Beast Tide Omens

"Then I won't hold back! Watch out!"

Yang Lie unleashed Snake Fist. His spine tensed like that of a great serpent as he drove a vicious punch at Fang Lingxiu.

Fang Lingxiu chuckled, circulating her true qi. A faint red glow surged across her right palm as she met Yang Lie's fist head-on with a palm strike.

Bang!

As fist and palm collided, Yang Lie felt as though he had struck a strange membrane resembling aged cowhide. The membrane wriggled, dispersing roughly half the force of his punch. At the same time, a scorching power flowed from it through his fist and into his meridians, making them ache as though they had been burned.

On the other side, Fang Lingxiu also staggered back several steps, surprise flashing through her eyes. "His punch is incredibly powerful—more than two thousand kilograms. That's a speed bonus! As expected, real combat is full of variables!!"

With the power of three complete ferocious beasts within him, coupled with the immense vitality of his Qi Blood Six Changes cultivation, Yang Lie merely adjusted his breathing technique slightly before expelling the scorching true qi from his body. Then he unleashed Snake Fist again, attacking Fang Lingxiu with broad, forceful blows.

"So this is Snake Fist!! Not bad!!"

Fang Lingxiu smiled lightly. Her feet moved in Silent Step as she employed the Vermillion Bird Palm Technique, both palms fluttering like two strange firebirds and blocking Yang Lie's incomparably fierce punches one by one.

With every exchange, Yang Lie felt as though his insides were on fire. Yet, relying on his powerful qi and blood and terrifying vitality, he forcibly endured the scorching heat within his body.

"That's enough!"

Fang Lingxiu suddenly vanished from Yang Lie's sight. Her palm struck his left abdomen, and true qi burst forth.

Yang Lie immediately felt as though his entire body were about to ignite. He retreated rapidly, blood trickling faintly from the corners of his mouth and nostrils.

Fang Lingxiu stepped aside and said, "All right! We can't continue sparring! My Vermillion Bird Palm contains Vermillion Bird True Qi, and its power is incredibly domineering. The Fire Strength will continuously accumulate in your body. Even if I don't use a secret technique to detonate it, that Fire Strength will still harm your body if it keeps accumulating!"

"Worthy of an Earth-Grade Martial Art! It really is formidable!!"

Yang Lie let out a long breath. The Fire Strength in his body was gradually worn away by his immense qi and blood and powerful vitality.

Yang Lie sat down directly on the ground and asked curiously, "Fang Lingxiu, how many kilograms is your punching force?"

After hesitating briefly, Fang Lingxiu sat beside Yang Lie and answered frankly, "My punching force is only 1,900 kilograms. Vermillion Bird Palm isn't a martial art known for strength! Its power mainly lies in its Fire Strength, as well as its methods for dispersing force and evasion. But Snake Fist and that whole series of martial skills are broad and powerful, overwhelming opponents through force. They really are suited for someone like you, born with skin of copper and bones of iron."

Yang Lie spoke with Fang Lingxiu for quite some time. Only after recovering his strength did he leave the school and head to the market.

"Selling cheap!! A first-tier high-grade Red-Haired Ferocious Ape for only 200,000!!"

"..."

As soon as Yang Lie arrived at the market, he heard vendors shouting all kinds of clearance-sale bargains. Curious, he went over to take a look and discovered that many demon beast meats and demon beast corpses were being sold at plunging prices.

A first-tier high-grade Red-Haired Ferocious Ape possessed terrifying strength. Though only two meters tall, it weighed nearly a ton. Normally, one would cost around 700,000 on the market, but now its price had fallen by more than threefold.

"Uncle He, why have demon beast prices dropped so sharply?"

Yang Lie came to the stall where he often bought demon beasts and asked the owner, He Zhen.

He Zhen grinned. "The Beast Tide Forecast Bureau has issued a warning. Large numbers of ferocious beasts are moving this way. In a few months, we'll face a major beast tide. Once it arrives, whether we win or lose, ferocious beast meat prices will crash. On top of that, with the ferocious beasts in turmoil, there are far more of them in the surrounding areas. Everyone's hunted too many, so all we can do is lower the prices and sell them off!!"

