An epiphany after battle

Still shaken, the others looked at Shiheng with deep awe where there had once been camaraderie.

That was a fifth-level magical beast! It was powerful enough to rival a centurion in the army!

Yet Shiheng, young as he was, had driven back a fifth-level magical beast head-on. He truly possessed the combat strength of a fifth-level warrior! At the thought, turbulent waves surged through everyone's hearts, and their gazes filled with awe and admiration.

But this was no time for amazement. The battle had caused far too much commotion. The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts teemed with powerful beings. If they attracted more magical beasts, or even something more terrifying, they would all die here.

"Move! Everyone, hurry!"

Squad Leader Lefu, whose injuries had only just eased slightly, forced himself to stay upright and shouted, "We've made too much noise! This place isn't safe anymore. If we linger, we'll only attract more magical beasts!"

Hearing this, none of them dared delay. They nodded and hurried to support their wounded comrades. Ignoring their exhaustion, they quickened their steps and raced toward the edge of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

Shiheng had kept his nerves taut, forcibly sustaining his condition. Only after confirming that everyone had withdrawn safely did he finally let go of his anxiety.

The next moment, his berserk state faded, and the terrible exhaustion from pushing himself beyond his limits swept through his body like a tsunami. His vision went black, and every last bit of strength drained away. His body went limp, and he fell straight to the ground, losing consciousness completely.

When he opened his eyes again, gentle light greeted him, and the familiar sounds of breathing and quiet conversation inside the army tent reached his ears.

Shiheng slowly awoke to find himself lying on a soft straw mattress. Outside the window, the sky was already bright. It was early the following morning.

He slowly sat up, suppressed the dizziness in his head, and immediately closed his eyes. Focusing inward, he carefully sensed the changes in the energy within his body.

What he sensed stunned even him.

He could clearly feel that the power within him was far more substantial and concentrated than before. A force far stronger than that of the late second level flowed through every part of his body.

He had actually... broken straight through to the late stage of a third-level warrior!

From the late second level, he had leaped straight to the late third level, crossing an entire minor realm!

The sudden breakthrough left Shiheng dumbfounded. Turbulent waves surged through his heart, and for a long time, he could not calm down.

Recalling yesterday's life-and-death battle and the terrifying power that had erupted in that instant, he sank into deep thought.

I was clearly only a late-second-level warrior, yet in that desperate situation, I unleashed combat strength comparable to a fifth-level warrior. Such a leap was simply unheard of. Even the legendary highgod beasts probably cultivated no faster than this.

Yet he was clearly just an ordinary human.

Could it... really be that the human body could unleash potential beyond imagination in desperate circumstances?

Shiheng could not help recalling some accounts from Earth in his previous life: a man had suffered a serious car accident and was already on the verge of death, but concern for his wife's safety had kept him going through sheer resolve. He helped the medical staff get his wife to the hospital and only collapsed completely after she was wheeled into the operating room;

There were also countless battles throughout history in which the weak had defeated the strong. With their backs to the wall and every retreat cut off, soldiers in desperate straits had unleashed combat strength far beyond their usual limits, creating one miracle after another.

The human body's potential was far more terrifying than anyone imagined.

And yesterday, it was precisely because he had been driven into utter desperation on the brink of death that he had tapped into the power hidden within him. He had entered that explosive state akin to going berserk, his strength soaring, and forcibly driven back the fifth-level Thunder Eagle.

As his thoughts deepened, Shiheng unwittingly entered a profound, ethereal state of epiphany.

Many principles of cultivation and methods of using strength that had previously been unclear became perfectly clear at that moment, as though a beam of light had pierced the fog and illuminated his future path of cultivation.

After an unknown length of time, Shiheng slowly opened his eyes, emerging from his epiphany.

The moment he opened them, a clamor of conversation reached his ears. It was Linlai, Tekakang, and the others who had faced life and death alongside him.

"Yesterday was far too close. If Shiheng hadn't unleashed his strength, not one of us would've made it back alive," one man remarked, lingering fear written all over his face.

"That's right. It was all thanks to Shiheng!" another immediately agreed before growing excited. "But we did pretty well this time, too. The six third-level magic cores sold for sixty gold coins, and the magical beast meat earned us another ten. With the military merits on top of that, this trip was worth it!"

Just then, the tent door was gently pushed open.

Squad Leader Lefu walked in and immediately spotted the now-awake Shiheng. Delighted surprise instantly appeared on his face.

He hurried to Shiheng's bedside and sat down, his tone utterly sincere. "Shiheng, thank you for yesterday. If it weren't for you, all of us would've died in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. I, Lefu, and everyone else will remember this debt of gratitude!"

Afterward, everyone began discussing how to divide the proceeds from this trip.

Though they all came from poor backgrounds and normally placed great importance on money, after facing life and death, none of them was stingy or petty. Instead, they all showed the simple kindness of ordinary people at the bottom of society.

After a brief discussion, they settled on the final distribution:

As the one who had contributed the most, Shiheng received ten gold coins outright!

Holding the weighty gold coins, Shiheng felt utterly calm.

These ten gold coins were his first earnings in the Coiling Dragon World.

And yesterday's desperate eruption of power had shown him his path even more clearly.

Endurance, cultivation, risking his life, epiphany...

His journey toward greater strength had now truly begun.