman stepped out of a painting. Not a trace remained of the savage who had just been living on raw meat and blood.

An Yi nodded in satisfaction and strode out of the cave on his long legs.

Looking back on the past year, his training route had been brutally simple:

He entered the Magic Beast Mountain Range from the outskirts of Wutan City, then pressed deeper and deeper inside.

Whenever he saw a magic beast, he charged straight at it, pierced it clean through with the Tiger Soul Halberd, devoured and absorbed its magic core on the spot, then continued madly hunting the next magic beast. He honed his unstable Dou Qi in battle and accelerated the digestion of energy within his body.

The Heaven-Devouring Art he cultivated also displayed terrifying potential for growth.

As he devoured and absorbed more and more energy, the efficiency and level of this cultivation technique quietly continued to rise.

An Yi was not sure what grade of cultivation technique this thing was equivalent to now, but he had discovered a pattern:

The strength of this technique perfectly matched his own cultivation!

When he broke through to Dou Master, its devouring efficiency increased dramatically.

Now that he had broken through to Great Dou Master, the Heaven-Devouring Art's operating speed and appetite had surged once again!

"Let's go! Time to leave the mountains and eat!"

Near noon.

Following the edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range at high speed, An Yi finally emerged from that primeval forest that blocked out the sky and reached a prosperous town nearest to the mountain range.

Seeing bustling crowds again after a year gave An Yi the surreal feeling that a lifetime had passed.

Ignoring the curious gazes cast his way by the surrounding mercenaries, he relied on his beastlike sensitivity to food and charged straight into the largest, most fragrant restaurant in town.

"Waiter! Bring me all your signature dishes—roasted meat, stewed meat, roast chicken, braised duck, everything that can fill my stomach! Hurry up!"

An Yi found an empty table by the window, sat down, and slapped a heavy bag of gold coins onto the tabletop.

A year of living like a savage, combined with the White Tiger Bloodline in his body growing increasingly restless through endless slaughter, had left him almost craving raw meat and blood in the later stages.

Busy cultivating and fighting, he naturally had no time to slowly build fires and cook. Much of the time, he simply made do with a few bites of half-cooked roasted meat.

Now, smelling the proper aroma of cooked food in the restaurant, An Yi's stomach protested with a rumble like thunder.

Very soon, the waiter brought dish after dish of sumptuous meat to the table in a steady stream.

Next, the mercenaries and diners in the restaurant hall, who had previously been chatting loudly, collectively fell silent as they witnessed a bizarre spectacle of gluttony.

That white-haired young man in a white robe, with a high ponytail, a face prettier than a woman's, and an otherworldly air like an immortal cast down to earth... was now eating with both hands without the slightest regard for his image!

He grabbed an entire roast chicken and tore it clean in a few bites. He lifted a whole basin of braised magic beast meat and poured it directly into his mouth. His eating speed and momentum made him look exactly like a starving ghost that had worn human skin and gone hungry for eight hundred years!

"Holy shit..."

Several burly mercenaries at the next table stared dumbfoundedly. They did not even notice the wine spilling from their tilted bowls as they swallowed and muttered, "This brother looks like an immortal, but when he eats... isn't he even wilder than an Ironback Bear from the Magic Beast Mountain Range?"