The crash in ferocious beast meat prices did not affect He Zhen much. On the contrary, it was good news for him. He could sell more ferocious beast meat and earn more money.

"I want nine Red-Haired Ferocious Apes. Deliver them to the usual place!"

Although powerful serpent-type ferocious beasts could improve Yang Lie's cultivation aptitude, Red-Haired Ferocious Apes were renowned for their strength and defense. Rifle bullets could only inflict minor wounds when fired at their bodies. Their strength was even greater than that of some Essence Solidification Realm first-level martial artists. They were monsters extremely close to second-tier ferocious beasts.

Yang Lie had long coveted the Red-Haired Ferocious Ape's power, but his pockets had been empty, so he could only buy other ferocious beasts with better value for money. Now that ferocious beast prices had plummeted, it could not have been better.

Of course, some first-tier ferocious beasts were stronger than Red-Haired Ferocious Apes, but those ferocious beasts were not available at the market, so Yang Lie had no way of getting them.

He Zhen was overjoyed. "All right!"

Over the following days, Yang Lie returned to his simple three-point routine of cultivation.

The Red-Haired Ferocious Ape Fruit was indeed extraordinary. Every time Yang Lie swallowed one, his physical abilities rose dramatically, and his punching force increased by around seventy kilograms.

The final exams arrived soon enough. This time, Yang Lie still ranked second in his year, behind only Li Lingxiu.

Yang Lie also broke through two realms in succession without difficulty, becoming a Qi Blood Eighth Change martial artist.

During summer vacation, the ninth Red-Haired Ferocious Ape Fruit ripened.

"Red-Haired Ferocious Ape! I hope you won't disappoint me!"

Yang Lie swallowed the Red-Haired Ferocious Ape Fruit in one bite. An incomparably massive heat current instantly spread through his body, constantly strengthening it.

Crack! Crack!

Amid bursts of Bone Explosion, Yang Lie's body twitched as though he were convulsing. He grew another two centimeters taller, his blood boiled, and his skin became even tougher and stronger, as though the power of another ferocious ape had been stuffed into his human body.

"Not bad!! Another Red-Haired Ferocious Ape's power has appeared within me. If I faced Fang Lingxiu... I would probably still lose! Her Vermillion Bird Palm is an Earth Grade Martial Skill, she's also proficient in movement techniques, and her cultivation is higher than mine. I'm still no match for her!!"

"It took me a whole year to cultivate to Qi Blood Eighth Change. Reaching the Essence Solidification Realm won't be a problem, but reaching the Hundred Refinements Realm will be difficult. Without reaching the Hundred Refinements Realm, I can't enter a Super First-Rate University and can only attend a First-Rate University. What a headache."

"If I don't take risks by going out to hunt or earn money in underground boxing, it'll be too difficult to earn enough cultivation resources. I can only see whether High-Grade Spirit Rice has any effect. If that doesn't work, I'll have no choice but to attend a First-Rate University."

"But First-Rate Universities and Super First-Rate Universities are on completely different levels. Even their alumni are not people of the same caliber. Still, with my abilities, as long as I keep a low profile, even if I can't enter a Super First-Rate University, my future achievements won't be too bad."

Feeling the newly acquired power within his body, Yang Lie was initially delighted, but countless thoughts soon rose in his heart.

The Human Alliance had many ordinary universities and First-Rate Universities, but there were only four Super First-Rate Universities: War University, Mecha University, Bio-Armor University, and Starship University.

War University taught everything, though it focused on martial arts. Mecha University specialized in mecha studies, believing that mechas were the main force of future warfare. Bio-Armor University specialized in biological armor studies, advocating the use of biological armor to strengthen oneself. Starship University believed that starship warships were the main force and true king of warfare.

Those four Super First-Rate Universities represented the Human Alliance's current pinnacle along four transcendent paths. Although the Human Alliance had acquired quite a bit of transcendent knowledge while conquering other civilizations and possessed many transcendent paths, compared with those four great transcendent paths, they were hardly worth mentioning.